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Karmapa controversy

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The recognition of the 17th Karmapa has been the subject of controversy.[1] Since the death of the 16th Karmapa in 1981 two candidates have been put forward:

Both have already been enthroned as 17th Karmapa, and both independently have been performing ceremonial duties in the role of a Karmapa. They have not met, though both have expressed a willingness and desire to meet. The situation has led to deep division among Kagyu followers all over the world. As one academic expert in the field testified in court, while the recognition of Urgyen Trinley "appears to have been accepted by a majority of Karma Kagyu monasteries and lamas, there remains a substantial minority of monasteries and lamas who have not accepted Urgyen Trinley as Karmapa. In particular, these include the Shamar Rinpoche, who historically has been the person most directly involved in the process of recognition."[2] It is difficult to produce an objective description of the events because the most important developments are known only from conflicting accounts by those involved.

The Karmapa lineage is the most ancient tulku lineage in Tibetan Buddhism, pre-dating the Dalai Lama lineage by more than two centuries. The lineage is an important one as the Karmapa is traditionally the head of the Karma Kagyu school, one of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

Recognition of the Karmapa

As with any other lineage of tulkus, the question of recognizing the new incarnation is crucial. Sometimes, all concerned parties are sure that a particular child is indeed the new incarnation of that particular master. Such agreement was not the case with the 8th, 10th, and 12th Karmapas (each of which was resolved).[3] A dispute has happened again in the case of the 17th Karmapa.

Karmapas have often been self-recognizing. That means that many incarnations (at least seven out of sixteen)[citation needed] claimed very early in life to be Karmapa, recognizing associates and colleagues of the previous incarnation. Also, each Karmapa has left indications leading to his next re-birth, often in the form of a letter. In such letters, indications regarding the location and parentage of the next incarnation were included, though usually in a poetic form that is difficult to decipher. However, the closest associates of the previous incarnation play a crucial role in the process of recognizing the next Karmapa. After all, it is they who have been closely associated with the previous incarnation and will have to raise and teach the new one.

The process of recognition has involved several different lamas since the first recognition in the early 13th Century. Geoffrey Samuel writes that, "From the late 14th century onwards until the 1790s, the primary responsibility for recognising and enthroning the Karmapa normally belong to the Shamarpa."[4] The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Karmapas were recognised by individual followers of the early Karmapas, rather than by any tulku. The Shamarpa recognised the 5th, 6th, 9th (together with Tai Situ), 10th, 11th, and (via a search party) 12th Karmapas. Tai Situ recognised the 8th, 9th (together with the Shamarpa), 14th, and (together with Jamgon Kongtrul) 16th Karmapas. Gyaltsab Rinpoche recognised the 7th and 13th Karmapas, and the 15th Karmapa was recognised by the 9th Drukchen of the Drukpa Kagyu.[4]

In the 1790s, shortly before the recognition of the 14th Karmapa, the Tibetan government in Lhasa banned the Shamarpa from reincarnating as a result of alleged political intrigues. The Karmapa continued to recognize reincarnations of the Shamarpa, but they of necessity lived in secret and were not available to recognise the Karmapas. This ban became irrelevant when the Dalai Lama and the Karmapa both fled Tibet in the late 1950s. The ban was formally lifted in 1963.

Samuel points out that, in the cases of the 7th and 13th Karmapas, the Shamarpa of that time had died at around the same time as the previous Karmapa, meaning that there was no adult Shamarpa available to take part in the recognition. Thus, Samuel argues that "the only real exception" to the Shamarpa's preeminent role, prior to his banning, was in the recognition of the 8th Karmapa in 1506.[4] Tai Situ has been the next most actively involved in recognising Karmapas, including two of the three recognised between 1790 and 1963.

Split recognition of the current Karmapa

Of the two 17th Karmapas, Ogyen Trinley Dorje has been recognized by Situ Rinpoche and Gyaltsab Rinpoche. In July 1992, both asked the Office of the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala to confirm their recognition. The 14th Dalai Lama confirmed the recognition of Ogyen Trinley Dorje. The head of the Sakya school, H.H. Sakya Trizin and the future head of the Nyingma school, H.H. Mindroling Trichen Rinpoche also recognised Ogyen Trinley Dorje as the reincarnation of the 16th Karmapa and composed long-life prayers for him.[5] The government of the People's Republic of China has also accepted him.

