Talk:Drepung Monastery

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Clarification

Can somebody clarify: does it have several hundred or several thousand monks today?

This depends on the distinction between the site, and the institution - the original site in Tibet hosts several hundred (capped at 300 or so by the Chinese government) monks, whereas the relocated institution in India has several thousand monks resident. (20040302)

This also depends on which monastery you are talking about. There are two monasteries - one in Tibet, the other in India. Prowikipedians (talk) 12:23, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

ah .. But is it one instituition in two locations, or two separate institutions and do you have any RS to show for that?! (20040302 (talk) 21:47, 11 June 2008 (UTC))

I suggest that you read this. Prowikipedians (talk) 09:33, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

I have read it. Which page there declares that the institutions are distinct? Locality is not an identifier for institutions - eg there are some Drepung buildings in Delhi. (20040302 (talk) 12:00, 12 June 2008 (UTC))

One reads that Drepung had historically a major influence on the Tibetan government, which took few important steps without consulting this monastery along with Gaden and Sera monasteries. Shouldn't there be something in the article about the considerable political power exercised by this institution in the past? Tom129.93.17.196 23:00, 5 July 2007 (UTC)

Some more information

• [1] "The second head of the Dge-lugs-pa order, Dge-’dun-rgya-mtsho (1475–1542), became the head abbot of the ’Bras-spungs (Drepung) monastery on the outskirts of Lhasa, which thenceforward was the principal seat of the Dalai Lama."
• [2] "Sonam Gyatso became, in the same moment, both the First and the Third Dalai Lama. The title was bestowed on him by the Mongolian ruler Altan Khan in 1578 when Sonam Gyatso, the most revered and scholarly monk of the Drepung monastery in Tibet, converted Altan Khan to the Geluk tradition of Buddhism."
• [3] "• 16th century Mongol tribes migrate into northern Tibet. In 1578, Altan Khan, ruler of the Tumed Mongols, invites Sonam Gyatso, third incarnation of the abbot of Drepung, the main Gelukpa monastery, to his court. Khan bestows upon Gyatso the Mongolian title of "Dalai Lama" ("Ocean of Wisdom"). The title is also given posthumously to two abbots of Drepung monastery, thus Sonam Gyatso is actually the third to be so named. The title is hereditary and the fourth Dalai Lama is a grandson of Altan Khan, who, with his followers, converts to the Gelukpa school of Tibetan Buddhism. The Dalai Lama acts as the spiritual and temporal ruler of Tibet from this period, until the onset of Chinese rule in the twentieth century."

Austerlitz -- 88.75.66.96 (talk) 17:52, 11 October 2008 (UTC)

• [4]

"Each college has an abbot who is responsible for the teaching, studying, and practice there. There is also a general abbot or throne-holder for the entire monastery, the lineage for which has come from Jamyang Chojey. In later times, the custom has been that the eldest retired abbot of the individual colleges assumes the position of the throne-holder of the entire monastery.

The first of the line of Dalai Lamas, Gyelwa Gendun-drub (rGyal-ba Ge-’dun grub) received many sutra and tantra teachings at Drepung from Tsongkhapa. Later, [near Zhigatsey (gZhi-ga-rtse, Shigatse) in Tsang (gTsang) province,] he founded Tashilhunpo Monastery (bKra-shis lhun-po dGon-pa). It is the fourth largest monastery in Central Tibet. [The other three, including Drepung, are in U (dBus) province.] Each of the next Dalai Lamas, from the second through the fifth, not only held the position of the Throne-holder of Drepung, but also made Drepung his permanent residence."

Austerlitz -- 88.75.66.96 (talk) 18:28, 11 October 2008 (UTC)

Dalai Lama

• Gendun Drup 1391–1474
• Gendun Gyatso 1475–1541
• Sonam Gyatso 1543–1588

According to link no.3 Sonam Gyatso was the third incarnation of the abbot of Drepung. When he received the title of Dalai Lama his two predecessors as Throne-Holders of Drepung were given the title of Dalai Lama, too. That's what I have understood until now.

Austerlitz -- 88.75.66.96 (talk) 18:40, 11 October 2008 (UTC)

Throne of Drepung (Drepung Tri)

• [5]

The monastery contained three different college places, as far as I understand this information.

