Reting Monastery () is an historically important

Buddhist monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may ...

Lhünzhub County Lhünzhub County, or Linzhou County ( zh, 林周县) is a county in Lhasa towards the north-east of the main center of Chengguan, Tibet, China. It covers an area of and as of 2000 had a population of 50,895 people, almost all classified as rural ...

Lhasa Lhasa, officially the Chengguan District of Lhasa City, is the inner urban district of Lhasa (city), Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, Southwestern China. Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining ...

Ü-Tsang Ü-Tsang (དབུས་གཙང་། Wylie; dbus gtsang) is one of the three Tibetan regions, the others being Amdo to the northeast and Kham to the east. Geographically Ü-Tsang covers the Yarlung Tsanpo drainage basin, the western dist ...

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

. It is also commonly spelled "Radreng."

History

Reting Monastery was founded by

Atiśa Atish Dipankar Shrijnan (Sanskrit transliteration: Atiśa Dipankara Shrijnana) (c. 982–1054 CE) was a Bengalis, Bengali Buddhist religious teacher and leader. He is generally associated with his body of work authored at Vikramashila, Vikram ...

's chief disciple

Dromtön Dromtön, Drom Tonpa or Dromtönpa Gyelwé Jungné (, 1004 or 1005–1064) was the chief disciple of the Buddhist master Atiśa, the initiator of the Kadam school of Tibetan Buddhism and the founder of Reting Monastery. Early life and educatio ...

in 1057 in the

Reting Tsangpo The Reting Tsangpo () is a river in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It is the main headwater of the Lhasa River. The river flows past Reting Monastery, founded in 1056. The terrain is geologically complex, with deeply eroded and faulted rock ...

Valley north of Lhasa as the seat of the

Kadam Kadam may refer to: *Kadam (clan), an Indian clan *Kadam (Tibetan Buddhism), a school of Buddhism * Kadam People, an ethnic group in Uganda *Kadam Rao Padam Rao, the earliest available manuscript in Dakhini masnavi * Kadam River, a minor tributary ...

lineage of

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, D ...

. He brought some of Atiśa's relics with him. It was the first major monastery of the Sarma revival.

Je Tsongkhapa Tsongkhapa ( Tibetan: ཙོང་ཁ་པ་, '','' meaning: "the man from Tsongkha" or "the Man from Onion Valley", c. 1357–1419) was an influential Tibetan Buddhist monk, philosopher and tantric yogi, whose activities led to the format ...

(1357–1419) reformed the Kadam, which then became known as the

Gelug file:DalaiLama0054 tiny.jpg, 240px, 14th Dalai Lama, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Kalachakra ceremony, Bodh Gaya, Bodhgaya (India) The Gelug (, also Geluk; 'virtuous' ...

lineage and Reting became an important Gelug monastery, the seat of the

Reting Rinpoche Reting Rinpoche () was a title held by abbots of Reting Monastery, a Buddhist monastery in central Tibet. History of the lineage Historically, the Reting Rinpoche has occasionally acted as the selector of the new Dalai Lama incarnation. It is ...

.Dowman, Keith. (1988). ''The Power-Places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide'', p. 94. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London. . The Reting Rinpoches were responsible for the successful search and discovery of the

14th Dalai Lama The 14th Dalai Lama (born 6 July 1935; full spiritual name: Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, shortened as Tenzin Gyatso; ) is the incumbent Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism. He served a ...

. The Reting Rinpoches were among the candidates for

Regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

during the minority of a Dalai Lama. Thus, the Reting Rinpoche was Regent between 1845 and 1855 and, again, from 1933-1947. The latter Regent, the Fifth Reting Rinpoche, was involved in the search for the present Dalai Lama and became his Senior Tutor, later abdicated his position and was found guilty of colluding with the Chinese and died in a Tibetan prison in 1947. They also destroyed the Gelug Reting Monastery and killed many in Lhasa.Mayhew, Bradley and Kohn, Michael (2005). ''Tibet'', 6th Edition, (2005), p. 142, Lonely Planet Publications. ."Biography of Reting Rinpoche."
/ref> The political confusion which followed aided the rapid collapse of Tibet after the Chinese invaded. The Sixth Reting Rinpoche died in 1997. The Chinese announced in January 2001 that a new incarnation had been chosen as the Seventh Reting Rinpoche, just two days after the

Karmapa The Karmapa Tulku lineage of the Gyalwa Karmapa is the oldest among the major incarnating lineages of Tibetan Buddhism,The Karmapa, "The Karmapas Lineage", Kagyu Office established in 1110 CE by the 1st Karmapa, Düsum Khyenpa. Karmapa means " ...

began his flight to India. This incarnation has not been recognised by the Dalai Lama who believes he is a pawn in the attempt by the Chinese to control the Buddhist religion in Tibet. Reting was devastated by the

Red Guards The Red Guards () were a mass, student-led, paramilitary social movement mobilized by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 until their abolition in 1968, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a ...

during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

, and has only been partially restored.

Footnotes

References

* Goldstein, Melvyn C. ''A History of Modern Tibet, 1913-1951: The Demise of the Lamaist State.'' University of California Press: 1991.

External links

Biography of Reting Rinpoche
by

Hugh Edward Richardson Hugh Edward Richardson (22 December 1905 – 3 December 2000) was an Indian Civil Service officer, British diplomat and Tibetologist. His academic work focused on the history of the Tibetan empire, and in particular on epigraphy. He was am ...

{{Reting Rinpoches Gelug monasteries Buddhist monasteries in Lhasa (prefecture-level city) 1057 establishments 1050s establishments in Asia Religious organizations established in the 1050s Lhünzhub County