16 Facts About Panchen Lama

1.

Panchen Lama is one of the most important figures in the Gelug tradition, with its spiritual authority second only to Dalai Lama.

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2.

Panchen Lama is a portmanteau of Pandita and Chenpo, meaning "great scholar".

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3.

Traditionally, the Panchen Lama is the head of Tashilhunpo Monastery, and holds religious and secular power over the Tsang region centered in Shigatse, independent of the Ganden Podrang authority led by the Dalai Lama.

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4.

The Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama are closely connected, and each participate in the process of recognizing each other's reincarnations.

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5.

Three days later, the six-year-old Panchen Lama was kidnapped by the Chinese government and his family was taken into custody.

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6.

The Panchen Lama traditionally lived in Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse.

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7.

Panchen Lama was the tutor and a close ally of the 5th Dalai Lama, "The Great Fifth", as he is known, pronounced the Panchen to be an incarnation of the celestial buddha Amitabha.

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8.

Since then, every incarnation of the Panchen Lama has been the master of Tashilhunpo Monastery and it is there that they have all received their education and their mummified bodies were enshrined.

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9.

When Lobsang Chokyi Gyaltsen died in 1662, the 5th Dalai Panchen Lama commenced the tradition of searching for his next incarnation.

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10.

Panchen Lama reserved the traditional title of Panchen which had previously been a courtesy title for all exceptionally learned lamas – exclusively for his successors.

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11.

The government claims however, that their involvement does not break with tradition in that the final decision about the recognition of both the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama traditionally rested in the hands of the Chinese emperor.

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12.

Panchen Lama held a position in the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission, and was considered extremely "pro Chinese".

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13.

However, the Chinese Nationalist government, facing defeat from the communists, requested the Panchen Lama's help instead, formulating a plan where 3 Khampa divisions would be led by him as a broad anti-Communist base in Southwest China, but the Panchen Lama decided to defect to the Communists instead.

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14.

Panchen Lama called on Tibetans to support the Chinese government.

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15.

In 1989, the 10th Panchen Lama died suddenly in Shigatse at the age of 51 shortly after giving a speech criticizing the excesses of the Cultural Revolution in Tibet but however praising the reform and opening up of the 1980s.

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16.

In February 1937, the Panchen Lama informed his investigation to the Tibetan government's representatives, who would later confirm the new Dalai Lama's identity.

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