The
Kagyu Lineage
The Kagyu Lineage
of Vajrayana Buddhism traces its origin back to Buddha Shakyamuni.
The enlightened yogin Tilopa (988-1069) received the core
teachings directly from the primordial Buddha, Dorje Chang. Tilopa
transmitted these teachings to Naropa, an outstanding scholar at
Nalanda
University, who then passed them to the Great Tibetan translator, Marpa. Marpa
brought all the Buddhist teachings received from Naropa and other
teachers back to Tibet.
Marpa’s most famous disciple, the renowned yogin Milarepa, passed
the lineage to Gampopa, an accomplished physician and spiritual
master of the Kadampa
School. Gampopa combined the monastic traditions of the
Kadampa with the teachings of Mahamudra (The Great Seal) and The
Six Yogas of Naropa that he received from Milarepa. This was then
transmitted to his four main disciples, one of whom was Dusum
Khyenpa (1110-1193), the first Karmapa and founder of the Karma
Kagyu Lineage.
Since then, the Karma Kagyu
Lineage has been headed by a succession of reincarnations of the
Gyalwa Karmapa, of whom the present is the 17th
incarnation, Urgyen Trinley Dorje of Tsurphu Monastery, Tibet.
The Kagyu Lineage
emphasizes the continuity of oral instructions transmitted from
guru to disciple, from whence the name "Kagyu" derives.
The term
"Kagyu" refers to a phrase that translates as "the unbroken
lineage of profound and intimate guidance in the four sorts of
transmitted mastery, the heart meaning of the three yanas". Each
of these four transmissions contains the very essence of the
others and therefore each contains everything. As a whole they
are called “Mahamudra”, the practice towards the realization of
one’s mind nature.
HIS HOLINESS, THE 17Th
GYALWA KARMAPA,
URGYEN TRINLEY DORJE
The present
supreme spiritual head of the Karma Kagyu Lineage, His Holiness,
the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, Urgyen Trinley Dorje, was born
in eastern Tibet
on 26 June, 1985. The details
and circumstances of the birth of the 17th Gyalwa
Karmapa were predicted in a letter
left behind by
his predecessor, His
Holiness, the 16th
Gyalwa Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje (1923-1981).
His Holiness the Dalai Lama and
His
Eminence Tai Situ Rinpoche confirmed the identification and
recognised Urgyen Trinley Dorje as the seventeenth incarnation of
the Karmapa.
In the formal
confirmation letter from His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, it reads
as:
“The boy born to
Karma Dondrup and Loga in the wood ox year (of the Tibetan
calendar) was identified through the prediction letter (left by
the late Karmapa) and is hereby recognized as the reincarnation of
the 16th Karmapa, with prayers for his well-being and
for the success of his activities”
The enthronement
of the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa was held on 27 September
1992 at Tsurphu Monastery, Tibet.
From then on, began Karmapa’s thorough education on
sutrayana and tantrayana textual learning, philosophy, liturgy,
meditation and so forth at Tsurphu Monastery, the historic seat of
the Karmapas in Tibet and at Gyuto Ramoche Tantric University in
Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India in which he is now presently
residing after having left Tibet in December 1999.
THE BUDDHA
ACTIVITY
All great Kagyu
teachers regard His Holiness, the Karmapa as the embodiment and
source of all of the blessings of the Kagyu Lineage. Karmapa
means "the one who carries out Buddha-activity" or "the embodiment
of all the activities of the Buddhas." The Karmapas have
incarnated in this form of nirmanakaya or manifestation body for
seventeen lifetimes, the present and all the previous incarnations
have played an important role in preserving and propagating the
Buddhist teachings. The arrival of a master who would be known as
“The Karmapa” was prophesied by the historical Buddha Shakyamuni
and Guru Padmasambhava. Throughout the centuries, the Karmapas
have been one of the central figures in the continuation of the
Vajrayana Lineage in general and Karma Kagyu Lineage in
particular.
HIS EMINENCE,
THE 10TH SANGYE NYENPA RINPOCHE
THE
RESIDENT RINPOCHE
According to the
lineage history, the 1st Sangye Nyenpa, Tashi Paljor
was the root guru of the 8th Karmapa, Mikyo Dorje. Our
Resident Rinpoche is the tenth in the line of reincarnated Sangye
Nyenpa.
His Eminence, the
10th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche was born in 1964 in Bhutan
and was recognized by His Holiness, the 16th Gyalwa
Karmapa. He was invited at the age of four to Rumtek Monastery
where he was enthroned by His Holiness, the 16th
Karmapa. From an early age, he has been studying Buddhist
philosophy with various teachers of the Kagyu and Nyingma
traditions, including His Holiness, the 16th Karmapa
and His Holiness, Dilgo Kyentse Rinpoche. His thorough education
on sutrayana and tantrayana textual learning, philosophy, liturgy,
meditation and so forth at Nalanda Institute in Rumtek,
Sikkim was a total of eighteen years. An accomplished scholar and
practitioner, His Eminence Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche taught three
years at the Institute.
His Eminence
Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche is one of the most learned Rinpoches in
both philosophy and tantric rituals. When the construction of the
Benchen Monastery was completed in the early nineties, His
Eminence Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche gave the transmission of the whole
Kangyur to several thousand people. Currently, Sangye Nyenpa
Rinpoche resides at Benchen Phuntsok Dargyeling Monastery in
Kathmandu, Nepal.
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