Tsongkhapa The Gelug school was founded by
Je Tsongkhapa, an eclectic Buddhist monk and yogi who traveled Tibet studying under Kadam,
Sakya,
Drikung Kagyu,
Jonang and
Nyingma teachers. These include the Sakya scholar
Rendawa (1349–1412), the Drikung Thil scholar Chenga Chokyi Gyalpo, the Kadam mystic Lama Umapa, the Jonang master Bodong Chokley Namgyal and the Dzogchen master Drupchen Lekyi Dorje. A great admirer of the
Kadam school, Tsongkhapa merged the Kadam teachings of
lojong (mind training) and
lamrim (stages of the path) with the Vajrayana teachings of the Sakya, Kaygu and Jonang schools. He also emphasized monasticism and a strict adherence to
vinaya (monastic discipline). He combined this with extensive and unique writings on
madhyamaka,
Buddhist epistemology, and Buddhist practice. Tsongkhapa's numerous works on philosophy and tantric practice were widely influential and they marked a turning point in the history of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. Tsongkhapa and his disciples founded
Ganden monastery in 1409, which was followed by the founding of
Drepung (1416) and
Sera (in 1419), which became the "great three" Gelug monasteries (and eventually they would become some of the largest
monasteries in the world).
Early growth , and the First Dalai Lama After the death of Tsongkhapa in 1419 (who at the time was already famous and had attracted numerous disciples) the Gelug (a.k.a. Ganden) order grew extremely quickly through the efforts of Tsongkhapa's disciples who founded numerous new monasteries and spread the doctrine throughout Tibet. The Gelug school developed a reputation for strict adherence to monastic discipline (
vinaya) and rigorous scholarship as well as for tantric practice. Tsongkhapa's three principal disciples were
Khedrup Gelek Palsang,
Gyaltsap Darma Rinchen and Dülzin Drakpa Gyaltsen. Other important students of Tsongkhapa were Tokden Jampel Gyatso; Jamyang Chöjé and Jamchen Chöjé (the founders of Drepung and Sera monasteries, respectively); and Gendün Drup the
First Dalai Lama." By the end of the fifteenth century, Tsongkhapa had come to be seen as a second Buddha among in the Gelug tradition, and various
hagiographies were written by his disciples (like Khedrup Je and Tokden Jampel Gyatso). These texts developed the great myths of the Buddha Tsongkhapa (including stories of his previous births and his various mystical visions) and helped established the new identity of the Gelug school as an authentic lineage (traced back to
Manjushri). Meanwhile, among the other Tibetan schools, Tsongkhapa now came to be considered "a force to be reckoned with, someone whose vision, ideas, and writings had to be understood in relation to their own cherished lineage and tradition." This debate over Tsongkhapa's madhyamaka interpretation was then taken up by a trio of Sakya school thinkers:
Taktsang Lotsawa,
Gorampa, and Shākya Chokden. Their critique would be countered by the works of numerous Gelug scholars, such as Lekpa Chöjor (a.k.a. Jamyang Galo, 1429–1503), the first
Panchen Lama Lozang Chökyi Gyaltsen (1507–1662), Jetsun Chökyi Gyaltsen (1469–1544/46), Sera Jetsun Chökyi Gyaltsen, Panchen Delek Nyima and
Jamyang Zhepa (1648–1751).
The Dalai Lamas and spread to Mongolia In 1577
Sönam Gyatso, who was considered to be the third incarnation of
Gendün Drup, formed an alliance with the then most powerful
Mongol leader,
Altan Khan. As a result, Sönam Gyatso was designated as the
3rd Dalai Lama. "Dalai" is a translation into Mongolian of the Tibetan name "Gyatso" (ocean). Gendün Drup and
Gendun Gyatso were posthumously recognized as the 1st and 2nd
Dalai Lamas respectively. Sönam Gyatso was very active in proselytizing among the
Mongols, and the Gelug tradition was to become the
main religion of the Mongols in the ensuing centuries. Sönam Gyatso traveled to
Mongolia, and supported the establishment of monasteries and the translation of Buddhist texts to
Mongolian. He also worked against certain
shamanistic practices such as
animal sacrifice and blood sacrifices. This turn of events provided the Gelug school with powerful patrons who were to propel them to political pre-eminence in Tibet. The Gelug-Mongol alliance was further strengthened as after Sonam Gyatso's death, his incarnation was found to be Altan Khan's great-grandson, who became the
4th Dalai Lama. The influence of the Gelug school on Mongolian Buddhism remains strong today. According to Thupten Jinpa "an important legacy of this relationship has been the tradition of young Mongols studying at the great Geluk centers of learning in Amdo and central Tibet."
