Search Results: Gelug
The Gelug (dge lugs) tradition, also known as the Ganden (dga’ ldan) tradition follows the teachings of the fifteenth-century scholar monk Je Tsongkhapa Lobsang Dragpa (rje tsong kha pa blo bzang grags pa). Like the Kadam tradition which the Gelug supplanted, the Gelug place an emphasis on monastic discipline and scholarship. The Gelug pride themselves on their scholarship of the philosophical texts and on their understanding and explication of the view of the Madhyamaka Prasangika philosophical school. They also maintain a strong, if somewhat less public, tradition of tantric transmission, scholarship, and practice. The Gelugs practice an extensive system of lamrim (lam rim) and lojong (blo ljong), both of which have their origins with Atisha and the Kadampa tradition. The Gelugs also have a living tradition and lineage of Mahamudra teachings. The primary teachings of the Tantrayana studied and practiced in the Gelug are the tantric cycles of Yamantaka, Chakrasamvara, and Guhyasamaja. The Kalachakra Tantra is also commonly practiced among many Gelug practitioners, as is the tantra of Vajrayogini. The Gelug tradition became the dominant religious order in Tibet in the seventeenth century when the Fifth Dalai Lama, with the aid of the recently converted Mongols, orchestrated a defeat of the Kagyu king of Tsang and set himself up as political leader of Tibet. Since that time the Ganden Podrang (dga’ ldan pho brang) has been the nominal seat of political power in Tibet, even if for most of the last 400 years real power shifted among a number of players.