The Ling incarnation is a very important Geluk incarnation line dating from the mid-17th century. The Ling lamas have traditionally served as tutors of the Dalai Lamas. The First Ling was the Forty Eighth Ganden Tripa, and the line has a seat at Loseling college of Drepung monastery in Lhasa.
Biographies
The Forty-Eighth Ganden Tripa, Dondrub Gyatso
b.1655 - d.1727
Dondrub Gyatso served as the Forty-eighth Ganden Tripa, from 1702 to 1708. He studied in Drepung Gomang and Gyume Colleges and later he served as abbot of both colleges. He also served as educator and choje at Ganden Jangtse College from where he ascended to the Golden Throne. He served as the tutor to the Sixth Dalai Lama and consequently faced problems with Lhazang Khan of Mongolia. Later, after his retirement, he settled in Jayul Chode for the remaining years of his life teaching his disciples there. He is the first in the line of the Ling Rinpoche incarnations.
The Second Ling Rinpoche, Gendun Tenpai Gyeltsen
b.1728 - d.1790
The Third Ling Rinpoche, Lobzang Tenpai Gyeltsen
b.1791 - d.1810
The Fourth Ling Rinpoche, Ngawang Lungtok Yonten Gyatso
b.1811? - d.1853
Ngawang Lungtok Yonten Gyatso, the Fourth Ling Rinpoche, was a Geluk lama who was educated in Drepung Loseling and Gyuto and ascended to the Golden Throne through Shartse as the Seventy-fifth Ganden Tripa. During his tenure he served as tutor to the Eleventh Dalai Lama.
The Fifth Ling Rinpoche, Lobzang Lungtok Tenzin Trinle
b.1850 - d.1902
The Sixth Ling Rinpoche, Thupten Lungtok Namgyal Trinley
b.1903 - d.1983
The Sixth Ling Rinpoche, Tubten Lungtok Namgyel Trinle, was one of the most renowned and respected Tibetan Buddhist masters of the twentieth century. He was a student of the Second Pabongkha and of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, in whose administration he served. In 1941 he became a tutor to the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, and, in 1964, he was elevated to the position of the Ninety-Seventh Ganden Tripa, the first man to hold the position in exile. During his tenure he supervised the reestablishment of Geluk institutions in India. Ling Rinpoche traveled extensively to Europe, the Americas, and East Asia.
