Karmapa controversy

There are currently two, separately enthroned 17th Gyalwang Karmapas: Ogyen Trinley Dorje and Trinley Thaye Dorje. The Karmapa is the spiritual leader of the nine-hundred-year-old Karma Kagyu lineage of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism.

Divisiveness started in the early and mid 1990s, with semi-public accusations of impropriety from those closely involved, and continued for several years thereafter.[1][2][3] The recognition of the 17th Karmapa created a split within the Karma Kagyu lineage. Tai Situ Rinpoche recognized Ogyen Trinley Dorje as the 17th Karmapa, and Shamar Rinpoche disagreed and chose Trinley Thaye Dorje as the rightful claimant to the title of the 17th Karmapa.[4] As the years passed, separate sets of organizations and highly recognized lamas, or teachers, supported one Karmapa or the other.[5] Despite an intriguing history, the high lamas involved met on good terms and issued statements that they are confident there will be an amicable solution.[4]

In 2018, Ogyen Trinley Dorje and Trinley Thaye Dorje met for the first time to begin creating a personal relationship with one another, and to encourage their spiritual communities to heal the divisions and join in efforts to help preserve the Karma Kagyu tradition.[6][7] In 2020, Ogyen Trinley Dorje and Trinley Thaye Dorje jointly announced they would work together to find the next incarnation of the Shamar Rinpoche, historically considered second in importance to the Karma Kagyu lineage after the Gyalwang Karmapa,[8] similar to the Panchen Lama's role as second in importance in the Gelugpa school after the Dalai Lama.[9][10]

On December 4, 2023 Thaye Dorje and Ogyen Trinley Dorje wrote a statement, that they would recognize the 15th Shamar Rinpoche together, as well as oversee his education, empowerments and instructions. The two Karmapas asked all students of the Karma Kagyu to regret their past actions, and have the firm resolve to never split into factions again.[11][12]

Background

Conflicts with previous Karmapa recognitions

This is not the first controversy around a Karmapa incarnation. The recognitions of the Karmapa incarnations are of central importance in the Karma Kagyu lineage. The 8th, 10th, and 12th incarnations, as well as the widely renowned 16th Karmapa, experienced minor conflicts during their recognitions, each of which was ultimately resolved.[1][13][14][15]

Re-emergence of recognition of Shamar Rinpoche

The 14th Shamar Rinpoche, nephew of the 16th Karmapa, traveled alongside him during his escape to Bhutan from Tibet. In 1964, the eight year old was granted permission by the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government-in-Exile to be officially recognized. With the 172-year ban on recognizing Shamarpa reincarnations lifted, Shamar Rinpoche reclaimed his place as senior student and deputy of the Karmapa. The ban had begun after the 10th Sharmapa was accused by members of the Karma Kagyu lineage of being a traitor, and of instigating the Sino-Nepalese War between Tibet and Nepal.[16][17][18] The ban affected Shamar Rinpoche's lineage and supporting administration, but his enthronement in 1964 at the Rumtek Monastery allowed him back into his historical position as the second-ranking lama of the Karma Kagyu lineage, following the 16th Karmapa.[19][20]

Incarnations like the 12th Shamarpa, son of the 15th Karmapa, enjoyed more leniency—but not official recognition—from the government thanks to the close personal relationship of that Karmapa and the 13th Dalai Lama.[21][22]

Collaboration to recognize a Karmapa incarnation

The Karmapas traditionally predict their deliberately chosen rebirths, and prepare their predictions for their closest students so as to be located after birth. Although not strictly defined, the usual process to locate, recognize and enthrone a Karmapa incarnation was facilitated quietly by those previously close students, collaboratively and behind closed doors. Multiple judgements ensured harmony and continuity of the lineage.[23][24]Among the collaborative participants, the Shamar Rinpoches have played an important role in confirming the identity of the Karmapas for several centuries. The Tai Situ Rinpoches and Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoches have played similar roles, as the circumstances dictated.[25][26][27]

Role of the Shamarpas

The Shamar Rinpoches have had a hand in recognizing seven of the Karmapas and were often successors and teachers of the Karmapas—the relationship between the two has been characterized as being like father and son, or as brothers.[28][25][29] The 5th Dalai Lama, for instance, affirmed the Karmapa and Shamarpa incarnations as having equal status, and in early texts the Shamarpa (Tibetan: ཞྭ་དམར་པ། Wylie: zhwa dmar pa, "red-hatted one") is referred to as the "Red Hat Karmapa".[30][31][32] Upon his enthronement in 1964, the 14th Shamarpa was named by 16th Karmapa as his spiritual heir and was the senior-most lama of the lineage during the controversy,[33][34]

Role of Tai Situ Rinpoches and Gyaltsap Rinpoches

The Tai Situ Rinpoches and Gyaltsap Rinpoches have also had a close historical relationship with the Karmapas.[35][36] The Tai Situ Rinpoches have identified—either independently or in conjunction with the Shamar or Gyaltsap rinpoches— three of the Karmapa incarnations, and similarly, the Gyaltsap rinpoches have helped identify four incarnations.[33][29]

Chokgyur Lingpa's prophecy of 17th Karmapa and Tai Situ Rinpoche

A prophecy was made by the 19th century Nyingma master, Chokgyur Lingpa, based a vision he had whereby Guru Rinpoche manifests as past and future Karmapas, and the minds of the 17th Karmapa and Tai Situ Rinpoche are "inseparably one" as they sit together under a "verdant tree on a rocky mountain".[1]

While disputing the interpretation of the prophecy, the Shamarpa, while supporting his selection of Trinley Thaye Dorje, maintained it could be reinterpreted to correspond to the 16th Karmapa and the 11th Tai Situ Rinpoche.[37][38]

The 14th Dalai Lama

In Tibet, the 14th Dalai Lama's Gelug school historically had a strong political and spiritual-leadership role, which was tempered by the autonomy of the three other schools of Tibetan Buddhism—the Kagyu school, the Nyingma school and the Sakya school. The Nyingma school has always been non-political.

