Fridae

Common to world religions is the idea that some sort of an immanent truth exists, and that it should be shared for the good of the world. To spread and expound on this truth, there needs to be teachers and disciples, and the traditions of each religion speak of the uncommon bond between the best teacher and their disciples.

For Tibetan Buddhism, this bond takes on a unique aspect due to the phenomenon of reincarnation of its high lamas. Following the master’s death, it is his most cherished disciple who is entrusted to seek out his reincarnation in the hundreds of villages and hamlets lying in the vast mountain ranges of Tibet and Nepal.

Such was the fate of one Tenzin Zopa, who was tasked to find the new earthly vessel of his teacher, Geshe Lama Konchog, in 2001. It is a most difficult task indeed, and the documentary engages somewhat with the scepticism of the non-believer and the outsider to Tibetan Buddhism. Who knows if reincarnation even works? How can anyone be sure if a toddler houses the mind and soul of the previous lama? Will it be just the first child to grab the lama’s personal effects? The first parents to say yes to the monk? Is there a panel of ecclesiastical judges appointed by the Dalai Lama who will certify his reincarnation?

There must be a method to this seeming madness, a logic in this chaos, and the Israeli filmmaker Nati Baratz finds it as he accompanies the English-speaking Tenzin Zopa on his three-year search for his reincarnated master. The search plays like a police procedural where the investigator always gets his man by gathering evidence, observing pertinent facts, asking the right questions, and making logical deductions. Are we convinced that the child is the unmistaken reincarnation? Tenzin Zopa is, and he has reasons to be certain.

Geshe Lama Konchog may be dead but it is through his disciple’s kindly interaction with the reincarnation candidates, and his reminisces of the teacher that we feel the pair’s unmistaken bond, which is reflected as the disciple begins to groom the toddler into a lama in the future.

A beautiful and heartfelt documentary, Unmistaken Child makes a good companion to Kundun.