Samding Dorje Phagmo Deqinquzhen

Samding Dorje Phagmo Deqinquzhen (Chinese: 桑顶· 多吉帕姆· 德钦曲珍; born February 8, 1942, according to the Tibetan calendar) is the only living female Buddha in China to have the title of Great Khutuktu.

Birth

Deqingquzhen's father, Rendian Jiebu, is a manor housekeeper. Prophecies predicted that a living female Buddha would come to Rendian Jeb's family as early as before her birth. Deqingquzhen got a severe illness shortly after her birth. After begging the gods for help, she was sent to Lhasa Lun Nun Temple. That year, Sangding Monastery came to choose the living Buddha. She recognized the item used by the previous female living Buddha.

Life

In the 1980s, Sangding Monastery was rebuilt, and the Deqinquzhen resumed the annual Gangjasa puja. She eventually chose to stay in Lhasa and practice at home, and the yearly grand “Gangjasa” puja was the only chance for the disciples to see her. After leaving Sangding Monastery, Dechen Chögyam established his family and regained a secular life.

Once-in-a-lifetime “alchemy” ritual

Living female Buddha Deqinquzhen completed her once-in-a-lifetime “alchemy” ceremony in 1994. Living Buddhas preside over the “Flower Dew Pill Ceremony," a common religious activity in Tibetan Buddhist temples. However, the female living Buddha only does it once in each lifetime. In 1994, the female living Buddha in the Sangdeng temple held a grand “flower dew pill alchemy” ceremony, finally completing her long-cherished wish for many years. There are tens of thousands of believers who came from faraway. Female living Buddha's “alchemy” ceremony lasted nearly half a month. People held the precious pills and offered khat to the female living Buddha, wishing her success.