In 1992, after Ogyen Trinley Dorje was located and recognized, the search committee, then led by Tai Situ Rinpoche, requested that the Dalai Lama bestow the Buktham Rinpoche seal, or the Buktham Letter, on the recognized 17th Gyalwang Karmapa. The seal was made official on 30 June 1992.[39] Supporters of Ogyen Trinley Dorje maintain that the 14th Dalai Lama has the spiritual authority to recognize an incarnation of the Karmapa.

The Karmapa lineage is the oldest tulku lineage in Tibetan Buddhism, predating the Dalai Lama lineage by more than two centuries.[40] Followers of the Karma Kagyu lineage historically have considered themselves independent of the Dalai Lama's authority, and see the Karmapas as spiritually equal to the historical Buddha.[41]

Supporters of Trinley Thaye Dorje claim any previous involvement of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan government was merely a final stamp of approval following an individual monastery's (or lama's administration) independent decision.[39]>[42][43]

Chinese attempts to control incarnations

Within the Antireligious campaigns in China is an ongoing directive to halt the recognition of high tulkus and control the naming of Dalai Lamas, Panchen Lamas, Karmapas, and Shamarpas, in order to gain spiritual and temporal control of Tibet and of Tibetan Buddhism.

Official Beijing decrees were initiated in 1991, then revised as the State Religious Affairs Bureau Order No. 5, to outlaw the recognition of tulkus and lamas without China's state approvals. An ineffective lottery system was reported following the ban of the Shamarpas.

In 1992, China tried another tactic which approved the 17th Karmapa's enthronement and posited its plan to eventually replace the 14th Dalai Lama with the 17th Karmapa.[44][45][46][47][48][49]

Corruption of the Tibetan tulku system

In the centuries following the inception of the system used to identify reincarnate lamas (beginning in the 13th century with the second Karmapa), the process became increasingly corrupted and politicized by those living outside monastic-ordination systems, as the process also led indirectly to sources of material wealth and power in Tibet.[50][51][52][53] Highly respected teachers like the 14th Dalai Lama and Shamar Rinpoche have bemoaned the practice as belonging to feudal times, and have advocated revamping the system in way that divorces the reincarnate teacher from administrative politics and allows them to distinguish themselves.[54][55][56][57]

History

Soon after the parinirvāṇa of the 16th Karmapa in 1981, a disagreement began brewing when head students of the Karmapa recounted opposing stories on what direction, and at whose feet, relics landed from the 16th Karmapa's funeral pyre.[58] Years passed with no obvious clues of where to find the next incarnation, and the controversy came to the forefront when Shamar Rinpoche broke from the group of regents, claiming Tai Situ Rinpoche was not following protocol.[59]

Initial search committee

3rd Jamgon Kongtrul
14th Kunzig Shamarpa
12th Tai Situpa

Following the parinirvāṇa of the 16th Karmapa in 1981, a regency of the four highest remaining members of the Karma Kagyu lineage at that time was formed to locate his rebirth:[60][61]

This regency was officially dissolved by 1984, but the four rinpoches still referred to themselves as "regents" when the prediction letter was interpreted in 1992. As the collaborative group, they had the authority to recognize the next Karmapa.[62][63][64] As years went by, the pressure to find the next incarnation of the Karmapa mounted.[65][66][67]

Discovery of prediction letter

One central issue in the recognition of the 17th Karmapa was a prediction letter Tai Situ claimed was written by the 16th Karmapa. It indicated the parents, location, and year of the 17th Karmapa's rebirth.

In January 1981, nine months before the 16th Karmapa's parinirvāṇa, the 12th Tai Situpa maintained that the Karmapa gave him an amulet with a yellow-brocade cover, telling him, "This is your protection amulet. In the future, it will confer great benefit." Although Tai Situpa wore the locket on a gold chain for about a year after the Karmapa's death, he moved it to a side pocket, not realizing its significance or that it contained a message. Tai Situpa states that he followed an intuition to open the amulet and found in late 1990 the third prediction letter, inside an envelope marked "Open in the Metal Horse Year".

