Tsultrim Gyatso, 10th Dalai Lama
Encyclopedia
Tsultrim Gyatso was the 10th Dalai Lama
of Tibet
.
Born to a modest family in Chamdo
(eastern Tibet), he was recognised as the reincarnation of Lungtok Gyatso, the 9th Dalai Lama, in 1820. At the time his family did not even have an heir to their land, but he took the name Tsultrim Gyatso and was enthroned at the Potala Palace
in 1822.
After Lungtok Gyatso died in 1815, eight years had passed before the new Dalai Lama was chosen. The political events in this period are murky, but finally Palden Tenpai Nyima intervened and used the Golden Urn
(from which names of candidates were picked) for the first time as part of the tests for the choice of the new Dalai Lama.
In 1822 the 10th Dalai Lama was placed upon the Golden Throne and soon after his enthronement received his pre-novice ordination from Palden Tenpai Nyima, who gave him the name of Tsultrim Gyatso. He administered the Gelong vows (full ordination) to Tsultrin Gyatso in 1831.
In 1826, he was enrolled at Drepung Monastery
and mastered both sutra
and tantra
. He studied Tibetan Buddhist texts extensively during the rest of his life.
In 1831 he reconstructed the Potala Palace and, at the age of nineteen, he took the Gelong vows (full ordination) from the Panchen Lama the same year.
He set about to overhaul the economic structure of Tibet but, unfortunately, did not live long enough to see his plans come to fruition.
He was constantly in poor health and died in 1837.
Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Mongolian word далай meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word bla-ma meaning "teacher"...
of Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
.
Born to a modest family in Chamdo
Chamdo
Qamdo , or Chamdo, officially organised as Chengguan of Qamdo County , population in 1999 about 86,280, is a major town in the historical region of Kham in the eastern Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. The capital of Qamdo County and Qamdo Prefecture, it is Tibet's third...
(eastern Tibet), he was recognised as the reincarnation of Lungtok Gyatso, the 9th Dalai Lama, in 1820. At the time his family did not even have an heir to their land, but he took the name Tsultrim Gyatso and was enthroned at the Potala Palace
Potala Palace
The Potala Palace is located in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It was named after Mount Potala, the abode of Chenresig or Avalokitesvara...
in 1822.
After Lungtok Gyatso died in 1815, eight years had passed before the new Dalai Lama was chosen. The political events in this period are murky, but finally Palden Tenpai Nyima intervened and used the Golden Urn
Golden Urn
In Tibet, on several occasions, children believed to be the reincarnations of the Dalai Lama or the Panchen Lama have been identified by a lottery method, in which names of competing candidates are written on folded slips of paper placed in a golden urn....
(from which names of candidates were picked) for the first time as part of the tests for the choice of the new Dalai Lama.
In 1822 the 10th Dalai Lama was placed upon the Golden Throne and soon after his enthronement received his pre-novice ordination from Palden Tenpai Nyima, who gave him the name of Tsultrim Gyatso. He administered the Gelong vows (full ordination) to Tsultrin Gyatso in 1831.
In 1826, he was enrolled at Drepung Monastery
Drepung Monastery
Drepung Monastery ,, located at the foot of Mount Gephel, is one of the "great three" Gelukpa university monasteries of Tibet...
and mastered both sutra
Sutra
Sūtra is an aphorism or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual. Literally it means a thread or line that holds things together and is derived from the verbal root siv-, meaning to sew , as does the medical term...
and tantra
Tantra
Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....
. He studied Tibetan Buddhist texts extensively during the rest of his life.
In 1831 he reconstructed the Potala Palace and, at the age of nineteen, he took the Gelong vows (full ordination) from the Panchen Lama the same year.
He set about to overhaul the economic structure of Tibet but, unfortunately, did not live long enough to see his plans come to fruition.
He was constantly in poor health and died in 1837.
- "During the period of the short-lived Dalai Lamas — from the Ninth to the Twelfth incarnations — the Panchen was the lama of the hour, filling the void left by the four Dalai Lamas who died in their youth."
Further reading
- Mullin, Glenn H. (2001). The Fourteen Dalai Lamas: A Sacred Legacy of Reincarnation, pp. 353–361. Clear Light Publishers. Santa Fe, New Mexico. ISBN 1-57416-092-3.