The Dalai Lamas

The first Dalai Lama, Gedun Drupa, was born in 1391 at Gyurmey Rupa, near Sakya in the Tsang region of central Tibet, to Gonpo Dorjee and Jomo Namkha Kyi, a nomadic family. His given name was Pema Dorjee. He did his primary studies of reading and writing Tibetan script with Gya-Ton Tsenda Pa-La, and then at the age of fourteen, he took his novice vows from Khenchen Drupa Sherab, abbot of Narthang Monastery, who gave him the religious name of Gedun Drupa. Later, in the year 1411, he took the Gelong vows (full ordination) from the abbot. The young Gedun Drupa was aware of the fame of the Great Tsongkapa, the founder of the Gelugpa School, and he became his disciple in 1416. His loyalty and devotion to Tsongkapa persuaded the great master to make Gedun Drupa his principal disciple. Tsongkapa handed Gedun Drupa a brand new set of robes as a sign that he would spread the Buddhist teachings all over Tibet. In 1447, Gedun Drupa founded the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Shigatse, one of the biggest monastic Universities of the Gelugpa School. The First Dalai Lama, Gedun Drupa, was a great person of immense scholarship, famous for combining study and practice, and wrote more than eight voluminous books on his insight into the Buddha’s teachings and philosophy. In 1474, at the age of eighty-four, His Holiness died while in meditation at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery.

The Second Dalai Lama, Gedun Gyatso, was born in 1476 at Tanak, near Shigatse in the Tsang region of central Tibet, to Kunga Gyaltso and Machik Kunga Pemo, a farming family. His father was a well-known tantric practitioner belonging to the Nyingma-Pa 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. He received his primary education from his father, and then 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 Gelung (full ordination) from Choje Choekyi Gyaltsen, who gave him the ordination name Gedun Gyatso. He studied at Tashi Lhunpo and Drepung monasery. 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.

The Third Dalai Lama, Sonam Gyatso, was born in 1543 at Tolung, near Lhasa, to Namgyal Drakpa and Pelzom Bhuti, a rich family. His parents had already had many children, but they had all died. To ward off any misfortune that might take away this newborn child from them, they fed him on the milk of a white goat and named him Ranu Sicho Pelzang: “The prosperous one saved by goat’s milk”. In 1546, at the age of three, Sonam Dakpa Gyaltsen, the ruler of Tibet, and Panchen Sonam Dakpa recognized Sonam Gyatso as the reincarnation of Gedun Gyatso. He was escorted to Drepung monastery in a great procession and was enthroned. His hair was cut, symbolizing his renunciation of the world.

He took novice vows from Sonam Dakpa at the age of seven and assumed the name of Sonam Gyatso. At the age of twenty-two, he took the Gelong vows (full ordination) of “Bhiksu” from Gelek Palsang. In 1552, Sonam Gyatso became the abbot of Drepung monastery and in 1558, the abbot of Sera monastery. In 1574, he established the Phende Lekshe Ling in order to assist him in carrying out his religious activities, which is now known as Namgyal Monastery and still serves as the Dalai Lama’s private monastery.

It was during his time that the Mongolian King Altan Khan offered him the title of “Dalai Lama”, which literally means “Ocean of Wisdom”. In return, the Dalai Lama conferred on Altan Khan the title of “Brahma”: The King of Religion. The Third Dalai Lama also founded the Kumbum monastery in Tsongkapa’s birthplace, and Lithang monastery in Kham. In 1588, he died while teaching in Mongolia.

The Fourth Dalai Lama, Yonten Gyatso, was born in 1589 (on the third day of the twelfth month of the Earth-Ox year of the Tibetan calendar) in Mongolia to the Chokar tribal chieftain Tsultrim Choeje, the grandson of Altan Khan, and his second wife PhaKhen Nula. With predictions from the state oracles and auspicious signs at his birth, the abbot of Gaden Monastery recognized him as the true reincarnation of the Third Dalai Lama and he was given the name of Yonten Gyatso. His parents, however, refused to part with their son until he was older, so he received his primary religious education in Mongolia from Tibetan Lamas.

