Khedrup Gelek Pelzang, 1st
Panchen Lama
The Panchen Lama () is a tulku of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. Panchen Lama is one of the most important figures in the Gelug tradition, with its spiritual authority second only to Dalai Lama. Along with the council of high lamas, he ...
(1385–1438 CE) – better known as Khedrup Je – was one of the main disciples of
Je Tsongkhapa
Tsongkhapa ('','' 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 formation of the Gelug school of Tibetan Budd ...
, whose reforms to
Atiśa
( bn, অতীশ দীপংকর শ্রীজ্ঞান, ôtiś dīpôṅkôr śrigyen; 982–1054) was a Buddhist religious leader and master. He is generally associated with his work carried out at the Vikramashila monastery in Biha ...
's
Kadam tradition are considered the beginnings of the
Gelug
file:DalaiLama0054 tiny.jpg, 240px, 14th Dalai Lama, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Kalachakra ceremony, Bodh Gaya, Bodhgaya (India).
The Gelug (, also Geluk; "virtuous ...
school of
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...
.
Khedrub Je is considered to be an emanation of
Manjusri
Mañjuśrī (Sanskrit: मञ्जुश्री) is a ''bodhisattva'' associated with '' prajñā'' (wisdom) in Mahāyāna Buddhism. His name means "Gentle Glory" in Sanskrit. Mañjuśrī is also known by the fuller name of Mañjuśrīkumārab ...
, the
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 tradition, he was ...
of Wisdom.
Recognition
Khedrub Je was posthumously decided by the
5th Dalai Lama
Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (; ; 1617–1682) was the 5th Dalai Lama and the first Dalai Lama to wield effective temporal and spiritual power over all Tibet. He is often referred to simply as the Great Fifth, being a key religious and temporal leader ...
to have been a previous incarnation of
Lobsang Chökyi Gyaltsen, 4th Panchen Lama
Losang Chö kyi Gyaltsen () (1570–1662) was the fourth Panchen Lama of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism and the first to be accorded this title during his lifetime.
Losang Chö kyi Gyaltsen was the teacher and close ally of the 5th Dalai ...
(1570–1662). Like all the
Panchen Lama
The Panchen Lama () is a tulku of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. Panchen Lama is one of the most important figures in the Gelug tradition, with its spiritual authority second only to Dalai Lama. Along with the council of high lamas, he ...
s, he is considered to be an incarnation of
Amitābha
Amitābha ( sa, अमिताभ, IPA: ), also known as Amitāyus, is the primary Buddha of Pure Land Buddhism. In Vajrayana Buddhism, he is known for his longevity, discernment, pure perception, purification of aggregates, and deep awarene ...
Buddha. Traditionally, there were considered to be four Indian and three Tibetan incarnations before Khedrup, starting with
Subhuti, one of the original disciples of
Gautama Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...
.
According to the legend, after Tsongkhapa died in 1419, his disciple Khedrub Jey on five occasions met with him in mystical states. Kedrub Jey is most remembered for his charisma as a teacher, as well as for the many excellent commentaries that he wrote on the
tantric lineages which Tsongkhapa gathered together and elucidated. He played an important role in the education of the First Dalai Lama, who was the youngest of Tsongkhapa's five chief disciples.
Background
![Khedrub Geleg Pal Zangpo, thangka, circa 1800](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Khedrub_Geleg_Pal_Zangpo%2C_thangka%2C_circa_1800.jpg)
Before becoming Tsongkhapa's foremost disciple, Khedrup Je had been a learned
Sakya
The ''Sakya'' (, 'pale earth') school is one of four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the others being the Nyingma, Kagyu, and Gelug. It is one of the Red Hat Orders along with the Nyingma and Kagyu.
Origins
Virūpa, 16th century. It depict ...
scholar.
[Hilton (1999), p. 58.]
Writings
Altogether, Khedrub Je's collected works total nine volumes in all, comprising a total of fifty-eight treatises. He also wrote many prayer books.
