Reting Rinpoche () was a title held by abbots of Reting Monastery, a

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

monastery in central

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 ...

History of the lineage

Historically, the Reting Rinpoche has occasionally acted as the selector of the new

Dalai Lama The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣识一切瓦齐尔达喇达赖喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shu ...

incarnation. It is for this reason that most observers believe the Chinese government has tried to install a sympathetic figure in the position.

List of Reting Rinpoches

# Ngawang Chokden (1677–1751) # Lobsang Yeshe Tenpa Rabgye (1759–1815) # Ngawang Yeshe Tsultrim Gyaltsen (1816–1863) # Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenpai Gyaltsen (1867-1910) # Jamphel Yeshe Gyaltsen (1912–1947) # Tenzin Jigme Thutob Wangchuk (1948–1997) # Lodrö Gyatso Trinley Lhündrup (2000–present), appointed by PRC

Regency of the Fifth Reting Rinpoche

The fifth Reting Rinpoche, Thubten Jamphel Yeshe Gyaltsen (1911–1947; ), played a significant role in Tibetan history as the one-time regent (

desi Desi ( or or ; Hindustani language, Hindustani: देसी , , ) also Deshi, is a loose term used to describe the ethnic groups in South Asia, peoples, culture of South Asia, cultures, and products of the Indian subcontinent and their Sout ...

) of the present Dalai Lama. He was replaced in 1941 and subsequently is alleged to have organized an uprising against his replacement. He died in 1947 in the prisons of Lhasa's Potala, apparently the victim of poisoning. A jailor also allegedly reported that his testicles were bound and beaten until he died of the pain.Kimura, Hisao. ''Japanese Agent in Tibet: My Ten Years of Travel in Disguise.'' Serindia Publications. London:1990.pg 20

/ref> Melvyn C. Goldstein report words from Tsepon W. D. Shakabpa who said many people said so, but an investigation was carried out by the Tibetan Assembly to check Reting's body. Shakabpa was member of the committee that also included Tsarong, Khenchen Lobsang Tashi, Gyetakba, as well as representatives from Reting and Sera Monasteries. Tsarong declared to the Assembly there was no evidence that Reting was strangled, there was no wound or anything. The episode exposed a number of the political dimensions of the religious hierarchy in Lhasa. Critics of the fifth Reting Rinpoche accused him of widespread corruption, and involvement with married women as a monk. Defenders alleged that his imprisonment was partly the result of his attraction to the teachings of the

Nyingma Nyingma (, ), also referred to as ''Ngangyur'' (, ), is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The Nyingma school was founded by PadmasambhavaClaude Arpi, ''A Glimpse of the History of Tibet'', Dharamsala: Tibet Museum, 2013. ...

lineage, a politically sensitive orientation,Gyatso, Lobsang. ''Memoirs of a Tibetan Lama'' Snow Lion Publications. Ithaca: 1998. Page 235 and that the case against him had been fabricated by the cabinet minister Kapshopa. His time as regent, imprisonment and death feature significantly in Martin Scorsese's 1997 film '' Kundun''.

Sixth and seventh Reting Rinpoche

Reincarnation

Tenzin Jigme Thutob Wangchuk was born in

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 ...

in 1948. He was identified as the reincarnation of the fifth Reting Rinpoche in 1951 and enthroned in 1955. He was recognized by the Tibetan government. He stayed in Tibet when the Tibetan government went in exile in 1959 during the Tibetan diaspora. World Tibet Network News (January 11, 2000
''Beijing Discovers Another "Living Buddha" (AFP)''
/ref> He died in 1997 and was succeeded by a reincarnation that was appointed by the Chinese government and not considered legitimate by the unrecognized Tibetan Government in Exile.

References

External links

Further biographical info
about the fifth Reting Rinpoche, Thupten Jampel Yishey Gyantsen. {{Reting Rinpoches * Gelug tulkus Gelug Lamas * Tibetan Buddhists from Tibet