Desi Sangye Gyatso (1653–1705) was the sixth regent (desi) of the 5th Dalai Lama (1617–1682) in the Ganden Phodrang government. He founded the School of Medicine and Astrology called Men-Tsee-Khang on Chagpori in 1694 and wrote the Blue Beryl treatise. His name is sometimes written as Sangye Gyamtso and Sans-rGyas rGya-mTsho
Desi Sangye Gyatso
A drawing from the Blue Beryl illustrating the Tibetan Buddhist view of the chakras (rsta-khor) and sushumna (dbu-ma).
Six common medicinal herbs in Tibet
Desi Sangye Gyatso
Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso was the 5th Dalai Lama and the first Dalai Lama to wield effective temporal and spiritual power over all Tibet. He is often referred to simply as the Great Fifth, being a key religious and temporal leader of Tibetan Buddhism and Tibet. Gyatso is credited with unifying all Tibet under the Ganden Phodrang after a Mongol military intervention which ended a protracted era of civil wars. As an independent head of state, he established relations with the Qing empire and other regional countries and also met early European explorers. Gyatso also wrote 24 volumes' worth of scholarly and religious works on a wide range of subjects.
Shigatse, 2009.
Tashilhunpo Monastery, 1938 Tibet expedition photograph by Ernst Schäfer in German Federal Archives.
View of Potala from 5th Dalai Lama's private Lukhang temple, December, 2008.
The Potala from behind: July, 2005.