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HH
the Seventeenth Gyalwa Karmapa Urgyen Trinley Dorje, Part 1 |
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The 16th Gyalwa Karmapa
died in 1981. His reincarnation, born in 1985, was found in
1992 , in exact accordance with the prediction letter he had
written not long before his death, and subsequently formally
enthroned. The following is some of the story of his discovery
and life so far, from Ken Holmes' book "Karmapa", published
by Altea, Scotland 1996.
HH the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, Urgyen Trinley Dorje
Family background
The parents of the present Karmapa, Dondrup and Loga, are nomads.
Their life tending the family herd of some eighty yaks takes
them from grazing area to grazing area, according to the humours
of the four seasons. They are respected members of a group of
some seventy nomadic families; more than four hundred persons,
deeply-tanned with apple-red cheeks, whose encampments are a
travelling village of felt tents, made from long yak hair.
As is customary, Dondrup and Loga dedicated their first son
to their local Nyingmapa monastery—Kampagar, one of Khamtrul
Rinpoche's monasteries— to be a future monk. They subsequently
had five children, all daughters. Longing for another son, they
sought help from Karma Norzang, the renowned yogi of Kampagar,
reputed to be like a second Milarepa. He gave them some advice,
which they followed as best they could. They were to do a hundred
thousand refuge prayers, feed beggars, feed the fish in the
rivers and go on pilgrimage to Lhasa. These things they did
as best they could but, as destiny would have it, any benefit
they produced was not to take effect immediately and their next
child was yet another daughter.
By the time they were contemplating another attempt at having
a son, Karma Norzang had died and so they consulted Amdo Palden,
the yogi abbot of Kalek, a Karma Kagyu monastery which formerly
belonged to the King of Lhatok. At first Amdo Palden was not
sure he could help but, upon further reflection, said that it
may be possible for them to have a son but that they must promise
to place him, should they have one, in his charge. They agreed
to this. His way of helping was to confer empowerment upon them.
Auspicious signs
During her next pregnancy, Loga dreamt of three white cranes
offering her a bowl of yoghurt. A brilliant golden letter sat
atop the bowl and signified her forthcoming son. The cranes
told her that they were sent by Guru Rinpoche and that the golden
letter was the recognition letter for her son but that she should
keep this information secret until the right time came. At another
time she dreamt of eight auspicious symbols wreathed in rainbow
light emanating from her heart. The night before the birth,
in late June, 1985, the father saw rainbows over the tent and
was surprised, for the sun had already disappeared behind the
mountains. The baby was born the next day without pain or dificulty,
just before the first golden rays of sunlight burst into the
tent. At the same time, a cuckoo landed on the yak-hair tent
and sang. Two days later, the celestial sound of a conch shell,
prophesied by the Sixteenth Karmapa in his letter, was heard
by all the members of the nomadic community. Those outside their
tents thought it came from the inside, and vice versa. Some
thought a whole monastic orchestra must be accompanying a high
lama but none could be seen. It continued through the afternoon
for some two hours. Unknown flowers blossomed in the area and,
some while later, three suns were seen in the heavens, a rainbow
arching over the middle one. This last phenomenon was widely
witnessed throughout eastern Tibet.
A special wait
When Dondrup and Loga went to Amdo Palden, to request a Buddhist
name for their son, as is the Tibetan custom, he told them that
this very special child should not be named by any ordinary
abbot and that only a very great being, such as the Tai Situpa,
could name him and that they should wait until such time as
this proved possible. For need of some provisional name, they
used one that their daughter said she was given for him by a
magpie at a riverside, just after the birth, "Apo Gaga", meaning
"happy, happy brother".
As a very young child, Apo Gaga was obviously a very special
being, gifted with clairvoyance and authority. He was able,
for instance, to tell people where to find lost sheep or cattle.
As one might expect, his parents' local monastery of Kampagar
wanted to care for him and to give him the special training
which would make him a lama to help many beings. But at that
point, Amdo Palden reminded the parents of their promise and
took him under his own care at Kalek monastery. Being more distant
from their encampments, this was less convenient but they nevertheless
honoured their commitment and placed Apo Gaga in his care. When
asked about the boy, a local oracle, gifted in a form of divination
known as "mirror seeing", saw the form of a white conch with
a clockwise spiral. He predicted that Apo Gaga would greatly
benefit sentient beings but that his destiny would not become
clear until he was eight years old. Tibetans count a person's
age as "first year"—1—at birth and then adding one as each Tibetan
New Year passes. This can make as much as a year's difference
with the Western way of counting.
