The Treasury of Lives

Tenpa Rabgye, the Second Reting Rinpoche (rwa sgreng rin po che 02 bstan pa rab rgyas), was born in Litang (li thang), in 1759, the earth-hare year of the thirteenth sexagenary cycle. His father was Sonam Dargye (bsod nams dar rgyas) and his mother was Drolma Tso (sgrol ma mtsho).

He was said to have been an uncommon child and at the age of two his parents took him to Litang abbot Puntsok Gyatso (phun tshogs rgya mtsho, d.u.), who performed a purification ritual (byabs 'khrus) of the deity Vajravidarana (rdo rje rnam 'joms) for the child. At the age of six he was identified as the reincarnation of Ngawang Chokden, the Fifty-fourth Ganden Tripa (dga' ldan khri pa 54 ngag dbang mchog ldan, 1677-1751), and was given the name Lobzang Tenpa Dargye (blo bzang bstan pa dar rgyas), or Lobzang Tendar (blo bzang bstan dar).

His predecessor, Trichen Ngawang Chokden, had served as main tutor to the Seventh Dalai Lama Kelzang Gyatso (ta la'i bla ma 07 skal bzang rgya mtsho, 1708-1757). Consequently, the Lhasa government offered Tenpa Rabgye the Gyangtse Pelkor Chode (rgyal rtse dpal 'khor chos sde) Monastery in Tsang. He declined to accept the monastery, but later the government offered him Reting Monastery (rwa sgreng dgon), the Kadam monastery founded by Dromton Gyelwai Jungne ('brom ston rgyal ba'i 'byung gnas, 1004-1064) in 1057, and he made it his seat following his tenure on the golden throne. His reincarnations, based at Reting, thus took the title of Reting Rinpoche, and Trichen Ngawang Chokden was posthumously given the title of First Reting Rinpoche.

It should be noted that following the death of Trichen Ngawang Chokden, a boy born in 1752/53 had been identified as his reincarnation, but the boy died at the age of seven, prior to enthronement. Consequently, that boy was not counted in the line of Reting incarnations, and Tenpa Rabgye came to be considered the direct reincarnation of the Trichen.

Tenpa Rabgye was escorted to central Tibet and enthroned in an elaborate ceremony  in 1765. He was the eighth in the line of lineage-holders of Reting Monastery. He received an audience with the Eighth Dalai Lama, Jampel Gyatso (tA la'i bla ma 08 'jam dpal rgya mtsho, 1758-1804) at the Potala Palace in Lhasa. He received his thirty-six novitiate vows from the Sixth Paṇchen Lama, Lobzang Pelden Yeshe (paN chen bla ma 06 blo bzang dpal ldan ye shes, 1738-1780) who later gave him the teachings and empowerments of Cakrasaṃvara and Guhyasamāja and other tantric traditions. At the age of ten, he learned reading and writing under the tutorship of the Fifty-ninth Ganden Tripa Ngawang Chodrak (dga' ldan khri pa 59 ngag dang chos grags, 1710-1772) who later taught him the traditional philosophical texts.

In 1769 he matriculated at Je College of Sera Monastery (se ra byes grwa tshang), residing in the Samlo Chodzoling House (bsam blo chos mdzod gling khang tshan). He commenced his monastic education starting with elementary topics such as Collected Topics (bsdus grwa) and gradually came to study the five standard subjects of traditional Geluk scholastic education — Perfection of Wisdom (Prajñāpāramitā), Middle Way (Madhyamaka) philosophy, Abhidharma, Logical Reasoning (Pramāṇa), and the monastic codes (Vinaya) — under the tutorship of Keutsang Jampa Monlam (ke'u tshang byams pa smon lam, d.u.), the thirty-second abbot of Sera Je. In 1770, the Chinese Qing Emperor Qianlong (乾隆 r. 173601796) granted him the honorary title of “Hutuktu Archimen Nomihan.”

In 1780, at the age of twenty-one, he obtained the title of Geshe Lharampa (dge bshes lha ram pa), the highest degree in the Geluk tradition. In that same year he received the vows of full ordination from the Sixth Paṇchen Lama Lobzang Pelden Yeshe. He then enrolled in the Gyume Tantric College (gyud smad grwa tshang) for training in tantric theory and rituals. He received instruction from numerous teachers including Trichen Ngawang Chodrak and Keutsang Jampa Monlam. He also received teachings from the First Tsechokling Yongdzin, Yeshe Gyeltsen (tshe mchog gling yongs 'dzin 01 ye shes rgyal mtshan, 1713-1793), Pabongkhapa Gyatso Taye (pha bong kha pa rgya mtsho mtha' yas, d.u.), and Ngawang Chojor (rdo rje 'chang ngag dbang chos 'byor, d.u.).  He studied until the age of forty-five.

In 1806 at the instruction of the Eighth Dalai Lama, he tutored the Fourth Changkya, Yeshe Tenpai Gyeltsen (lcang skya 04 ye shes bstan pa'i rgyal mtshan, 1787-1846) in Drepung Monastery ('bras spungs dgon). He granted the vows of full ordination to Keutsang Choktrul Jamyang Monlam (ke'u tshang blo bzang 'jam dbyangs smon lam, d.u.), who became one of his close and important disciples.  In 1807 he gave a narrative transmission for about ten days on Tsongkhapa's Great Exposition of the Stages of the Path (lam rim chen mo) to thousands of monks.

Tenpa Rabgye's compositions include The Short Way to Accomplish Vajrayoginī (rje brtsun rdo rje rnal 'byor ma nA ro mkha' spyod sgrub pa'i mye lam), The Lineage Lamas of Stages of the Path to the Enlightenment (byang chub lam rim chen mo'i bla brgyud), and Answers to the Questions of Longdol Drungyik Damcho Yarpel (klong rdol drung yig dam chos yar 'phel gyi dri ba dris lan). In total, he composed fifty-five texts which were collected into four volumes.

Trichen Tenpa Rabgye passed away at the age of fifty-seven or fifty-eight in 1815, the wood-pig year of the fourteenth sexagenary cycle. Ngawang Yeshe Tsultrim Gyeltsen (ngag dbang ye shes tshul khrims rgyal mtshan) born in 1816 was identified as his reincarnation, the Third Reting Rinpoche.