Lobsang Palden Yeshe, 6th Panchen Lama

Who was Lobsang Palden Yeshe, 6th Panchen Lama?

Lobsang Palden Yeshe was the Sixth Panchen Lama of Tashilhunpo Monastery in Tibet. He was the elder stepbrother of the 10th Shamarpa, Mipam Chödrup Gyamtso.

The Panchen Lama was distinguished by his writings and interest in the world. In 1762 he gave the Eighth Dalai Lama his pre-novice ordination at the Potala Palace and named him Jamphel Gyatso.

He befriended George Bogle, a Scottish adventurer and diplomat who had made an expedition to Tibet and stayed at Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse from 1774-1775. He negotiated with Warren Hastings, the Governor of India, through Bogle. The Rājā of Bhutan invaded Cooch Behar, in 1772 and Palden Yelde, tutor to the young Dalai Lama at the time, helped arbitrate the negotiations.

He also had dealings with Lama Changkya Hutukhtu, Counsellor of the Emperor of China and chief advisor on Tibetan affairs, about speculations that the Chinese god of war and patron of the Chinese dynasty, Guandi, was identical with Gesar, the hero of Tibet's main epic story, who was prophesied to return from Shambhala to Tibet to help it when the country and Buddhism were in difficulties. Others believed Guandi/Gesar was an incarnation of the Panchen Lama. Palden Yeshe wrote a half-mystical book about the road to Shambhala, the Prayer of Shambhala, incorporating real geographical features.