Rangjung Rigpe Dorje

Rangjung Rigpe Dorje

Tibetan name
Tibetan script : རང་ འབྱུང་ རིག་ པའི་ རྡོ་ རྗེ་
Wylie transliteration : rang 'byung rig pa'i rdo rje

Rigpe Dorje ( . Tib : senior byung rig pa'i rdo rje ; * 14. August 1924 in Denkhog; † 5. November 1981 in Zion (Illinois) (USA)) was the 16th Gyelwa Karmapa of the Karma Kagyu - line of Tibetan Buddhism .

biography

The 16th Gyelwa Karmapa was born on August 14, 1924 in Denkhog (Tib .: 'dan khog ), Nang chen. His father's name was Tshewang Phüntshog and his mother's name was Kelsang Drölma. He was born not far from a sacred cave where Guru Rinpoche once meditated. A khenpo was present at his birth to instruct his mother in the cleansing ceremony. The circumstances of his birth corresponded to the letter from his predecessor , so Jampel Tsälthrim informed the responsible authorities of the Tshurphu Monastery . Pema Wangchug Gyelpo (1886–1952; the 11th Tai Situpa), Beru Khyentse and the 2nd Jamgon Kongtrül were responsible for clearing things up. A search party was formed to locate the child. The 11th Tai Situpa and the 2nd Jamgon Kontrül recognized the 16th Gyelwa Karmapa and also requested confirmation from the 13th Dalai Lama , whose office had already recognized and confirmed the son of one of his ministers as the reincarnation of the 15th Karmapa. Only now were the instructions of the 15th Karmapa taken out and it turned out that the circumstances of finding Rangjung Rigpe Dorje corresponded to the description of the 15th Karmapa. He received the bodhisattva and novice vows from Tai Situpa and the 2nd Jamgon Kongtrül.

At the age of 8, he received the vajra crown and the ceremonial robes of the Gyelwa Karmapa were brought to him from Tshurphu. Later the 11th Tai Situpa accompanied him on his long journey to Tshurphu, where he was greeted by the 11th Goshri Gyeltshab Rinpoche, the 2nd Jamgon Kongtrül Rinpoche and the 10th Pawo Rinpoche . The 13th Dalai Lama gave him the haircut ceremony, after which he was officially enthroned by the 11th Tai Situpa and the 10th Drugchen Mipham Chökyi Wangpo (1884–1930). He received the entire transmission of the teachings of the Kagyu from Tai Situpa and the 2nd Jamgon Kongtrül. He studied the Sutrayana with Gangkar Rinpoche and the Tantras with Khyentse Rinpoche . He received the novice vows from Situpa and Jamgön Kongtrül Rinpoche. He was also instructed in the Sakya tradition.

He received the Mahamudra teachings from Jamgon Kongtrül Pelden Khyentse Öser , Terma teachings from Trülku Orgyen Rinpoche. He visited Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö to perform the black vajra crown ceremony, which goes back to Deshin Shegpa .

Between 1941 and 1944 he spent most of his time in Tshurphu on retreat . Tshurphu was enlarged at that time.

He then went on a trip through Tibet to visit his monasteries, bless the people and give teachings. He also accepted an invitation from Jigme Dorje Wangchug to Bhutan.

In 1947 he made a pilgrimage to Nepal , India ( Bodhgaya ) and Sikkim .

1948 Himachal Pradesh and Ngari to the Kailash to visit, then Tshurphu again.

In 1954 he traveled to Beijing with the 14th Dalai Lama and the 10th Penchen Lama . On his way there he recognized the 14th Shamarpa Mipham Chökyi Lodrö and on the way back he recognized the 12th Tai Situpa (* 1954). He gave rare and valuable transmissions to Kalu Rinpoche (1905-1989; Shangpa -Kagyü), Chögyam Trungpa , the 11th Trungpa Tulku from Surmang and Akong Trülku (* 1939).

In 1955 the first fighting broke out between the People's Liberation Army and Khampas in eastern Tibet. Rangjung Rigpe Dorje briefed the 14th Dalai Lama in Lhasa about the unrest and then returned to Tshurphu.

