HH17 Karmapa, Thaye Dorje

HH 17th Karmapa

Trinlay Thaye Dorje, the seventeenth Karmapa, was born in 1983 in the Year of the Pig. He is the first-born of the 3rd Mipham Rinpoche of the Nyingmapa School of Buddhism. The 17th Karmapa's father is the third reincarnation of the 1st Mipham Rinpoche, who was the head of 13 Nyingma monasteries in Kham, Tibet. He was a descendant of many generations of doctors and learned medical scholars.

His mother, Dechen Wangmo, is the daughter of a noble family descended from King Gaesar of Ling. In November 1996, he joined the monkshood by receiving refuge vows at Buddha Gaya Temple. He then was given the name Trinley (meaning Buddha activity) Thaye (limitless) Dorje (unchanging).

Currently, Thaye Dorje lives in Kalimpong, India where he continues an intensive Buddhist education.

Click here for information on the VCD entitled:
'His Holiness the 17th Karmapa Gyalwa Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje - The Bodhisattva of the New Millennium'.

Recognition of the 17th Karmapa Thaye Dorje

Introduction

In the Karma Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism, the identification of a reincarnate is a purely spiritual process, based on the teachings of Buddhism. An ordinary practitioner of the Buddhadharma has no ability to identify a reincarnate; this task requires the high levels of realization attained by Bodhisattvas on the paths and levels leading to Buddhahood, the enlightened state - beings who clearly perceive both past and future, or who can communicate directly with a yidam, or a meditation deity. The consequences of interference in this enlightened activity by ordinary people can be most grave, particularly if this interference is dictated by political or financial motives.

Death of the late Karmapa

The XVIth Karmapa Rangjung Rigpe Dorje passed away in 1981. Shortly after that, the late general secretary Damcho Yongdu requested that the four Rinpoches Shamar Rinpoche, Situ Rinpoche, Jamgon Rinpoche, and Gyaltsap Rinpoche as a group should shoulder the responsibility of identifying the reincarnation. This was agreed to by all four. If one looks at this in a historical perspective, this was a modernization.

Chobgye Tri Rinpoche visits Shamar Rinpoche in 1985

In 1985 Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche was staying in New Delhi for a period of time supervising the construction of the Karmapa International Buddhist Institute. He then was visited by a great Sakya lama, Chobgye Tri Rinpoche, whose monastery is in Kathmandu, Nepal. Shamar Rinpoche and many other rinpoches respect Chobgye Tri Rinpoche greatly, and regard him as a highly spiritual master. Chobgye Tri Rinpoche came to Delhi and said that he needed to see Shamar Rinpoche urgently and told him the following:

Chogye Tri Rinpoche

"Shortly after the late Karmapa Rangjung Rigpe Dorje passed away I had a dream early one morning. Karmapa was wearing the Dharma robes and circumambulating the stupa at Boudhnath, looking very frail and weak. In the dream, I felt sad and cried. Shortly after that, the Karmapa passed away."

He went on to tell Shamar Rinpoche that just a few days before he came to Delhi he had yet another dream about His Holiness early one morning:

"His Holiness was dressed in the yellow Dharma robes and was walking around a stupa. The colour of his robes was very clear and radiant. He was wearing the Gampopa hat and was very cheerful."

At noon on the same day that he had the dream, Chobgye Tri Rinpoche was visited by a relative from Lhasa who brought a photograph of a young child who was quite well known in the area of Lhasa to have said, "I am the Karmapa".

Shamar Rinpoche felt that when he was told this, he should try to find out about this young child, to make a connection. Chobgye Tri Rinpoche said,

"You must not make a decision on the basis of what I have told you. Of course the decision must be based on instructions left behind and on the visions and experiences of highly qualified spiritual masters. However I felt that I should come and tell you this, since you are the Shamarpa. It is known in the history of the Karma Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism that the Shamarpa lamas and the Karmapa lamas are regarded as inseparable."

Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche makes the first connection in 1987

The boy in the photograph was very young, approximately three years old. Shamar Rinpoche told no one about this. In the beginning of 1987 Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche was going to Lhasa on behalf of the Nepal Buddhist Association as a delegate for the conference. Shamar Rinpoche asked him to find out in confidence about the boy in the photograph. The boy was living in an area of Lhasa called Bakhor with his parents. His father was a Nyingma lama called Mipham Rinpoche, who had two sons, both of whom were regarded by

Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche

Mipham Rinpoche, the father, is the reincarnation of a great Nyingma master who was also connected with the Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism.

Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche found out that the father was in possession of the religious objects and letters of the previous Mipham Rinpoche. Now among these possessions was a letter written by his predecessor who says that in his next incarnation a son Rigpe Yeshe Dorje will be born to him. Rigpe Dorje, that portion of the name, is connected with the late Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje. Since the father would not part with the letter, Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche contacted another lama who was a close friend of the father who convinced him to allow the letter to be copied by hand. So the original letter is held by Mipham Rinpoche, and Shamar Rinpoche has a handwritten copy.

A second visit to the child in Lhasa

Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche was the first person that Shamar Rinpoche asked to find out about the young child. Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche was not officially appointed as a person to search for the reincarnation of the late Karmapa. When Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche returned and told Shamar Rinpoche what he had discovered, Shamar Rinpoche kept these findings in confidence. Rinpoche than sent a second person to enquire further. This second person came back with virtually the same information that Rinpoche had received from Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche; with one significant addition.

A close friend of Mipham Rinpoche apparently took the child out one day, to the Jokhang Temple in Bakhor which has a well known Buddha statue. As the friend was carrying around the young son circumambulating this temple, he noticed that a crowd had gathered, so they went inside.

Inside, a lama of substantial size, so to speak, was painting gold on the face of the Buddha statue. They were told that this lama had come from India. Now the friend of the father put the child down and the boy ran up to the lama and asked him, "Do you recognize me?" The lama said, "No."

The child returned and they went back to the parents. After the friend of the father told them about the lama from India who was painting the face of the Buddha statue with gold, the family became curious. They made inquiries and found out that it was Gyaltsap Rinpoche. They went to meet him and were going to bring their son with them, but the boy told them, "I don't want to meet him, because he does not recognize who I am." This was the story brought back by the second person Rinpoche sent to investigate.

Instructions regarding the reincarnation from the late Karmapa in 1988 After that, in 1988, Shamar Rinpoche met with a disciple of the late Karmapa, a very devoted disciple who is a very trustworthy person here in India. This person told Shamar Rinpoche that he had received instructions regarding the reincarnation from the late Karmapa.

Concurrent with the meetings Rinpoche had with the other three Rinpoches regarding Karmapa's reincarnation, he secretly pursued this investigation of the child in the photograph. He sent a third person to Lhasa to seek out the family. Now the father, being a well-known lama, would frequently be asked for mos or predictions. In Bakhor, this particular area in Lhasa, many lamas live, and apparently their homes are open. People can just come and ask for advice or request a blessing.

Shamar Rinpoche instructed the person he sent to Lhasa to casually contact the family in that way, and then to observe the young boy. This person arrives at Bakhor, and after circumambulating the temples, went into the house of the family, and encountered the young boy, who immediately said, "You have come to look for me." The person did not respond and asked to see the father on the pretext of asking for a prediction regarding business matters. He had a short encounter with the father. He did not remain in Lhasa for very long but returned and the information he offered was much the same as Rinpoche had already received.

Retreat of Shamar Rinpoche and his visit to Tibet.

At this point Shamar Rinpoche decided to make a retreat, for the purpose of obtaining an indication through his meditation practice of the identity of the true reincarnation of the late Karmapa. There is no other method to verify the reincarnation, as the late Karmapa had not left instructions behind that could yet be revealed. Shamar Rinpoche was concerned that the authentic reincarnation should be found. In the early morning of the seventh day of the retreat, the late Karmapa appeared to Shamar Rinpoche in a dream. The Karmapa was sitting on a low

HE Shamar Rinpoche

"I have liberated the person I have set out to liberate. I will now come whenever you want me to."

The next day in his retreat Shamar Rinpoche made continuous prayers to his yidam deity, in order to obtain indications as to whether this boy would greatly benefit the Buddhadharma. As a result he had another dream.

In this second dream appeared a golden Buddha statue of enormous proportions, in front of which were rows of offering bowls of perfumed water. In the dream Shamar Rinpoche was consecrating the statue. As most of you probably know, during such ceremonies it is customary for the lama to throw rice toward the object being consecrated, in this case the Buddha statue. Now the rice grains that he scattered multiplied and become a rain of rice grains falling on the Buddha statue. Furthermore, behind the statue there were innumerable other Buddha statues and in their midst was an enormous butter lamp filled to the brim with butter. In the center of this lamp, in place of the flame, there was something that could be described as a bulb of white luminous light.

