Name Variants: Gelek Pelzang

Khedrupje Gelek Pelzang was one of the primary disciples of Tsongkhapa. A native of Tsang, he was involved in the establishment of the great monastery in Gyantse, Pelkor Chode, before assuming the throne of Ganden in 1431. He is sometimes considered the first Panchen Lama.

Khedrupje Gelek Pelzang (mkhas grub rje dge legs dpal bzang) was born in Tsang in 1385. His father, Gunga Tashi Palzang (kun dga bkra shis dpal bzang), was a member of the Se clan, said to have originated in Khotan, and his mother was Budren Gyalmo (bu dren rgyal mo).

His name Gelek Pelzang was given to him as a child when he took novice ordination at the age of seven from Khenchen Sengye Gyalsten (mkhen chen seng ge rgyal mtshan, d.u.).

From the age of sixteen, he studied at the Sakya monastery of Ngamring Chode (ngam ring chos sde), training with Bodong Panchen Jigdrel Chole Namgyal (bo dong paN chen jigs bral phyogs las rnam rgyal, 1376-1451), the founder of the Bodong tradition, who taught him logic and philosophy.

When Gelek Pelzang was twenty-one, he studied with Rendawa Shonu Lodro (red mda' ba gzhon nu blo gros, 1349-1412), with whom he took full ordination. He studied Dharmakirti's Pramanavartika, Abhidharma, and the Five Books of Maitreya, Nagarjuna's works on Madhamaka, and the Vinaya.

At the age of twenty-three, in 1407, he went to U to meet with Tsongkhapa Lobzang Drakpa (tsong kha pa blo bzang grags pa, 1357-1419) at Sera Choding (se ra chos sdings not to be confused with the famous Sera Monastery). Khedrup Je received instructions on both sutra and tantra from Tsongkhapa, and soon became one of his most devoted disciples, receiving teachings alongside Tsongkhapa's other disciples such as Gyaltsab Je Darma Rinchen (rgyal tshab rje dar ma rin chen, 1364-1432) and Duldzin Drakpa Gyaltsen (dul dzin grags pa rgyal mtshan, 1374-1434).

Gelek Pelzang returned to Tsang and assumed the abbacy of Changra Monastery (lcang ra). He also founded the monasteries of Riwo Dangchen (ri bo dangs chen) and, at age thirty-four, was involved in the establishment of Pelkor Chode (dpal khor chos sde) in Gyangtse (rgyal rtse), under the patronage of the Gyantse king, Rabten Kunzang Pak (rab brtan kun bzang phags).

At the age of forty-seven, in 1431, Gelek Pelzang was asked by Gyaltsab Je to take the golden throne of Ganden (dga ldan gser khri), becoming the third man to occupy the seat after Tsongkhapa and Gyaltsab Je.

At Ganden, Khedrubje taught extensively, gave many initiations, and personally guided some of the most renowned scholars of the era to mastery of the tradition. He passed away there at the age of fifty-three.

Teachers

Duldzin Drakpa Gyaltsen b.1374 - d.1434 (Name Variants: Drakpa Gyaltsen)
Jampel Gyatso b.1356 - d.1428
shes rab dpal bzang
bstan pa'i rgyal mtshan
rin chen rgyal mtshan
kun dga' rgyal mtshan
seng+ge rgyal mtshan
gzhon nu blo gros
dpal 'byor shes rab
blo gros mtshungs med
blo bzang grags pa'i dpal
Gyaltsab Darma Rinchen b.1364 - d.1432 (Name Variants: Darma Rinchen; Gyaltsabje Darma Rinchen)

Students

shes rab seng+ge
rin chen rgya mtsho legs pa rgyal mtshan bzang po rgyal mtshan
Baso Chokyi Gyaltsen b.1402 - d.1473 (Name Variants: Chokyi Gyaltsen; Ganden Tri 06 Chokyi Gyaltsen; Lhanwa Sowa Chokyi Gyaltsen; Tatsang 01 Chokyi Gyaltsen)
rgyal mtshan bzang po
chos dbang grags pa
bsod nams mchog grub grags bzang
chos ldan rab 'byor
blo gros rgyal mtshan
blo gros chos skyong

Sources

Cabezon, Jose Ignacio. 1992. A Dose of Emptiness: An Annotated Translation of the sTong thun chen mo of mKhas grub dge legs dpal bzang. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Grags pa byung gnas. 1992. Gangs can mkhas grub rim byon ming mdzod. Lanzhou: Kan suu mi rigs dpe skrun khang, pp. 219-221.

Tshe mchog gling yongs dzin ye shes rgyal mtshan. 1970 (1787). Biographies of Eminent Gurus in the Transmission Lineages of the teachings of the Graduated Path, being the text of: Byang chub Lam gyi Rim pai Bla ma Brgyud pai Rnam par Thar pa Rgyal mtshan Mdzes pai Rgyan Mchog Phul byung Nor bui Phreng ba. New Delhi: Ngawang Gelek Demo, vol 1, pp. 877 ff.

Miranda Adams August 2007

http://www.tibetanlineages.org/biographies/view/172/8027