The Treasury of Lives

The Treasury of Lives tracks all incarnation lines when we have a biography of at least one member. Each line has a dedicated page with a brief description, a timeline, and a list of members with biographies. To the best of our ability we enumerate incarnations according to the tradition's own system. In the few cases of competing enumerations, such as with the Paṇchen Lama, we follow the most common system. While we recognize that almost all incarnation lines were initiated during the lives of the second or later incarnation, we follow the tradition's designation of the earliest individuals as members of the line. Thus Gendun Drub is identified on the Treasury as the First Dalai Lama, despite the title having been created during the life of the third incarnation, Sonam Gyatso. To see a list of incarnations belonging to specific traditions, visit the page dedicated to that tradition.

 

Incarnation Lines