Shamarpa

Tibetan name
Tibetan script : ཞྭ་ དམར་ པ་
Wylie transliteration : zhwa dmar pa
Pronunciation in IPA : [ ɕamarpa ]
Official transcription of the PRCh : Xamarba
THDL transcription : Zhamarpa
Other spellings: Shamarpa
Chinese name
Traditional : 夏瑪巴
Simplified : 夏玛巴
Pinyin : Xiàmǎbā

Shamar Rinpoche

Shamarpa (also Rothut- Lama or later red hat Karmapa , often falsely Sharmapa ) is a major Trülku - line of the Karma Kagyu -School of Tibetan Buddhism . The Shamarpa is also considered an emanation of Amitabha .

His line of incarnation is closely related to that of the Gyelwa Karmapa , the head of the Karma-Kagyu.

Very little is known about the 11th, 12th and 13th Shamarpa, as his rebirth at the time of the 11th Shamarpa was forbidden by the government of Tibet for reasons of power politics and these three incarnations could therefore not be officially recognized. Only the last 14th Shamarpa Künsig Shamar Mipham Chökyi Lodrö (1952–2014), the second highest Lama of the Karma-Kagyu, became an important figure in the history of the Karma-Kagyu after Thaye Dorje was enthroned as the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa. He was born in Dêgê ( Garzê , Sichuan ) and at the age of four was brought to Tshurphu Monastery ( Tibet ), where he was recognized by the 16th Karmapa as the 14th Shamarpa.

Red Hat Karmapa

The term Rothut Karmapa comes from historical texts by Gölo Shönnu Pel (1392–1481), the 2nd Pawo Rinpoche Tsuglag Trengwa (1504–1566), the 5th Dalai Lama (1617–1682) and the 8th Tai Situpa , Chökyi Chungne (1700–1774), in which the respective Shamarpa is called that.

History of the Shamarpas

13th Century

The 1st Shamarpa Khedrub Dragpa Sengge (1283-1349) was one of the most important disciples of the 3rd Karmapa (1284-1339), who confirmed him next to the Karmapa himself as another emanation of the 2nd Karmapa Karma Pakshi , who had predicted that he would become manifest in two nirmanakaya forms . The 3rd Karmapa then presented the 1st Shamarpa with a ruby red hat, which was the exact image of his own black hat. This should be a symbol of the inseparability of the minds of the Karmapas and the Shamarpas. The name Shamarpa "the one with the red hat" (or the red crown) comes from this time. It also fulfilled a prophecy of Shakyamuni in the Kalpa Sutra that a great bodhisattva with a red hat (or a red crown) should come to free sentient beings from samsara .

17th century

The Karma Kagyu lineage developed over 500 years and was one of the most influential schools of Tibetan Buddhism at the beginning of the 17th century, at the time of the 10th Karmapa (1604–1674). The death of the popular 6th Shamarpa Mipham Chökyi Wangchug (1584-1630), who was held in high esteem by the then most powerful Lama of the Gelugpa , the 5th Dalai Lama , weakened the political position of the Karma Kagyu lineage. A long-simmering political conflict between the Karma Kagyu and the Gelugpas escalated. The 10th Karmapa, who left the reign of his monasteries to the 5th Goshri Gyeltshab Rinpoche Dragpa Chöyang (1618–1658), as well as the 7th Shamarpa Yeshe Nyingpo (1631–1694) and their followers were attacked, but they managed to escape. When the Mongol prince Gushri Khan finally invaded the kingdom of Tsang with an army , whose king was a follower of the 10th Karmapa and a year later installed the 5th Dalai Lama Lobsang Gyatsho as sovereign of all of Tibet, the Karma Kagyu school lost any political influence in Tibet. The victorious Gelug consolidated their political power by suppressing the Karma Kagyu line in the politically important central provinces, mainly in Tsang. In addition to 27 monasteries of the Karmapa, 20 monasteries of Shamarpa were forcibly converted to the Gelugpa school. Only Tsurphu, the seat of the Karmapa, and Yangpachen , the main monastery of the Shamarpa, and a few others were allowed to continue to practice the Karma Kagyu tradition.

18th century

In the early 18th century, the 7th Goshri Gyeltshab Könchog Öser (1699–1765), the 8th Tai Situpa Chökyi Chungne (1700–1774), the 8th Shamarpa Pelchen Chökyi Döndrub (1695–1732) and the 12th Karmapa ( 1703–1732) made a pilgrimage to India and Nepal . In Nepal they were highly honored by the then king and in India they visited the holy places of Buddha Shakyamuni . The 12th Karmapa and the 8th Shamarpa had such an excellent reputation during the reign of the Chinese Emperor Yongzheng that they were invited to his court in 1732. Both died of smallpox the day after arriving in Beijing. The two Gelugpa lamas Kyangkya and Thudka claim in their autobiographies that the death of the two highest Kagyu lamas was a result of black magic . After the death of the 12th Karmapa and the 8th Shamarpa, the Karma Kagyu lineage suffered a renewed phase of decline in central Tibet.