Shamar Rinpoche questions the letter's authenticity

Shamar Rinpoche questioned the authenticity of Tai Situ's prediction letter presented in 1992. He requested a forensic examination to prove or disprove its age and authorship. Shamar Rinpoche stated the inner letter appeared to be older than its outer envelope, and claimed the handwriting and grammar did not match that of the 16th Karmapa.[68][69] Tai Situ rejected the idea of a scientific evaluation.[70][71][72]

Recognizing the current Karmapa

Among tulkus of the Karma Kagyu lineage, the 7th Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, the 9th Thrangu Rinpoche, the 7th Mingyur Rinpoche, and the 9th Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche hold Ogyen Trinley Dorje to be the 17th Karmapa. Trinley Thaye Dorje has been recognized by Shamar Rinpoche, Lama Jigme Rinpoche,[73] Topga Yulgyal Rinpoche, Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche, Sherab Gyaltsen Rinpoche, Khenchen Rinpoche Drupon Trinley Paljor, and the Fourth Trungram Gyaltrul Rinpoche.

The government of the People's Republic of China officially recognized Ogyen Trinley Dorje as the 17th Karmapa in 1992.[74][75] The PRC has continued to recognize Ogyen Trinley Dorje as the Karmapa even after he departed Tibet and arrived in India in January 2000.[76] Ogyen Trinley has been referred to as the 'Beijing Karmapa', due to the backing he receives from the government of the PRC. Trinley Thaye, meanwhile, is referred to as the 'Delhi Karmapa', due to his having the support of the government of India.[77]

Beru Khyentse Rinpoche holds a distinctly minority view, believing both Karmapas are legitimate.[78] He states, "It is possible that there can be two Karmapas in order to benefit sentient beings because the Karmapa can manifest in many different forms," and writes that the 14th Karmapa highlighted that "in many universes a hundred million Karmapas have manifested. The Karmapa is also the Buddha's emanation, thus until all the thousand Buddhas have come and their doctrine is not diminishing, my activity of the Karmapa emanations will not end."[79]

Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche said that, "As far as my father (Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche) was concerned, they were both to be respected and perceived with pure appreciation."[80]

Court battle over Rumtek Monastery in 1998

Rumtek Monastery

Control of Rumtek Monastery, which was the seat of the 16th Karmapa in exile, has been the subject of a legal contest filed in 1998 "by the Karmapa Charitable Trust, [and the plaintiffs] Shri T.S. Gyaltshen, Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche, and Shri Gyan Jyoti Kansakar against the State of Sikkim, the Secretary of Ecclessiastical Affairs and Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche. The plaintiffs seek to evict the monks and other occupants of Dhama Chakra Centre, Rumtek and to possess and administer the monastery for their own purposes."[81]

Previously, in 1982, Shamar Rinpoche and his cousin, Topga Yugyal, gained control of the estate at Rumtek monastery a month after the 16th Karmapa's passing. Three monasteries in Bhutan were sold,[82] and control was gained over the Karmapa Charitable Trust, organized in 1961 by the 16th Karmapa. Disagreements over the Shamarpa's and Topga's financial dealings began in 1988.[82]

Ogyen Trinley Dorje's followers maintain that the trust was established solely for the sake of seeing to the welfare of the Karmapa's followers, providing funds for the maintenance of the monastery, and for the monks' medical fees. The administration of the monastery was the responsibility of the Tsurphu Labrang, which was organized as a legal entity for a related case:[83] The Indian Supreme Court was considering[84] a motion made to join Tsurphu Labrang with the defendants in order to speed the process,[81] but the motion was denied. The case by plaintiffs Shamar Rinpoche, et al., remains on the docket of the District Court.

Ogyen Trinley escapes Tibet in 1999

In late 1999, fourteen-year-old Ogyen Trinley Dorje decided that the restrictions placed on him by the PRC government at Tsurphu limited his ability to teach his disciples and receive teachings from lineage masters.[85] He escaped over the Himalayas in the middle of winter, evading Chinese authorities and making his way through Nepal and on to Dharamsala, India, arriving on January 5, 2000.[86][87]

Ogyen Trinley Dorje meeting with Shamar Rinpoche in 2007

Ogyen Trinley Dorje requested to meet Shamar Rinpoche, and asked to arrange a personal meeting with him. The two met in the Oberoi International Hotel in New Delhi on 9 January 2007.[88][89]

Shamar Rinpoche had declined the first invitation in 2005, which was received by telephone call from Drikung Chetsang Rinpoche, because to have accepted it "at that time would invite unwarranted suspicions from the India government upon himself." According to Dawa Tsering, spokesperson for the administration of Shamar Rinpoche, "He (Urgyen Trinley Dorje) was confident that this meeting would bring peace in the Kagyu School in general and thus help in flourishing Buddha Dharma. This meeting has created a basis to re-unite all in the Dharma Sangha. Therefore, such an initiative should be appreciated by all."

To underscore his willingness to be supportive, Shamar Rinpoche even provided the necessary help for Ogyen Trinley Dorje to obtain Indian government approval for a visit to the US, though at the same time maintained the stance that Trinley Thaye Dorje is the authentic Karmapa."[90]

Dalai Lama and Shamar Rinpoche meet in 2010

The Dalai Lama and Shamar Rinpoche met on 13 August 2010 at the Dalai Lama's residence to discuss ways of ending the controversy. The Shamarpa wrote, "Although this matter is not easily resolved, since it is connected to the politics of China and India as well, with His Holiness Dalai Lama's blessing and support I am confident that there will be an amicable solution, which will be beneficial for the Karma Kagyü lineage, as well as for Tibetan Buddhism in general."[91]

India accuses Ogyen Trinley Dorje of being a Chinese spy in 2011

In February 2011, Ogyen Trinley Dorje was accused of being a Chinese spy by government officials of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh,[92] allegations which the Karmapa denied. India's intelligence report is said to have been lacking sufficient evidence. Money in the amount of one million dollars cash—some of the money in Chinese yuan—found in his monastery was later deemed to be legitimate donations.

