Gendun Drup was born in a cowshed as the son of nomadic tribespeople, and raised as a shepherd until the age of seven. His birth name was Pema Dorje (). Later, he was placed in Nartang (Nar-thang) monastery, and by the middle of his life he had become one of the most esteemed scholar-saints in the country. Gendun Drup was a student of his uncle, the great scholar and reformer Tsongkhapa.
It is said that Palden Lhamo, the female guardian spirit of the sacred lake, Lhamo La-tso, promised the First Dalai Lama in one of his visions "that she would protect the reincarnation lineage of the Dalai Lamas." Since the time of Gendun Gyatso, the Second Dalai Lama, who formalised the system, monks have gone to the lake to seek guidance on choosing the next reincarnation through visions while meditating there.
In 1447, Gendun Drup founded the great monastery of Tashilhunpo at Shigatse, which was later to become the seat of the Panchen Lamas.
Gendun Drup had no political power. The political power was in the hands of viceroys like the Sakyas, the prince of Tsang and the Mongolian Khan. The political role of the Dalai Lama only began with the reign of the 5th Dalai Lama.
He remained the abbot of Tashilhunpo monastery until he died in 1474 at the age of eighty-four.
Some of the most famous texts Gendun Drup 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 Buddha Shakyamuni
- Song of the Eastern Snow Mountain, a poem dedicated to Je Tsongkhapa (Btsong-ka-pa)
- Praise of the Venerable Lady Khadiravani Tara, an homage to the Goddess Tara
Glenn H. Mullin's collection of translations of Gendun Drup's commentaries (Selected Works of the Dalai Lama I) is a good start to learning more about the writings and teachings of this prolific and important Tibetan Buddhist teacher.
Footnotes
Further reading
- Mullin, Glenn H. (2001). The Fourteen Dalai Lamas: A Sacred Legacy of Reincarnation, pp. 50-85. Clear Light Publishers. Santa Fe, New Mexico. ISBN 1-57416-092-3.
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Last updated on Saturday September 20, 2008 at 18:20:30 PDT (GMT -0700)
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