The Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa - Contd.
The following is a
personal appreciation of the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa, by
Ken Holmes, from his book "Karmapa", published by Altea
Saving the Lineage
After the initial turmoil of flight, a new reality was starting to take
shape for Tibetans in India and the Himalayan kingdoms, living in refugee
camps such as the one at Baxa. Some of the first contacts were made with
sympathetic westerners, such as the now famous Freda Bedi, and an
understanding of the world at large, into which they had been projected,
began to form. The main task in the
Karmapa's hands were to ensure the continuity of his lineage through the
education of the young tulkus in his charge and the transmission to them
of the many teachings and techniques of the
Kagyu tradition, and to
establish the temples and retreat centres needed for Kagyu Buddhism to
continue. Yet, in another way, he simply continued to do
what Karmapas have always done. The Sixteenth Karmapa sometimes shocked
his followers, who saw him as a living Buddha and one of the most
important people in Asia, by declaring in total sincerity, "I am simply
a monk". Unattached to any country, any people or any thing—a friend and
example for everyone—it was his duty as a monk to give teachings and
nurture the dharma wherever he might be. This also explains the example
he set by supervising the construction work at Tsurphu, right up to the
imminent arrival of the Chinese. He doubtless knew what was to come and
some may wonder, "why bother?". He was pointing to the sacred duty of doing
all one can, every day, in a positive way. Thus his followers had made the
good karma of building temples for absolutely as long as it was possible
so to do and, from a Buddhist perspective,
that good karma would be their best companion in times and lives to come.
In 1964, following a successful petition for reinstatement made to
HH the Dalai Lama by the unofficial Shamar incarnation, the latter was
enthroned by HH the Gyalwa Karmapa as the Eleventh Sharmapa. His
reincarnation had also been born into the A-toop family and the young
boy had been at Tsurphu and fled Tibet with the Karmapa but official
recognition had been impossible in Tibet itself as Shamarpa incarnations
had been banned by edict of the central Tibetan government from the
late eighteenth century onwards, following accusations of war-mongering.
A new seat
By 1966 the construction of the new Rumtek was completed and the
relics brought out from Tsurphu were installed. On Tibetan New Year's day
(losar) HH the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa officially opened his new seat
called, "The Dharmachakra Centre, a place of erudition and spiritual
accomplishment, the seat of the glorious Karmapa". This was to be the
hub from which Kagyu dharma spread throughout the world and, step by
step, the traditional monastic calendar of special prayers, lama dances,
summer rains retreat and so forth was reinstated in that centre-point to
ensure the correct spiritual dynamic for the years ahead. Rumtek, the
mandala with the Karmapa at its centre, became a very special place,
described by many as "the monastery wreathed in a thousand rays of
rainbow light".
In Sikkim itself the foundations of Kagyu dharma were established.
Traditional texts were, studied, ordinations performed, tulkus found
and enthroned, retreat centres built and texts carved onto wooden
blocks for xylographic printing. The kindness of the Bhutanese royal
family gave hospitality to his tradition in Bhutan also, with the gift
of a palace and a large piece of land, upon which to establish a
major monastery. Gradually, contacts were made in India and Nepal.
At one point, His Holiness had a vision that the construction of many
temples and monasteries close to the great stupa at Bodhnath in Nepal
(which at the time had little except for the stupa, a temple and a
few shops) would greatly help the spread of pure buddhadharma throughout
the world. Mainly due to the Karmapa's inspiration, many teachers have
established monasteries and temples there and it has become an important
focus of Tibetan Buddhism.
Reaching out to the world
In 1967, the first Western Tibetan Buddhist centre, named "Samye Ling"
after Samye, the first great monastery of Tibet, was established by Trugpa
Tulku and Akong Tulku in Scotland, under the Karmapa's auspices. Through
the early seventies several other centres emerged in the West and in 1974
the Karmapa set out on his first world tour. I had the pleasure of meeting
him at that time and of preparing his arrival in Scotland and France.
The way had already been prepared by the visits of the Very Venerable
Kalu Rinpoche, whose monks first blew the earth-shaking long horns (ra-dong)
and oboes (ja-ling) of Tibet in Europe. His Holiness' visit set the seal
on the beginnings which had taken place. Accompanied by tulkus, a full
entourage of monks and Freda Bedi, who was now the Buddhist nun Sister
Kechog Palmo, "mummy" to the Tibetans, he performed the Vajra Crown
ceremony in Western lands for the first time and gave empowerments and dharma
advice. In hindsight, that first visit was the milestone which marked the
true arrival of the Kagyu tradition in the world at large.