The first born Karmapa, Trinley Thaye Dorje, has been recognized by H.H. Shamar Rinpoche - the senior Kagyu official below the Karmapas themselves.

H.E. Beru Khentse Rinpoche holds a distinctly minority view, saying he believes both Karmapas are legitimate [6]. Chokyi 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'.[7]

For followers on both sides of this controversy, the issue is painful. Both sides pray that the rightful Karmapa may be able to do his dharmic duties and teachings. Karma Kagyu teachers such as Ole Nydahl have said that the spiritual realization of the Karmapas and their worthiness as reincarnations will be shown clearly by their future actions.

Ogyen Trinley Dorje

Main article: Ogyen Trinley Dorje
Ogyen Trinley Dorje

Ogyen Trinley Dorje was born in 1985 to a nomadic family in eastern Tibet. At age seven, he was formally enthroned at Tsurphu Monastery, the traditional seat of the Karmapas in Tibet. In late December of 1999, he eluded his communist Chinese minders, who prevented him from undertaking most of his traditional studies and teaching activities, and escaped over the Himalaya mountains to exile in India. He celebrated his twenty-first birthday on June 26, 2006.

Circumstances leading to candidacy

After the death of the 16th Karmapa Shamar Rinpoche, Tai Situ Rinpoche, Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, and Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche agreed to form a council of regents to take joint responsibility for the spiritual affairs of the Karma Kagyu lineage, alternating as the regent for the Karmapa every three years. This regency however, was dissolved by mutual consent in 1984 having only functioned for three years after the 16th Karmapa's death.

Supporters of Ogyen Trinley Dorje claim that his birth and parentage are consistent with the prediction by Chogyur Lingpa, who, it is claimed, had prophetic visions of various events in the lives of the 14th through the 21st Karmapas. Many believe that Lingpa's statement that the minds of Tai Situpa and Karmapa "are inseparably joined as one" refers to the 17th Karmapa and current Tai Situ Rinpoche. "The description ... is meant to show there is disagreement in this reincarnation and the mind of the 17th Karmapa and the mind of Tai Situ Rinpoche are inseparable from each other," explains the Kagyu lama Thrangu Rinpoche, who is one of Ogyen Trinley Dorje's tutors. Although according to Thrangu Rinpoche the 16th Karmapa left two letters specifying a rebirth in Tibet, it is yet another prediction document, hidden in a locket and given to Tai Situ, that has prompted criticism from the rival claimant's camp. Supporters of Thaye Dorje have contended that Tai Situ Rinpoche fabricated this letter; to date he has refused requests to have it scientifically analyzed, claiming this would be a violation of a sacred object.

However it has been persuasively argued that the prediction was already fulfilled with the 16th Karmapa who, in the most accurate sense, was the 17th. This is supported by Chogyur Lingpa's life story, where he explains that one Karmapa died too early to be enthroned, and that as to Chogyur Lingpa's view, he needs to be included when enlisting the Karmapas. As Chogyur Lingpa is also the source of the prediction, the argument has persuasive force and it holds true that the described event of the prediction took place between the then Karmapa and Situpa during the life of the 16th Karmapa.

In January of 1981, nine months before his death, the 16th Karmapa gave the 12th Tai Situpa 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. In 1989, following an intuition, Tai Situpa opened the amulet and found the third prediction letter, inside an envelope marked "Open in the Iron Horse Year." The letter said that the Karmapa was to be reborn "to the north, in the east of the land of snow," and when interpreted at the March 1992 meeting of the council of the four regents, was taken to mean that he would be reborn in a specific valley in eastern Tibet. The letter is reproduced on the Kagyu Office website[8], and reads in part:

From here to the north [in] the east of [the Land of] Snow
Is a country where divine thunder spontaneously blazes.
[In] a beautiful nomad's place with the sign of a cow,
The method is Döndrub and the wisdom is Lolaga.
[Born in] the year of the one used for the earth
[With] the miraculous, far-reaching sound of the white one:
[This] is the one known as Karmapa.