Ogyen Trinley Dorje's travel restrictions lifted in 2011

Ogyen Trinley Dorje's ability to travel had been restricted since 2000. Narendra Modi's government coming into power changed dynamics towards the Karmapa case. In March 2011, the Indian central government lifted some of the travel restrictions on Ogyen Trinley Dorje, allowing him to travel out of Dharamsala,[93]

In May 2015, Karmapa travelled to the United Kingdom from India.[94] By then, the Modi government lifted all travel restrictions placed by the previous government, except to Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim.[95]

Trinley Thaye Dorje weds in 2017

On 29 March 2017, Trinley Thaye Dorje announced his plans to marry his friend, thirty-six-year-old Rinchen Yangzom, born in Bhutan. The announcement also mentioned he would no longer be performing ordination ceremonies, which are limited to holders of certain vows.[96]

Trinley Thaye Dorje is not the first Karmapa to marry and have children. The 10th Karmapa fathered several sons and daughters. One of his sons, Norbu Zangpo, was recognized as the Sixth Tsurpu Gyeltsap.[97] For his part, the 15th Karmapa composed a text on how to "return one's vows" (cease to be a monk) properly.[98] As a Tertön, he had numerous consorts; his children included Khyentsé Özer, who was recognised as the Second Jamgon Kongtrul, and Jamyang Rinpoché, an unrecognised Shamarpa.[99][100]

Reconciliation

Ogyen Trinley Dorje announces break from Dharma activities in 2018

In March 2018, Ogyen Trinley Dorje published a video on his official YouTube channel. It was translated by official translator David Karma Choephel. In the video he sets the course for a temporary break from his activities. He proclaims his personal doubt of being as skilled as the previous Karmapas[101] and asks the community to reconcile the division of the Karma Kagyu Lineage.[102]

The two Karmapas meet in 2018

In early October 2018, Ogyen Trinley Dorje and Trinley Thaye Dorje met for a few days at a rural location in France. On October 11, they issued a joint statement that the two Karmapa candidates would work together to heal the divisions that split the Karma Kagyu lineage.

This undertaking is critically important for the future of the Karma Kagyu lineage as well as for the future of Tibetan Buddhism and the benefit of all sentient beings. We therefore ask everyone within the Karma Kagyu community to join us in our efforts to strengthen and preserve our lineage. We view it as our collective responsibility to restore harmony to our tradition which is a lineage of wisdom and compassion.[103]

Joint prayers and statements

On 20 October 2019, Thinley Thaye Dorje and Orgyen Thinley Dorje announced that they had together composed a long-life prayer for the 15th Shamarpa, and published its text in both Tibetan and an English translation.[104]

