Dalai Lama is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current Dalai Lama is Tenzin Gyatso, who lives as a refugee in India. The Dalai Lama is also considered to be the successor in a line of tulkus who are believed to be incarnations of Avalokiteśvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion.
The Panchen Lama is a tulku of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. Panchen Lama is one of the most important figures in the Gelug tradition, with its spiritual authority second only to Dalai Lama. Along with the council of high lamas, he is in charge of seeking out the next Dalai Lama. Panchen is a portmanteau of Pandita and Chenpo, meaning "great scholar".
The 11th Panchen Lama controversy is a dispute about the recognition of the 11th Kunsik Panchen Lama. The Panchen Lama is considered the second most important spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama. Following the death of the 10th Panchen Lama, the 14th Dalai Lama recognized Gedhun Choekyi Nyima in 1995. Three days later, the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) abducted the Panchen Lama and his family. Months later, the PRC chose Gyaincain Norbu as its proxy Panchen Lama. During the traditional search process, Chadrel Rinpoche indicated to the Dalai Lama that all signs pointed to Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, while the Dalai Lamas and Panchen Lamas recognize each other's incarnations. The PRC had established its own search committee, which included Chatral Rinpoche and other monks, and used a lottery system referred to as the Golden Urn. Neither Gedhun Choekyi Nyima nor his family have been seen since the abduction. Chatral Rinpoche was arrested by Chinese authorities the day after the abduction.
Reting Rinpoche was a title held by abbots of Reting Monastery, a Buddhist monastery in central Tibet.
Reting Monastery is an historically important Buddhist monastery in Lhünzhub County in Lhasa, Ü-Tsang, Tibet. It is also commonly spelled "Radreng."
Xinhai Lhasa turmoil refers to the ethnic clash in the Lhasa region of Tibet and various mutinies following the Wuchang Uprising. It effectively resulted in the end of Qing rule in Tibet.
Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme was a Tibetan senior official who assumed various military and political responsibilities both before and after 1951 in Tibet. He is often known simply as Ngapo in English sources.
State Religious Affairs Bureau Order No. 5, officially named Measures on the Management of the Reincarnation of Living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism, is an order passed during a conference of the State Administration for Religious Affairs on 13 July 2007, marked for implementation on 1 September 2007.
Trimön Shap-pe born Norbu Wangyal was a highly prominent Tibetan aristocrat, conservative politician and governor, a former Finance Minister, and Chief Cabinet Minister of Tibet.. Trimon accompanied Regent Reting who jointly spearheaded the search to lake Lhamo Latso, leading to the discovery of Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama in 1935. Trimon is regarded as an eminent personality and significant political figure in modern Tibetan history.
Tibet came under the control of People's Republic of China (PRC) after the Government of Tibet signed the Seventeen Point Agreement which the 14th Dalai Lama ratified on 24 October 1951, but later repudiated on the grounds that he rendered his approval for the agreement while under duress. This occurred after attempts by the Tibetan Government to gain international recognition, efforts to modernize its military, negotiations between the Government of Tibet and the PRC, and a military conflict in the Chamdo area of western Kham in October 1950. The series of events came to be called the "Peaceful Liberation of Tibet" by the Chinese government, and the "Chinese invasion of Tibet" by the Central Tibetan Administration and the Tibetan diaspora.
Lhamo Latso or Lha-mo La-tso is a small oval oracle lake where senior Tibetan monks of the Gelug sect go for visions to assist in the discovery of reincarnations of the Dalai Lamas. Other pilgrims also come to seek visions. It is considered to be the most sacred lake in Tibet.
The Golden Urn refers to a method for selecting Tibetan reincarnations by drawing lots or tally sticks from a Golden Urn introduced by the Qing dynasty of China in 1793. After the Sino-Nepalese War, the Qianlong Emperor promulgated the 29-Article Ordinance for the More Effective Governing of Tibet, which included regulations on the selection of lamas. The Golden Urn was introduced ostensibly to prevent cheating and corruption in the selection process but also to position the Qianlong Emperor as a religious authority capable of adducing incarnation candidates. A number of lamas, such as the 8th and 9th Panchen Lamas and the 10th Dalai Lama, were confirmed using the Golden Urn. In cases where the Golden Urn was not used, the amban was consulted. Usage of the Golden Urn ended with the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911.
The 14th Dalai Lama, known as Gyalwa Rinpoche to the Tibetan people, is the current Dalai Lama. He is the highest spiritual leader and head of the country of Tibet. He was born on 6 July 1935, or in the Tibetan calendar, in the Wood-Pig Year, 5th month, 5th day. He is considered a living Bodhisattva, specifically, an emanation of Avalokiteśvara in Sanskrit and Chenrezig in Tibetan. He is also the leader and a monk of the Gelug school, the newest school of Tibetan Buddhism, formally headed by the Ganden Tripa. The central government of Tibet, the Ganden Phodrang, invested the Dalai Lama with temporal duties until his exile in 1959.
Tibet was a de facto independent state in East Asia that lasted from the collapse of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty in 1912 until its annexation by the People's Republic of China in 1951.
The present 14th Dalai Lama has suggested different possibilities to identify the next (15th) Dalai Lama, but has not publicly specified the ritual qualifications and alleged mystical signs upon the method of rebirth would occur. On 5 February 1940, request to exempt Lhamo Thondup from lot-drawing Golden Urn process to become the 14th Dalai Lama was approved by the Central Government.
The Battle of Chamdo occurred from 6 to 24 October 1950. It was a military campaign by the People's Republic of China (PRC) to take the Chamdo Region from a de facto independent Tibetan state. The campaign resulted in the capture of Chamdo and the annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China.
The Tibet Improvement Party was a nationalist, revolutionary, anti-feudal and pro-Republic of China political party in Tibet. It was affiliated with the Kuomintang and was supported by mostly Khampas, with the Pandatsang family playing a key role.
Pandatsang Rapga was a Khamba revolutionary during the first half of the 20th century in Tibet. He was pro-Kuomintang and pro-Republic of China, anti-feudal, anti-communist. He believed in overthrowing the Dalai Lama's feudal regime and driving British imperialism out of Tibet, and acted on behalf of Chiang Kai-shek in countering the Dalai Lama. He was later involved in rebelling against communist rule.
The 1910 Chinese expedition to Tibet or the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1910 was a military campaign of the Qing dynasty to establish direct rule in Tibet in early 1910. The expedition occupied Lhasa on February 12 and officially deposed the 13th Dalai Lama on the 25th.
Thubten Kunphel, commonly known as Kunphela, was a Tibetan politician and one of the most powerful political figures in Tibet during the later years of the 13th Dalai Lama's rule, known as the "strong man of Tibet". Kunphela was arrested and exiled after the death of the Dalai Lama in 1933. He later escaped to India and became a co-founder of the India-based Tibet Improvement Party with the aim of establishing a secular government in Tibet. He worked in Nanking after the attempt to start a revolution in Tibet failed, and returned to Tibet in 1948.
