2/27/2014
[Response
to Eric Curren’s Question]
-on
the traditional practice of recognizing The Karmapa
In Tibet there are four main Buddhist schools and
several sub-schools. Each has its own spiritual leaders, some of whom are
reincarnated lamas and others who inherit their position. In the case of
reincarnated spiritual leaders, their recognition depends entirely on the traditions
and practices of each lineage. The four schools respect one another’s
recognition processes.
In connection with the recognition of reincarnated
lamas, two procedural practices have developed over the centuries. With rare exceptions, lineages have closely
observed these two traditions or practices.
According to the first operational principle,
schools do not need approval from the government of Tibet or from HH Dali Lama
to recognize a reincarnated lama or leader, unless the government has
instituted a special legal ban against recognizing a particular lineage of
spiritual leaders. Such a ban is imposed for political, not spiritual, reasons.
This is extremely rare in Tibetan history.
Before a reincarnation of a lama in a banned lineage can be made
official, it is necessary to seek government permission to revoke the
ban.
The second important traditional practice is that
reincarnated lamas must first be recognized by their own lineage’s spiritual
head or other senior lama with the authority to identify reincarnations. In addition, the administration of the
deceased reincarnate must acknowledge or accept the new reincarnation.
The following famous 20th-century example
illustrates how the second traditional procedure works. After the 9th Panchen Lama
passed away in 1937, the current His Holiness 14th Dalai Lama
recognized one reincarnation. This act is correct traditionally because the
Panchen Lama is part of the Gelugpa lineage which His Holiness 14th
Dalai Lama heads. However, one more step is required before the
recognized reincarnation can be officially enthroned.
The Panchen administration did not accept His
Holiness Dalai Lama’s recognition. Instead, the spiritual heir of Panchen
Lama at his own monastery, Tashi Lhunpo, recognized Lobsang Chokyi Gyaltsen as
the 10th
Panchen Lama. He was enthroned as the
seat holder and held this position until he passed away in 1989. The lama
that His Holiness Dalai Lama recognized as the 10th Panchen Lama
never became the official Panchen Lama and is known as the Panchen wotrul (“suitable Panchen”). He is still alive in
England.
The Karma Kagyu school follows the same practice as
the Gelugpa. A reincarnation has to be
recognized by one of the highest living lineage holders and also accepted by the
Karmapa’s administration. This
procedural custom is 900 years old.
For hundreds of years, Karmapas and Shamarpas have
alternatively identified each other as spiritual heads of the Karma Kagyu.
Sometimes they recognize each other by their supernatural minds and other
times according to instructions one of them has left behind.
In 1988 the 14th Shamarpa recognized Trinley
Thaye Dorje as the 17th Karmapa. To complete the recognition
process, the administration of the late 16th Gyalwa Karmapa
accepted the recognition of Trinley Thaye Dorje. Therefore, according to
longstanding tradition, Trinley Thaye Dorje’s recognition as Karmapa is completely
authentic and proper. The same cannot be
said for Ogyen Trinley Dorje’s recognition.
We respect Ogyen Trinley Dorje as one who can hold
the name Karmapa out of deference to His Holiness 14th
Dalai Lama, even though previous Karmapa incarnations have never been recognized
by the Dalai Lama or other Gelugpa lamas. His Holiness 14th Dalai
Lama accepted Ogyen Trinley Dorje’s joint recognition by Tai Situ Rinpoche and the
Chinese government. Nevertheless, Ogyen
Trinley Dorje cannot be considered the official, authentic Karmapa because the
administration of the 16th Gyalwa Karmpa has never accepted him. At various points in history, the Karmapa and
Dalai Lama have been rivals among the lineages. They have not always
enjoyed a spiritual connection.
His Holiness Dalai Lama justifiably is very famous and
has millions of followers. Few of them,
though, are aware of the Karma Kagyu’s tradition of recognizing reincarnations.
They blindly accept the legitimacy and authenticity of Ogyen Trinley as
the official and true Karmapa because the Dala Lama has endorsed him.
Trinley Thaye Dorje does not enjoy the same public
relations advantage that His Holiness Dalai Lama’s support gives Ogyen
Trinley. Nevertheless, as the Karma
Kagyu spiritual leader who has been enthroned according to the traditionally
orthodox procedure, he has won the trust and approval of legions of followers
around the world. The bullying politics of individuals in Ogyen
Trinley’s camp cannot obscure the authenticity legitimacy of Trinley Thaye
Dorje as the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa.
Regarding the recognition of Ogyen Trinley by Situ
Rinpoche, his status does not match Shamarpa’s historical position or role in
the recognition process. This said,
previous Situ incarnations do have some authority and precedent as one of the
lamas to recognize Karmapa, but this has occurred mostly in the absence of
Shamarpa.
We might have accepted the recognition of Ogyen Trinley
by Situ Rinpoche if he had not embroiled the process in politics or taken
questionable steps in the recognition process. We have three reasons for not
accepting Situ Rinpoche’s candidate.
1. Situ
recognized a child of a nun in his monastery in India as the Karmapa, but the
search committee rejected this child, whereupon Situ switched to recognizing
Ogyen Trinley in China and enlisted the help of the Chinese government in this
process.
2. When
Situ went to the Rumtek monastery to announce his nominee Ogyen Trinley as
Karmapa, he did so not in the peaceful spirit of a Buddhist teacher, but in the
role of a tyrant who uses force to compel compliance. The attacks on the monks at the monastery by
his gang forced the Rumtek administration to seek protection from the Indian
government.
3. Situ
produced a questionable prediction letter regarding his Karmapa choice. His
steadfast refusal to allow forensic scientists to examine the document only
heightens doubts about the letter’s authenticity.
Regarding the so-called Sherpa Karmapa, he is merely
a Sherpa boy who claims he is Karmapa. Many
Sherpa people in Sikkim support him. However, his claim to the spiritual
title of Karmapa is not at all legitimate according to the Karma Kagyu long
tradition of recognizing reincarnated lamas.
Claimants like Sherpa Karmapa inevitably surface
from time to time. For example, a very rich Chinese monk in Taiwan by the name
of Hai Tao claims he is one of the emanations of Karmapa, and he has even announced
that Thrangu Rinpoche recognized him and Ogyen Trinley has accepted this.
He, Ogyen Trinley, and Thrangu Rinpoche are supporting one another
in public broadcasts through their own TV channel in Taiwan and are collecting
large sums of donations.
General
Secretary of Karmapa Administration
Jigma
Rinpoche
