About Reting Monastery
Reting Monastery is about 150 km from Lhasa. Reting Monastery, at an elevation of 4,150m, is the seat of the Reting Rinpoche: this lineage started in the eighteenth century when the seventh Dalai Lama appointed his tutor as abbot of Reting.
The monastery dates back to 1056. It was initially associated with Atisha but in its later years it had an important connection with the Gulugpa order and the Dalai Lamas. Reting Monastery is 25 km from the crossroads settlement of Phongdo, which has a ruined dzong and is overlooked by a mountain of near-perfect conical proportions. There are a handful of shops and restaurants here.
The current main assembly hall, or Tsogchen, is half its original size. Enter the hall to the right to get to the main inner shrine, the Utse (women not allowed). The central statue of Jampai Dorje is an unusual amalgam of the gods Jampelyang, Chana Dorje and Chenresig.
To the left is an ancient Thangka of Drolma that, accoeding to the resident monks, was brought here by Atisha himself. A wooden box beside the altar holds the giant molar of Sangye Wosong, the Buddha before Sakyamuni. To the left of the Utse is a rare mural of the fourteenth Dalai Lama. To the right of the entrance is a picture of the current Reting Rinpoche. In front of the entrance is a platform used for creating sand mandalas. Behind the Utse is a storeroom stuffed with Tantric drums and Buddha statues.
As you leave the chapel look for a second hall to your right. The hall contains a gold chorten with the remains of the sixth Reting Rinpoche. Lining the back wall are statues of all 6 previous Reting Rinpoches. The metal box in the right cornr holds a giant Thangka, unveiled once a year.
Tips of Reting Monastery
- Every Wednesday in the Drepung Monastery, there is a grand sutra-reading event.
- You’d better take a cab to there, because if you go by bus, you have to climb a mountain for half another to get Drepung Monastery.