Shamar Rinpoche decided that he had go to Lhasa himself, but it would be necessary to travel incognito. He planned to appear as an ordinary businessman and with affairs in Bakhor, and to enter the family's house on the pretext of requesting a prediction on business matters. The Bakhor area turned out to be quite small and to be filled with people.

Among these were many Tibetan traders from India and Nepal, so that Rinpoche was in great danger of being recognized. In order to divert the attention of the authorities from his real purpose, he went as a tourist to Namtso, a tourist area in the northern part of the country. Upon his return to Lhasa, he took the next flight to Kathmandu.

Asking the vessel in 1989

Shamar Rinpoche returned to Kathmandu, having been unable to visit the White Lake in Tsari. With Rinpoche at the time was a senior lama, Tsultrim Dawa, an advisor whom Rinpoche highly respects. This lama was living at a monastery in Swayambhu, Kathmandu. Rinpoche asked him to go to a place outside of Kathmandu called Parphing, where there is a spontaneously arisen image of Tara in rock. In Tibetan Buddhism, when seeking indications of a reincarnation, or indeed for other matters, traditionally, one writes down the various possibilities, rolls these pieces of paper into balls of dough, which one puts into a vessel in front of a sacred image, such as this one of Tara, before praying that the right indication will fall out of the vessel. It would have been the height of indiscretion for Rinpoche to appear in Pharphing, which is a very busy place, and rife at the time with rumors of the search for the Karmapa's reincarnation. Lama Tsultrim Dawa was to act in Rinpoche's stead. There were two different possibilities written down on two pieces of paper. On the first was written that Tendzin Khyentse, which was the name at the time of Thaye Dorje, is the reincarnation of the late Karmapa, and the second said that he is not. These two pieces of paper were rolled into two pieces of dough and Lama Tsultrim Dawa put them into a vessel. After the vessel, one - presumed to be the correct indication - fell out. Upon breaking the dough, the paper read that Tendzin Khyentse is the reincarnation of the Karmapa.

The same procedure was followed the next day in an area of Kathmandu called Dulikhel where there is a big field with a very sacred Mahakala statue. Again the same piece of paper fell out of the vessel. Then Lama Tsultrim Dawa on his own initiative went to two other sacred spots in Kathmandu, one where there is a painting of Mahakala by the tenth Karmapa Choying Dorje and another place called the sacred spot of the White Buddha. On both occasions the piece of paper declaring that Tendzin Khyentse is the reincarnation of the Karmapa fell out of the vessel. Shamar Rinpoche kept all of this information to himself, concerned that if political considerations tainted the reincarnation process, the Karmapa would be hindered in his activities to benefit all beings in the world, and might even be prevented from them altogether.

The meetings and events in 1992.

At one of the meetings with the other Rinpoches in 1992, Situ Rinpoche presented what he called the prediction letter, claiming that it was written by the late Karmapa. Shamar Rinpoche did not find the letter at all convincing and said in the meeting that he didn't find the handwriting similar to that of the late Karmapa Rangjung Rigpe Dorje. He said, addressing Situ Rinpoche, "It is rather similar to your handwriting. Furthermore, the signature has been blurred. As I have doubts I must insist that this letter is subjected to forensic tests. If the tests show that the letter is authentic, I have no objections, and I will create no problems." However the tests never took place.

The young boy Tendzin Khyentse and his family leave Tibet in 1993. A year passed. During that time, Shamar Rinpoche chose to tell some people whom he regarded as genuine devotees of the Karmapa that he had some information, and that it was important that there should be no politics involved. He also told them that he had suspicions that the prediction letter presented by Situ Rinpoche was not authentic; even the signature had been blurred by water. More and more people with political aspirations had become involved in the search for the reincarnation.

Shamar Rinpoche told the people who he felt were genuine devotees of the Karmapa to simply wait for the next incarnation.

The young boy Tendzin Khyentse and his family came out of Tibet, through entirely legal channels. The family had been put under very harsh restrictions by the authorities in Tibet and therefore they decided to leave the country. Since the death of the 16th Karmapa, Shamar Rinpoche has kept in contact with the person who has the late Karmapa's instructions. Rinpoche has informed him of each and every step he has taken and there has never been any objection raised. However he cannot reveal his instructions until the proper time.

Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche finally decided to announce his recognition of the Karmapa, for historically, Rinpoche's position is such that it is appropriate for him to do so.