In 1601, at the age of twelve, Yonten Gyatso was escorted to Tibet accompanied by his father and the former Gaden throne holder, Sangya Rinchen, who bestowed the vows of novice monk on him. In 1614, at the age of twenty-eight, he took the Gelong vows (full ordination) from the Fourth Panchen Lama, Lobsang Choegyal, and later he became the abbot of Drepung and then Sera monastery. In 1616, at the age of twenty-seven he died at Drepung monastery.

The Fifth Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, was born in 1617 in Lhoka Chong-Gya, south of Lhasa to Dudul Rabten and Kunga Lhanzi. When Sonam Choephel, the chief attendant of the Fourth Dalai Lama heard of the exceptional abilities of the Chong-Gya boy, he paid a visit to the child and showed him articles belonging to the previous Dalai Lama. The boy at once said those belonged to him. Sonam Choephel kept the discovery of the Fifth Dalai Lama a secret because of the turbulent political situation. When things settled down, the Fifth Dalai Lama was taken to Drepung monastery where he was ordained into monkhood by the Third Panchen Lama, Lobsang Chogyal, and was given the name Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso.

The Fifth Dalai Lama was recognized at a time when Tibet was in political turmoil. However, all this uncertainty was laid to rest by Gushir Khan, the chief of the Qoshot Mongols, and in 1642, the Dalai Lama was enthroned in the main hall of Shigatse as both spiritual and political leader of Tibet. In 1645, the Dalai Lama held a meeting with high officials of Gaden Phodrang on the construction of the Potala Palace at Red Hili where the 33rd King Songtsen Gampo had built a red fort. In the same year, the construction started. It took almost forty-three years to complete.

In 1649, Sunzhi, the Manchu emperor, invited the Dalai Lama to Peking and when he reached the Chinese province of Ningxia, he was greeted by the emperor’s minister and military commander who came with three thousand cavalry to escort the Tibetan leader.The emperor himself travelled from Peking and greeted him at a place called Kothor. In the Chinese capital, the Dalai Lama stayed at the Yellow Palace, built for him by the emperor and when the emperor officially met the Dalai Lama, the two of then exchanged titles. In 1653, the Dalai Lama returned to Tibet.

Gushir Khan died in 1655, as did Sonam Choephel, the “Desi”. The Dalai Lama appointed Gushir Khan’s son Tenzin Dorjee as the new Mongol king, and Drong Mey-Pa Thinley Gyatso succeeded the latter to the post of Desi. When the Manchu Emperor died in 1662, his son, K’ang-si, ascended the Manchu throne. In the same year the Panchen Lama died at the age of ninety-one. In 1665, after a petition from Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, the Dalai Lama recognized a boy from Tsang region as the reincarnation of the late Panchen Lama and gave the boy the name of Lobsang Yeshi. The Fifth Dalai Lama was a great scholar, well-versed in Sanskrit. He wrote many books, including one on poetry. He also established two educational institutions, one for lay officials and another for monk officials, where they were taught Mongolian, Sanskrit, astrology, poetry, and administration. He was a man of few words, but what he said carried conviction and influenced rulers beyond the borders of Tibet.

In 1682, at the age of sixty-five, he died before completing the construction of the Potala Palace, and he entrusted the responsibility of the construction to Sangya Gyatso, the new Desi with the advice to keep his death secret for the time being.

The Sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso, was born on 1 March 1683 in the region of Mon in present-day Arunachal Pradesh to Tashi Tenzin and Tsewang Lhamo. In order to complete the Potala Palace, Desi Sangye Gyatso carried out the wishes of the Fifth Dalai Lama and kept his death a secret for fifteen years. People were told that the Great Fifth was continuing his long retreat. On important occasions the Dalai Lama’s ceremonial gown was placed on the throne. However, when Mongol princes insisted on having an audience, an old monk called Depa Deyrab of Namgyal Monastery, who resembled the Dalai Lama, was hired to pose in his place. He wore a hat and an eyeshade to conceal the fact that he lacked the Dalai Lama’s piercing eyes.

