The Reincarnations of Desi Sangye Gyatso in Alasha and the Secret History of the Sixth Dalai Lama

AbstractThis paper deals with the history of the two lines of reincarnated lamas of the Baruun Heid monastery in Alasha and is written by the most senior representative of this tradition. According to The Biography of the Sixth Dalai Lama, sometimes called The Secret Biography, and according to the tradition of the Alasha Mongols, the Sixth Dalai Lama did not die in 1706 in the Khökhnuur area as described in standard histories. Instead he is said to have escaped while being taken to Beijing under custody and after various travels to have settled in Alasha, where he died in 1746. His disciples founded a monastery and two complementary reincarnation lines which combined the reincarnations of the de-throned Sixth Dalai Lama and those of Sangye Gyatso (1653–1705), the Tibetan regent or desi (sde srid) who had recognised him. The author, who is at the same time Professor of Linguistics at Inner Mongolia University and the current reincarnation of Sangye Gyatso, describes this widely discussed tradition and its re-emergence in Alasha after the Cultural Revolution