According to Babad Tanah Jawi (Meinsma, 1905; Olthoff, n.d.), Ki Ageng Selo was a descendant of the last King of Majapahit, Brawijaya V. The last King Brawijaya was said to have a wife named Wandan Kuning. From this daughter, a son was born who was named Bondan Kejawan. Because according to the prediction of a fortune teller, this child would kill his father, the king entrusted Bondan Kejawan to the Juru Sabin Raja who was also known to be pious, Ki Buyut Masahar. After he grew up, the king gave him to Ki Ageng Tarub to study Islam and supernatural powers. By Ki Ageng Tarub, Bondan Kejawan's name was changed to Lembu Peteng. He was married to the daughter of Ki Ageng Tarub and Dewi Nawangwulan, whose name was Dewi Nawangsih. After Ki Ageng Tarub or Kidang Telangkas died, Lembu Peteng replaced his father-in-law with the name Ki Ageng Tarub II. From the marriage between Lembu Peteng and Nawangsih, several children were born, including Ki Ageng Getas Pendowo and a daughter who married Ki Ageng Ngerang. Ki Ageng Getas Pandowo had seven sons, namely: Ki Ageng Selo, Nyai Ageng Pakis, Nyai Ageng Purna, Nyai Ageng Kare, Nyai Ageng Wanglu, Nyai Ageng Bokong, and Nyai Ageng Adibaya.

The eldest son of Ki Ageng Getas Pendowo (Raden Depok), had the childhood name Bagus Songgom. Initially, in his youth, because he felt he was a descendant of a king, he transformed into an arrogant young man. One time, Bagus Songgom held a shadow puppet performance with the puppeteer Ki Bicak. Ki Bicak's wife, who was also a gender drummer, turned out to be a very beautiful figure. Ki Ageng fell in love with Nyai Bicak and to get her, Kyai Bicak had to be killed. After he successfully killed Ki Bicak, he continued his intention to marry Nyai Bicak. However, when he saw a bendhe (small gong), his heart was suddenly attracted and forgot his original intention. When his attraction grew stronger, Sunan Kalijaga suddenly came over. As if he knew the confusion experienced by Bagus Songgom, Sunan Kalijaga answered that the bendhe had to be taken care of. If the bendhe was hit and the sound echoed, it was a sign that the person who hit it would win the war. However, if the bendhe was hit and did not make a sound, it was a sign of losing the war. The bendhe, which was named Kyai Bicak, later became an heirloom of the Mataram Kingdom.

After going through many bitternesses of life, Bagus Songgom changed into a person who enjoyed meditating and living simply. Ki Ageng Selo enjoyed meditating in the forest, caves, and mountains while farming and cultivating rice fields. One of the rice fields he cultivated, he named Subanlah, an abbreviation of the term Subhanallah. This is because every time he cultivated the rice fields, he always dhikr by saying Subhanallah. Ki Ageng Selo was a person who had a high sense of social responsibility. The results of the rice fields he cultivated, he shared with neighbors in need. In addition to being an ascetic, Ki Ageng Selo also had a good knowledge of Islam. He practiced the teachings of Imam Al-Ghazali and Kanjeng Sunan Kalijaga to divide time in one day, namely 8 hours for work, 8 hours for worship, and 8 hours for rest. It is not surprising that the hermitage he founded in Selo, increasingly had students coming from various regions. One of his students was Raden Mas Karebet, Hadiwijaya, the future Sultan of Pajang (Santoso, 2016: 155-156).

Like his teacher, Sunan Kalijaga, Ki Ageng Selo was a person who enjoyed meditating (khlawat). One time, during his meditation, Ki Ageng Selo, asked God so that he could bring down the great kings who controlled all of Java.

Kala semanten Ki Ageng sampun pitung dinten pitung dalu wonten gubug pagagan saler wetaning Tarub, ing wana Renceh. Ing wanci dalu Ki Ageng sare wonten ing ngriku, Ki Jaka Tingkir (Mas Karebet) tilem wonten ing dagan. Ki Ageng Sela dhateng wana nyangking kudhi, badhe babad. Kathinggal salebeting supeno Ki Jaka Tingkir sampun wonten ing Wana, Sastra sakhatahing kekajengan sampun sami rebah, kaseredan dhateng Ki Jaka Tingkir (Olthof, t.t.: 35 - 36).

