Tibetan Buddhism
( 2005-10-26 )

5. Gelug Sect

From its inception, the Gelug Sect, founded in 1409, has been the most famous Buddhist sect in Tibetan history since the 15th century. The sect was founded during the reform of Tibetan Buddhism initiated by Zongkapa.

Zongkapa himself was born when the Pagmo Zhuba replaced the Sagya Regime in power. At that time, upper-class monks involved in political and economic power struggle led a decadent life, and rapidly lost popularity. Faced with this situation, Zongkapa called for efforts to follow Buddhist tenets. He gave lecture tours in many areas and wrote books accusing decadent monks of failing to abide by Buddhist tenets.

Zongkapa spared no effort to press ahead with Buddhist reforms. For example, in the first month of 1409 according to the Tibetan calendar, Zongkapa initiated the Grand Summons Ceremony inLhasa's Jokhang Monastery, a ceremony that continues to this day.

Then, Zongkapa constructed the famous Gandain Monastery and founded the Gelug Sect, which was famous for its strict adherence to commandments. Gelug is "commandments'' in Tibetan Zongkapa and his followers wore yellow hats, and thus the Gelug Sect also became known as the Yellow Sect.

Since its founding, the Yellow Sect has built the Zhaibung, Sera, Tashilhungpo, Tar, and Labrang monasteries, which join the Gandain Monastery as the six major monasteries of the Gelug Sect. The Yellow Sect is also known for the formation of the two largest Living Buddha reincarnation systems - the Dalai and Panchen systems.