Kalon Sangye Gyatso (1653–1705) was the sixth regent of the5th Dalai Lama (1617–1682), in theGanden Phodrang government. He founded theChagpori College of Medicine in 1694, aTraditional Tibetan medicine school for monks which grew in 1916 under the13th Dalai Lama to includeAstrology andAstronomy departments collectively called theMen-Tsee-Khang.[1] He wrote theBlue Beryl (Blue Sapphire) medical treatise,[2][3] and illustrated medical thankas. His name is sometimes written asSangye Gyamtso[4] andSans-rGyas rGya-mTsho[5]: 342, 351
In some accounts, Sangye Gyatso is believed to be the son of the "Great Fifth",[6] but he was born near Lhasa in September 1653, when the Dalai Lama had been absent on his trip to China for the preceding sixteen months.[7]: 264−322 [8] He ruled as the Kalon (regent) of the Dalai Lama and under his instructions hid the death of the Dalai Lama for 15 to 16 years while the infant6th Dalai Lama was growing up. During this period, he oversaw the completion of thePotala Palace, and warded off Chinese politicking.[citation needed]
He is also known for harboring disdain forTulku Dragpa Gyaltsen, although this monk died in 1656 when Sangye Gyatso was only three years old.[7]: 364−365 According to Lindsay G. McCune in her 2007 thesis, Sangye Gyatso refers in hisVaidurya Serpo to the monk as the "pot-bellied official" (nang so grod lhug) and states that following his death, he had an inauspicious rebirth.[9]
_from_Ornament_to_the_Mind_of_Medicine_Buddha-_Blue_Beryl_Lamp_Illuminating_Four_Tantras_written_around_the_year_1720_by_Desi_Sangye_Gyatso_(1653%25E2%2580%25931705)%2c_the_regent_(Desi)_of_the_5th_Dalai_Lama.png)
Sangye Gyatso founded the Chagpori College of Medicine in 1694, under the commission of the5th Dalai Lama. The college was designed for monastic scholars who would, after learning esoteric arts of medicine andtantrism serve the public as would other monk scholars and lamas. In 1916, the Chagpori College was re-established under the13th Dalai Lama as a school of medicine andAstrology calledMen-Tsee-Khang, also onChagpori or the 'Iron Mountain'.Khenrab Norbu, physician to the13th Dalai Lama, sponsored the construction of the Men-Tsee-Khang, while a second college of Tibetan medicine and astrology was also built inLhasa, possibly designed as a college for 'laypersons' who would, after receiving training, return to their rural areas to work as doctors and educators.[10]
An important part of Sangye Gyatso's contribution to medicine was his composition of theBlue Beryl Treatise and the preparation of a series of nearly 100 medical paintings illustrating medical theory and practice. These paintings were copied and distributed to several other monasteries. A set created in 1920 and preserved in Ulan Ude, Buryatia, was reproduced in facsimile together with a translation of theBlue Beryl Treatise and published in 1992.[2]
The tradition emphasizes the existence of five majorchakras, which are depicted inBlue Beryl as possessing twenty-four spokes, said to symbolize their ability to generate and link with the numerous subtle meridians or currents (Classical Tibetan:rsta). TheBrow andThroat centers are associated with the cosmic plane (stod); theHeart center to the human plane (bar); and theSolar andVitality centers to the earth plane (smad).[11]
Six medicinal substances were in common use inTibet when they appeared in theBlue Beryl Treatise:[12][2]
Sangye Gyatso became regent or Kalon of Tibet at the age of 26 in 1679. Three years later, in 1682, the5th Dalai Lama died. However, his demise was kept secret until 1696-97, and the Kalon governed Tibet.
From 1679 to 1684, the Ganden Phodrang fought in theTibet–Ladakh–Mughal War against theNamgyal dynasty of neighboringLadakh. Sangye Gyatso[5]: 342 : 351 and the KingDelek Namgyal of Ladakh[5]: 351–353 [13]: 171–172 agreed on theTreaty of Tingmosgang in the fortress ofTingmosgang at the conclusion of the war in 1684. The original text of the Treaty of Tingmosgang no longer survives, but its contents are referenced in theLadakh Chronicles.[14]: 37 : 38 : 40
He entertained close contacts withGaldan Boshugtu Khan, the ruler of the emergingDzungar Khanate of Inner Asia, with the aim of countering the role of theKhoshut Mongols in Tibetan affairs. The Khoshut Khans had functioned as protectors of Tibet since 1642 but their influence had been on the wane since 1655.
The reincarnation of the 5th Dalai Lama was born in 1683 and discovered two years later in southern Tibet. He was secretly educated inNankhartse while Sangye Gyatso proceeded to hide the death of his master. It was only in 1697 that the 15 year old6th Dalai Lama,Tsangyang Gyatso was installed.[15] This evoked great irritation from the QingKangxi Emperor who had not known about the matter, and furthermore saw himself as an enemy of the Dzungar protectors. Meanwhile, a new and ambitious Khoshut Mongolian came to power,Lhazang Khan.
The6th Dalai Lama turned out to be more similar to a yogi and preferred poetry-writing and the company of women over a structured monastic life. In 1702 he renounced his monastic vows and returned to layperson status while retaining his spiritual and political leadership roles. Sangye Gyatso was also the beloved Kalon of the 6th Dalai Lama. But in the next year, Sangye Gyatso formally turned over the regent title to his own son, Ngawang Rinchen, while keeping his executive powers.
A rift emerged within the Tibetan elite.Lha-bzang Khan was not content with the effaced state in which theKhoshut royal power had sunk. He set about to change this, while an accusation that Sangye Gyatso tried to poison the Khan and his chief minister. Matters came to their head during theMonlam Prayer Festival inLhasa in 1705, which followed theLosar (New Year), when at a meeting with the clergy Sangye Gyatso proposed to seize and execute Lha-bzang Khan.[citation needed] This was opposed by the clericJamyang Zhépa fromDrepung Monastery, the personal guru of Lha-bzang. Rather, Lha-bzang Khan was strongly recommended to leave forAmdo, the usual abode of theKhoshut elite. He pretended to comply and started his journey to the north.
However, when Lha-bzang Khan reached the banks of theNagchu River northeast ofÜ-Tsang, he halted and began to gather the Khoshut tribesmen. By the summer of 1705 he marched on Lhasa and divided his troops in three columns, one under his wife Tsering Tashi. When Sangye Gyatso heard about this he gathered the troops of Ü-Tsang,Ngari andKham close to Lhasa. He offered battle but was badly defeated with the loss of 400 men.[citation needed]
TheLobsang Yeshe, 5th Panchen Lama tried to mediate. Realizing that his situation was hopeless, Sangye Gyatso surrendered on condition that he was spared and was sent toGonggar Dzong, west of Lhasa. However, the vengeful Queen Tsering Tashi arrested Sangye Gyatso and brought him to the Tölung Valley, where he was killed, probably on 6 September 1705.[16]
After murdering the Dalai Lama's Kalon Sangye Gyatso, Lha-bzang Khan's forces together with Chinese forces kidnapped the 6th Dalai Lama in 1706 to take him toPeking. He disappeared along the route inAmdo, while his captors claimed he had died.[17] His captors then installed a pretender as the 6th Dala Lama, until the7th Dalai Lama was born and recognized.
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