The rule of the Great Fifth painting of the 5th Dalai Lama meeting the
Shunzhi Emperor in
Beijing, 1653 Following violent strife among the sects of
Tibetan Buddhism, the Gelug school emerged as the dominant one, with the military help of the Mongol
Güshri Khan who invaded Tibet in 1642 in order to defeat the king of
Tsang. According to Tibetan historian
Samten Karmay,
Sonam Chophel (1595–1657), treasurer of the Ganden Palace, was the prime architect of the Gelug's rise to political power. Later he received the title
Desi [Wylie:
sde-sris], meaning "Regent", which he would earn through his efforts to establish Gelugpa power. The
5th Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (1617–1682), was the first in his line to hold full political and spiritual power in Tibet. He established a formal
theocratic system of government, opened diplomatic relations with
Qing dynasty China, built the
Potala Palace in
Lhasa, institutionalized the Tibetan state
Nechung Oracle, and spurred a major renaissance in art and book printing. The core leadership of this government was also referred to as the
Ganden Phodrang. According to Thupten Jinpa, the 5th Dalai Lama's rule "would bring Tibet into a semblance of political unity for the first time since the collapse of the Tibetan empire some seven hundred years earlier." According to Jinpa "the Fifth Dalai Lama was personally an ecumenist who revered Tibet’s other major Buddhist traditions, especially the
Nyingma." The "Great Fifth" wrote numerous works and revealed a cycle of Dzogchen teachings. One of his students (and political successor as regent),
Desi Sangye Gyatso was also known as a great scholar who wrote various works on topics like
Tibetan medicine, astrology, biography and calligraphy. He is the author of the important Tibetan medical text,
The Mirror of Beryl, commissioned a set of medical paintings and wrote a biography of the Fifth Dalai Lama. This is the beginning of the
Panchen Lama tulku line, who traditionally rules
Shigatse and the
Tsang region from his base at
Tashilhunpo Monastery. The institutions of the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama each participate in the process of recognizing each other's reincarnations. Lobsang Chökyi Gyaltsen was a prolific scholar and a great yogi who is particularly known for his writings on Gelug
Mahamudra (mainly his root text
Highway of the Conquerors and its auto-commentary
Lamp re-illuminating Mahamudra). The Fifth Dalai Lama is also known for having recognized
Zanabazar (1635–1723) as the first official
Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, the spiritual leader (
Bogd Gegeen) of the Mongolian Gelug tradition. Zanabazar was a great Mongolian polymath who excelled in painting, sculpture, poetry, scholarship and languages. He is credited with having launched a renaissance of Mongolian culture in the seventeenth century, with having created the
Soyombo script and with widely promoting Buddhism among the Mongols. Zanabazar also oversaw the construction of numerous major Gelug monasteries in Mongolia, such as
Shankh Monastery,
Tövkhön Monastery and
Erdene Zuu Monastery. The rule of the 5th Dalai Lama also oversaw the repression of the schools of Tibetan Buddhism who were political enemies of the Gelug school and had supported the Tsang dynasty. After the war, many Kagyu and Jonang monasteries were forcefully converted to Gelug monasteries. The writings of the Jonang school as well any literature from the Sakya masters who had attacked Tsongkhapa were also banned and their woodblock prints were locked away.
17 and 18th centuries The
Sixth Dalai Lama (1683–1706) was an unconventional figure who liked to live as a layperson, refused monastic vows, drank alcohol, slept with women and wrote love poems and
erotic poems. His verses are an important part of Tibetan poetry. His successor, the
7th Dalai Lama, was also a noted poet, but he wrote mainly on Buddhist and spiritual themes. The 7th Dalai Lama Kelzang Gyatso was a highly learned Buddhist scholar and wrote hundreds of titles on various Buddhist topics. During the time of the 7th, Tibet also became a protectorate of the
Qing Empire under the
Kangxi Emperor (r. 1661–1722). The 8th, 9th, 10th. 11th and 12th Dalai Lamas all died young and were not significant figures. Tibet was ruled by a series of regents during this period and experienced much political instability. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Gelug figures continued to produce new scholastic works. The development of the "tenets" (
Tib.
grub mtha',
Skt.
siddhanta) genre (a form of
doxography) became a particularly important element of Gelug education and scholarship. Perhaps the most influential Gelug doxographer was the great scholar
Jamyang Shéba (1648– 1721), who wrote
Roar of the Five-Faced [Lion], a series of verses on tenets
, and a huge commentary to this root text (around 530 folios), called
Great Exposition on Tenets. According to Daniel Cozort, Jamyang's works "are the most comprehensive of the tenets texts" (in Tibetan Buddhism). His reincarnation, Gönchok Jikmé Ongpo (1728–1791), is also known for his shorter tenets text called
Precious Garland of Tenets as well as other works on the bodhisattva path. During the 18th century, Thuken Losang Chökyi Nyima (1737–1802), a student of Changkya, took the tenets genre one step further with his
Crystal Mirror of Philosophical Systems. According to Roger R. Jackson, this text is "arguably the widest-ranging account of religious philosophies ever written in pre-modern Tibet." This work of
comparative philosophy and
comparative religion discusses all schools of Tibetan Buddhism,
Chinese Buddhism and
Chinese religions as well as
Indian,
Mongolian and
Khotanese religious systems.