When the war raged across Tibet , the Karmapa announced that he would leave when the time was right.

In 1956 the 14th Dalai Lama, the 10th Penchen Lama and the Karmapa made a pilgrimage to India at the invitation of the Mahabodhi Society. The Karmapa visited his disciples Trashi Namgyel , King of Sikkim and Ashi Wangmo , the Buddhist princess of Bhutan. Rigpe Dorje asked this year and the 14th Dalai Lama about a since the time of the 8th Dalai Lama existing ban against the Shamarpa cancel -Trülkus what this in the form of a letter in 1963 did .

In 1959 he sent Kalu Rinpoche , the 12th Tai Situpa and the 9th Sanggye Nyenpa Rinpoche to Bhutan . He recognized the 12th Goshri Gyeltshab Rinpoche and the 9th Traleg Rinpoche (* 1955). On March 13, 1959, the 16th Gyelwa Karmapa left Tibet for good. With an entourage of over 160 lamas, monks and lay people, including Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, the then five-year-old Goshri Gyeltshab Rinpoche and Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, he fled via Bhutan to Sikkim to save the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism from destruction. They took away sacred statues, pictures, relics and other valuable possessions.

With the support of Jawaharlal Nehru , he was able to choose Rumtek as the new seat of the Karmapas. Already at the time of the 12th Karmapa there were three Karma Kagyu monasteries in Sikkim, but the old Rumtek monastery was in very poor condition. Between 1962 and 1966 a new monastery was built in Sikkim, the cornerstone of which was laid by the King of Sikkim himself and which became the new headquarters of the Karmapa. The Dharmachakra Center.

In 1967 he sent the eleventh Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Akong Tulku Rinpoche (* 1939) to Great Britain , where they founded a monastery named after Samye-Ling in Dumfriesshire in Scotland , the first Tibetan Buddhist monastery in the western world.

In 1969 he met Hannah and Ole Nydahl , with whom a very close teacher-student relationship developed. As his western secondary school students, he commissioned them in 1973 to teach in the west and to set up Diamond Way centers.

In 1974 the 16th Karmapa began his first major international trip to the United States , Canada and Europe . For the first time, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje performed the black vajra crown ceremony in a western country.

After his visits to Germany in 1974 and 1977, more and more new Karma Kagyu centers were established here. In 1975 the 16th Gyelwa Karmapa met Pope Paul VI.

In 1975 Rangjung Rigpe sent Dorje Lama Gendün Rinpoche to the Dordogne department to ensure the continuity and authenticity of the Dharma transmission in the West. In the meantime four dhagpos, Buddhist meditation and retreat centers and hermitages have arisen there.

From 1976 to 1977 he went on another international trip, visiting many religious centers in four continents and meeting with heads of government, the elders of many traditions, including that of the Hopi Indians, and artists.

1960-1970 The 16th Gyelwa Karmapa received a large piece of land from the Bhutanese royal family for the construction of a main monastery.

In 1979 the foundation stone was laid for the construction of a monastery in New Delhi . 1980-81 he made his last major international trip. He was showing signs of cancer.

During his stay in the United States, the 16th Gyelwa Karmapa died in 1981 at the age of 56 in the American International Clinic in Zion near Chicago . According to reports, he died in meditation posture; According to them, the region around his heart is said to have been warm three days after his death.

The cremation ceremony took place in Rumtek, several thousand students from all over the world were present. His relics are kept in a stupa on the roof of the monastery.

activity

In addition to receiving the Buddha's teaching through countless teachings, initiations and the recognition of consciously reborn incarnations, Karmapa Rangjung Rigpe Dorje ensured the spread of the Dharma in the West. The Karma Kagyu lineage is now also practiced in Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, and North and South America. The Karmapa flag (Namkhyen Gyaldar) was made according to a dream vision of the 16th Karmapa.

