Religion: Kokonor Kid

The bleak, windy plateau of Tibet—some 463,000 square miles, with an average altitude of 16,000 feet—is one of the coldest places in the world. For all its long history, it is also one of the most benighted. Tibet is one of the world's last theocracies: its culture centres about its religion, Lamaism, a form of Buddhism which was brought up from India through the Himalayan passes in the 7th Century. This hierarchical faith, with its priests, abbots, lamas (monks), hutukhtus ("Living Buddhas"), is headed by two infallible incarnations—the Panchen Lama, a spiritual teacher or "Buddha of Boundless Light," and the Dalai...