The Treasury of Lives

Lobzang Jigme Tsultrim Gyatso was the Eleventh Tongkhor (stong 'khor 11 blo bzang 'jigs med tshul khrims rgya mtsho) of the line based at Tongkhor Ganden Chokhor Ling (stong 'khor dgon dga' ldan chos 'khor gling), which had been established by the Fourth Tongkhor, Dogyu Gyatso (stong 'khor 04 mdo rgyud rgya mtsho, d. 1683), in 1646. He was born in 1891 in Tirge Jasak Detro (thir dge ja sag sde khrod).

In his youth he was recognized as the reincarnation of the Tenth Tongkhor Lobzang Tenpai Nyima (stong 'khor 10 blo bzang bstan pa'i nyi ma, 1883-1890). He was given lay vows and teachings by Aru Horchenpa Yeshe Gyatso (a ru hor chen pa ye shes rgya mtsho, 1860-1921).

He entered formal studies at Kumbum Monastery (sku 'bum), where, at the age of fifteen, he is said to have composed a text titled Captivation of Scholars: A Clarification of Thorny Epistemological Issues (gtan tshigs rigs pa'i dka' gnad dogs dpyod mkhas pa'i yid 'phrog).

In 1906 or 1907 he encountered the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, Tubten Gyatso (tA la'i bla ma 13 thub bstan rgya mtsho, 1876-1933), who had fled to Mongolia in 1904 in advance of the Younghusband invasion of Tibet, and was then traveling across Amdo and Kham. (His predecessor, the Ninth Tongkhor, Tubten Jigme Gyatso (stong 'khor 09 thub bstan 'jigs med rgya mtsho, 1820-1882), is said to have briefly tutored the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, although no details are available and it is difficult to place such an encounter.) The meeting likely occurred at Kumbum on route to Beijing in 1907 to meet with the Empress Dowager Cixi (慈禧, 1835-1908) and the child Emperor Xuantong (宣統, r.1908-1911). The young Tongkhor traveled with him as part of his entourage. The Dalai Lama returned to Lhasa in 1908.

The Eleventh Tongkhor passed away in 1909 at the age of nineteen.