Reting Lama – How he chose the false Dalai Lama
The following information has been compiled from various sources, including Ocean of Truth Explained and personal testimonies.1
Reting Lama was the reincarnate Lama of Reting Monastery in Tibet, and also one of the most important lamas of Sera Jey Monastery near Lhasa. After the death of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama in 1933, Reting Lama became Regent of Tibet. A few years later a relative of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, a high government minister called Langdun, told Reting Lama and other ministers that the son of one of his (Langdun’s) relatives was the reincarnation of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, and gave evidence to prove this.
The relationship between Reting Lama and Langdun was strained and difficult, and Reting rejected Langdun’s claim that the son of his relative was the reincarnation of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama. However, the majority of ministers supported Langdun, and this made Reting anxious about his position. If the son of Langdun’s relative was recognised as the reincarnation of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, he would then lose his own power and position.
To solve this problem and protect his position, Reting devised a plan with his close friend, Ketsang Lama, another lama from Sera Jey Monastery. They made three decisions, the first of which was that the reincarnation of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama would be chosen from a faraway place such as the Amdo Kumbum region near the Chinese border. Secondly, Reting should go to the holy lake
of the Deity Shridevi in accordance with tradition, pretend to see visions of the Tibetan letters A, kA and mA in the water there, and record this in writing. These letters A, kA and mA would indicate that the mother (mA) of the reincarnation of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama would appear in Amdo (A) Kumbum (kA). And thirdly, after completing the second preparation, Ketsang should go to Amdo Kumbum and choose a suitable boy as the Thirteenth Dalai Lama’s reincarnation.
When Ketsang and his two assistants arrived in Amdo Kumbum they began searching for a suitable boy. One day Ketsang met an old monk of Kumbum Monastery and explained that he was looking for a suitable boy to be recognised as the reincarnation of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama. He asked if the monk could recommend anyone. The old monk replied that in the nearby village of Taktser there was a boy who might be suitable, and offered to take Ketsang to see him. The old monk was actually a relative of the boy’s family, so he was trying to guide Ketsang in the direction of his own family! Taktser was a Muslim village.
Two days later, Ketsang visited the family with the old monk, and was introduced to the boy. Ketsang showed the boy many different objects that had belonged to the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, but the boy showed no interest at seeing these things. Even when Ketsang handed him something saying, ‘This is yours’ the boy would immediately throw it away. However, Ketsang found that the boy was attractive looking, and thought that this would be good enough. As detailed in Ocean of Truth Explained, Ketsang lied about the results of his examination of the boy.
A few days later Ketsang visited the family again and told the boy’s parents, ‘We are representatives of the Tibetan government, and if you are happy we want to recognise your son as the reincarnation of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama.’ The parents happily accepted. The boy later wore the saffron robes of a Buddhist monk, and the local people jokingly nicknamed him ‘The Saffron-Robed Muslim’. In this way, he received the position of the Tibetan Dalai Lama, and because of this Tibetan people began to worship him and keep his photograph on their shrines.
Having made these preparatory arrangements, Reting then informed the Tibetan government ministers and announced to the public that he and Ketsang Lama had found the authentic reincarnation of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama. In saying this he publicly lied.
The ministers of the Tibetan government were unhappy to accept someone from a non-Buddhist background as the reincarnation of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama. However, some monasteries supported Reting, and in particular the Abbot of Sera Jey Monastery forcefully threatened that there would be civil war if the ministers did not accept the reincarnation chosen by Reting. Also, as Reting himself had great political power, the ministers eventually had no choice but to follow whatever he said.
The boy was called Lhamo Dondrub, and to receive permission for him to be released from the Muslim community, Reting asked the Tibetan government to pay 400,000 silver coins to the local Muslim leader of the area around Taktser, a man called Ma Pu-fang. Eventually the Muslim boy Lhamo Dondrub was brought to Lhasa, arriving together with his search party, his family and a large group of Muslim merchants. Reting organised a great welcoming ceremo- ny for the boy’s arrival.
