5th Dalai Lama

Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (Tibetan: ངག་དབང་བློ་བཟང་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, Wylie: ngag-dbang blo-bzang rgya-mtsho ) was the Fifth Dalai Lama: a key religious and temporal leader of Tibet who lived from 1617 to 1682. Gyatso is credited with unifying all Tibet after a protracted era of civil wars. As an independent head of state, he established diplomatic relations with China and other regional countries and also met early European explorers. Gyatso – who wrote 24 volumes' worth of scholarly and religious works on a wide range of subjects – was the first Dalai Lama to wield effective temporal and spiritual power over all Tibet, and is often referred to simply as the Great Fifth.

Early life

To understand the context within which the Dalai Lama institution came to hold temporal power in Tibet during the lifetime of the fifth, it may be helpful to review not just the early life of Lobsang Gyatso but also the world into which he was born, as Künga Migyur.

Künga Migyur's family

The child who would become the 5th Dalai Lama was born in the Chonggye Valley in Ü, south of the Yarlung Tsangpo River and about two days' journey south-east of Lhasa, to a prominent family of nobles with traditional ties to both Nyingma and Kagyu lineages. The aristocratic Zahor family into which he was born had held their seat since the 14th century at Taktsé Castle, south of Lhasa –  a legendary stronghold of Tibetan kings in the days of the early empire, before Songtsen Gampo (604-650 CE) had moved his capital from there to Lhasa.

Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama /ˈdɑːlaɪ ˈlɑːmə/ is a monk of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest of the schools of Tibetan Buddhism founded by Je Tsongkhapa. The 14th and current Dalai Lama is Tenzin Gyatso.

The Dalai Lama is considered to be the successor in a line of tulkus who are believed to be incarnations of Avalokiteśvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, called Chenrezig in Tibetan. The name is a combination of the Mongolic word dalai meaning "ocean" (being the translation of the Tibetan name, 'Gyatso') and the Tibetan word བླ་མ་ (bla-ma) meaning "guru, teacher, mentor". The Tibetan word "lama" corresponds to the better known Sanskrit word "guru".

From 1642 until the 1950s (except for 1705 to 1750), the Dalai Lamas or their regents headed the Tibetan government or Ganden Phodrang which governed all or most of the Tibetan plateau from Lhasa with varying degrees of autonomy, up to complete sovereignty. This government also enjoyed the patronage and protection of firstly Mongol kings of the Khoshut and Dzungar Khanates (1642–1720) and then of the emperors of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty (1720–1912).

Reise, Reise

Reise, Reise (German pronunciation: [ʁaɪzə, ʁaɪzə], a German wake-up call, literally "(a)rise, (a)rise", although it can also be interpreted as meaning "journey, journey", or as a command "travel, travel") is Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein's fourth studio album. It was released on September 27, 2004 in Germany and followed shortly by its release across Europe. It was released in North America on November 16, 2004. The album was recorded in a span of two years at El Cortijo Studios in Málaga, Spain. It was produced by the band themselves along with Swedish record producer Jacob Hellner. The album charted in the top ten in several European charts and was a number one hit in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Iceland, Finland, Estonia and Mexico. As of February 2006, the album has shipped 1.5 million copies globally.

Recording

The album was recorded in Spain (El Cortijo Studio, Malaga) and produced by Jacob Hellner and Rammstein. The band recorded several songs during the sessions for "Reise, Reise" which were omitted from the album's final track listing and were later released on their follow-up album Rosenrot. A statement from the band's management regarding the upcoming collection reads as follows: