Tsongkhapa
Tsongkhapa
Born 1357; died 1419. Founder of the Yellow Hat, or Gelukpa (Gelugpa), Buddhist sect in Tibet, which completed the transformation of Lamaism into a special school of Buddhism.
Tsongkhapa was educated in various monasteries of central Tibet, where he studied primarily Tantrism, a school of Buddhism in which great significance is attached to the person of the teacher (lama) and to secret teachings. In 1409 he founded the Lamaist monastery of Gan-dan, in which he established a complex ecclesiastical hierarchy and introduced ornate rituals. Tsongkhapa was canonized and is a member of the Lamaist pantheon.