Karmapa
Template:Short description Template:Tibetan-Chinese-box Template:Tibetan Buddhism
The Karmapa Tulku lineage of the Gyalwa Karmapa is the oldest among the major incarnating lineages of Tibetan Buddhism,<ref name=Kagyu>The Karmapa, "The Karmapas Lineage", Kagyu Office</ref> established in 1110 CE by the 1st Karmapa, Düsum Khyenpa. Karmapa means “the one who carries out buddha-activity”, or “the embodiment of all the activities of the buddhas.”<ref name=Kagyu/> A total of 17 Karmapa manifestations have incarnated after their predecessors predict their own rebirths in detailed letters.<ref name= Kagyu/>
Their honorific titles include His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa (Template:Langx, and more formally as Gyalwang (Template:Langx) The Karmapa is the head of the Karma Kagyu, the largest sub-school of the Kagyu school (Template:Bo), itself one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
The main seat of the four Tibetan seats of the Karmapas is the Tsurphu Monastery in U-Tsang, along the Tolung valley of central Tibet. The Karmapa's seat built during the Tibetan diaspora is the Dharma Chakra Centre at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, India. The international monastic seats are Karma Triyana Dharmachakra in New York and Dhagpo Kagyu Ling in Dordogne, France, and in Dominica.
Born in 1985, it was a few years after the 17th Karmapa, Orgyen Trinley Dorje was located and then recognized in 1992 by the Dalai Lama, and by the Chinese Central Government, that another Karmapa was recognized by Shamar Rinpoche, Trinley Thaye Dorje. The identity of the current 17th Karmapa was resolved by the Karmapas themselves, Orgyen Trinley Dorje and Trinley Thaye Dorje, both of whom issued a joint statement on 04 December 2023.<ref>Orgyen Trinley Dorje and Trinley Thaye Dorje. 4 December 2023, "A joint statement regarding the reincarnation of Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche". Karmapa.org. Retrieved 14 December 2023</ref>
Origin of the lineageEdit
Düsum Khyenpa, 1st Karmapa Lama (Template:Bo, 1110–1193), was a disciple of the Tibetan master Gampopa. A talented child who studied Buddhism with his father from an early age and who sought out great teachers in his twenties and thirties, he is said to have attained enlightenment at the age of fifty while practicing dream yoga. He was henceforth regarded by the contemporary highly respected masters Shakya Śri and Lama Shang as the Karmapa, a manifestation of Avalokiteśvara, whose coming was predicted in the Samadhiraja Sutra<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra.<ref>The Lankavatara Sutra Template:Webarchive</ref>
The source of the oral lineage, traditionally traced back to the Buddha Vajradhara, was transmitted to the Indian master of mahamudra and tantra called Tilopa (989–1069), through Naropa (1016–1100) to Marpa Lotsawa and Milarepa. These forefathers of the Kagyu (Bka' brGyud) lineage are collectively called the "Golden Rosary".
Recognition of the KarmapaEdit
The Karmapa is a long line of consciously reborn lamas, and the second Karmapa, Karma Pakshi (1204–1283), is the first recognized tulku (Template:Bo) in Tibetan Buddhism who predicted the circumstances of his rebirth.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
A Karmapa's identity is confirmed through a combination realized lineage teachers supernatural insight, prediction letters left by the previous Karmapa, and the young child's own self-proclamation and ability to identify objects and people known to its previous incarnation.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite letter</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Conflicts in recognitionsEdit
The 8th, 10th, and 12th incarnations, as well as the widely renowned 16th Karmapa, each faced conflicts during their recognition,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite letter</ref> which were ultimately resolved. There is currently a controversy over the enthronement of two 17th Karmapas.
Black CrownEdit
The Karmapas are the holders of the Black Crown (Template:Bo) and are thus sometimes known as "the Black Hat Lamas". This crown (Template:Bo "self-arisen crown"), is traditionally said to have been woven by the dakinis from their hair and given to the Karmapa in recognition of his spiritual realization. The physical crown displayed by the Karmapas was offered to Deshin Shekpa, 5th Karmapa Lama by the Yongle Emperor of China as a material representation of the spiritual one.
The crown was last known to be located at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, the last home of the 16th Karmapa, although that location has been subject to some upheaval since 1993 causing some to worry as to whether or not it is still there. An inventory of items remaining at Rumtek is purported to be something the Indian government is going to undertake in the near future.
List of previous KarmapasEdit
- Düsum Khyenpa (Template:Bo-textonly) (1110–1193)
- Karma Pakshi (Template:Bo-textonly) (1204–1283)
- Rangjung Dorje (Template:Bo-textonly) (1284–1339)
- Rolpe Dorje (Template:Bo-textonly) (1340–1383)
- Deshin Shekpa (Template:Bo-textonly)(1384–1415)
- Thongwa Dönden (Template:Bo-textonly) (1416–1453)
- Chödrak Gyatso (Template:Bo-textonly) (1454–1506)
- Mikyö Dorje (Template:Bo-textonly) (1507–1554)
- Wangchuk Dorje (Template:Bo-textonly) (1556–1603)
- Chöying Dorje (Template:Bo-textonly) (1604–1674)
- Yeshe Dorje (Template:Bo-textonly) (1676–1702)
- Changchub Dorje (Template:Bo-textonly) (1703–1732)
- Dudul Dorje (Template:Bo-textonly) (1733–1797)
- Thekchok Dorje (Template:Bo-textonly) (1798–1868)
- Khakyab Dorje (Template:Bo-textonly) (1871–1922)
- Rangjung Rigpe Dorje (Template:Bo-textonly) (1924–1981)
- Ogyen Trinley Dorje (Template:Bo-textonly) (b. 1985) or Trinley Thaye Dorje (Template:Bo-textonly) (b. 1983)
See alsoEdit
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
- Official websites of His Holiness Karmapa www.karmapa.org or www.kagyuoffice.org
- Thinley, Karma: The History of the Sixteen Karmapas of Tibet, Boulder, Prajna Press 1980.
- Douglas, Nick; White, Meryl: Karmapa, the Black Hat Lama of Tibet, Milano 1975.
- Ken Holmes, Karmapa, Altea Publishing 1995, Template:ISBN. Author's website (While the book and web site favours one candidate for the 17th the information on 1st-16th is useful and was the original source for this article)
External linksEdit
Template:Sister project The history of the Karmapa lineage, including biographical details of the historical Karmapas, can be found at the following web sites. Notice that the websites are written to those loyal to one or other of the rival 17th Karmapas, and their accounts of previous incarnations may not be written from a neutral point of view.
- Karmapa lineage history on kagyuoffice.org, the website of Ogyen Trinley Dorje
- Karmapa lineage history on karmapa.org, the website of Thaye Dorje
- The Life of the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa
- Information on past and present Karmapas from khandro.net, a website supporting Ogyen Trinley Dorje