On December 4, 2023, Thaye Dorje and Ogyen Trinley Dorje wrote a joint statement, that they would recognize the 15th Shamar Rinpoche together, as well as oversee his education, empowerments and instructions. They said the responsibility had fallen on both of them, that they had met several times over this issue, and they will not accept interference from any uninvolved parties.[105][106]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Thrangu Rinpoche (2000).
  2. ^ Lehnert (1998), p. 42.
  3. ^ Nydahl (2011), pp. 135–137.
  4. ^ a b Gaphel (2014).
  5. ^ Ganj (2018).
  6. ^ Atwood (2018).
  7. ^ Lefferts (2018).
  8. ^ DeMaioNewton & Jensen (2020).
  9. ^ Gérard (2020).
  10. ^ Griffiths (2020).
  11. ^ Thaye Dorje (2023).
  12. ^ Ogyen Trinley Dorje (2023).
  13. ^ Wong (2010), p. 2.
  14. ^ Bausch (2018), p. 41.
  15. ^ Kunsang & Binder-Schmidt (2005), pp. 152–154.
  16. ^ Van Schaik (2011), p. 282.
  17. ^ Douglas & White (1975), pp. 150–151.
  18. ^ Brown (2004), pp. 98–99.
  19. ^ Brown (2004), p. 223.
  20. ^ Lehnert (2019), p. 56.
  21. ^ Lehnert (2019), p. 50.
  22. ^ Samuel (1993), p. 271.
  23. ^ Damcho, Lhundup (2016). Karmapa: 900 Years. KTD Publications. p. 95. ISBN 978-1-934608-28-9. The process was adapted to the varying circumstances, and appears to have been highly collaborative. Often one or more people initially search for and identify the Karmapa. Another may confirm that identification in the form of official recognition and yet a third party might conduct the formal enthronement. This can make it difficult to name any one person as having "recognized" a given Karmapa. It also demonstrates the importance of multiple judgments to ensure not only that the right candidate is chosen but also that the harmony needed for the lineage to continue benefiting beings is preserved.
  24. ^ Curren, Erik (2006). Buddha's Not Smiling: Uncovering Corruption at the Heart of Tibetan Buddhism Today. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 86. ISBN 978-81-208-3331-9. In Tibet, though politics had usually played into tulku searches, the Karmapa's strong labrang had never needed to mount an active public outreach program to support a search for a new Karmapa. The previous Karmapa's chief disciples chose his successor quietly amongst themselves. In exile, by contrast, external alliances and legal cases would determine the future of the Karma Kagyu leader.
  25. ^ a b Damcho, Lhundup (2016). Karmapa: 900 Years. KTD Publications. p. 94. ISBN 978-1-934608-28-9.
  26. ^ K R Lama vs R Hope, L K Shedrup, T Burchell, E Duckworth (High Court of New Zealand 11 November 2004) ("From the late 14th century onwards, the primary responsibility for recognising and enthroning the Karmapa normally belonged to the Shamarpa. The only real exception was in 1506 (Karmapa 8), where there was a dispute over the recognition and the Shamar's role is not mentioned. (in the cases of Karmapas 7 and 13, the Shamarpa had died at around the same time as the Karmapa, so there was no adult Shamarpa available to take responsibility.)").Text
  27. ^ Curren, Erik (2006). Buddha's Not Smiling: Uncovering Corruption at the Heart of Tibetan Buddhism Today. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 86. ISBN 978-81-208-3331-9. Born in 1952, Shamar is the fourteenth incarnation in a line of tulkus going back to the thirteenth century. The first Shamarpa Drakpa Sengye (1283-1349) was a student of the third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje (1284-1339). For the next ten centuries, the Karmapa and Shamarpa worked as a team, one often recognizing the incarnations of the other.
  28. ^ Roberts, Peter Alan (17 May 2011). Mahamudra and Related Instructions, Core Teachings of the Kagyu Schools. Wisdom Publications. p. 24. ISBN 9780861714445. The Fourth Karmapa, Rolpai Dorje (1340-83), recognized his principal pupil and successor, Khacho Wangpo (I3S0-140S), as the rebirth of Rangjung Dorje's pupil Drakpa Senge (1283-1349 ), thus instituting the succession of Shamarpa tulkus, who were often successors and teachers to successive Karmapas.
  29. ^ a b K R Lama vs R Hope, L K Shedrup, T Burchell, E Duckworth (High Court of New Zealand 11 November 2004).Text
  30. ^ Autobiography of the Fifth Dalai Lama. 3 vols. Lhasa: bod ljongs mi dmangs dpe skrun khang, 1989, Vol. 2. P.359, cit. in: Shamar Rinpoche (2012). A Golden Swan in Turbulent Waters: The Life and Times of the Tenth Karmapa Choying Dorje. Bird of Paradise Press. ISBN 978-0988176201. There was a reason why the Red Hat Karmapa (Shamarpa) was so highly honored. Up until the Third Shamarpa Chopal Yeshe, the Shamarpa was just a chief disciple of Karmapa. However, ever since Je Chen-nga Thamchad Khyenpa Chokyi Dragpa (the Fourth Shamarpa) ascended the throne of the Phagdru dynasty, there was no longer any difference between the Red Hat and the Black Hat Karmapas. This was the reason why I afforded them both equal status.
  31. ^ Roberts, Peter Alan (2007). The Biographies of Rechungpa: The Evolution of a Tibetan Hagiography. Routledge. p. 27. ISBN 978-0415596220. The fourth Karmapa, Rolpay Dorje (Rol-pa'i rDo-rje) recognised the 7 year-old Khachö Wangpo (mKha'-spyod dBang-po (1350–1405) as the rebirth of the first Shamarpa (Zhwa-dmar-pa) (1283–1349), who had been a pupil of the third Karmapa. The title means Red Hat and the lamas had the titles of Shanak (Black Hat) Karmapa and Shamar (Red Hat) Karmapa, though in practice, the Shanak Karmapas are called Karmapas and the Shamar Karmapas are challed Shamarpas. Khachö Wangpo also identified the child who would become the fifth Karmapa, Deshin Shekpa (bDe-bzhin gShegs-pa) (1384–1415).
  32. ^ Curren, Erik (2006). Buddha's Not Smiling: Uncovering Corruption at the Heart of Tibetan Buddhism Today. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 86. ISBN 978-81-208-3331-9. Their partnership was enshrined in parallel titles, based on the color of the identical ceremonial miters each lama wore: The Black Hat Karmapa (Karmapa) and the Red Hat Karmapa (Shamarpa).
