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The Real Story of the 3 Wise Men

Christmas secrets you probably didn’t know

White Feather
4 min readDec 19, 2017

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In Tibetan Buddhism the lineage of the Dalai Lama follows the principles of reincarnation. It is believed that the Dalai Lama can choose the human body into which he is born in his next incarnation. It is the responsibility of the holiest High Lamas of the Gelgupa Tradition to find the Dalai Lama in his next incarnation. Before the current Dalai Lama kicks the bucket he usually leaves clues as to where his next incarnation can be found.

The High Lamas take these clues into consideration as well as clues they may derive from dreams and various other ‘signs.’ They will follow their inner guidance to search for the new incarnation of their beloved Dalai Lama. They will travel to areas suggested by the various signs and clues and search for the baby that might be the reincarnated Dalai Lama.

And when they find a young child who may very well be the reincarnated Dalai Lama they will conduct tests to verify whether or not the kid is the true reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. They will consult their oracles and pray for guidance but they will also bring along some objects that the previous Dalai Lama was fond of before he kicked the bucket. They would place those objects that the previous Dalai Lama was fond of, as well as some objects that had no significance, before the potential new baby Dalai Lama. If the little kid reached for the objects that the previous Dalai Lama was fond of rather than the test objects that held no significance then that was considered a positive sign that the kid was the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama.

Well, Tibetan Buddhism was not the first religion to employ these tactics to find their new leader; the reincarnation of their previous leader. While Buddhism was centuries older than Christianity and Islam, it certainly was not the oldest religion on the planet. (Although it should be noted that all religions prior to Christianity and Islam considered reincarnation as a matter of fact.)

One of the oldest religions on the planet that is actually still practiced is Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrianism is centuries older than Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, and Islam. The exact beginning of this religion is debatable and uncertain. It was started by a fellow named Zoroaster (also know…

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White Feather
White Feather

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