Tenzin Jigme (Thutob Wangchuk) (

Lhasa Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level city, prefecture-level Lhasa (prefecture-level city), Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Regio ...

, 1948 – February 13, 1997) was a

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

tulku A ''tulku'' (, also ''tülku'', ''trulku'') is a reincarnate custodian of a specific lineage of teachings in Tibetan Buddhism who is given empowerments and trained from a young age by students of his or her predecessor. High-profile examples ...

and the sixth

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 f ...

. His reincarnation is recognized by the Tibetan government. His recognition is being challenged by another sixth Reting Rinpoche who acts by the title of Reting Hutukthu; ''hutukthu'' equal to ''rinpoche'' and mainly in use in

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

Life

Tenzin Jigme was identified as the reincarnation of the fifth Reting Rinpoche

Jamphel Yeshe Gyaltsen (Thubten) Jamphel Yeshe Gyaltsen or Thupten Jampel Yishey Gyantsen, ( Dagpo, 1912 – Lhasa, 1947) was a Tibetan tulku and the fifth Reting Rinpoche. Life Gyantsen played a significant role in Tibetan history as the one-time regent A r ...

in 1951 and enthroned in 1955. In 1956 (eight years old) he was the first to be assigned to the Tibet Committee of the

Buddhist Association of China The Buddhist Association of China (BCA; ) is the official government supervisory organ of Buddhism in the People's Republic of China. The association has been overseen by the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since ...

. Jigme stayed in Tibet when the Tibetan government went in exile in 1959 during the

Tibetan diaspora The Tibetan diaspora are the diaspora of Tibetan people living outside Tibet. Tibetan emigration has three separate stages. The first stage was in 1959 following the 14th Dalai Lama's defection to Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh, India. The s ...

. During the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

(1966–1976) he was publicly denounced by the authorities because of his religious position. Next he was imprisoned for one year. Later he was rehabilitated and at the end of the 1970s he was appointed to several official posts. Comparably with the tenth

Panchen Lama 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 ...

he was married and lived as a layman. His next reincarnation was appointed by the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. This reincarnation is not recognized by the Tibetan government in exile.

References

*Klieger, P. Christiaa
''Tibet, self, and the Tibetan diaspora''
Brill, Leiden, *

World Tibet Network News World Tibet News (WTN) as well as World Tibet Network News, is a website created in 1992 by Thubten Samdup and the NGO Canada Tibet Committee.Gyaltsen Gyaltag, ''Exiled Tibetans in Europe and North America'' (translated by Susanne Martin), iExil ...

(January 11, 2000
''Beijing Discovers Another "Living Buddha" (AFP)''
*World Tibet Network News (June 19, 2000
''Reting monks detained following protest over reincarnation''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jigme, Tenzin 1948 births 1997 deaths Reting Rinpoches Lamas Tulkus Rinpoches Gelug Lamas