Rating (Reting)

Photo by Ilya Tolstoy or Brooke Dolan - 1942

     The ruins of Reting lie on a hill with scattered gnarled junipers, presumably having grown out of the hair of the founder of the monastery, Drom Tonpa, a chief disciple of Atisha. He built the monastery in 1057, some ten years after the death of his teacher. Others who had been influenced by Atisha joined with Drom Tanpa and formed the Kadam order of Tibetan Buddhism. The founders of the order were known as the Kadampa geshes. Tsongkhapa entered the monastery in 1397 and when there had a vision of Atisha that inspired him to write "The Great Exposition on the States on the Path to Enlightenment. In 1738 the 7^th Dalai Lama appointed his tutor, Ngawang Choken, as the abbot of Reting. His successive reincarnations were known as the Reting Rinpoche, two of who served as regents during the minorities of Dalai Lamas, in 1845-1855, and between 1933-1947. The 5^th Reting Rinpoche discovered the present Dalai Lama in a vision in the Lhamo Latso Lake. He became involved in sexual scandal and in an attempted pro-Chinese coup, and he was probably murdered in 1947. 

     The large monastery of Reting was razed during the Cultural Revolution, and recently some monks have returned. The 6^th Reting Rinpoche, Tenzin Jigme, lives in Lhasa.