Qoigyijabu

From Buddhist Encyclopedia

• Chinese :  确吉杰布
• Tibetan :  ཆོས་ཀྱི་རྒྱལ་པོ་

Qoigyijabu (born February 13, 1990) is, according to the government of the People's Republic of China, the eleventh incarnation of the Panchen Lama of Tibet. However, the Dalai Lama and the Government of Tibet in Exile, along with almost all of the Panchen Lama's followers outside of mainland China, hold that Gedhun Choekyi Nyima is the 11th Panchen Lama. Qoigyijabu's secular name is Gyaincain Norbu.

Following the unexpected death of the 10th Panchen Lama in 1989, the search for his reincarnation quickly became enmired in political controversy. Chadrel Rinpoche, the head of the search committee, was able to secretly communicate with the Dalai Lama. However, after the Dalai Lama announced Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the new Panchen Lama, Chinese authorities arrested Chadrel Rinpoche, who was replaced with Sengchen Lobsang Gyaltsen. Sengchen had been a political opponent of the previous Panchen Lama, as had the Dalai Lama himself. The new search committee determined to ignore the Dalai Lama's announcement, and chose the Panchen Lama from a list of finalists, which did not include Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, by drawing lots from the Golden Urn. This tradition had been introduced in the 1792 by the Qianlong Emperor of China to deal with a previous controversy.

Using the Urn, Gyancain Norbu, a six-year-old child from Lhari County, Tibet Autonomous Region, was selected and proclaimed the Panchen Lama, with the religious name Erdini Qoigyijabu. He was enthroned at Tashilhunpo Monastery and has since assumed the full functions of Panchen Lama. He had been living in Beijing during his childhood to be educated in a Chinese way, and moved back to Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse, the official seat of the Panchen Lamas. He developed altitude sickness when he just moved back, but overcame it quickly. As of 2006, according to the Associated Press, Qoigyijabu "is believed to live in Beijing amid intense secrecy and is almost never seen in public." He made a rare visit to Tashilhunpo in September 2006.

Names

Gyaincain Norbu's full religious name is Jizün Losang Qamba Lhünzhub Qoigyijabu Baisangbu, although he is generally called Qoigyijabu. Meaning "Dharma king", this name can also be written Chökyi Gyalpo, Choekyi Gyalpo, or, in Wylie transliteration, Chos-kyi Rgyal-po. The Chinese equivalent is Quèjí Jiébù (确吉杰布).

The name Gyaincain Norbu (རྒྱལ་མཚན་ནོར་བུ་ Wylie: Rgyal-mtshan Nor-bu) can also be written Gyaencaen Norbu, Gyancain Norbu, or Gyaltsen Norbu.

External links

• China Tibet Information Center - The 11th Panchen Lama
• News article with photos on 2004 meeting between Erdini Qoigyijabu and Raidi, a high-ranking ethnic Tibetan party official. (Simplified Chinese)
• BBC News article - "Tibet's missing spiritual guide"