Monks inside the Tashilumpo Monastery, located in Shigatse, Tibet. The Panchen Lama was swallowed by the earth for fourteen long years. Desperate, he attempted suicide several times in prison. It reappeared in 1978, but years of imprisonment and the threat of returning to prison silenced his public criticism. He worked in the shadow of the settlement between the Chinese and Tibetans and returned to Tibet in the spring of 1982 to die surrounded by mountains. Seven years later, died of a heart attack in his beloved monastery Tashilumpo at age 53. Many still think that he was poisoned by the Chinese Government.