Rinchen Lhunpo (rin chen lhun po) was the third son of Changtul (spyang thul), the First Chone Sakyong (co ne sa skyong) who ruled the Chone Kingdom, a semi-independent principality in Amdo (a mdo). As a youth, he matriculated at Chone Gonchen (co ne dgon chen) monastery and devoted himself to the study of Sakya teachings. He later went on a pilgrimage to Lhasa (lha sa), where he pursued further teachings from numerous accomplished masters, including Choje Yeshe Zangpo (chos rje ye shes bzang po, 1415-1498), the Tenth Ganden Tripa (dga' ldan khri pa 10). During this time he obtained considerable knowledge of the Geluk (dge lugs) teachings.
After Rinchen Lhunpo arrived back in Chone, he served as Khenpo (mkhan po) of Chone monastery beginning in 1444. In 1459, he converted Chone Monastery from the Sakya tradition to Geluk, implementing the Geluk scholastic tradition. It was renamed Ganden Shedrub Ling (dga' ldan bshad sgrub gling), and became a major Geluk institution in Amdo.
Rinchen Lhunpo passed away at the age of sixty; the exact year of his death is unknown.
དཔྱད་གཞིའི་ཡིག་ཆ་ཁག།
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