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The 17th Gyalwa Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje was born in Tibet in 1983 and recognized as the authentic incarnation, as per tradition, in 1994 by Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche, the second-highest teacher of the Karma Kagyu Lineage. In 1994, he was taken from Chinese-occupied Tibet to India. In December 2003, after completing his formal education, the 17th Karmapa was declared "Great Tantric Master" (skt. Vajracharya). The 17th Karmapa currently resides in Kalimpong, India, where he continues his spiritual training and Western education. In 2000 his first international teaching-tour brought him to Asia and Europe where he was received by thousands of his students. Since then he has continued to visit Karma Kagyu centres around the world giving teachings, empowerments and inspiration to his students. We are extremely happy about his visit to the Europe Centre, as this visit will further strengthen our connection to him.
Sherab Gyaltsen Rinpoche, a highly respected lama of the Kagyu lineage, is a "Maniwa" - this title is rarely encountered: it means that you have been able to encourage others to recite the Mani mantra more than 1,000,000,000 times (Mani Dhungyur). Rinpoche was ordained in Rumtek by the 16th Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje.
An exceptionally gifted student, he mastered all aspects of traditional Buddhist study, from the sutras and tantras, to rituals and music, to the sciences, art and composition. Born in 1950 in Nepal, Sherab Gyaltsen Rinpoche has fulfilled various projects, including the reconstruction of the old Manang monastery, Karma Dubgyu Choeling in Pokhara, taking on the responsibilities of Manang monastery at Swayambhu, publishing many essential prayer texts and constructing many stupas in Nepal and abroad.
Presently, Rinpoche also takes care of poor children/monks from a remote area of the Himalayan region of Nepal, and there is a plan to construct a new monastery for their better living conditions, with the possibility of further expansion in the future.
The Danish Lama Ole Nydahl and his wife Hannah first met the HH 16th Gyalwa Karmapa in 1969 during their honeymoon in the Himalayas, and became his first western students.
"Before we had studied philosophy and we were very skeptical, just typical Scandinavian university graduates. In Kathmandu we met the Tibetan Lama Karmapa and were overwhelmed by his radiance. His power and love was like a barrel of happiness."
(Lama Ole Nydahl)
After years studying Buddhist teachings and practicing meditation with the 16th Karmapa, he gave them the task to make the Diamond Way teachings accessible to the western world. In his name, Lama Ole Nydahl has founded more than 570 Diamond Way centres around the world since 1972. Lama Ole Nydahl shows us that spontaneous freshness and resting in one's mind belong together. He is the author of several books about Buddhism.
The Karma Kagyu Lineage is one of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism. This lineage focuses on view, meditation and a direct transmission of the experience of the nature of mind, from teacher to student. Its origins date back to the historical Buddha, whose teachings were passed on to different meditation masters in India for 1500 years. About 1000AD this transmission came to Tibet and in the 12th century formed the Karma Kagyu Lineage, which has been kept alive and powerful in a continuous succession by the Gyalwa Karmapas until today.
The Gyalwa Karmapa - whose name means "Master of Activity", was the first consciously reborn Lama of Tibet. He was predicted by Buddha Sakyamuni as a master with extraordinary abilities. In the 1960s his 16th reincarnation, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, enabled the knowledge of the Karma Kagyu Lineage on the nature of mind to be known in the west. He died near Chicago in 1981.