The Treasury of Lives

The Fourth Ganden Tripa, Trichen Lekpa Gyeltsen (dga' ldan khri pa 04, khri chen legs pa ryal mtshan) was born in Tsang Zhalu (gtsang zhwa lu) in 1375, the wood-hare year of the sixth sexagenary cycle. He was brought to Zhalu Monastery (zhwa lu dgon pa) at a young age and was given the vows of primary ordination of monk (rab byung) and trained in reading, writing, and memorizing large prayer texts. He later became known as Zhaluwa Lekpa Gyeltsen. He subsequently received many teachings on both sutra and tantra from the senior monks of the monastery. Due to his mastery in chanting the daily prayers and, Lekpa Gyeltsen was appointed as umdze (dbu mzdad), the chanting master in the monastery, a post that he served for a long time.

Lekpa Gyeltsen then followed Tsongkhapa Lobzang Drakpa (tsong kha pa blo bzang grags pa, 1357-1419), and served as the first umdze at Ganden Namgyel Ling (dga' ldan rmam rgyal gling), which Tsongkhapa had established in 1409.

In 1438, at the age of sixty-three, six years following the death of Khedrubje Gelek Pelzang (mkhas grub rje dge legs dpal bzang, 1364-1432), the Third Ganden Tripa, Lekpa Gyeltsen was enthroned to the abbatial seat of Ganden as the Fourth Ganden Tripa. He served the post for thirteen years, until 1450, teaching frequently.

Lekpa Gyeltsen was known as a powerful tantric practitioner and was said to have dispelled and eliminated many obstacles to religious practices through his power of mantras. There are stories in his hagiography about his mystical power such as magically discovering spring water and demonstrating strange appearances. He also performed rituals to conceive children; a prominent example given is a man named Hor Dorje Tsetan (hor rdo rje tshe brtan, d.u.) who was said to have been born as a result of the ritual and who later became a prominent sponsor of the Geluk tradition. Hor Dorje Tsetan was an ancestor of the Fifth Dalai Lama and a prince of Chonggye ('phyongs rgyas).

Lekpa Gyeltsen passed away at the age of seventy-five, in 1540, the iron-horse year of the eighth sexagenary cycle.