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, ...

(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 Bud ...

, 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 240px, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Bodhgaya (India).">Bodh_Gaya.html" ;"title="Kalachakra ceremony, Bodh Gaya">Bodhgaya (India). The Gelug (, also Geluk; "virtuou ...

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 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 L ...

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 (1570–1662). Like all the

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 awaren ...

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 L ...

. 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

Before becoming Tsongkhapa's foremost disciple, Khedrup Je had been a learned Sakya 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 ...

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". Mahāmud ...

Monastic career

Khedrup Je was unanimously chosen as Ganden Monastery's third abbot (after Tsongkhapa and Gyaltsab Je) by its monks, and also became the Ganden Tripa, the leader of the Gelug tradition. He also founded Palcho Monastery 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 regio ...

in 1418 as well as the large Riwo Chöling Monastery in the Yarlung Valley, 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); .

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