288 CHAPTER ELEVENBuddhism. This set into motion a process whereby the Mongols and other in-
habitants of the central Asian steppes took on the Gelug system of monastic
education and came to regard Lhasa as the cultural and religious capital of
their lands. The Khan bestowed the name of Dalai Lama (Ocean [ofWisdom]
Teacher) on Sonam Gyatsho, but because Gyatsho was regarded as the tiilku of
his two predecessors, he became known as the Third Dalai Lama, with the
title of First and Second granted retroactively to them.
In a shrewd political move, the Fourth Dalai Lama was born in the family
of the Mongol Khan, but not until the reign of the Fifth Dalai Lama (1617-82)
did this priest/patron relationship bring political power to the Gelugs. With
the help of Mongol troops, the Fifth Dalai Lama crushed his enemies in cen-
tral Tibet and became ruler of the entire country. His repressive measures
forced monks of other politically active sects to take refuge in outlying areas of
Tibet, Sikkim, and Bhutan, but he was very generous with sects exhibiting no
political ambitions. In particular, he showed a great interest in Nyingma doc-
trines-he was reputed to be a Dzogchen adept-and bestowed on the
Nyingma order property he had seized from the Kagyiis. Styling himself an
emanation of Avalokitdvara, he built an enormous maJ?-<;iala-palace on a hill
overlooking Lhasa and named it the Potala, after the mountain in southern
India reputed to be Avalokitesvara's home. Thus he became the first figure in
Tibetan history to combine the traditions of tiilku and bodhisattva emanation
in one person.
Nine years after the Manchus took power in China in 1644 (see Section
8.7), the Fifth Dalai Lama visited Peking and established a special priest/pa-
tron relationship with the new dynasty, thus setting the stage for the Gelugs to
rule Tibet well int9 the twentieth century. With considerably more skill than
the Sakyas-and considerably more luck, in that their patrons held power for
an unusually long time-the Gelugs were able to use Chinese power to keep
their political enemies under control, while using their own wits to keep the
Chinese from interfering excessively in Tibet's internal affairs. This position
lasted, somewhat precariously, until1951, when the priest/patron relationship
finally backfired on the entire country.
Only two of the Fifth Dalai Lama's successors, however, shared his politi-
cal acumen. During the reigns of the Sixth through the Twelfth, most of the
political maneuvering was done by the Gelug regents. The Sixth Dalai Lama,
born to a Nyingma family, proved remarkably unsuited for monastic life; he is
credited with being the author of a series of erotic poems based on his ex-
ploits in the brothels of Lhasa. For a period, his fellow lamas debated whether
he w~s a Tantric adept of the old school or a mere lecher. They finally de-
cided that Avalokitdvara had abandoned him and entered another lama. Be-
fore they could act, however, the Mongols attacked Lhasa, killed the regent,
and kidnapped the Dalai Lama, who died in captivity, perhaps murdered. The
Seventh and Eighth Dalai Lamas preferred quiet contemplation to politics; the
Ninth through the Twelfth died in childhood, perhaps of foul play (Strong
EB, sec. 7.8).