The Desi managed to maintain this charade till he heard that a boy in Mon exhibited remarkable abilities. He sent his trusted attendants to the area, and in 1688 the boy was brought to Nankartse, a place near Lhasa. There he was educated by teachers appointed by the Desi until 1697, when the Desi sent his trusted minister, Shabdrung Ngawang Shonu, to the Manchu court to inform Emperor K’ang-si of the death of the Fifth and discovery of the Sixth Dalai Lama. He announced the fact to the people of Tibet, who greeted the news with gratitude and joy and thanked the Desi for saving them from lamenting the setting of the sun and, instead, making them rejoice in its rising.

The Desi invited the Fifth Panchen Lama, Lobsang Yeshi, to Nankartse, where Tibet’s second-highest religious leader administered the vows of a novice monk to the youth and named him Tsang Gyatso. In October 1697, the fourteen-year old was enthroned as the Sixth Dalai Lama in a ceremony attended by Tibetan government officials representing the three major monasteries — Sera, Gaden, and Drepung — Mongol princes, representatives of Emperor K’ang-si, and the Lhasa populace.

In 1701 there had been a conflict between the Desi and Lhasang Khan, the descendant of Gushir Khan, and the latter killed the Desi Sangya Gyatso, which disturbed the young Dalai Lama. He left his monastic studies and chose the outdoor life, he had no plans to take the fully ordained vows. In fact, he visited the Panchen Lama in Shigatse and requested his forgiveness, and renounced even the vows of a novice monk.

Though he continued to live in the Potala Palace, he roamed around Lhasa and other outlying villages, spending his days with his friends in the park behind the Potala Palace and nights in taverns in Lhasa and Shol (an area below the Potala) drinking chang and singing songs. He was known to be a great poet and writer and he wrote several poems. In 1706, he was invited to China, and he died on the way.

In retrospect, the Tibetans believe that the Sixth Dala Lama Tsangyang Gyatso predicted his own rebirth at Lithang in Kham when he wrote this song:

White crane, lend me your wings,

I go no farther than Lithang,

And thence, return again.

Sure enough, the Seventh Dalai Lama was born in 1708 to Sonam Dargya and Lobsang Chotso in Lithang, two years after the disappearance of the Sixth. Thupten Jampaling Monastery, which was founded in Lithang by the Third Dalai Lama, was astonished by the wonders of the child. Also the state oracles of Lithang had predicted that the newborn child would be the reincarnation of the late Dalai Lama. However due to the turbulent political situation, they could not escort the new Dalai Lama to Lhasa, and he was taken to Kumbum monastery, where he was ordained by Ngawang Lobsang Tenpai Gyaltsen.

In 1720, he was enthroned in the Potala Palace and he took the novice vows of monk-hood from Panchen Lobsang Yeshi, who gave him the name Kelsang Gyatso. In 1726, during the auspicious month of Saka Dawa, he took the Gelong vows (fully ordination) from Panchen Rinpoche. He sought the tutor of Panchen Lobsang Yeshi, the Abbot of Gyumey and the Abbot of Shalu, Ngawang Yonten from whom he studied the entire major Buddhist philosophical treatises became a master in both sutra and tantra.

In 1751, at the age of forty-three, he constituted the council of ministers to administer the Tibetan government and the abolished the post of Desi, as it placed too much power in one hand and the Dalai Lama became the spiritual and political leader of Tibet. At the age of forty-five, he founded the Tse-School in the Potala Palace and built the new palace of Norling Kalsang Phodrang at Norbu Linka, the summer palace of Dalai Lama. The Seventh Dalai Lama was a great scholar and wrote many books, especially on the tantra. He was also a great poet who, unlike Tsanyang Gyatso, dwelt on spiritual themes. His simple and unblemished life won him the hearts of all-Tibetan and he died in 1757.

