2nd Dalai Lama
| Dalai Lama incarnations |
|---|
| Fourteen incarnation of the Dalai Lama |
Gedun Gyatso,[1], "Sublimely Glorious Ocean of Spiritual Aspirants", layname: Yonten Phuntsok; 1475–1542), was considered posthumously to have been the second Dalai Lama.
He was born in 1475 in Tanag Sekme, near Shigatse in the Tsang region of central Tibet to Kunga Gyaltso and Machik Kunga Pemo, a farming family.[1]
His father was a well-known tantric practitioner belonging to the Nyingmapa sect. When Gedun Gyatso was able to speak, he was reported to have told his parents that his name was Pema Dorjee, the birth name of the First Dalai Lama and that he would like to live in Tashi Lhunpo monastery. When he was conceived, his father had a dream in which someone dressed in white appeared and told him to name his son Gendun Drupa and also said that his son would be a person with the ability to recollect his past lives. However, his father named him Sangye Phel.[1]
He received his primary education from his father and at the age of eleven he was recognized as the reincarnation of Gendun Drupa, the First Dalai Lama and was enthroned at Tashi Lhunpo monastery. In 1486, he took his novice vows from Panchen Lungrig Gyatso and his vows of Gelong (full ordination) from Choje Choekyi Gyaltsen, who gave him the ordained name of Gedun Gyatso. He studied at Tashi Lhunpo and Drepung monasteries.[1]
In 1517, Gedun Gyatso became the abbot of Drepung monastery and in the following year, he revived the Monlam Chenmo, the Great Prayer Festival and presided over the events with monks from Sera, Drepung and Gaden, the three great monastic Universities of the Gelugpa Sect. In 1525, he became the abbot of Sera monastery. He died at the age of sixty-seven in 1542.[1]
- Further reading
The Second Dalai Lama, Gendun Gyatso, Treasury of Lives
- Mullin, Glenn H. (2001). The Fourteen Dalai Lamas: A Sacred Legacy of Reincarnation, pp. 86–129. Clear Light Publishers. Santa Fe, New Mexico. ISBN 1-57416-092-3.
- Mullin, Glenn H. (2005). Second Dalai Lama His Life and Teachings, Snow Lion Publications, ISBN 1-55939-233-9, EAN 9781559392334
- 2nd Dalai Lama. Tantric Yogas of Sister Niguma, Snow Lion Publications, 1st ed. U. edition (May 1985), ISBN 0-937938-28-9 (10), ISBN 978-0-937938-28-7 (13)
- Essence of Refined Gold by the Third Dalai Lama: with related texts by the Second and Seventh Dalai Lamas. (1978) Translated by Glenn H. Mullin. Tushita Books, Dharamsala, H.P., India.