Gendun Gyatso, 2nd Dalai Lama

Gendun Gyatso Palzangpo (Wylie: dge 'dun rgya mtsho), also Gendun Gyatso ("Sublimely Glorious Ocean of Spiritual Aspirants", layname: Yonten Phuntsok) (1475–1542) was the second Dalai Lama. He was born near Shigatse at Tanak, in the Tsang region of central Tibet. His father, Kunga Gyaltsen (1432–1481) (Wylie: kun dga' rgyal mtshan), was a ngakpa (married tantric practitioner) of the Nyingma lineage, a famous Nyingma tantric master. His mother was... more

Gendun Gyatso Palzangpo (Wylie: dge 'dun rgya mtsho), also Gendun Gyatso ("Sublimely Glorious Ocean of Spiritual Aspirants", layname: Yonten Phuntsok) (1475–1542) was the second Dalai Lama. He was born near Shigatse at Tanak, in the Tsang region of central Tibet. His father, Kunga Gyaltsen (1432–1481) (Wylie: kun dga' rgyal mtshan), was a ngakpa (married tantric practitioner) of the Nyingma lineage, a famous Nyingma tantric master. His mother was Machik Kunga Pemo, they were a farming family. Legend has it that soon after he learned to speak, he told his parents his name was Pema Dorje, the birth name of Gendun Drup (1391–1474) and that his father was Lobsang Drakpa, which was Tsongkapa's ordination name. When he was four, he reportedly told his parents he wished to live in the Tashilhunpo monastery (next to Shigatse and founded in 1447 by Gendun Drup) to be with his monks. He was proclaimed the reincarnation of Gendun Drup as a young boy - according to some sources at four years old,... less