During the reign of the Chinese Emperor Qianlong in the 18th century, the powerful 6th Penchen Lama Lobsang Pelden Yeshe , d. i. the second most powerful lama of the Gelug school, and the 10th Shamarpa Mipham Chödrub Gyatsho (1742–1792) brothers recognized by the 13th Karmapa . The 10th Shamarpa hoped that his kinship with the Penchen Lama could induce the Tibetan government to restore the monasteries that were forcibly converted by the Gelugpas in the previous century. Before this could happen, however, the Panchen Lama died of smallpox in Beijing, where he had been invited by the emperor.

Out of deep respect for the Penchen Lama, who was his teacher, the emperor is said to have given the brothers and sisters of the Penchen Lama, including the Shamarpa, a large amount of gold coins. The Trashi Lhünpo Monastery , the seat of the Penchen Lama, is said to not have given the 10th Shamarpa the part due to him. When the administration of Shamarpa Yangpachen Monastery complained, it was said that all of the gold belongs to Trashi Lhünpo Monastery. The 10th Shamarpa has been labeled a traitor for instigating a rebellion against the Tibetan government to get his monasteries back. As a result, hostility towards the Shamarpa arose within the Tibetan government, which was led by two regents in the absence of the 8th Dalai Lama . In 1784 he fled Tibet to the safety of neighboring Nepal .

Since the Nepalese King Rana Bahadur Shah believed that he could derive political benefit from the presence of the Shamarpa, Shamarpa became embroiled in an economic-political conflict between Nepal and Tibet, which ultimately escalated militarily as well. The negotiations in which Shamarpa participated failed and the Tibetan delegation that had come to Nepal was captured. In addition, King Bahadur sent troops to Tibet, but they were repulsed with the help of Chinese troops, so that in 1792 a peace between Nepal and Tibet came about. The Tibetan government blamed the 10th Shamarpa for the political and military debacle. In retaliation, she confiscated Yangpachen Monastery, which was converted to the Gelugpa School. Above all, however, she issued a "prohibition of instituting the rebirths of Shamarpas". In 1792 the 10th Shamarpa died of jaundice, but rumors circulated that he had poisoned himself.

20./21. century

In 1956 the 16th Karmapa invited the current Dalai Lama Tendzin Gyatsho to the Tshurphu Monastery and asked him to lift the ban on the Shamarpas. The Dalai Lama agreed, but advised the Karmapa to first perform the initial enthronement ceremony for the 14th Shamarpa in Tshurphu so that the Tibetan government could then publicly announce the lifting of the ban. The enthronement was held at Tshurphu Monastery in 1957, but before the government could announce the lifting of the ban, the Dalai Lama, Karmapa and Shamarpa were forced to flee Tibet to India in 1959 before the Chinese Communist invasion.

Although Tibet was lost, the Karmapa again asked the Dalai Lama to lift the ban on the Shamarpas. In 1963 the Dalai Lama complied with this request with a corresponding letter. The following year, the official main enthronement of the 14th Shamarpa took place at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim , in the presence of delegates from the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism and the Indian and Sikkimese governments. Until 1979 he received all teachings and transmissions of the Karma Kagyu lineage from the 16th Karmapa in Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim. He then traveled all over the world and taught Buddhism in the transmission of the Karma Kagyu tradition. His focus was particularly on the Mahayana teachings, the Madhyamaka, the teachings of the "middle way". Shamarpa founded the international Buddhist organization "Bodhi Path". In this organization the teachings of the Karma Kagyu school are passed on in their traditional form. But he also teaches in the centers of Lama Ole Nydahl's Diamond Way . It was mainly thanks to Shamarpa's activity that Thaye Dorje left Tibet in 1994 and now lives at the Karmapa International Buddhist Institute in New Delhi.

List of Shamarpas

	Name ( list of Tibetan names and titles )	Life dates	Inscription after Wylie
1.	Dragpa Sengge	1283-1349	grags pa seng ge
2.	Khacho Wangpo	1350-1405	mkha 'spyod dbang po
3.	Chopel Yeshe	1406-1452	chos dpal ye shes
4th	Chodrag Yeshe	1453-1524	chos grags ye shes
5.	Konchog Yenlag	1525-1583	dkon mchog yan lay
6th	Chökyi Wangchug	1584-1630	chos kyi dbang phyug
7th	Yeshe Nyingpo	1631-1694	ye shes snying po
8th.	Pelchen Chökyi Döndrub	1695-1732	dpal chen chos kyi don grub
9.	Konchog Geway Chungne	1733-1740	dkon mchog dge ba'i 'byung gnas
10.	Chödrub Gyatsho	1741 / 1742-1792	chos dug rgya mtsho
11.	?	?	?
11./12.	Jamyang Rinpoche (son of Khakyab Dorje )	1892-1946	'jam dbyangs rin po che
12./13.	Thinlay Könchab	1948-1950	phrin las kun khyab
12./13./14.	Mipham Chokyi Lodro	1952-2014	mi pham chos kyi blo gross

Web links

Commons : Shamarpas - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

Shamarpa (alternative names of the lemma)
Shamar Rinpoche

[1] www.shamarpa.org

[2] www.karmapa.org