Ogyen Trinley Dorje's mother's name is Loga; his father's name is Karma Döndrub Tashi, a name given to him by the 16th Karmapa. Although the search party sent to find him did not yet know it, both of Ogyen Trinley Dorje's parents' names were closely predicted in the letter produced by Tai Situpa. According to Michele Martin, the letter was interpreted to mean he would be "born ... in the area of Lhathok, which translates as 'divine (lha) thunder (thog).' The name of the remote nomadic community where Ogyen Trinley Dorje was born is Bagor, of which ba means 'cow.' The next line indicates his parents, where the masculine principle method refers to his father Döndrub, and the feminine principle wisdom refers to his mother Lolaga. The one used for the earth points to an animal that plows, and Ogyen Trinley Dorje was born in the year of the Wood Ox (1985). The far-reaching sound of the white one indicates the sound of the conch shell that miraculously resounded in the sky for hours after the Karmapa's birth." [9]

On May 22, 1992, one month before his seventh birthday, Ogyen Trinley Dorje was discovered near Bagor, Lhathok, in Eastern Tibet. According to the kagyu official website:[10]

After consideration of the evidence and additional meetings with Their Eminences Tai Situ Rinpoche, Tsurphu Gyaltsab Rinpoche and Shamar Rinpoche, His Holiness the Dalai Lama granted the Buktham Rinpoche, the official notification of the Dalai Lama's approval of the identity of His Holiness the Seventeenth Karmapa.

On September 27 1992, Ogyen Trinley Dorje was formally enthroned at Tsurphu Monastery in Tibet, the traditional seat of the Karmapas, in a ceremony attended by 20,000 people. He lived in Tsurphu another seven years. In late 1999, 14-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. He made a daring escape 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. [11]

Analysts have speculated that this retreat to India was predicted by the 16th Karmapa in his 1940 work entitled "A Song":[12]

In the springtime, a cuckoo comes as a guest.
In the fall when the harvest ripens,
it knows where to go:
Its only thought is travel to the east of India.
In the lofty land of Tibet, the inhabitants, high and low,
And in particular, you, Tai Situ, the Lord and
Protector Maitreya,
Who remains above the crown of our head,
May your activities, like the sun and moon set in space,
Be continuous, stable, and without hindrance.
I pray that we meet again and again.

According to interpretation, the "spring...cuckoo" is equated to the cuckoo that landed on the tent where Ogyen Trinley Dorje was born - one of the miraculous signs said to accompany his birth. The "fall...harvest" is interpreted as Ogyen Trinley Dorje's adult travel "east" to "India." Above all, the supplication to Tai Situ Rinpoche and the prayer to "meet again and again" strongly suggests to his supporters that he is indeed the legitimate tulku.

Trinley Thaye Dorje

Main article: Trinley Thaye Dorje
Trinley Thaye Dorje

Thaye Dorje was born on the 6th of May 1983 in Lhasa, Tibet. His father is Mipham Rinpoche, the reincarnation of a very important lama of the Nyingma school. In October 1986 Chobgye Tri Rinpoche, senior Sakya master and head of one of the three Sakya lineages, contacted the Shamarpa and informed him about a dream he had had and about a relative of his from Lhasa who brought a picture of a child who reportedly and repeatedly announced that he was the Karmapa. In 1988 Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche was sent to bring more information about the child. Later an unnamed lama was sent to meet with the family and the boy without revealing the real purpose of his visit. Upon meeting with the emissary the boy promptly said "You were sent here for me." This along with other evidence convinced the Shamarpa that the boy was indeed the reincarnation of the late 16th Karmapa. In March 1994 Thaye Dorje escaped with his family from Tibet and travelled to New Delhi where he was formally recognized during a welcoming ceremony. He took monastic ordination from Chobgye Tri Rinpoche and is at present undergoing a very intensive education under the guidance of Shamar Rinpoche, also studying under teachers such as Prof. Sempa Dorje, Khenpo Chödrak Rinpoche and others. He also travels extensively in the East and the West.

