The Treasury of Lives

Chokyi Gyeltsen (chos kyi ryal mtshan) was born in Nyangto (nyang stod) in 1469, the earth-ox year of the ninth sexagenary cycle. His father was called Khyungtse Nangso Sonam Pel (khyung rtse nang so bsod nams 'phel) and his mother was called Dolma Bum (sgrol ma 'bum). He received a long-life empowerment from the First Dalai Lama, Gendun Drub (ta la'i bla ma 01 dge 'dun grub, 1391-1474) at the age of six, and received the lay vows of genyen (dge bsnyen) at the age of seven from Nenying Choje Kunga Delek Rinchen (gnas rnying chos rje kun dga' bde legs rin chen, d.u.) who gave him the name Chokyi Gyeltsen.

At the age of thirteen Chokyi Gyeltsen travelled to Tsang and enrolled in Tashilhunpo Monastery (bkra shis lhun po), the seat of the Paṇchen Lamas. There he studied Abhisamayālaṃkāra, Madhyamaka, Abhidharmakośa, Pramāṇavārttika and Vinaya, the five major subjects of the Kachen (dka' chen) course of studies under a number of masters including Paṇchen Lungrik Gyatso (paN chen lung rigs rgya mtsho, d.u.) and Chojor Pelzang (chos 'byor dpal bzang, d.u.).

Chokyi Gyeltsen was appointed as the disciplinarian (dge bskos), of Tashilhunpo Monastery at the young age of twenty-three and served for about a year. He returned to Lhasa and then joined Sera Monastery in the following year. There he sat for a retreat and did and intensive study of Prajñāpāramitā. In the meantime he received the vows of fully ordained monk from Sherap Zangpo (shes rab bzang po, d.u.).

He returned to Tsang in 1495 and gave extensive teachings on both sutra and tantra. He was then appointed as the abbot of Kenyen College of Sera Je Monastery (ser byes mkhan snyan grwa tshang) at the age of fifty-three and then after two years he served as the abbot of Taktse Rinchen Gang (stag rste rin chen sgang). In 1537, at the age of sixty-nine, he was enthroned to the seat of the twelfth abbot of Sera Monastery and gave comprehensive teachings there for several years. After his retirement from the abbacy he went to the monastery of Dechen Sangngak Khar (bde chen gsang snags mkhar) and served as the lineage holder of that monastery at the age of seventy-three.

Jetsun Chokyi Gyeltsen passed away at the age of seventy-six in 1544, the wood-dragon year of the fifteenth sexagenary cycle.

His compositions were collected into seven volumes. His works are mainly on Prajñāpāramitā and Madhyāmic views and assertion on emptiness; and tenets of the four Buddhist Philosophical Schools­ -- Vaibhāṣika, Sautrāntika, Cittamātra, and Madhyamaka. Many of his works continue to be core texts in the Sera Je monastic curriculum.

Among his disciples were Gendun Lobzang (dge 'dun blo bzang, d.u.); Gendun Gyeltsen (dge 'dun rgyal mtshan, 1532-1605/7), who later served as the Twenty-eighth Ganden Tripa; Namkha Gyeltsen (nam mkha' rgyal mtshan, 1532-1592), Rinchen Zangpo (rin chen bzang po, d.u.), Delek Nyima (bde legs nyi ma, d.u.), Sherab Wangpo (shes rab dbang po, 1500-1586), and Jampa Tashi (byams pa bkra shis, d.u.).