
Tsongkhapa with his discipal 18CM
Tsongkhapa (1357–1419) is a well-known Tibetan religious philosopher. A devout monastic, Tsongkhapa took on the difficult task of locating and studying all of the Indian Buddhist classics available in Tibet in his day. In his iconic form, wearing a tall yellow hat, he is the center of the Gelugpa sect that was dominant in Tibet until the Chinese takeover in 1951, and whose de facto leader is the Dalai Lama. Gyaltsab Je was Lama Tsongkhapa's most famous student. He oversaw the building of Gaden Monastery (established by Lama Tsongkhapa) and was named its second monk after Tsongkhapa. After Lama Tsongkhapa's death, he became the Gaden Tripa, or "holder of the Gaden Throne," the Gelug tradition's head. Khedrup Je was a prolific author, writing fifty-eight treatises and numerous prayer books. His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, uses an essential scripture on Kalachakra as the foundation for his Kalachakra Tantra empowerments.