  33. ^ a b Damcho, Lhundup (2016). Karmapa: 900 Years. KTD Publications. pp. 94, 97. ISBN 978-1-934608-28-9. Situ Rinpoche was the reincarnation of the Sixteenth Karmapa's own root lama, while Shamar Rinpoche was the senior-most in terms of lineage hierarchy.
  34. ^ Frammolino, Ralph (1 August 2014). "A Shamarpa without Borders". Tricycle. Retrieved 28 August 2020. They came to honor the 14th Shamar Rinpoche, Mipham Chokyi Lodro (1952–2014), a spiritual force who understood that staying true to his calling as the second-highest ranking lama of the Karma Kagyu order wouldn't win him any dharmic popularity contests. To many, he was a polarizing figure, an uncompromising traditionalist. {cite magazine}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  35. ^ "5th Kenting Tai Situpa ~ Chokyi Gyalsten Gelek Palzang". Retrieved 26 August 2020. The 9th Karmapa bestowed upon the head of the 5th Kenting Tai Situpa a Red Vajra Crown of Radiant Gold, which mirrored the Karmapa's own Black Vajra Crown. The Red Crown symbolizes the inseparability of the Karmapa and Kenting Tai Situpa. Through seeing the Red Crown, which is presented in a ceremony even today by the Kenting Tai Situpa, one is instantly and irreversibly set onto the path of enlightenment and receives the blessing of the Bodhisattva Maitreya.
  36. ^ "His Eminence Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche". 18 June 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2020. The first Goshir Gyaltsap Rinpoche, Paljor Döndrup (ca.1424-1486), was a scholar of exceptionally wide learning. He became a disciple and general secretary of the Sixth Karmapa, and offered his service fully to the Karmapas. The Sixth Karmapa designated him to be the tutor of his subsequent incarnation as the Seventh Karmapa.
  37. ^ Wong (2010), p. 64.
  38. ^ Brown (2004), pp. 170–171.
  39. ^ a b Damcho, Lhundup (2016). Karmapa: 900 Years. KTD Publications. p. 95. ISBN 978-1-934608-28-9. Nowadays, His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama's authority to confirm who the real Karmapa is stems not so much from his political role but rather from his universally respected standing as a spiritual master. It is the Dalai Lama's advanced level of spiritual development and his impeccable ethical integrity that ensure his ability to ascertain who is and is not the Karmapa, as well as his neutrality in the matter.
  40. ^ "Karmapa's Controversy Leads to the Dalai Lama's Headache". Indian Defence Review. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  41. ^ Levine, Norma (2013). The Miraculous 16th Karmapa, Incredible Encounters with the Black Crown Buddha. Shang Shung Publications. p. 62. ISBN 978-88-7834-133-3. In East Tibet they have independent small kingdoms; they accept the Dalai Lama as just a Lama. They don't accept him as king for all of Tibet because they have many separate kingdoms. For example my parents are not Karma Kagyu followers but belong to another lineage, the Drigung Kagyu, but I remember when I was a child they were always praying to the Karmapa. Similarly, all over Tibet, Karmapa is like the Buddha.
  42. ^ Curren, Erik (2006). Buddha's Not Smiling: Uncovering Corruption at the Heart of Tibetan Buddhism Today. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 134–135. ISBN 978-81-208-3331-9. As we have seen, Tibetan history gave the Dalai Lama no religious authority to confirm Karmapas, since the Tibetan leader was not a member of the Karma Kagyu school, but belonged instead to the Gelug order. Outsiders are used to hearing the Tibetan leader referred to as the "spiritual leader of Tibet." But such titles need to be seen in cultural context. In Tibet, both government officials and high lamas sported numerous honorific titles for formal occasions. Tibetans even addressed foreign rulers as "emanations" of various bodhisattvas: Genghis Khan and the Mongol chiefs were Vajrapani, Confucius and the Chinese Qing emperors were Manjushri, Queen Victoria was Palden Lhamo, and the Czars of Russia were Tara. This was clearly diplomacy, not religion.
  43. ^ Wong (2010), p. 75.
  44. ^ Brown (2004), pp. 99–100.
  45. ^ Shakabpa, Tsepon W.D. (1984). Tibet: A Political History. Potala Publications. p. 172. After the Gurkha war, the Ch'ien-lung Emperor tried to institute a new system by which the reincarnations of high lamas, such as the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama, would be determined by lottery. The Emperor sent a golden urn to Tibet in 1793 to be used for the drawing of lots. The names of the candidates were to be written on slips of paper and then one drawn from the urn to determine the reincarnation. Although there were two candidates for the ninth reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, the golden urn system was ignored and the selection made by the Tibetan officials themselves. In the ninth month of the Earth-Snake year (18o8), Lungtok Gyatso, the ninth Dalai Lama, was enthroned in the Potala. Representatives from China, Mongolia, Nepal, and Bhutan attended the exotic and impressive ceremony.
  46. ^ Kuzmin, Sergius (2017). "Management as a Tool of Destruction: Reincarnation of "Living Buddhas" in Modern Chinese Legislation". The Tibet Journal. 42 (1): 37. Attempts to control the tulku institution in the People's Republic of China (PRC) have started long ago. According to some data, only from 1991 to 2007 about 1,000 "living Buddhas" were "confirmed" by the government on Tibetan territories divided between the Tibetan Autonomous Region and provinces of Sichuan, Qinghai, Gansu and Yunnan. Official agencies of the PRC stated that this was done for satisfaction of the followers' needs of these "living Buddhas" and "based on past and present experience, thorough investigation, opinions from various circles and respect for the ways of living Buddhas' succession", which "is bound to have significant impact on standardizing governance on living Buddha reincarnation, protecting people's religious freedom, maintaining the normal order of Tibetan Buddhism and the building of a harmonious society".
