Gendun drup biography definition

The First Dalai Lama, Gendun Drub The Dalai Lama lineage started from humble beginnings. Pema Dorje (–), the boy who was to become the first in the line, was born in a cattle pen in Shabtod, Tsang in His nomad parents kept sheep and goats and lived in tents.

When his father died in his mother was unable to support the goatherd, so she entrusted him to his uncle, a monk at Narthang, a major Kadampa monastery near Shigatse, for education as a Buddhist monk.

Narthang ran the largest printing press in Tibet and its celebrated library attracted scholars and adepts from far and wide, so Pema Dorje received an education beyond the norm at the time as well as exposure to diverse spiritual schools and ideas.

He studied Buddhist philosophy extensively and in , ordained by Narthang’s abbot, he took the name of Gendun Drup.

Soon recognized as an exceptionally gifted pupil, the abbot tutored him personally and took special interest in his progress