Ki Ageng Selo had indeed had a dream about his student, Jaka Tingkir (Raden Mas Karebet). Ki Ageng Selo's dream was considered a sign that Jaka Tingkir would receive a revelation as the king of Java. The dream also had a meaning that by the will of fate, Ki Ageng Selo's efforts to be able to bring down great kings had been preceded by Jaka Tingkir. Ki Ageng Selo was of course disappointed, but finally his heart surrendered to the will of God Almighty. He advised Jaka Tingkir, Nanging thole, ing buri turunku kena nyambungi ing wahyumu (Dirdjosubroto, n.d.: 131). He asked Jaka Tingkir that his descendants continue the revelation of the Hadiwijaya kingdom, as the king of Java. This request was fulfilled by Jaka Tingkir (Santoso, 2016: 160). Ki Ageng Selo had indeed experienced various disappointments. One of them was his failure to become a private soldier in Demak. The requirement for a private is to fight a wild bull. This was very easy for Ki Ageng Selo. With just one blow, the bull's head was destroyed. However, he felt sorry for it and turned his face away when the bull's blood spurted onto his face. Because of this, Ki Ageng Selo failed because he was considered weak in facing the enemy (Santoso, 2016: 158-159).

Another interesting story about Ki Ageng Selo is his magical power to catch lightning. At that time, Sultan Demak III, Sultan Trenggana was still alive. Like other days, that day, Ki Ageng Selo went to the rice fields. Suddenly, the hot day turned very cloudy, a sign that it would rain. Not long after, heavy rain fell accompanied by lightning. However, Ki Ageng Selo did not budge and continued his activities of hoeing the rice fields. Suddenly, lightning (bledheg) came and struck Ki Ageng Selo in the form of an old man. With his magical power, the old man who was none other than the embodiment of lightning, he quickly caught and then tied him to a gandri tree. After he finished, he continued hoeing his rice fields. After he felt enough, he went home with the bledheg. He had a plan to bring the bledheg to the Sultan of Demak. By the Sultan, the bledheg was placed inside strong iron bars and placed in the middle of the town square. Many people came to see the form of the bledheg. At that time, an old woman came with a jug of water. The water was given to the old man bledheg and he drank it. After drinking, a deafening thunderous sound was heard. At the same time, the old man and old woman bledheg disappeared, while the iron bars that locked the old man bledheg were shattered.

As a spiritual teacher, Ki Ageng Selo gave many messages and advice to his descendants. One of them was the prohibition for his children and grandchildren to plant pumpkins in front of the house. This prohibition was triggered by an incident. At that time, Ki Ageng Selo was carrying his child in the middle of the pumpkin plants in his yard. Suddenly, a madman came and went berserk. He was able to kill the person, but when he saved his child, he tripped over a pumpkin stem and fell on his back, so that his cloth came off and he became naked.

Ki Ageng Selo had seven sons, namely: Nyai Ageng Lurung Tengah, Nyai Ageng Sobo (Wonosobo), Nyai Ageng Basri, Nyai Ageng Jati, Nyai Ageng Patanen, Nyai Ageng Pakis Dadu, and his youngest son named Ki Ageng Enis. Ki Ageng Enis had a son named Ki Ageng Pamanahan who married the eldest daughter of Ki Ageng Sobo, and gave birth to Mas Ngabehi Loring Pasar or Danang Sutawijaya. The latter figure became the founder of the Mataram Kingdom. It is said that Ki Ageng Pamanahan had two close friends, namely Ki Juru Martani and Ki Penjawi, the adopted son of Ki Ageng Enis. The three of them were brothers and studied together with Sunan Kalijaga together with Sultan Pajang Hadiwijaya (Jaka Tingkir). At the will of Sultan Pajang, Ki Ageng Enis was asked to live and die in the hamlet of Lawiyan, so he was also known as Ki Ageng Lawiyan.