Claims by his supporters

Thaye Dorje's supporters claim that traditionally it was the Shamarpa who recognized the Karmapa, and therefore no additional recognition is required or even valid. (However, the recognition of the Karmapa has not always been made by the Shamarpa) Supporters point out that Karma Pakshi, the 2nd Karmapa, predicted "future Karmapas shall manifest in two Nirmanakaya forms." The 3rd Karmapa recognized the 1st Shamarpa as the fulfillment of this prophecy, giving the Shamar incarnates a special relationship with the Karmapas. This is supported among others by old Kagyu literature where one frequently finds the expression of the 2 Karmapas, black and red hat. Also, when referring to former reincarnation of the Shamarpa, these are often called Karmapa and can only differentiated from former Karmapa reincarnations by their name.

Supporters also accuse Tai Situpa of forging the letter ostensibly written by the 16th Karmapa and hidden in a locket, containing clues about his new incarnation. They have requested that the letter be verified by independent experts including graphologists. Tai Situ has thus far refused to allow this because handwriting analysis is primarily a Western area of study and accurate handwriting analysis of Tibetan script simply does not exist. Forensic analysis is also not a traditional part of the recognition process.

Well aware of Chogyur Lingpa's predictions about the 17th Karmapas, supporters of Thaye Dorje suggest the prediction was already fulfilled with the 16th Karmapa, who actually was the 17th, even though only 16 had been officially enthroned. This claim may sound odd, but is supported by Chogyur Lingpa's life story, where he explains that one Karmapa died too early to be enthroned, and that as to Chogyur Lingpa's view, he needs to be included when enlisting the Karmapas. As Chogyur Lingpa is also the source of the prediction, this is indeed a proper argument. Furthermore, it holds true that the described event of the prediction took place between the then Karmapa and Situpa during the life of the 16th Karmapa.

Although followers of Ogyen Trinley Dorje point out that he was the only candidate enthroned in Tibet, both claimants were born in Tibet and so the prediction about the return to Tibet within these two letters is fulfilled by both claimants.

As has been verified in the context of a law case in New Zealand by Prof. Geoffrey Samuel, the Dalai Lama’s recognition is not necessary for the Karmapas. [13] At the same time, Tomek Lehnert's book claims the Dalai Lama was tricked into recognizing Ogyen Trinley by Tai Situpa who told him that all four Kagyu regents agreed he was the right candidate.

Dawa Sangpo Dorje

There have been other claimants to the title who are less well known or widely supported. One such person is Dawa Sangpo Dorje, who was born in Mangan in north Sikkim in 1977 (before the death of the 16th Karmapa) and subsequently resided in Damthang in South Sikkim. As recently as December 2003 he requested the opportunity to prove his "supernatural power" to the Dalai Lama.[14]

Recent developments

Rumtek Monastery

Control of Rumtek Monastery, which was the seat of the 16th Karmapa in exile, has been the subject of a legal contest. In 1961 the 16th Karmapa established the Karmapa Charitable Trust. Ogyen Trinley's followers claimed that the trust was solely established 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, but that administration of the monastery was the responsibility of the Tsurphu Labrang. The Indian Supreme Court is currently considering a related case.[15][16]

File:070112delhi.300.jpg
Ogyen Trinley Dorje (middle), Shamarpa (right), Chökyi Nyima (left)

According to both the official Shamarpa website[17] and an official Ogyen Trinley Dorje website[18], Ogyen Trinley Dorje met with the Shamarpa in the Oberoi International Hotel in New Delhi on 9 January, 2007. Ogyen Trinley Dorje had mentioned his desire to meet the Shamarpa, and requested Chökyi Nyima arrange a personal meeting with him. The Shamarpa had declined the first invitation in 2005, which was received by telephone call from Drigung 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."