  47. ^ Shakabpa, Tsepon Wangchuk Deden (2010). One Hundred Thousand Moons, An Advanced Political History of Tibet. Vol. 1. Brill. While episodically permitting some degree of liberalization, the Chinese Communist government has asserted control over Tibet in a way that has obstructed religious freedom and has disrupted the continuity of so many dimensions of their traditional life. During the Cultural Revolution, the low point of Tibet's struggle under Chinese rule, most monasteries, temples, and other institutions of Tibetan religion were destroyed. Periodically since that time, it has been possible for Tibetans to rebuild the structures that were destroyed, and at the same time, attenuated forms of the associated institutions have been reestablished as well. Still, the Tibetans that have not gone into exile but who remain in their own land have, since 1959, had to live without the Dalai Lama, the single figure who most animates the Tibetan religious identity.
  48. ^ Terhune, Lea (2004). Karmapa: The Politics of Reincarnation. Wisdom Publications. p. 14. ISBN 9780861711802. Less than a year after the Seventeenth Karmapa's enthronement, and years before his defection, the Dalai Lama expressed his doubts about the young lama's situation in an interview in Dharamsala. "My real worry is that now the Chinese will try to manipulate him," he said, adding that he didn't feel the Chinese would allow the Karmapa to leave so easily as the Kagyu lamas hoped. "They will use every means to brainwash him and then occasionally let him go to the outside world to tell people that inside Tibet religion is completely free, that the situation there is very good, that the Dalai Lama is a splittist, and some such things. I think this would not be of much benefit to the Chinese, but it would be very harmful to the Karmapa." The way the Chinese are handling it, he said, "clearly shows their attitude certainly comes not out of respect but out of some political motivation." He warned Tai Situpa about this, he said, and added, "Now Karmapa Rinpoche must be brought outside [to India]." Eight years later, the Karmapa echoed the Dalai Lama's words during his first press conference on that warm April day in Sidhabari. "I heard it said that in a sense the government of China would make use of me. I was certainly treated very well on a tour I made of China. But I suspected there might be a plan to separate the Tibetan people from the Dalai Lama through me," he told journalists.
  49. ^ Terhune, Lea (2004). Karmapa: The Politics of Reincarnation. Wisdom Publications. p. 232. ISBN 9780861711802. By 1998 the Chinese government's cooperation with regard to the Seventeenth Karmapa had evaporated. So did the initial optimism of Tai Situpa and Gyaltsap Rinpoche. It was manifestly clear that the Chinese government had no intention of letting the Karmapa leave the People's Republic of China.
  50. ^ McKay, Alex (2003). The History of Tibet,The Modern Period: 1895-1959, The Encounter with Modernity. Vol. 3. p. 237. ISBN 0-415-30844-5. Ordinarily the rebirth is found by the oracular prediction of some local lama of repute when in a state of trance. Corruption is general and a large proportion of reincarnations are members of noble or wealthy families.
    16. The multiplication of reincarnations seems to be a development due to motives very similar to those which in the middle ages filled our abbeys and cathedrals with the bodies and relics of saints. A reincarnation is a valuable asset to any lamasery on account of the offerings which his holiness attracts, and it is a great temptation to a poor lamasery to magnify the merits of one of its learned monks in order to justify a search for his reimbodiment. The longer the series of reincarnations the more holy the saint becomes.
  51. ^ Curren, Erik (2006). Buddha's Not Smiling: Uncovering Corruption at the Heart of Tibetan Buddhism Today. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 4–5. ISBN 978-81-208-3331-9. Outsiders might think that tulkus were always chosen according to set procedures laid down to ensure the accuracy of the result-that the child located would be the genuine reincarnation of the dead master, as in the scene from the movie Kundun. But in Tibetan history, tulku searches were not always conducted in such a pure way. Because reincarnating lamas inherited great wealth and power from their predecessors they became the center of many political disputes.
    Tulkus were often recognized based on non-religious factors. Sometimes monastic officials wanted a child from a powerful local noble family to give their cloister more political clout. Other times, they wanted a child from a lower-class family that would have little leverage to influence the child's upbringing. In yet other situations, the desires of the monastic officials took second place to external politics. A local warlord, the Chinese emperor, or even the Dalai Lama's government in Lhasa might try to impose its choice of tulku on a monastery for political reasons.
  52. ^ Samuel (1993), p. 285.
  53. ^ Tulku Thondup Rinpoche (2011). Incarnation: The History and Mysticism of the Tulku Tradition of Tibet. Shambala Publications. ISBN 978-1-59030-839-4. The main cause of corruption, however, is not the lack of merit of the tulku tradition in general or the lack of enlightened lamas who are able to recognize them. Rather, it is the greed for material or social gain that drives the parents, relatives, or other interested people to fabricate stories and manipulate the process in favor of their own candidate. In the past, institutions such as monasteries and nunneries mostly maintained strict and vigilant safeguards against such improper influences. But today, in many cases, the institutions themselves are powerless at best.
  54. ^ Puri, Shri. "Reincarnation feudal, should end now: Dalai Lama amid successor row with China". Retrieved 27 August 2020. "Institutions need to be owned by the people, not by an individual. Like my own institution, the Dalai Lama's office, I feel it is linked to a feudal system. In 1969, in one my official statements, I had mentioned it should continue... But now I feel, not necessarily. It should go. I feel it should not be concentrated in a few people only (Tibetans)," he said.
