Gedun Gyatso was born as Sangye Phel (Tibetan: སངས་རྒྱས་འཕེལ, Wylie: sangs rgyas 'phel) at Shigatse near Tanak,[1] in the Tsang region of central Tibet.

[3] His father and mother, Machik Kunga Pemo (Tibetan: མ་གཅིག་ཀུན་དགའ་དཔལ་མོ, Wylie: ma gcig kun dga' dpal mo), were married and farmed as a family.

[6] Soon after he learned to speak, he reportedly told his parents his name was Pema Dorje, the birth name of Gendun Drupa (1391–1474) and that his father was Lobsang Drakpa, which was Je Tsongkhapa's ordination name.

[3] When he was four, he reportedly told his parents he wished to live in the Tashilhunpo monastery, which is next to Shigatse and founded in 1447 by Gendun Drupa, in order to be with his monks.

Since the time of Gendun Gyatso, who formalised the system, monks have gone to the lake to seek guidance on choosing the next reincarnation through visions while meditating there.