Mongolian Beef

“The children were shown a table strewn with religious objects. Some of them refused to leave their parents’ sides. Others were drawn to the colorful candy that had been placed as distractions. This boy, A. Altannar, was different. He picked out a set of prayer beads and put it around his neck. He rang a bell used for meditation. He walked over to a monk in the room and playfully climbed on his legs. ‘These were very special signs,’ said Bataa Mishigish, a religious scholar who observed the boy with two senior monks. ‘We just looked at each other and didn’t say a word.’ They had found the 10th reincarnation of the Bogd, one of the three most important figures in Tibetan Buddhism and, for many, the spiritual leader of Mongolia, where nearly half the population is Buddhist.” Fascinating piece from the NYT (Gift Article): The 8-Year-Old Boy at the Heart of a Fight Over Tibetan Buddhism. (One one hand, it seems crazy to choose your leader when he’s only a toddler. On the other hand, how much better off would we be if this kid ran the House of Representatives?)