The Eighth Dalai Lama, Jamphel Gyatso, was born in 1758 at Lhari Gang in the Tsang region of southwestern Tibet. His father, Sonam Dhargye, and mother, Phuntsok Wangmo, were originally from Kham and traced their ancestry to Dhrala Tsegyal, one of the legendary heroes of the Gesar epic. As soon as Jamphel Gyatso was conceived, Lhari Gang was blessed with a bumper harvest, with each stalk of barley bearing three, four and five ears — something unprecedented. When the mother and a relative were having their supper in the garden, a huge rainbow appeared, one end of which touched the mother’s shoulder. (This is regarded to be a very auspicious portent, associated with the birth of a holy being.) Not long after his birth, Jamphel Gyatso was frequently observed to be looking heavenward with a smile on his face. He was also seen to be attempting to sit in a meditative, lotus posture. When Palden Yeshi, the Sixth Panchen Lama, heard about this boy, he pronounced: “This is the authentic reincarnation of the Dalai Lama.”

As the child began to speak, he said: “I will go to Lhasa at the age of three.” Now the whole of Tibet was convinced that this child was the Eighth Dalai Lama. Darkpa Thaye, the chief attendant of the Seventh Dalai Lama, came to Lhasa with a large contingent of lamas and Tibetan government officials. They took the boy, then two and a half years old, to Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Shigatse, performed the recognition ceremony, and the Panchen Lama gave the boy the name Jamphel Gyatso.

In 1762, the boy was escorted to Lhasa and enthroned in the Potala Palace. The enthronement ceremony was presided over by Demo Tulku Jamphel Yeshi, who was the first Regent to represent the Dalai Lamas when they were minors. At the age of seven, Jamphel Gyatso took the novice vows of monkhood from the Panchen Lama. He was fully ordained in 1777. In addition to his remarkable spiritual legacy, it was the Eighth Dalai Lama who built the faded Norbu Lingka Park and Summer Palace on the outskirts of Lhasa. In 1804, he died at the age of forty-seven.

The Ninth Dalai Lama, Lungtok Gyatso, was born in 1805 at a small village near Choekor monastery in Dotoe region to Tenzin Choekyong and Dhondup Dolma. In 1807, he was recognized as the reincarnation of the Eighth Dalai Lama and was escorted to Lhasa with great ceremony. In 1810, Lungtok Gyatso was enthroned at the Potala Palace and he took his novice vows from the Panchen Lama, who gave him the name Lungtok Gyatso. Unfortunately, due to the lack of Tibetan people’s faith, he died in 1815 at the very young age of nine.

The Tenth Dalai Lama, Tsultrim Gyatso, was born on 29 March 1816 in Lithang in Kham to Lobsang Dakpa and Namgyal Bhuti. In 1822, he was recognized and enthroned in the Potala Palace and in the same year, he took his novice vows of monkhood from the Panchen Lama, Tenpai Nyima, who gave him the name Tsultrim Gyatso.

In 1826, at the age of ten, he was enrolled in Drepung University where he studied various Buddhist philosophical texts and mastered both sutra and tantra.

In 1831, Tsultrim Gyatso reconstructed the Potala Palace and at the age of nineteen, he took the Gelong vows (full ordination) from the Panchen Lama. However, he was constantly in poor health and died in 1837.

Khedrup Gyatso (1 November 1838 – 31 January 1856) was the 11th Dalai Lama of Tibet. He was recognised as the Eleventh Dalai Lama in 1840, having come from the same village as Kelzang Gyatso, the seventh Dalai Lama, had in 1708. In 1841 the seventh Panchen Lama, Palden Tenpai Nyima, gave him the pre-novice ordination, cut his hair and gave him the name Khedrup Gyatso.