Later, when the time came for Lhamo Dondrub to receive ordination vows, he should have received them from the Regent Reting himself. However, Reting did not have the confidence to grant ordination vows because of having seriously damaged his own moral discipline. It was generally known that he was having a sexual relationship with the wife of his brother, and that he was engaging in many other actions that were inappropriate for a monk. Because of this he requested his own Teacher, the elderly Taktra Rinpoche, to hold the position of Regent for three years, and during that time to teach the Buddhist way of life and grant ordination vows to Lhamo Dondrub. Taktra agreed to this request.
After Taktra became Regent he tried to care for and teach the boy, but soon found that Lhamo Dondrub was very different from other boys. Whenever Taktra taught him how to practise the Buddhist way of life, the boy rejected these teachings and showed no interest in
any spiritual practice. The boy was bad tempered, and often shouted at Taktra. Taktra was very disappointed and one day told some of his close disciples, ‘This boy Lhamo Dondrub does not have any good imprints of a Buddhist way of life. I am worried about our country and what the future will hold for the Tibetan people.’ Taktra then appointed two other teachers for the boy – Ling Rinpoche and Trijang Rinpoche.
Later, Taktra received further information that clearly showed that Reting was still having sexual relations with a woman and was engaging in many other actions that were inappropriate for a monk, and he became even more disappointed with Reting. Generally, in the very beginning, many government ministers including Langdun had understood that Reting had lied when he claimed to have received a vision of the three letters A, kA and mA in the holy lake of the Deity Shridevi. At the time one of Reting’s assistants had told a friend that Reting had lied, and the friend in turn had passed this information to government ministers. When Taktra’s term as Regent was almost finished, the Tibetan government Kashag (‘Cabinet of Ministers’) received many reports from different people about how Reting and Ketsang had chosen a false reincarnation of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, and for this and other reasons the government sent soldiers to Reting Monastery to arrest Reting and bring him to Lhasa.
While in prison, Reting was brought one day under guard to the Kashag’s meeting room. The Chief Minister asked Reting to tell the truth about his vision of the letters A, kA and mA in the water of the holy lake. Fearing for his life, Reting admitted that he had lied, and made a full confession. He died soon afterwards in prison; some say that he was executed on the orders of the Tibetan Government.
Having learnt the truth, the government then publicly announced that any person who had received a special position from Reting, including Lhamo Dondrub, would be removed from office. However, this was a time of great upheaval in Tibet. There was great fear that the Chinese army would soon invade Tibet and enter Lhasa. Also, many people were unhappy at hearing that Lhamo Dondrub would be removed from his position; and Lhamo Dondrub had apparently begun to improve his qualifications through receiving special care
and teachings from Trijang Rinpoche and Ling Rinpoche. For these reasons, a number of lamas strongly requested the government through Taktra Rinpoche to delay the removal of Lhamo Dondrub from the position as Dalai Lama, and this request was accepted. Shortly afterwards, in 1950, the elderly Taktra Rinpoche was himself forced to resign. The Chinese army invaded Tibet in the following year, entering Lhasa a year later. The Tibetan government gradually ceased to function, and finally in 1959 Lhamo Dondrub – or Tenzin Gyatso as he was then called – escaped to India.
In India the false Dalai Lama created the Tibetan exile government. This exile government has hidden the truth about previous events in Tibet, and for fifty years has spread throughout the world only false information that has exaggerated the good qualities of this false Dalai Lama. They have made this false Dalai Lama famous throughout the world, but what have they gained from this? They receive a lot of money every year, but where does all this money go? Their policy of mixing religion with politics has achieved nothing for Tibet, but has greatly damaged the reputation of Buddhism. Although Lhamo Dondrub is a Muslim, throughout his life he has maintained the pretence of being a Buddhist holy being, giving Buddhist teachings that he stole from his root Guru Trijang Rinpoche. In this way he has cheated people throughout the world.
