The 1st Dalai Lama, Gedun Drupa (; 1391–1474) was a student of

Je Tsongkhapa Tsongkhapa ( Tibetan: ཙོང་ཁ་པ་, '','' meaning: "the man from Tsongkha" or "the Man from Onion Valley", c. 1357–1419) was an influential Tibetan Buddhist monk, philosopher and tantric yogi, whose activities led to the format ...

, and became his first

Khenpo The term khenpo (Tib. མཁན་པོ། mkhen po), or khenmo (in the feminine) is a degree for higher Buddhist studies given in Tibetan Buddhism. In the Nyingma, Kagyu, and Sakya traditions, the title is awarded usually after a period of 13 ...

(Abbott) at

Ganden Monastery Ganden Monastery (also Gaden or Gandain) or Ganden Namgyeling or Monastery of Gahlden is one of the "great three" Gelug university monasteries located in Dagzê County, Lhasa, Tibet. The other two are Sera Monastery and Drepung Monastery. Gan ...

. He also founded

Tashi Lhunpo Monastery Tashi Lhunpo Monastery () is an historically and culturally important monastery in Shigatse, the second-largest city in Tibet. Founded in 1447 by the 1st Dalai Lama, it is the traditional monastic seat of the Panchen Lama. The monastery was sa ...

in Shigaste. He was posthumously awarded the spiritual title of

Dalai Lama The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣识一切瓦齐尔达喇达赖喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shu ...

Biography

Gedun Drupa was born in a cow-shed in Gyurmey Rupa near Sakya in the Tsang region of central Tibet, the son of Gonpo Dorjee and Jomo Namkha Kyi, nomadic tribespeople. He was raised as a shepherd until the age of seven. His birth name (according to the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center, his personal name) was Péma Dorjee (, "

Vajra The Vajra (, , ), is a legendary and ritualistic tool, symbolizing the properties of a diamond (indestructibility) and a thunderbolt (irresistible force). It is also described as a "ritual weapon". The use of the bell and vajra together as s ...

Lotus").

Ordination

Later he was placed in

Narthang Monastery 290px, Racks of printing blocks, Narthang Monastery Narthang Monastery is a monastery located west of Shigatse in Tibet. Founded in 1153 by Tumtön Lodrö Drakpa, a student of Sharawa Yonten Drak. Narthang was an influential Kadam monastery ...

. In 1405, he took his '' getsul'' (novitiate) vows from the abbot of Narthang, Khenchen Drupa Sherap. When he was 20 years old, in about 1411 received the name Gedun Drupa upon taking the vows of a '' bhikṣu'' (monk) from the abbot of Narthang Monastery. Also at this age he became a student of the scholar and reformer

(1357–1419), who some say was his uncle. Around this time he also became the first abbot of

, founded by Tsongkhapa himself in 1409.

Career

By the middle of his life, Gedun Drupa had become one of the most esteemed scholar-saints in the country. Gedun Drupa founded the major monastery of

Shigatse Shigatse, officially known as Xigazê () or Rikaze ( zh, s=日喀则, p=Rìkāzé), is a prefecture-level city of the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Its area of jurisdiction, with an area of , corresponds to the histo ...

, which later became the seat of the

Panchen Lama The Panchen Lama () is a tulku of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The Panchen Lama is one of the most important figures in the Gelug tradition, with its spiritual authority second only to the Dalai Lama. Along with the council of high la ...

s. Gedun Drupa did not hold national political power. It was in the hands of viceroys such as the Sakyas, the prince of Tsang, and the Mongolian

Khagan Khagan or Qaghan (Middle Mongol:; or ''Khagan''; ) or zh, c=大汗, p=Dàhán; ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakhan, Khaqan, Xagahn, Qaghan, Chagan, Қан, or Kha'an is a title of empire, im ...

. The Tibetan national political leadership positions of the successive Dalai Lamas began much later during the reign of the

5th Dalai Lama The 5th Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (; ; 1617–1682) was recognized as the 5th Dalai Lama, and he became the first Dalai Lama to hold both Tibet's political and spiritual leadership roles. He is often referred to simply as the Great Fif ...

, in 1642. He remained the Khenpo of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery until he died while meditating in 1474 at the age of 84 (83 by Western reckoning).

Legends

Tradition states that

Palden Lhamo Palden Lhamo ("Glorious Goddess",Volkmann, Rosemarie: "Female Stereotypes in Tibetan Religion and Art: the Genetrix/Progenitress as the Exponent of the Underworld" ''in'' , )Dowman, Keith. (1988). ''The Power-Places of Central Tibet: The Pilgri ...

, the female guardian spirit of the

sacred lake Sacred waters are sacred natural sites characterized by tangible topographical land formations such as rivers, lakes, springs, reservoirs, and oceans, as opposed to holy water which is water elevated with the sacramental blessing of a cleric. Th ...

Lhamo La-tso Lhamo Latso or Lha-mo La-tso () is a small oval oracle lake where senior Tibetan monks of the Gelug sect go for visions to assist in the discovery of reincarnations of the Dalai Lamas. Other pilgrims also come to seek visions. It is considered t ...

, promised the First Dalai Lama in one of her visions "...that she would protect the reincarnation lineage of the Dalai Lamas." Since the time of

Gedun Gyatso The 2nd Dalai Lama, Gedun Gyatso, (, "Sublimely Glorious Ocean of Spiritual Aspirants", 1475–1542) was also known as Yonten Phuntsok, or Gedun Gyatso Palzangpo. He was ordained at Tashilhunpo Monastery at Shigatse, and later resided at Drepung ...

, who formalized the system, monks have gone to the lake to meditate when seeking visions with guidance on finding the next reincarnation.

Notable contemporaries

The

Samding Dorje Phagmo The Samding Dorje Phagmo () is the highest female tulku, incarnation in Tibet''The Power-places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide'', (1988) p. 268. Keith Dowman. . and the third highest-ranking person in the hierarchy after the Dalai Lama and ...

(1422–1455), the highest female incarnation in Tibet, was a contemporary of Gedun Drupa. Her teacher, the

Bodongpa The Bodongpa or Bodong tradition, is one of the smaller traditions of Tibetan Buddhism falling outside the classification of the four main schools. History Bodong E Monastery (), located in Yutok (), in modern Tashigang (), Lhatse County, was ...

Panchen Chogley Namgyal was also one of his teachers; he received many

teachings A school of thought, or intellectual tradition, is the perspective of a group of people who share common characteristics of opinion or outlook of a philosophy, discipline, belief, social movement, economics, cultural movement, or art movement. ...

and empowerments from him.

Works

Some of the most famous texts Gedun Drupa wrote were: * ''Sunlight on the Path to Freedom'', a commentary on Abhidharma-kosa * ''Crushing the Forces of Evil to Dust'', an epic poem on the life and liberating deeds of

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist lege ...

* ''Song of the Eastern Snow Mountain'', a poem dedicated to

* ''Praise of the Venerable Lady Khadiravani Tara'', an homage to Tara

References

Works cited

* * * *

External links

Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drupa, Gedun 1391 births 1474 deaths *1 Tibetan writers Tibetan people 15th-century Tibetan people