A great wave of inspiration followed in its wake and His Holiness
returned again for a fuller visit in 1977, this time with many more,
new centres to visit. This was a very extensive world tour. He visited
centres in four continents and met heads of state, heads of religion,
elders of many traditions and people from the world of arts. Sometimes
in dharma centres, sometimes in huge public spaces holding crowds of many
thousands, he performed the Vajra Crown ceremony, gave empowerments,
ordinations, bodhisattva vow and refuge and many blessings to people of
all faiths. On looking through hundreds of photographs of these visits,
the striking feature is the contagious joy and happiness of His Holiness
wherever he went. One of the few English words he knew was "Happy?":
a question he posed gleefully after giving Refuge or Bodhisattva vow.
His joyful, yet nevertheless powerful and authoritative, presence gave
many people new to vajrayana the first real chance to meet a perfect
guru, free to show the blissfull liberation of his enlightenment.
During this tour, my wife and I had the honour of accompanying him for
six months, I as a visa-seeking cum centre-preparing cum chauffeur
factotum for the European stage of his tour, organised by Akong Tulku
Rinpoche, and Katia as promoter of a major new monastery and dharma centre,
to be built on land in France's Dordogne, donated by the inventor Bernard
Benson. In travelling at his side during that time, through many different
countries, I saw him time after time awaken the fundamental goodness and
spiritual potential in people. It was like being with the morning sun as
it passes over the earth, warming the ground, nourishing life everywhere
and opening millions of flowers. Never had any of us met anyone who
radiated so much fundamental goodness and joy, who spoke with such
natural authority and fearlessness and whose every gesture was the living
demonstration of mindfulness, compassionate care for everyone and lucidity.
All paled next to the shimmering natural intelligence that he embodied
and that seemd to permeate every place in which he stayed.
We had the particular pleasure of helping him buy and look after the
birds of which he was so fond. I saw breeders amazed as their normally
fearful and hard-to-catch birds went peacefully to the Karmapa. But
especially we saw the birds which died stay erect for days in a peaceful
glow of meditation on their perches, instead of dropping to the cage floor,
as is normal. Some said these birds were reincarnations of former disciples,
who through some bad karma had this lesser body but who through their
devotion were born into his presence.
Enlightened activity
Under the Karmapa's overall guidance, the tulkus and rinpoches of the
Kagyu tradition developed the interest shown by Americans, Europeans and
people in South-East Asia in the centres which they had been invited to
establish. His Holiness dedicated himself to preparing what would be
essential for the proper future growth of this interest, ensuring the
education of the younger reincarnated lamas he had recognised, nurturing
the growth of the sangha, and sponsoring the printing, collection and
translation of the main scriptures and prayers. During his life he
ordained many thousands of monks and recognised more than a hundred
tulkus. In particular, he sponsored and distributed to many centres a
complete reprint of all the Buddha's teachings (tripitaka) and the main
classical commentaries on them; some 300 volumes of scripture in all.
At one point early in his life, while still in Tibet, His Holiness had
written a very telling poem, predicting his leaving Tibet. In it, he
uses the analogy of the cuckoo which, in Tibetan folk culture, is known as
the king of birds; a welcome bird whose call heralds the warmer weather.
It is the bird that grows up in another bird's nest and the Karmapa,
referring to himself as the cuckoo, obviously foresaw his own going to
India. During the latter part of the Sixteenth Karmapa's life, people
were already impressed by the accuracy of this prediction. Now it is seen
to have had a double meaning, as the subsequent Karmapa goes to yet another
nest and, significantly, a cuckoo landed on the tent, in which the
Seventeenth Karmapa was being born, and sang its song.
Miracles
A great guru is the mirror not only reflecting his individual disciples'
needs but the general status of things in the world. When their bodies
take sick, it can be viewed as being their purification of the sufferings
in the world and in their disciples. They also set the example of how to
relate to sickness. However, there is no one interpretation of such things,
as they are the emanation of cosmic purity within our lives, showing
anything that can help us to learn. However, this type of "interpretation"
could all be seen as just wishful-thinking, were it not for the miraculous
power over the body shown by the Karmapas.
The Sixteenth Karmapa left footprints in rocks on many occasions and in
many countries. One day poisonous snakes swarmed from a rock and covered
him whilst he was bathing in the Tarzi hot springs, yet he danced joyfully,
unharmed. He once tied a heavy sword blade into knots. In his presence,
normally antagonistic animals got on well with each other. Whe