Karmapa

Karmapa
The 16th Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje (1924 – 1981)
Tibetan name
Tibetan	རྒྱལ་དབང་ཀརྨ་པ་
Transcriptions Wylie rgyal ba karma pa Tibetan Pinyin Garmaba Lhasa IPA [kaːmapa]
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	噶瑪巴
Simplified Chinese	噶玛巴
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin gámǎbā

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Tibetan Buddhism
Schools Nyingma Kadam Sakya Bodong Kagyu Jonang Gelug Rimé
Key personalities First dissemination Padmasambhāva Śāntarakṣita Kamalaśīla Songtsen Gampo Trisong Detsen Ralpacan Second dissemination Atiśa Talika Abhayakirti Niguma Sukhasiddhi Milarepa Nyingma Yeshe Tsogyal Longchenpa Jigme Lingpa Patrul Rinpoche Dudjom Lingpa Mipham Kagyu Marpa Rangjung Dorje Jonang Dolpopa Taranatha Sakya Sakya Pandita Gorampa Bodongpa Samding Dorje Phagmo Gelugpa Je Tsongkhapa 5th Dalai Lama 13th Dalai Lama 14th Dalai Lama 10th Panchen Lama
Teachings General Buddhist Three marks of existence Skandha Cosmology Saṃsāra Rebirth Bodhisattva Dharma Dependent origination Karma Tibetan Four Tenets system Rangtong-Shentong Svatantrika-Prasaṅgika distinction Nyingma Dzogchen Pointing-out instruction
Practices and attainment Lamrim Pāramitās Bodhicitta Avalokiteśvara Meditation Laity Vajrayana Tantra techniques Deity yoga Guru yoga Dream yoga Thukdam Buddhahood
Major monasteries Tradruk Drepung Dzogchen Ganden Jokhang Kumbum Labrang Mindrolling Namgyal Narthang Nechung Pabonka Palcho Ralung Ramoche Rato Sakya Sanga Sera Shalu Tashi Lhunpo Tsurphu Yerpa
Institutional roles Dalai Lama Panchen Lama Lama Karmapa Rinpoche Geshe Tertön Tulku Western tulku
Festivals Chotrul Duchen Dajyur Galdan Namchot Losar Dosmoche Monlam Sho Dun Losoong
Texts Kangyur Tengyur Tibetan Buddhist canon Mahayana sutras Nyingma Gyubum
Art Sand mandala Thangka Wall paintings Ashtamangala Tree of physiology Festival thangka Mani stone
History and overview History Timeline Outline Culture Index of articles
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The Karmapa Tulku lineage of the Gyalwa Karmapa is the oldest among the major incarnating lineages of Tibetan Buddhism,^[1] established in 1110 CE by the 1st Karmapa, Düsum Khyenpa. Karmapa means “the one who carries out buddha-activity”, or “the embodiment of all the activities of the buddhas.”^[1] A total of 17 Karmapa manifestations have incarnated after their predecessors predict their own rebirths in detailed letters.^[1]

Their honorific titles include His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa (རྒྱལ་བ་, 'Victorious One', and more formally as Gyalwang (རྒྱལ་དབང་ཀརྨ་པ་, 'King of Victorious Ones') The Karmapa is the head of the Karma Kagyu, the largest sub-school of the Kagyu school (Tibetan: བཀའ་བརྒྱུད, Wylie: bka' brgyud), itself one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

The main seat of the four Tibetan seats of the Karmapas is the Tsurphu Monastery in U-Tsang, along the Tolung valley of central Tibet. The Karmapa's seat built during the Tibetan diaspora is the Dharma Chakra Centre at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, India. The international monastic seats are Karma Triyana Dharmachakra in New York and Dhagpo Kagyu Ling in Dordogne, France, and in Dominica.

Born in 1985, it was a few years after the 17th Karmapa, Orgyen Trinley Dorje was located and then recognized in 1992 by the Dalai Lama, and by the Chinese Central Government, that another Karmapa was recognized by Shamar Rinpoche, Trinley Thaye Dorje. The identity of the current 17th Karmapa was resolved by the Karmapas themselves, Orgyen Trinley Dorje and Trinley Thaye Dorje, both of whom issued a joint statement on 04 December 2023.^[2]