"The Mongolian leader Alten Khan invited the third Dalai Lama to visit Mongolia, and his departure in 1577 [C.E.] marked the beginning of a prolonged absence from the troubled landscape of Central Tibet.Instead, he spent most of the remainder of his life ministering to new Gelukpa converts among the Mongolian tribes in the borderlands between Mongolia, China, and Tibet. Alten Khan was a descendant of Kublai Khan with whom Pakpa Rinpoche had established a preceptor relation in 1253 [C.E], and he, the third Dalai Lama, and subsequent historians made much of the symbolic parallels between these pairs of figures. The Dalai Lama stood to gain a powerful patron who could help pacify obstacles in Tibet, and the Khan expected to gain in prestige by tracing the paradigm of his predecessor. In addition to the religious teaching he transmitted to the royal family, he gained tremendous allegiance among theses warring tribes through his caring attention to their spiritual needs over a period of more than a decade, earning enduring support among Mongolians for the Geluk School in general and the person of the Dalai Lama in particular. The third Dalai Lama also took every opportunity to establish relationships with other powerful figures in Central Asia, China, and the eastern most Tibetan lands, founding monasteries, formalizing systems of patronage, and gradually assuming a more political resonance as he negotiated peace amongst warring parties."
Tsepon Shakabpa
One Hundred Thousand Moons
Pg.290-91