The young Apo Gaga spent about four years receiving a special
education at Kalek, where he was given the attention due to
an unrecognised reincarnate lama. He had a small throne to one
side of the shrine hall, an attendant to help him and he was
not allowed to get up to the same pranks and games as the other
young novices, who showed him a great deal of respect. During
this phase, he spent moments back with his family in their nomadic
round. In those periods, his parents report that he would often
build toy monasteries from earth and stone, or else make a small
throne and sit on it to recite prayers. They say he would ride
off into the hills on the backs of goats or wild animals, that
he would cry whenever animals were being hurt or killed and
that he always showed compassion. He showed a particular interest
for trees, frequently planting them and being upset if he saw
trees or plant life being destroyed. It is said that springs
often emerged where he had planted small clumps of trees.
Discovery
In 1992 he insisted,without explaining why, that his parents
move to their summer pasture one month earlier than they had
intended. In the Tibetan calendar, summer is a 72 day period
commencing three lunar months after Tibetan New Year. Thus,
summer usually starts some time in May. Trusting Apo Gaga's
advice, they moved camp early and it was this that put them
in the location predicted in the Sixteenth Karmapa's prophecy
letter, in time to be found by the search party. Apo Gaga prepared
himself to leave, packing some things shortly before the advance
search party arrived. He awoke early on the morning of the day
they came and placed some of his clothes on the back of his
goat, a special one without horns, and told his mother that
his monks were coming and that he was now ready to leave for
his monastery; it would be good if he could take one or two
gifts with him from the Kalek monastery! His elder brother,
Yeshe Rabsal, was at Kalek when the advance party arrived and
called his brother down from the hills to say that monks from
Tsurphu were at Katok, on their way to Barkor, probably looking
for the reincarnation of a special lama. News of this brought
great joy to the young Karmapa, who laughed and danced.
His parents set up a special tent to receive the visitors. After
the traditional politenesses of greeting and exchange of white
scarves (katta), the advance party enquired after the births
of Loga's children and about any dreams she or others in the
family may have had. The parents told of the their son's birth,
the special signs, the dream of the cranes, the brother and
father's dreams, the cuckoo, the sound of the conch shell, the
three suns and so forth. In fact, the advance party had already
heard most of this through the discreet enquiries that they
had made among the other nomads of the camp. Lama Domo, representing
Tsurphu in the advance party, then gave the father a copy of
the Sixteenth Karmapa's prediction and Dondrup realised who
exactly his son was. After passing a moment together, in the
elation of joy of the search party and astoundment of Dondrup's
family, the monastic party then accompanied the young Karmapa
to Kalek monastery to await the coming of Akong Tulku Rinpoche
and Sherab Tarchin, who were expected within days. They soon
arrived. Word of the precious discovery was sent back to the
Tai Situpa and the Goshir Gyaltsabpa in India, who in turn informed
HH the Dalai Lama. When their joyous confirmation of the new
Karmapa's identity was received at Kalek monastery, Akong Rinpoche
and Sherab Tarchin presented Apo Gaga, now become His Holiness
the Seventeenth Gyalwa Karmapa, with the special robes and sacred
blessings of the tru.sol, that they were carrying on behalf
of the Tai Situpa and the Goshir Gyaltsabpa and which had been
especially prepared in India at the outset of their journey.
As is usual with the discovery of a tulku, offerings were made
to the Karmapa's parents to express gratitude for the care that
they had given him up to the time of discovery. The initial
finding of the Karmapa now completed, a short period was spent
in the Kalek area during which Akong Rinpoche made acquaintance
with the Karmapa and his family as the full import of what was
happening settled in. Preparations were made for the journey
to Tsurphu. Akong Rinpoche and Sherab Tarchin, representing
the Tai Situpa and the Goshir Gyaltsabpa, and a new group of
representatives just arrived from Tsurphu, eventually accompanied the Karmapa
on his historic journey back to Tsurphu; the seat his former
emanation had left some thirty-three years previously. Before
the party left Kalek monastery, three suns appeared in the hazy
sky and were seen by many hundreds of people in the surrounding
area. The middle one was larger and had a rainbow halo, while
the other two were smaller and nestling in the clouds. There
could well be a meteorological explanation for such a thing,
but even so, it would still be what the Tibetans would call
"an auspicious coincidence".
