:"Religious buddhist means" refers to the traditional recognition of the reincarnation by his former friends and compatriots. This is a stark contrast to the method of selecting a name out of an urn, after the person who HAD been selected by the "method of recognition" has been disqualified. I believe buddhists frown upon gambling, which seems a good description for how Q was selected (e.g, by a combination of chance and [atheist]government intervention).