  55. ^ Curren, Erik (2006). Buddha's Not Smiling: Uncovering Corruption at the Heart of Tibetan Buddhism Today. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 254. ISBN 978-81-208-3331-9. Surprisingly, considering that Tibetans believe him to be a high tulku himself, Shamar is one of the loudest critics of filling leadership positions in Tibetan Buddhism with reincarnate lamas. "I have criticized Tibetan monastery administration since I was a boy at Rumtek," Shamar told me. "Choosing tulkus has always been political. Now, this is becoming painfully clear to all. Tulkus are just bodhisattvas. They can reincarnate as humans, but also as fish or birds, for example. They do not need to be recognized officially to do their work to help sentient beings. I pray that bodhisattvas will continue to help our world. But we do not need to make them our administrative leaders. This just leads to too many fake tulkus and cheapens both religion and politics. We should slowly work to abandon this system and begin choosing leading lamas on the basis of their merit."
    Shamar believes that lamas who serve as leaders of Buddhist schools or powerful monasteries should be elected by their peers, as in the case of the head lama of Bhutan, known as the Je Khenpo, or the Ganden Tripa of the Gelugpas. Both of these positions are filled by older, experienced lamas who serve a term as leader after being selected by a qualified group of other high lamas. "They are not treated like gods, but merely respected as experienced elders," Shamar said.
  56. ^ Frayer, Lauren. "Who Will Decide On The Dalai Lama's Successor — His Supporters Or Beijing". Retrieved 27 August 2020. According to Tibetan Buddhist belief, he has control over his reincarnation: "The person who reincarnates has sole legitimate authority over where and how he or she takes rebirth," according to the Dalai Lama's official website, "and how that reincarnation is to be recognized."
  57. ^ Terhune, Lea (2004). Karmapa: The Politics of Reincarnation. Wisdom Publications. p. 141. ISBN 9780861711802. The record of the Dalai Lamas reveals one ambitious power struggle after another, frequently orchestrated by ministers or regents keen to hang onto their authority. Influential monks were often similarly well connected. Certain aristocratic or otherwise important families generated a suspicious abundance of consequential lamas. Tulkus meant power in a theocracy. While most incarnate lamas are revered as sincere, spiritual figures, these holy individuals can also be exploited by ambitious persons in their entourage. Even strong lamas are not immune to manipulation by people in their families or monasteries. Lamas who cite flaws in the tulku system—including the current Dalai Lama—point out that if a halfway intelligent child is plucked from poverty and oblivion and given every advantage and education, he is likely to make something of himself. And if a child is truly extraordinary, he will naturally distinguish himself."
  58. ^ Curren, Erik, "Buddha's Not Smiling: Uncovering Corruption at the Heart of Tibetan Buddhism Today" 2006 p. 60
  59. ^ Lehnert (1998), pp. 157–158.
  60. ^ Martin, Michele (2003). Music in the Sky: The Life, Art, and Teachings of the 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje. Snow Lion Publications. p. 293. ISBN 1-55939-195-2.
  61. ^ Curren, Erik (2006). Buddha's Not Smiling: Uncovering Corruption at the Heart of Tibetan Buddhism Today. Motilal Banarsidass. p. xi-xii,119. ISBN 978-81-208-3331-9.
  62. ^ Curren, Erik (2006). Buddha's Not Smiling: Uncovering Corruption at the Heart of Tibetan Buddhism Today. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 119. ISBN 978-81-208-3331-9.
  63. ^ Lehnert (1998), pp. 36–37.
  64. ^ Wong (2010), pp. 161, 194–195.
  65. ^ Terhune, Lea (2004). Karmapa: The Politics of Reincarnation. Wisdom Publications. p. 173. ISBN 9780861711802. Pressure was mounting from people impatient for the new Karmapa to be identified. It had been ten years since the Sixteenth Karmapa had died. Letters began to arrive at Rumtek from various Tibetan organizations in different parts of India, Nepal and Bhutan asking pointed questions.
  66. ^ Curren, Erik (2006). Buddha's Not Smiling: Uncovering Corruption at the Heart of Tibetan Buddhism Today. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 120. ISBN 978-81-208-3331-9. In exile, the Karmapa search would become more democratic and open, but also more chaotic. From the death of the sixteenth Karmapa in 1981, pressure mounted on Rumtek to find his successor. By the mideighties, it seemed to the lamas at Rumtek that everybody had an opinion about how to find the Karmapa, and everybody had a right to voice their opinion. People from all over the Himalayas proposed their infants or unborn children as candidates. The committee began by researching the merits of these claims, some of which were implausible to the point of ridicule. One Sikkimese boy was born three years before the sixteenth Karmapa's death, an obvious disqualification.
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  68. ^ Nesterenko, Michel (1992). The Karmapa Papers (Report). p. 71. Fortunately, we had more than 30 letters handwritten by H.H. the 16th Karmapa dating from the 1970's to the 1981, shortly before he passed away. We asked several Tibetans for comparison who confirmed that the letter, at first sight, looked as if written by His Holiness. But this impression seemed to vanish the more they went into the details, especially for people very familiar with H.H. the 16th Karmapa's handwriting.
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References

Further reading

  • Holmes, Ken (1995). His Holiness The 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje: A Biography. Altea Publishing. ISBN 0-9524555-4-4.
  • Maheshwari, Anil (2000). The Buddha Cries: Karmapa Conundrum. UBS Publishers' Distributors Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 978-8174763051.
  • Thinley, Karma (1980). The History of the Sixteen Karmapas of Tibet. Shambhala. ISBN 1-57062-644-8.

External links

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