In 1842, he was enthroned in the Potala Palace and, in 1849, at the age of eleven, he took the novice vows of monkhood from Seventh Panchen Lama. He was enthroned on 25 May 1842 and assumed full power on the request of his government on 1 March 1855. However, he died less than one year later, thus becoming the third successive Dalai Lama who died at too young an age to consolidate his power.

“During the period of the short-lived Dalai Lamas—from the Ninth to the Twelfth incarnations—the Panchen was the lama of the hour, filling the void left by the four Dalai Lamas who died in their youth. He wrote a book of stanzas, Story of the Monkeys and Birds (Bya sprel gyi gtam-rgyud). It is an allegory of the war at the end of the 18th century between the Tibetans and the Gurkhas (‘birds’ and ‘monkeys’ respectively).

During the life of Khedrup Gyatso, wars over Ladakh weakened the lamas’ power over the Tibetan Plateau and the Opium Wars and Taiping Rebellion simultaneously weakened Chinese influence on Tibet. In the last years of his reign the Nepalese invaded Tibet, but were defeated in the Nepalese- Tibetan War (1855-1856). He died suddenly in the Potala Palace, Lhasa, Tibet on 31 January 1856.

The Twelfth Dalai Lama, Thinle Gyatso , was born on 1st December 1856 in Lhoka, a place near Lhasa to Phuntsok Tsewang and Tsering Yudon. At that time, there had been three nominations for the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. The names of all three were put in the golden vase for the final selection, and the name which came out was recognized as the true reincarnation of Dalai Lama.

In 1858, the young boy as Dalai Lama was escorted to Lhasa where Reting Ngawang Yeshi Tsultrim Gyaltsen, the regent, gave him the name Thupten Gyatso. In 1860 at the age of five he took the novice vows of monkhood from the Gaden Throne Holder Lobsang Khenrab and was enthroned at the Potala Palace.

In 1873, at the age of eighteen, he took on full responsibility as both spiritual and political leader of Tibet. In 1875, he died at the age of twenty in the Potala Palace.

The Thirteenth Dalai Lama, Thupten Gyatso, was born in the year of the Fire Bird on 5 May 1876 at Lhoka Dagpo in south Tibet to Kunga Rinchen and Lobsang Dolma, a peasant couple.

In 1878, he was recognized as the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama following predictions from the state oracles and auspicious signs at his birth. He was escorted to Lhasa where he was ordained into monk-hood by the Panchen Lama, Tenpai Wangchuk, and was given the name “Ngawang Lobsang Thupten Gyatso Jigdral Chokley Namgyal”. In 1879, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama was enthroned at the Potala Palace.

On 8 August 1895, he assumed political power and was thrown into the thick of the Great Game being played out by Czarist Russia and British India on the fringes of their sprawling empires. He went through the British invasion of Tibet in 1904 and the Chinese invasion of his country in 1909 and survived both experiences, with his authority enormously enhanced.

His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, was born on 6 July 1935 at Tak-Tse of Doemey Province in Tibet. He is the spiritual and temporal leader of the Tibetan people. Unlike leaders of the other countries, he does not achieve his position by succession, election, appointment, or force. Considered to be the fourteenth successive manifestation of the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokitesvara, he was chosen according to a series of signs, divinations, and tests that unquestionably verified him to be the reincarnation of his predecessor.

The Thirteenth Dalai Lama, Thupten Gyatso, passed away in 1933, leaving a number of clues to his future place of rebirth. Some years after his passing, those responsible for finding his new incarnation began their search: they examined the clues; they consulted the oracles; several visions (of the three Tibetan letter, AH, KA, and MA, of a monastery, and of a house) appeared to them in the sacred lake of Palden Lhamo, “Lhamoi Latso”. In 1937, they sent out search parties to look for a child born in a house with a jade and gold roofed monastery nearby. The search party, headed by Keutsang Rinpoche of Sera Monastery, following the advice of the ninth Pachen Lama, found just such a house in the village of Takster in the northeastern region of Amdo. Asked about its inhabitants, the villagers there replied that the couple living there had many special dreams prior to the birth of one of their sons a few years before, and that rainbows had been seen over the house upon his birth.

