Rabten Rinpoce

The extraordinary signs that were seen at the death of Gheșe Rabten in 1986 made his disciples realise that they were not only witnessing the death of a great teacher, but also that of a truly enlightened master. In the months following his death, while meditating, many students experienced an unusual closeness to Gheșe.

Gonsar Rinpoce, Geshe's most honoured and closest disciple, discovered his reincarnation three years later. After a painstaking series of consultations with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and various other authoritative sources, out of 180 possible candidates, Kelsang Tsering, son of Mr Tenzin Dargye and Mrs Pasang Gyalmo was confirmed as the true reincarnation of Geshe Rabten Rinpoce.

In the spring of 1998, at the Rabten Choeling monastery near Lake Geneva, Rabten Tulku Rinpoce (then aged ten) gave his first teaching to a group of two hundred people. Out of the blue and unprepared, young Rinpoce gave people advice on taking refuge. He spoke in the clear and special manner characteristic of the Rabten Cheetah. The listeners were deeply moved, with many of Gheșe Rabten's former disciples having tears in their eyes.

The remembrance of Cheetah that we have through his reincarnation, who manifested the clear signs of a great master from childhood, makes us believe that there is nothing more precious that can be offered to us in this life, even if we were to meet the enlightened Buddha in person.