With the passing of the 14th Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche Mipham Chokyi Lodro on June 11, 2014, this year becomes for Tibetan Buddhism perhaps the most eventful year in decades, for meditation masters in general but especially for the high lamas of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Shamar Rinpoche was the second highest lama in the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, under the Karmapa, and a lineage holder. He was therefore the one who held the lineage during the time between the death of the 16th Karmapa in 1981 and the emergence of the next Karmapa in 1994, when Shamar Rinpoche formally recognized Trinley Thaye Dorje as the 17th Karmapa.
Alongside his formal status in the Karma Kagyu lineage, Shamar Rinpoche was a highly realized lama who understood and was active on many worldly levels. The excerpts that are reprinted in this issue of Buddhism Today demonstrate the depth and breadth of his knowledge of today’s world. He received transmissions from the living masters of all Tibetan lineages and was the primary teacher of the 17th Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje.
Readers who are not closely connected to Karma Kagyu Tibetan Buddhism will find some stories told in this issue of Buddhism Today—especially in the articles by Detlev Göbel and Selina Ehrenfeld—that will seem unusual to the Western mind and way of thinking. Examples include how his body stayed warm for two days after his death, how he had clearly foreseen his death and in several ways had even prepared for it, and how there appeared special signs in the sky (unusual cloud formations and circular rainbows around the sun).
Further signs of the power of this lama, Shamar Rinpoche, were first the immense and unending outpouring of gratitude and respect from his students and from ordinary human beings who were somehow touched by this master. Then many people who were moved by the events during the cremation, although they did not know the significance of many of the activities or the colors that the various lamas wore. And the fact that many people were strongly drawn to that place without knowing why.
So many came to say goodbye, it showed that one of the world’s great human beings had died.
Perhaps some of our readers will find some of these things strange and estranging. Much of it is foreign to the Western mind, for example that Shamar Rinpoche continues his teaching and compassionate activity, even in death. We trust, however, that—regardless of how much of this is comprehended and taking into account a natural urge to deny the validity of some things—everyone can be inspired by the power and dynamic energy that is clearly at work here.
Executive Editors
Jonathan Bradley, Kenn Maly
This is a transcription of a question and answer session that H.H. Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche held at the Diamond Way Buddhist Center in San Francisco, CA, in the summer of 2006. Question: What would you say to someone who is […]
Meditation: Planting Seeds in the Mind Read More »
Before going into the actual topic, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the limited medium of language is inadequate to convey the actual experience of even the most fundamental forms of meditation and mindfulness. The
Boundless Awakening: The Heart of Buddhist Meditation Read More »
Excerpted from a teaching on Phowa, given at Bodhi Path Virginia, June 20, 2004.1 I would like to share a traditional teaching about how to cultivate good judgment. This is a teaching to help us trust our common sense and
4 Ways of the Wise Read More »
From Creating a Transparent Democracy: A New Model by Shamar Rinpoche (New Age Books, 2007)
Creating a Transparent Democracy: A New Model Read More »
Reprinted here are excerpts from Shamar Rinpoche’s book The Path to Awakening (2014). Published by Delphinium Books and distributed by HarperCollins. Available in paperback and e-book wherever books are sold.
Path to The Awakening Read More »
Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche had just finished giving a course during the first weekend of June, with over four hundred participants, when, on June 11, 2014, sitting at breakfast in the Bodhi Path Center in Renchen-Ulm, he suffered a heart attack.
Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche’s Last Journey Read More »
The following are excerpts from teachings given by Shamar Rinpoche at Kagyu Ling in Manchester, England May 31–June 1, 2014.
Commentary on The 7 Points of Mind Training (Composed by the 5th Shamarpa) Read More »
On June 11, 2014, our beloved teacher, the 14th Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche Mipham Chokyi Lodro, passed away in his beloved Renchen Ulm, Germany, in the presence of his close family members and some of his closest students. This sudden loss to the world in general, to Buddhism, and especially to his students, is profound and far-reaching.
Friends, The Buddhist world has been cast into darkness. Tibetan Buddhism has lost, in this life, one of its greatest torchbearers and masters, His Holiness Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche. The Karma Kagyu tradition has lost a supreme leader, and one of
Official Address by H.H. the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje Read More »
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