Origins & Early Life

The 2nd Dalai Lama, Gedun Gyatso (Tibetan: དགེ་འདུན་རྒྱ་མཚོ།, Wylie: dge-'dun rgya-mtsho, "Sublimely Glorious Ocean of Spiritual Aspirants") (1475–1542) was also known as Yonten Phuntsok, or Gedun Gyatso Palzangpo. He was ordained at Tashilhunpo Monastery at Shigatse, and later resided at Drepung Monastery in Lhasa. He was posthumously entitled as the 2nd Dalai Lama. Gedun Gyatso was born as Sangye Phel (Tibetan: སངས་རྒྱས་འཕེལ, Wylie: sangs rgyas 'phel) at Shigatse near Tanak, in the Tsang region of central Tibet.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

His father, Kunga Gyaltsen (1432–1481) (Tibetan: ཀུན་དགའ་རྒྱལ་མཚན།, Wylie: kun dga' rgyal mtshan), was a vow-holding Ngakpa of the Nyingma lineage and a famous Nyingma tantric master. His father and mother, Machik Kunga Pemo (Tibetan: མ་གཅིག་ཀུན་དགའ་དཔལ་མོ, Wylie: ma gcig kun dga' dpal mo), were married and farmed as a family. According to scholar Gene Smith, "the rebirth of the First Dalai Lama as the son of Drubchen Kunga Gyaltsen resulted in the end of a hereditary line of Sangpa Kagyupa lamas." While he was a young boy, he was proclaimed to be the reincarnation of Gendun Drupa, and sources say this occurred when he was either four years of age, or eight...

Enduring Legacy & Impact

The historical impact and works continue to influence the modern world.

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