Personal homepages

Centres and monasteries

Statements, interviews, documentaries, background material

Media coverage

Kagyu lineage

Notes

  1. ^ 9th Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, "Talks on The Karmapa Controversy," [1]
  2. ^ Affirmed 11 November 2004. pg. 21. Statement of Professor Geoffrey Samuel, submitted as part of a court case in Australia. Affirmation of Geoffrey Brian Samuel in Reply
  3. ^ The Karmapa Controversy
  4. ^ a b c Affirmation of Geoffrey Brian Samuel in Reply, Affirmed 11 November 2004. pp. 17-18. Statement of Professor Geoffrey Samuel, submitted as part of a court case in Australia. Samuel cites his source as Douglas and White, The Black Hat Lama of Tibet, 1976: 31-110, which summarises information primarily from the Tibetan text zla wa chu shel gyi phreng ba
  5. ^ Karmapa Urgyen Trinley Dorje by Ken Holmes, ISBN 3-89568-027-3, page 56
  6. ^ Letter to International Dharma Community Nov 03 - Kagyu Rime Dharjay Choling
  7. ^ Rangjung Yeshe Gomde - News
  8. ^ The Sacred Letter of Prediction of HH the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa - Biographical Background Information - the Karmapa website
  9. ^ Music in the Sky: The Life, Art, and Teaching of the 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, Michele Martin. Snow Lion Publications 2003, ISBN 1-55939-195-2
  10. ^ Table of Contents: Biographical Materials at the Kagyu Office Website
  11. ^ Biographical Information on the 17th Karmapa - the Karmapa website
  12. ^ A Song, a poem composed by the 16th Karmapa Rangjung Rigpe Dorje when he was seventeen years old
  13. ^ http://www.karmapa.org.nz/articles/2005/geoffreysamuel.pdf
  14. ^ http://www.karmapa.org.nz/articles/2003/dawa.html Karmapa controversy hots up (December 2 2003)
  15. ^ Indian Supreme Court decision on Rumtek
  16. ^ Rebuttal to 2004 Rumtek ownership claim
  17. ^ Letters and Statements
  18. ^ Dharma Chakra Centre-Welcome

References

  • Karmapa, the Black Hat Lama of Tibet by Nik Douglas and Meryl White (1975) ISBN 0-7189-0187-8
  • The History of the Sixteen Karmapas of Tibet by Karma Thinley (1980) ISBN 1-57062-644-8
  • His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa Urgyen Trinley Dorje, Ken Holmes, Altea Publishing 1995, ISBN 0-9524555-4-4. Details of previous Karmapas as well.
  • Rogues in Robes: An Inside Chronicle of a Recent Chinese-Tibetan Intrigue in the Karma Kagyu Lineage of Diamond Way Buddhism, Tomek Lehnert, Blue Dolphin Publishing 2000, ISBN 1-57733-026-9. The author is a student of Thaye Dorje.
  • Music in the Sky: The Life, Art, and Teaching of the 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, Michele Martin. Snow Lion Publications 2003, ISBN 1-55939-195-2. Written by a Tibetan translator, who lived for years in Nepal and India and also made many trips to Tibet. The book also gives a generous sampling of his poetry and teachings as well as the stories of the 16 previous Karmapas. The author is a student of Situ Rinpoche.
  • The Dance of 17 Lives: The Incredible True Story of Tibet's 17th Karmapa, Mick Brown, Bloomsbury 2004, ISBN 0-7475-7161-9. This book covers the life of the Ogyen Trinley Dorje and clarifies the politics surrounding his recognition.
  • Karmapa: The Politics of Reincarnation, Lea Terhune, Wisdom Publications 2004, ISBN 0-86171-180-7. Provides some background material to the present situation as well as an account of Ogyen Trinley Dorje's life. The author is a student of Tai Situ Rinpoche.
  • Wrestling the Dragon: In search of the Boy Lama Who Defied China, Gaby Naher, Random House Sydney 2004, ISBN 1-74051-279-0. As stated in the book itself, this account is fiction mixed with fact. It is focused on the author's meeting with Ogyen Trinley Dorje.
  • Buddha's Not Smiling: Uncovering Corruption at the Heart of Tibetan Buddhism Today, Erik D. Curren, Alaya Press 2005, ISBN 0-9772253-0-5. The book places the controversy in the context of sectarian conflict between the Karma Kagyu and the Dalai Lama's government in Tibet and in exile. The author is a student of Shamar Rinpoche.
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