Khobilgan

Khobilgan (variously spelled as hobilgan, hobilhan, hubilgan, khubilgan, hubilkhan or khubilkhan) is a Mongolian term to refer to the higher and initiated Lamas of Tibet. This term is related to the idea of high lamas being the "incarnations" of different Buddhas.

Divine Reincarnations

A Tibetan Buddhist teaching is that some high lamas can be the reincarnation of different Buddhas of Bodhisattvas. In relation to this, H. P. Blavatsky wrote:

The Taley-Lamas of Tibet claim to be [reincarnations] of Buddha. The latter, by the way, are loosely called Shaberons and Hubilgans (both in various degrees reincarnations, not of Buddha, the MAN, but of his Buddha-like divine spirit).

The "reincarnations" of the "buddha-like spirit" at the time in Tibet were described by her as follows:

These five “Hubilgans” are distributed in the following order:

(1) Taley-Lama, of Lhasa, the incarnation of the “Spiritual passive wisdom,”—which proceeds from Gautama or Siddhartha Buddha, or Fo.
(2) Ban-dhe-chan Rim-po-che, at Tashi Lhünpo. He is “the active earthly wisdom.”
(3) Sa-Dcha-Fo, or the “Mouthpiece of Buddha,” otherwise the “word” at Ssamboo.
(4) Guison-Tamba—the “Precursor” (of Budda) at the Grand Kuren.

(5) Tchang-Zya-Fo-Lang, in the Altai mountains. He is called the “Successor” (of Buddha).

Shaberon

A related term is that of shaberon. According to Mme. Blavatsky, this is one degree lower than the Khobilgans, although sometimes she used the two terms as synonyms:

Shaberon (Tib.). The Mongolian Shaberon or Khubilgan (or Khubilkhans) are the reincarnations of Buddha, according to the Lamaïsts; great Saints and Avatars, so to say.

Blavatsky's term "shaberon" comes from the Tibetan zhabs-drung (also spelled as Zhabdrung or Shabdrung). This is supported by a quote in a famous book by the Russian Mongolianist Pozdneev, Sketches of the Life of Buddhist Monasteries and Clergy in Mongolia in which the original 1887 Russian edition, says in page 249:

What concerns the young hubilgans [= Tib. sprul-sku] they do not bear any titles in their first, second and even third reincarnation; moreover, they are rarely even called the "hubilgans", but more often they are known by the name 'shabron' which really means 'a young hubilgan'.

In Bhutan the title Shabdrung refers to Ngawang Namgyal (1594–1651), the founder of the Bhutanese state, or one of his successive reincarnations.

Chutuktu

Another related term seems to be that of chutuktu (also spelled as Hutuktu, Huthugtu, or Houtouktou). Mme. Blavatsky defines it as:

Chutuktu (Tib.). An incarnation of Buddha or of some Bodhisattva, as believed in Tibet, where there are generally five manifesting and two secret Chutuktus among the high Lamas.

Other related terms

H. P. Blavatsky also related this concept with that of Bodhisattvas and Nirmanakayas:

The five chief Bodhisattvas, or Hubilgans of Tibet, each of whom is the bodily temple of the spirit of one of the five Buddhas.

Thus a Nirmânakâya is not, as popularly believed, the body “in which a Buddha or a Bodhisattva appears on earth”, but verily one, who whether a Chutuktu or a Khubilkhan, an adept or a yogi during life, has since become a member of that invisible Host which ever protects and watches over Humanity within Karmic limits.