There are innumerable examples of how this false Dalai Lama has cheated people through lying. One example concerns a Spanish boy called Osel Hita Torres who was recognised by the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of a Tibetan lama. In May 2009 an article about Osel, ‘Boy chosen by Dalai Lama as reincarnation of spiritual leader turns back on Buddhist order’ appeared in the British Guardian newspaper. The article said:
‘As a toddler, he was put on a throne and worshipped by monks who treated him like a god. But the boy chosen by the Dalai Lama as a reincarnation of a spiritual leader has caused consternation – and some embarrassment – for Tibetan Buddhists by turning his back on the order that had such high hopes for him.
‘… He is now studying film in Madrid and has denounced the Buddhist order that elevated him to guru status. “They took me away from my family and stuck me in a medieval situation in which I suffered a great deal,” said Torres, 24, describing how he was whisked from obscurity in Granada to a monastery in southern India. “It was like living a lie,” he told the Spanish newspaper El Mundo.’2
Another article called ‘Osel’s awakening, a kid against his destiny’ in Babylon, an English/Spanish magazine, says:
‘ “They recognized me through the dreams of the Lama Zopa, although there were ten candidates from around the world, especially among sons of students of the Lama Yeshe. The Dalai Lama spoke some riddles and consulted the oracle.”
‘However, he had no recollection of his supposed earlier life. “My earliest memory is of being four years old in Dharamsala, walking alone through a wood, but nothing about past lives.”
‘… “I returned to Spain because I had arrived at a point where I no longer fitted into that life. I couldn’t find myself, because for me it was a lie being there living something that was imposed from outside.” For a person who has lived eighteen years in a bubble, stepping back into reality was a brutal shock.’3
Osel finally managed to liberate himself from this false life created by the Dalai Lama and some of his close followers. This is one of many examples of how the Dalai Lama deceives and manipulates people at different levels.
All of Lhamo Dondrub’s opportunities came from the supreme kindness of his two Teachers – Ling Rinpoche and Trijang Rinpoche – yet how did he return their kindness? In Ocean of Truth Explained it says:
‘Later, in Dharamsala, India, Ling Rinpoche died with deep disappointment because the Dalai Lama refused his request to stop encouraging Gelugpas to practise the Nyingma Tradition. And Trijang Rinpoche died with deep disappointment, because the Dalai Lama refused his request to stop banning the practice of Dorje Shugden.’
It is commonly known that in this age the great Lama Je Phabongkhapa and his heart disciples Ling Rinpoche and Trijang Rinpoche are the lineage holders of the Gelug Tradition – a spiritual tradition that was founded by the Wisdom Buddha Je Tsongkhapa and which has flourished extensively throughout the world. The ‘Saffron-robed Muslim’, this false Dalai Lama, acts directly against the views, intention and deeds of these three precious lamas. The main wish of this false Dalai Lama is to destroy the pure lineage of the Gelug Tradition.
To avoid losing their own position within the monasteries, the present and ex-abbots of the main monasteries of the Gelug Tradition apply effort to fulfil the wishes of the false Dalai Lama. They have directly caused great division within the Sangha (the Buddhist ordained community), have removed thousands of monks from their monasteries, and have destroyed the internal trust, harmony and peace of every Gelug monastery. In this way they have caused many thousands of monks and their families to suffer. It is shocking that they support the false Dalai Lama in his work to destroy the pure lineage of the Gelug Tradition. How shameful these present and former abbots are: they are truly criminals hiding behind spiritual masks.
The principal of these criminals is Samdhong Tulku, the Prime Minister of the Tibetan exile government and former Speaker of the Tibetan National Assembly. Previously he was Trijang Rinpoche’s close disciple, but now he has become a criminal who acts directly against Trijang Rinpoche’s view, intention and deeds. On behalf of the false Dalai Lama, Samdhong actively encourages Tibetan people to act against Shugden practitioners. After the false Dalai Lama, Samdhong is the source of this international problem.