Austerlitz -- 88.75.222.61 (talk) 12:01, 4 March 2009 (UTC)

• [6]

-- 88.75.222.61 (talk) 12:21, 4 March 2009 (UTC)

• http://www.nitartha.org/cgi-bin/find

'bras spungs

• 'bras spungs - Drepung, Heap of Fruition; large Gelugpa monastery near Lhasa [ry]
• 'bras spungs dgon pa - Drepung Monastery [W of Lhasa [R] [IW]
• 'bras spungs rdo khang sngon mo - Drepung Monastery's Ganden Palace's old name [IW]
• 'bras spungs gzims khang gong ma - the 2nd, alias {bsod nams ye shes dbang po} (1556-1592) [ry]

Austerlitz -- 88.75.78.11 (talk) 20:54, 4 March 2009 (UTC)

The last one refers to [7], Sonam Yeshe Wangpo (1556-92).

Austerlitz -- 88.75.82.126 (talk) 12:41, 25 March 2009 (UTC)

Drepung and the Dalai Lamas

On this site, according to the links given here, it is said:

• the second head of the Dge-lugs-pa order, Dge-’dun-rgya-mtsho (1475–1542), became the head abbot of the ’Bras-spungs (Drepung) monastery on the outskirts of Lhasa, (later he became the 2nd Dalai Lama ((1476–1541), dates slightly differ)
• "Sonam Gyatso became, in the same moment, both the First and the Third Dalai Lama.
• "Sonam Gyatso, third incarnation of the abbot of Drepung, the main Gelukpa monastery, to his court. Khan bestows upon Gyatso the Mongolian title of "Dalai Lama" ("Ocean of Wisdom"). The title is also given posthumously to two abbots of Drepung monastery, thus Sonam Gyatso is actually the third to be so named. The title is hereditary and the fourth Dalai Lama is a grandson of Altan Khan, who,"
• "Each of the next Dalai Lamas, from the second through the fifth, not only held the position of the Throne-holder of Drepung, but also made Drepung his permanent residence."

from another page: [8]

• [9]

"In 1576, Altan Khan (1507-1583) of the Tumed Mongols invited the future Third Dalai Lama, Sonam-gyatso, to bring Buddhism to Mongolia. At that time, Sonam-gyatso, was known as the Gyelwa Rinpoche (rGyal-ba Rin-po-che) or the Drepung Tulku (‘Bras-spungs sPrul-sku), the third incarnation in the first line of incarnate lamas in the Gelug tradition."

• A Brief History of Drepung Monastery "The great monastery of Drepung (‘Bras-spungs dGon-pa)", "In those days, there were even people who referred to the Dalai Lama or Gyelwa Rinpoche (rGyal-ba Rin-po-che) as the Drepung Tulku (‘Bras-spungs sPrul-sku). [His was the first line of incarnate lamas (tulkus) in the Gelug tradition.]", "the Second Dalai Lama, Gyelwa Gendun-gyatso (rGyal-ba dGe-’dun rgya-mtsho)"

Austerlitz -- 88.75.82.164 (talk) 08:28, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

Orphaned references in Drepung Monastery

I check pages listed in Category:Pages with incorrect ref formatting to try to fix reference errors. One of the things I do is look for content for orphaned references in wikilinked articles. I have found content for some of Drepung Monastery's orphans, the problem is that I found more than one version. I can't determine which (if any) is correct for this article, so I am asking for a sentient editor to look it over and copy the correct ref content into this article.

Reference named "TR":

• From Kirti Gompa: Three monks including one jailed reported disappeared in Chinese ruled Tibet, (20 August 2019), https://www.tibetanreview.net/three-monks-including-one-jailed-reported-disappeared-in-chinese-ruled-tibet/
• From 2008 Tibetan unrest: The 2008 uprising and the Olympics, (22 June 2018),Tibetan Review, https://www.tibetanreview.net/the-2008-uprising-and-the-olympics/ Archived December 26, 2018, at the Wayback Machine
• From Vipassanā: Pointing out the Dharmakaya by Thrangu Rinpoche. Snow Lion: 2003. ISBN 1-55939-203-7, pg 56

I apologize if any of the above are effectively identical; I am just a simple computer program, so I can't determine whether minor differences are significant or not. AnomieBOT⚡ 01:00, 6 November 2020 (UTC)