Homecoming to Tsurphu
His arrival at Tsurphu was a moving moment for the thousands
of Tibetans who had quickly gathered there as news of his coming
spread. Descending from his vehicle the Karmapa made the last
part of the journey mounted upon a beautifully-apparelled white
steed, wearing a special coiffe and accompanied by monks carrying
silk banners and playing the traditional musical instruments.
Tibetans are famous for their equestrian skills. Many were there
on horseback as an escort, dignified in their upright bearing
on their small but powerful mounts. The Karmapa entered Tsurphu
itself beneath a gigantic golden parasol, sign of his high rank,
to be greeted by a mighty crowd. Descending from his horse with
great power of presence for one so young, he was seated in front
of the main temple. Dancers in two-man snow-lion costumes performed
antics and presented him with "snow-lion's milk" to drink, masked
representations of the Kagyu protectors came to great him one
by one as did the figure of an ancient sage, in symbolic wish
for his life to be long and healthy.
In general, the days following his arrival were a great celebration
for the makeshift city of people that had spontaneously formed
there. There were lay folk dances, instrumental music and singing.
Every day, the Karmapa gave his blessing to the vast crowds.
On June 27th, the government of the Peoples Republic of China
officially approved Urgyen Trinley Dorje as the seventeenth
reincarnation of the Karmapa. He who had been, 800 years before,
the first reincarnate lama of Tibet became the first tulku permitted
by the Chinese government since 1959. This was undoubtedly aided
by the fact that many previous Karmapas were gurus of the Emperors
of China.
Enthronement
The Tai Situpa and the Goshir Gyaltsabpa sought visas for entry
into Tibet to officially enthrone His Holiness and permission
was also obtained for a hair-cutting and naming ceremony to
be held in Lhasa's famous Jo-kang temple, the home of the statue
of Buddha Sakyamuni brought to Tibet from China by Princess
Wen Ch'eng in the seventh century. This statue is said to have
come to China from India, where, some say, it had been made
during the Buddha's lifetime by the artist Visvakarman and blessed
by Lord Buddha himself. It depicts the Enlightened One at the
age of twelve and is believed to bring great blessing to those
who see it.
Also during this period, representatives of Kagyu Buddhism from
many nations prepared themselves for a journey to Tibet to attend
the enthronement of the teacher for whom they and their numerous
organisations worldwide had been waiting so long. After years
of uncertainty and anxiety and a distinct feeling of being in
limbo, the joy of the Karmapa's discovery was as tremendous
as one might imagine it to be upon hearing good news that one
has awaited for a decade. Now, it was also crystal clear that
the prediction of the great Nyingmapa visionary, Chojur Lingpa,
was being fulfilled and that the Tai Situpa would be the main
guru of the new Karmapa. Almost a century before, Chojur Lingpa
had had a vision in which he had seen all the Karmapas up to
the twenty-first incarnation. This is how he described the vision
concerning the Seventeenth Karmapa:
In the area (of the vision) in front of the mountains,
(there are) rocks and pine trees, and there is the seventeenth
of the incarnation rosary, together with Khentin Tai Situ,
their minds fused as one. This (signifies) that the leaves
and petals of the Buddha's teachings will flourish (under
him) and there will be abundant fruit of the very essence
of the transmissions of Gampopa.
The Tai Situpa, to whom the previous Karmapa had entrusted the
prediction letter, would be as one with the mind of the young
Karmapa. This was also what the prediction letter itself had
foreseen:
He is sustained by Lord Dönyö Drup.
Pema Dönyö is the name the Sixteenth Karmapa had himself given
to the Tai Situpa, some thirty years previous. He gave that
particular name according to Guru Rinpoche's prophecies, made
in a text called the Gongdu, giving names for the Tai
Situpas. This is the tenth of those names. In an address he
gave, on Indian radio, to Kagyu followers, HH the Dalai Lama
also made it clear that the Tai Situpa and the Goshir Gyatsabpa
were the main lamas responsible for finding and establishing
the Seventeenth Gyalwa Karmapa.
contd.
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