By David Lai

At the turn of the fourteenth century, the Gelugpa school of Buddhism which is the synthesis of the three existing schools was established as the fourth school of Tibetan Buddhism. This great tradition was founded by the visionary savant and saint of Tibet, Lama Tsongkhapa who is also revered with the name Je Rinpoche.

Lama Tsongkhapa

Lama Tsongkhapa was a great admirer of the Kadam tradition of the influential eleventh-century Indian master Atisha and his Tibetan spiritual heir, Dromtonpa. He placed great importance upon the Kadam’s emphasis on the core Mahayana principles of altruistic compassion by incorporating it into a way of life instead of merely having it as an abstract spiritual orientation. To this effect, Lama Tsongkhapa cultivated the study and contemplation upon key Indian classics like Shantideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life (Bodhisattvacharyavatara) and Nagarjuna’s Precious Garland (Ratnavali) that establishes the roadmap of incorporating such a great method towards achieving Buddhahood. On the other, Lama Tsongkhapa was a stickler to the Kadam’s adherence to the philosophical view as expounded by Nagarjuna and Chandrakirti as a means towards generating a meditative realization of emptiness. Therefore, Lama Tsongkhapa made the Kadam tradition as the backbone of all his teachings and practice. Lama Tsongkhapa combined both aforementioned elements onto a spiritual path along with a compellingly genuine sense of renunciation. He enshrined these three elements of renunciation, Bodhichitta, and authentic view of emptiness into a complete teaching that he called ‘The Three Principal Aspects of the Path’. Lama Tsongkhapa taught that as a solid foundation based upon these three principles as necessary and crucial towards finding success along the higher practices of Vajrayana Buddhism. Consequently, such holistic approach of the Lama Tsongkhapa’s tradition is hailed to be a representative of a true union of Lord Buddha’s Sutra and Tantra teachings.

Lama Tsongkhapa already was known as an exceptional Lama in his own right, sought to propagate and preserve Lord Buddha’s teachings by writing voluminous amount of spiritual gems. His written works span up to eighteen thick volumes that run the entire spectrum of Lord Buddha’s teachings. The topics range from profound philosophical expositions on Madhyamika to numerous commentaries of meditative practices of the Highest Yoga Tantra and exact commentaries of monastic rules and precepts of a fully ordained monk. Lama Tsongkhapa is more widely known in the West today as a mere philosopher or intellectual but analysis of his written works shows that he wrote more on Tantra than on Sutra, which reveals his profound mastery of advance meditative practices of Vajrayana Buddhism.

Lama Tsongkhapa in his lifetime quickly became an advance yogi and holder of the three main classical Indian lineages of the Mahayana Buddhist path. Lama Tsongkhapa inherited from his great teachers, the spiritual tradition of The Vast Practice, the direct line of meditative teachings stemming from Lord Buddha Shakyamuni through Maitreya. The next lineage is called the Profound View, a spiritual lineage of Lord Buddha Shakyamuni that came through Manjushri onto Nagarjuna and the last lineage as called the Inspirational Lineage of Realization, which came from Vajradhara through the various lineages of the Tantric tradition. With deep foresight, Lama Tsongkhapa combined these three traditions into one meditative tradition to avoid confusion for future practitioners. On top of that, Lama Tsongkhapa incorporated several important close transmissions derived from profound mystical experiences of highly realized meditation masters.

Gaden Monastery, Tibet

In order to accumulate all these teachings, Lama Tsongkhapa spent the earlier part of his life at the feet of numerous teachers that were the greatest masters of his time. Towards the later part of his life, Gaden Monastery was founded by his most devoted students so he could reside and be cared for. Due to Lama Tsongkhapa’s blessing, Gaden quickly became the foremost institution of Buddhist philosophical studies and the focal point for the finest students and scholars from all over Tibet, northern India, parts of China and Mongolia. Initially, the followers of Lama Tsongkhapa who gathered to receive teachings at Gaden Monastery became known as the New Kadampa and in time, this was replaced with Gelugpa or adherents of the Gaden tradition.

Gaden Monastery today, Mundgod, India

Gaden Monastery today, Mundgod, India

Lama Tsongkhapa’s circle of foremost disciples include the likes of Gyalsab Je (1364-1431), Khedrub Gelek Pelsang (1385-1438) and Gendun Drub (1391-1474) who is posthumously known as the first Dalai Lama. After the founding of Gaden Monastery, great disciples of Lama Tsongkhapa such as Jamyang Choje Tashi Palden (1379-1474) who later founded Drepung monastery, that rapidly grew to become the world’s largest monastic institution before the second world war. Subsequently, Jamchen Choje Shakya Yeshe (1354-1435) who built the great Sera Monastery, the third of the three monasteries known collectively as the three great pillars of Lama Tsongkhapa’s tradition. The first Dalai Lama himself founded Tashilhumpo monastery, an important Gelugpa monastery that later became the seat of the Panchen Lamas.

Lama Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), Gyalsab Je (1364-1431), Khedrub Gelek Pelsang (1385-1438)

Later generations of disciples emerged and amongst the many, great luminaries emerged and contributed towards the later developments of Lama Tsongkhapa’s tradition. This extensive list include the likes of the great Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama incarnations such as Kachen Yeshe Gyeltsen (1713-1793), Gungthang Tenpai Donme (1762-1823), Ngulchu Dharma Bhadra (1772- 1851) and more recently, the great Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo (1878-1941). Lama Tsongkhapa’s celebrated unique presentation of Lord Buddha’s teachings became the foremost tradition in Tibet and is upheld up till today by the re-establishment of the great monasteries in India and the activities of the incarnations of great luminaries throughout time. One great luminary is His Eminence Tsem Tulku Rinpoche, an incumbent master of Gaden Monastery in Malaysia.