The 19th century The 19th century saw the great figure of
Shabkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol (1781–1851) who was an influential Gelug monk, poet and
Dzogchen yogi who is particularly known for his non-sectarian study of various Tibetan Buddhist traditions, especially the Gelug and
Nyingma traditions. His writings on non-sectarianism prefigure the rise of the
Rime movement by about three decades. His autobiography and other works integrate the teachings of the Gelug tradition with that of the Nyingma school. Another Gelug master who was associated with non-sectarian activity was Minyak Kunzang Sonam (1823–1905). He was a Dzogchen practitioner and one of the four great Dharma heirs of the Nyingma master
Patrul Rinpoche. During the era of the
13th Dalai Lama (1876–1933) Tibet reclaimed its independence from China and went through some reforms and modernization activities. The 13th focused on centralizing and modernizing the Tibetan state through developing a modern tax system, military, police and administration. These changes brought about some conflict from the elite Gelug institutions who were used to running their own finances, the most shocking of which was when the
9th Panchen Lama fled for China after losing a power struggle with the Dalai lama. The 13th Dalai Lama also launched a new modern printing of the Tibetan Buddhist canon. The 20th century saw several influential figures emerge from Gelug institutions, including
Gendün Chöphel (1903–1951) and
Pabongkha Déchen Nyingpo (1878–1941). During the reign of the 13th Dalai Lama, the so-called "
Dorje Shugden controversy" began, spearheaded by the sectarian tendencies of Pabongkha. This division within the Gelug order was based on the worship of a protector deity named
Dorje Shugden who was said to punish Gelugs who entered into practices from other Buddhist schools. 13th Dalai Lama (who himself practiced
Nyingma Dzogchen and the deity
Vajrakilaya) opposed this sectarianism.
PRC era, diaspora and the West with the 14th Dalai Lama,
Thupten Jinpa and
Richard Davidson at
Mind and Life Institute XXVI conference, 2013. The Mind and Life institute has been a series of dialogues on Buddhism and science, and these have influenced the field of
contemplative science. After the
Annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China and thousands of Tibetan monasteries were destroyed or damaged (mainly during the
1959 Tibetan uprising and the
Cultural Revolution of 1966–1976), and many Gelug monks, including the
14th Dalai Lama fled the country to
India as part of the
Tibetan diaspora. The three major Gelug monastic colleges (Sera, Drepung and Ganden) were recreated in India. The Dalai Lama's current seat is
Namgyal Monastery at
Dharamshala, this monastery also maintains a branch monastery in
Ithaca, New York. The
14th Dalai Lama is a central leader of the modern Tibetan diaspora and continues to advocate for Tibetan autonomy and human rights as well as continuing to teach Tibetan Buddhism throughout the world. The Dalai Lama has met with numerous political and religious leaders, as well as scientists and philosophers and promotes
nonviolence,
interfaith dialogue, and the dialogue between
Buddhism and science. The
Dalai Lama has become one of the world's most admired religious figures. Numerous other Gelug teachers now teach in the West and Gelug centers have become a regular part of
Western Buddhism. Perhaps the largest religious organization associated with the Gelug tradition is the
Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, founded in 1975 by
Thubten Yeshe and
Thubten Zopa Rinpoche. The organization runs numerous meditation centers, several monasteries such as
Nalanda monastery in France and as well
Maitripa College. Other influential Gelug lamas who have taught western Buddhists include
Ngawang Wangyal,
Lhundub Sopa (who founded
Deer Park Buddhist Center and Monastery),
Geshe Rabten,
Choden Rinpoche,
Kyabje Yongzin Ling Rinpoche,
Geshe Lhakdor, and
Dhardo Rinpoche. Some Gelug lamas also went on to receive a modern western
university education and became
published academics, such as
Gelek Rinpoche,
Geshe Thupten Jinpa,
Geshe Gyeltsen, and
Sonam Thakchoe. Some western students of diaspora Gelug lamas (some of which spent time as monastics) have also become scholars of Buddhism as well as translators and teachers, including
Alexander Berzin,
B. Alan Wallace,
Robert Thurman,
Robina Courtin,
Jeffrey Hopkins,
Donald S. Lopez Jr., José Cabezón,
Guy Martin Newland,
Nicholas Vreeland,
Barry Kerzin,
Glenn H. Mullin, and
Gareth Sparham. An
American Gelug
bhiksuni,
Thubten Chodron, is the founder and abbess of
Sravasti Abbey, the only Tibetan Buddhist training monastery for Western
bhiksunis (fully ordained female monastics) and
bhikkus (fully ordained male monastics) in the United States. After the brutal repression of Buddhism during the
Maoist period, three Gelug scholars became important figures in the revival of Tibetan studies in the
People's Republic of China. These were known as the “Three Polymaths”, which were Tséten Zhabdrung (1910–1985), Mugé Samten (1914–1993), and Dungkar Lozang Trinlé (1927–1997). The Mongolian Gelug school under by the
9th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu, led
the revival of Mongolian Buddhism after the
fall of communist rule in Mongolia in 1990. The Gelug tradition also has a strong traditional presence in modern Russian Republics like
Buryatia,
Kalmykia and
Tuva. ==Teachings==