The XXIV Pandito Khambo Lama Damba Ayusheev was unanimously elected to the highest rank in the Buddhist hierarchy of Russia for the next five years.
On April 23-25, the great meeting (Sugundy) of Buddhist abbots and members of the Buddhist Sangha was held at the Ivolginsky Monastery in the Republic of Buryatia, where the residence of Khambo Lamas is located.
This congress was attended by five representatives of each data: three lamas, including the abbot Shireete Lama, two full-time lamas, and two laymen. According to the Charter of the Buddhist Traditional Sangha of Russia (BTSR), the XXIV Pandito Khambo Lama Damba Ayusheev’s five-year term of tenure expires in 2023 and therefore, on the eve of Sugundy, the Pandito Khambo Lama reported to the meeting on the work done over the past five years.
The report of the Head of the Buddhists of Russia includes not only that on the Sangha’s activities planned over the past years but also the report on the years in which the COVID-19 pandemic occurred and the special military operation started.
Khambo Lama talked about the Sangha’s ongoing and new projects, including the organisation of sewing shops to manufacture the necessities for the special military operation and the continuation of the “Social Flock” project – the creation of a leather and fur workshop and the felting process.
Besides, the Control Review Committee and the Chief Accountant of the Buddhist Traditional Sangha of Russia made the report.
“The election of the Pandito Khambo Lama rests in the hands of the Shireete Lamas and Sugundy: this always remains unchanged, that is our identity! The right to free choice is preserved”, – the current Pandito Khambo Lama Damba Ayusheev emphasised.
The lineage of the Pandito Khambo Lamas of Russia began in 1764, and it was not interrupted except for the period of the peak of repression in the Soviet times. The Pandido Khambo Lama Institute was established in 1764 by Empress Catherine II and approved by the Decree of the Boundary Office No. 610 dated June 22, 1764.
At that time, the First Khambo Lama Damba Darzha Zayaev was appointed to the Head of Shireete by the lamas of Eastern Siberia and Transbaikalia. Since that moment, Buddhism of the Russian Empire has become autocephalous (Independent) from that in Tibet and Mongolia.
Traditionally the leadership of the Buddhist clergy in Russia was always elected based on public reports and fair voting. The right to sit atop the Lion Throne and possess empowerment and regalia were never transferred by birth to tulkus, khubilgans or from father to son.
Buddhism, Islam, Judaism and Christianity are the officially recognised religions in the Russian Federation. The leaders of these confessions are members of the Interreligious Council under President Vladimir Putin. They take part in the process of harmonisation of interreligious relations and preservation of the traditional civilisation values of the Russian Federation.
The XXIV Pandito Khambo Lama Damba Ayusheev participates in the work of Sugundy on behalf of the Buddhists of Russia.
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