The 16th Karmapa also ordained women to be Buddhist nuns. Among the first nuns to come from the West were Freda Bedi / Gelongma Karma Kechog Palmo (Sister Palmo), Jetsünma Tenzin Palmo, Tsültrim Allione and Yahne Le Toumelin (the mother of Matthieu Ricard ), all of whom were ordained in the 1960s.

line

At the initiative of Dhamchö Yongdü , the general secretary of the late 16th Gyelwa Karmapa, a meeting of the highest lamas of the Karma Kagyu was organized. These were Mipham Chokyi Lodro (the 14th Shamarpa ), Pema Tönyö Nyinje (the 12th Tai Situpa), Karma Lodro Chokyi Sengge (3rd Wangpo Jamgon Kongtrul ) and Dragpa Tenpe Yarphel (12th Goshri Gyeltshab Rinpoche) invited. These four were to form a council responsible for the spiritual affairs of the Karma Kagyu. They were tasked with locating the next incarnation of the Gyelwa Karmapa, which they also accepted in order to meet the wishes of the 16th Gyelwa Karmapa. One of the four should be regarded as the highest lama of the Karma Kagyu for three years, then this responsibility should change. So it was published in Rumtek by the Nectar of Dharma , the official newspaper for the publication of the affairs of the Gyelwa Karmapa. Dhamchoe Yongdü died after 34 years in office, the Secretary-General in 1982. He was succeeded by Topga Yugyel that the office until 1992 held, and then from the International Assembly of the Kagyu ( Kagyu International Assembly was) discontinued. However, this only represented that part of the Karma Kagyu school that Situpa supported in his election of Ogyen Trinley as 17th Karmapa. The Karmapa Charitable Trust, which the 16th Karmapa had earmarked for official business in Rumtek after his death, did not agree. The tensions between the 14th Shamarpa and the two other rulers, the 12th Situpa and the 12th Gyaltsabpa, increased. (The 3rd Jamgön Kongtrül died in a car accident in 1992.) As a result of the disagreement over the rebirth of the 16th Karmapa, the Karmapa conflict broke out .

The black vajra crown ceremony has not been performed since Rangjung Rigpe Dorje's death. The crown is locked in Rumtek.

literature

• Gerd Bausch: Radiant Compassion - The Life of the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa, Volume 1 .
• Douglas, Nik & White, Mary (Eds.): Karmapa, King of Realizers , Buddhist Publishing House, 2005, ISBN 3-937160-14-0
• Karma Thinley Rinpoche and Karma Rinchen Dolma: The Karmapa Papers - The Story of the Sixteen Karmapas of Tibet, VYV Bochum 2008.
• Ole Nydahl : Beyond all borders , Aurum Verlag,
• Sogyal Rinpoche : The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying OWBarth (Contains description of Karmapa's activity immediately before his death)
• Karmapa Rangjung Rigpe Dorje: Dzalendara and Sakarchupa , 1981 (On the previous lives of the Karmapas).

Web links

• Biography of the 16th Karmapa in German
• Literature by and about Rangjung Rigpe Dorje in the catalog of the German National Library
• rang byung rig pa'i rdo rje
• himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk (PDF; 305 kB)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ He was born on the 15th day of the sixth month in the year of the Earth-Mouse, which is July 16, 1924 according to the Tsurphu calendar [1]
2. ↑ [2]
3. ↑ The Karmapa Papers - The History of the Sixteen Karmapas of Tibet by Karma Thinley Rinpoche and Karma Rinchen Dolma, p. 129 of the Engl. Output.
4. ↑ Many claim that Rumtek arose at the time of the 12th Karmapa, which the following text refutes: Achary, Tsultsem Gyatso: A Short Biography of Four Tibetan Lamas and Their Activities in Sikkim, Summarized English translation by Saul Mullard and Tsewang Paljor, in: Bulletin Of Tibetology No. 49, 2/2005, pp. 55 ff
5. ↑ Acknowledgment letters for the llama title (Homepage Lama Ole Nydahl)
6. ↑ Gendün Rinpoche: Heart instructions of a Mahamudra master, Theseus Verlag
7. ↑ The four Dhagpos
8. ↑ Namkhyen Gyaldar (English)
9. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from July 24, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.