4th Dalai Lama

Samding Dorje Phagmo Yonten Gyatso or Yon-tan-rgya-mtsho (1589–1617), was the 4th Dalai Lama, born in Tümed on the 30th day of the 12th month of the Earth-Ox year of the Tibetan calendar.

About this time, the chief attendant of the Third Dalai Lama, Tsultrim Gyatso, sent a letter informing the authorities in Tibet that the reincarnation had been born and details of some of the wonders accompanying his birth.

[5] When he reached Lhasa he was enthroned as the Fourth Dalai Lama and initiated by Sangen Rinchen, the principal holder of Tsonkapa's lineage and ex-abbot of Gaden monastery.

[6] He began studies at Drepung Monastery, where he was a student of the Fourth Panchen Lama Lobsang Chökyi Gyaltsen, and in 1614 he received the full ordination of a monk from him.

[citation needed] In 1616 he made a retreat in the caves above Sangyib Hot Springs, famous for the footprint Padmasambhava left there on the cliff face when he empowered the site in the 8th century CE.

Gendun Drup, 1st Dalai Lama
Gendun Drup, 1st Dalai Lama