Thubten Choekyi Nyima, 9th Panchen Lama

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Thubten Choekyi Nyima (Tibetan: ཐུབ་བསྟན་ཆོས་ཀྱི་ཉི་མ་; Wylie: Thub-bstan Chos-kyi Nyi-ma; ZWPY: Tubdain Qoigyi Nyima) (1883 – 1937), often referred to as Choekyi Nyima, was the 9th Panchen Lama of Tibet.

In 1901, Choekyi Nyima was visited by the Mongolian Lama, Agvan Dorzhiev. Although he only stayed for two days at Tashilhunpo, Dorzhiev received some secret teachings from the Panchen Lama, as well as readings of the Prayer of Shambhala, written by Lobsang Palden Yeshe, the Sixth (or Third) Panchen Lama, concerning the Buddhist kingdom of Shambhala, which were of great importance to Dorzhiev's developing understanding of the Kalachakra ('Wheel of Time') tantric teachings. Choekyi Nyima also gave Dorzhiev gifts including some golden statues.[1]

In 1906, Sir Charles Alfred Bell, was invited to visit the 9th Panchen Lama at Tashilhunpo, where they had friendly discussions on the political situation.[2]

He fled to Inner Mongolia, China in 1924 after a dispute with the Thirteenth Dalai Lama when he sensed that he might face threat after his own monastery’s monks were prohibited from holding any office in the Central Tibetan government and his officials were locked up in Lhasa.[3]

In China, the 9th Panchen Lama worked on plans to develop Tibet along modern lines.[4]

In 1937, he died in Gyêgu (Tibetan: Jyekundo; Chinese: Yushu) in Qinghai Province.

The tombs of the Fifth through the Ninth Panchen Lamas were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution and have been rebuilt by the 10th Panchen Lama with a huge tomb at Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse, known as the Tashi Langyar.[5]

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Snelling, John. (1993). Buddhism in Russia: The Story of Agvan Dorzhiev : Lhasa's Emissary to the Tsar, p. 77. Element Books. ISBN 1-85230-332-8.
  2. ^ Chapman, Spencer. (1940). Lhasa: The Holy City, p. 141. Readers Union Ltd., London.
  3. ^ Review of Le 9e Panchen Lama (1883-1937): Enjeu des relations Sino-Tibetaines Gray Tuttle, Columbia University, JIATS, no. 2 (August 2006), THDL #T2726, 8 pp.
  4. ^ Le 9e Panchen Lama (1883-1937): Enjeu des relations Sino-Tibetaines, by Fabienne Jagou, 156-159, 206-208 pp.
  5. ^ Mayhew, Bradley and Kohn, Michael. (2005) Tibet. 6th Edition. Lonely Planet Publications. ISBN 1-74059-523-8 p. 175.
Preceded by
Tenpe Wangchuk		 Reincarnation of the Panchen Lama Succeeded by
Choekyi Gyaltsen


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