Disguising himself as a servant and wearing a rosary that had belonged to the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, Keutsang Rinpoche and two other members of this preliminary delegation arrived unannounced at the door. When the couple’s two-year-old son, Lhamo Dhondrup, saw Keutsang Rinpoche in the kitchen wearing the rosary, the boy immediately demanded that it be given to him. Keutsang Rinpoche replied that he could have it if the child were able to identify him. To this, Lhamo Dhondrup correctly replied that Keatsang Rinpoche was a Sera lama; the boy was able to name the other two members of the delegation. The next day, as he watched the visitors prepare to leave, Lhamo Dhondrup tearfully begged to accompany them.

Soon afterward, the entire search party administered further tests. In one test, they presented the young boy with the objects that had belonged to the Thirteenth Dalai Lama together with similar objects that had not belonged to him. The child was then asked to choose his own belongings from his previous life. Each time, he chose correctly. Following these tests, oracles and various high lamas were consulted; they too verified that this child was the actual reincarnation of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama. His official investiture as the Fourteenth Dalai Lama took place on 22 February 1940. Upon receiving ordination as a novice monk, Lhamo Dhondrup was newly named Tenzin Gyatso.

From the ages of six to twenty-five, under the tutelage of the best teachers, the young Dalai Lama was educated in Buddhist philosophy as well as such other subjects as mathematics, astronomy, medicine, poetry, history, and composition. At the age of twenty-five, he completed his advanced Geshe Degree (the equivalent to a doctorate in Buddhist philosophy) with high honors. Before the completion of his studies, however, his peaceful and studious life was interrupted when, in 1950, the Chinese invaded eastern Tibet. Consequently, the young Dalai Lama was invested as temporal leader of Tibet on 17 November 1950 at the age of fifteen, three years earlier than usual.

During nine years, from 1950 to 1959, the Dalai Lama worked hard in his attempts to negotiate a peaceful agreement with China, even personally meeting with Mao Tse-tung, Chou En-lai, and Deng Xiao-ping in Beijing in 1954. Again in 1956, he met with Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Chinese Premier Chou En-lai in India to discuss the ever-deteriorating conditions in Tibet that had been caused by the implementation of reforms that included the levying of new taxes, the confiscation of land, brutal public punishment for supposed “crimes against the people”, and the abuse of monks and nuns and of upper-and-middle-class property-owners.

The situation in Tibet steadily worsened until it culminated in an uprising of the Tibetan people. On 10 March 1959, fearing for the safety of the Dalai Lama, a huge crowd of Tibetans encircled his residence, the Norbulingka, on the outskirts of Lhasa. One week later, under the threat of bombardment and armed retaliation by the Chinese armies, the Dalai Lama, disguised as a layman, secretly departed for India, hoping to enlist the support and help of the United Nations and sympathetic governments for the Tibetan people. Granted refuge in India, the Tibetan refugees who followed His Holiness from Tibet established the Tibetan government-in-exile in the Himalayan hill station of Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, as well as numerous communities in other parts of north and south India. From the seat of the Tibetan government in exile, His Holiness petitioned the United Nations concerning the worsening situation in Tibet. These petitions resulted in three UN resolutions of 1959, 1961, and 1965 that called for the cessation of practices which deprive the Tibetan people of their fundamental human rights and freedoms including their right to self-determination.

To the present day, His Holiness continues to work untiringly for the freedom of the Tibetan people, promoting non-violence as the means to their success. His selfless efforts have not gone unnoticed by the world community — in 1989, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In addition, His Holiness travels extensively spreading his message of universal responsibility and a good heart — the means to achieve both personal happiness and world peace, touching the hearts and minds of Buddhist and non-Buddhist alike all over the world.

As a further expression of his personal commitment to work for world peace and the preservation of the environment, His Holiness has conferred and continues to confer the Kalachakra initiation in many places around the world.