Kalachakra
Khedrub Je wrote an important text on
Kalachakra
''Kālacakra'' () is a polysemic term in Vajrayana Buddhism that means "wheel of time" or "time cycles". "''Kālacakra''" is also the name of a series of Buddhist texts and a major practice lineage in Indian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism. The ta ...
that is still used by the current
14th Dalai Lama
The 14th Dalai Lama (spiritual name Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, known as Tenzin Gyatso (Tibetan: བསྟན་འཛིན་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, Wylie: ''bsTan-'dzin rgya-mtsho''); né Lhamo Thondup), known as ...
, as the basis for his public empowerments into the practice of the Kalachakra Tantra.
Mahamudra
Khedrub Je also wrote a root text on
mahamudra
Mahāmudrā (Sanskrit: महामुद्रा, , contraction of ) literally means "great seal" or "great imprint" and refers to the fact that "all phenomena inevitably are stamped by the fact of wisdom and emptiness inseparable". Mahāmudr ...
.
Monastic career
![Gelegpal-Ssan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Gelegpal-Ssan.jpg)
Khedrup Je was unanimously chosen as
Ganden Monastery
Ganden Monastery (also Gaden or Gandain) or Ganden Namgyeling or Monastery of Gahlden is one of the "great three" Gelug university monasteries of Tibet. It is in Dagzê County, Lhasa. The other two are Sera Monastery and Drepung Monastery. Gand ...
's third abbot (after Tsongkhapa and
Gyaltsab Je
Gyaltsab Je () (1364 – 1432) or more elaborately, Gyaltsab Dharma Rinchen was born in the Tsang province of central Tibet. He was a famous student of Je Tsongkhapa, and actually became the first Ganden Tripa (throne holder) of the Gelug tradition ...
) by its monks, and also became the
Ganden Tripa
The Ganden Tripa, also spelled Gaden Tripa ( "Holder of the Ganden Throne"), is the title of the spiritual leader of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, the school that controlled central Tibet from the mid-17th century until the 1950s. The 10 ...
, the leader of the Gelug tradition. He also founded
Palcho Monastery
The Palcho Monastery or Pelkor Chode Monastery or Shekar Gyantse is the main monastery in the Nyangchu river valley in Gyantse, Gyantse County, Shigatse Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region. The monastery precinct is a complex of structures which, ...
in
Gyantse
Gyantse, officially Gyangzê Town (also spelled Gyangtse; ; ), is a town located in Gyantse County, Shigatse Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It was historically considered the third largest and most prominent town in the Tibet region ( ...
in 1418 as well as the large Riwo Chöling Monastery in the
Yarlung Valley
The Yarlung Valley is formed by Yarlung Chu, a tributary of the Tsangpo river, Tsangpo River in the Shannan Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibet region of China. It refers especially to the district where Yarlung Chu joins with the Cho ...
, which is now just a heap of ruins.
[Dorje (1999), p. 194.]
Footnotes
References
* Das, Sarat Chandra. (1970) ''Contributions on the Religion and History of Tibet'' (1970). Manjushri Publishing House, New Delhi. First published in the ''Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal'', Vol. LI (1882)
* Dorje, Gyurme (1999). ''Footprint Tibet Handbook with Bhutan''. Footprint Handbooks, Bath, England. .
* Hilton, Isabel. (1999). ''The Search for the Panchen Lama''. Viking. Reprint: Penguin Books. (2000), p. 58. .
* Stein, R. A. ''Tibetan Civilization'', (1972). Stanford University Press, Stanford, California. (cloth); .
Further reading
* ''The Great Seal of Voidness: The Root Text for the Ge-lug/Ka-gyu Tradition of Mahamudra. The Main Path All Buddhas Have Travelled'' (''dGe-ldan bkah-brgyud rin-po-chehi phyag-chen rtza-ba rg yal-bahi gzhung-lam''). (1975) Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey et al. Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. Dharamsala, H.P., India.
External links
*
The Gelug-Kagyu Tradition of Mahamudra complete online edition of book by 14th Dalai Lama and Alexander Berzin first published as ''The Gelug/Kagyü Tradition of Mahamudra'' (Ithaca, Snow Lion, 1997), comprising Khedrub Je's root text, autocommentary, and discourses on both.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pelzang, Khedrup Gelek
1385 births
1438 deaths
Ganden Tripas
Panchen Lama 01
14th-century Tibetan people
15th-century Tibetan people