The 16th Karmapa was born in 1924, and the way he was recognized is something you should know about. The 15th Karmapa left a letter indicating his reincarnation, but after his death, people had a problem finding it. They asked around, but nobody seemed to have the letter. Only later did it turn up. One of his closest disciples, a lama-monk called Jampal Tsultrim, who was a good writer and in charge of writing things for the 15th Karmapa, had it. Karmapa had given the letter to him confidentially and had told him, “Open it on a certain date, but not before.”
Karmapa’s students were all very confused because they could not find the letter. The Dalai Lama’s Tibetan government was putting pressure on Karmapa’s monks: “Where is the letter? Where is the reincarnation?” In the meantime, two or three potential candidates from big families in Tibet had appeared, and people were speculating that one of them could be Karmapa.
Jampal Tsultrim finally said, “Here is the letter. The right time has come, as told by Karmapa, and so I am giving it to you. That letter is very clear. Just go to the place described and you’ll find Karmapa.” But the letter was in a special form, not written in a straightforward and easily understood way. Beru Khyentse Rinpoche, whose present reincarnation is in Bodhgaya now, was one of the disciples of the 15th Karmapa.1 He somehow found the formula for how to interpret the letter. So everything became clear —the place, the mountain behind the house, the name of the family, the year in which the boy was supposed to be born, and the date. Everything was clear. Nobody could argue with the letter; nobody could make trouble. The letter was in Karmapa’s handwriting, very beautifully written. I think he had a lot of other predictions to give, but in the letter he said something like, “It’s not a good time, so I don’t want to say too many things, although I have many in mind.” Visions appeared in his mind, but it was not the right time to speak about them. He also said in this letter, “I wish I did not have to be reborn again. It’s terrible.”2 It was beautifully written.3
The Tibetan government in Lhasa then sent a very strong letter to Jampal Tsultrim. He was to be sent to Lhasa, which was a very serious matter. He died that same night during meditation. They found him early in the morning, in meditation posture. So they didn’t have to send him to Lhasa [Rinpoche laughs]. Otherwise, I don’t know what he would have suffered as punishment. In those days, when the Dalai Lama was far away, people working for him could sometimes be very naughty.
With the letter from the 15th Karmapa, the 16th Karmapa was recognized. The previous Situpa was one of the main Kagyu leaders at that time, and he was very involved in recognizing Karmapa, bringing him up, enthroning him, and all of these things.4 There were many miracles taking place, if you believe in miracles. I don’t know how to explain these events scientifically, but on the day before he was supposed to be born, his mother suddenly cried, “I lost my baby. It isn’t there. It is gone!” The next day, he was back in the womb and was then born. I don’t know how to explain those things, but it is a fact.
At the age of eight he was enthroned in Tsurphu.5 There he started his studies with a very good scholar, Gongkar Rinpoche. Rinpoche’s village and his people were Chinese, but he was one of the greatest Tibetan scholars of that time. He was one of Karmapa’s teachers and he taught him first grammar, and then the history of Tibet.
There was a Vajra Master of Tsurphu who taught him how to perform the pujas and the rituals. Situ Pema Wangchung gave him the monk ordination, Bodhisattva Promise and empowerments. Later, the 2nd Jamgon Kongtrul became one of his main gurus.6 In one of Jamgon Kongtrul’s songs he expressed the realization attained by the 16th Karmapa. It was a beautiful song, saying that Karmapa was on a very high level — sgom med. Actually, it was close to the sgom med, not exactly sgom med, but a little bit below that.7 That was a long time ago. Probably it changed.
Karmapa was always busy. From morning until night, people kept coming to him. He used to tell us it was very tiresome, especially when he was studying. People came and asked questions—they asked about the future, the past and the present. They asked things like, “I am married, but I don’t have a child. Please do something about it.” Karmapa blessed them so that they would have a child. Once someone even accused him later of being the father. [Rinpoche laughs]
On one occasion, he left his footprint in the water. That is something very special and very rare.8 As you may know, he was a very kind man. He was always more concerned about others than about himself. If you acted like that nowadays, you would be called a loser. [Rinpoche laughs] But that was him, that was him.
In 1959 he had to leave Tibet, and that was very sad. He didn’t want to leave and couldn’t tell anybody that he was going to do so. At the last moment, he called everybody in and said, “I am leaving the day after tomorrow.“ Everybody was excited and discussed if this could be organized and what to take along. Traveling in Tibet wasn’t as simple as it is here, where you just take a suitcase and go to the airport. You had to ride a horse, take mules along, prepare something to eat for the journey, and all those things. But Karmapa said, “Whether you like it or not, I am leaving the day after tomorrow!” Everybody said, “Yes, okay!” and that was how we left.
I can’t forget that day. It was very early in the morning. Everybody was crying; the streets were filled with cries. Terrible. You can never forget that. The sounds never go out of your ears. It was very sad.
Finally, we reached Bhutan and the immediate danger was over. But Karmapa didn’t stay in Bhutan because he thought it was sort of dangerous for that country. There were a lot of rumors, like one that said the Chinese were following him into Bhutan. People were worried as they thought Karmapa was somehow anti-Chinese. It was serious and the Bhutanese government had the problem of how to tell him all those things. Then he said, “Look, I don’t want to harm Bhutan. All the kings — well-wishing and good people — have been my disciples.” Karmapa then left Bhutan via India.
The late king of Sikkim, Tashi Namgyal, sent his very important secretary, who later became a trustee of the Karmapa Charitable Trust to invite Karmapa.9 That’s how we went to Sikkim and settled in Rumtek. But the old Rumtek wasn’t like the present Rumtek. It was very hot, with torn windows and broken doors. The air would pass through, but that was good for us, as we felt so hot after coming down from Tibet. There were a lot of rats around and a lot of leeches. You couldn’t just walk or you would be full of leeches afterwards. We then went to India for pilgrimage.
Karmapa had a lot of compassion for the monks who had escaped from Tibet. They had nothing to eat, no clothes, and they practically lived on the street. In 1962, I think, he approached the Indian government and said, “Look! These monks are dying. Please do something.“ So at least the monks got some clothes and food. Karmapa did this not only for the Kagyupas but also for members of every lineage, for all the monks and nuns, and for the lay people. That was a great help for these people. At least for one or two years they had enough to eat.
The help came from the West Bengali governor and especially a lady with the name Padmani Mehdru, a very good friend of the Gandhi family. She liked His Holiness very much and even took teachings from him, although she was a very devout Hindu. She told Karmapa not to worry about his people because she would help. Later on, that was twisted to look like a political move. Karmapa just wanted those monks to have something to eat, but some people distorted that and accused him of playing politics. People are like that sometimes, but let’s forget about it.
Later, Karmapa decided to build his own monastery in Sikkim. We asked the Sikkim government to give us a piece of land, and that’s where Rumtek was built. Even during those difficult times Karmapa never neglected his prayers. The monks were always performing the pujas, as if we were still in Tibet. Karmapa never worried about whether there was something to eat or not. He said, “Just do the prayers, just do the prayers.” That’s how he was.
And he told us to do something for the people, for the preservation of the teachings, the books, the culture, and the Tibetan identity. Karmapa never talked about independence or freedom as such, but he said that we should never lose our Tibetan identity. Even if we live among millions of people from other cultures, we must remain Tibetans and not lose our identity. How? By keeping our traditions, the arts of Tibet, our studies, everything. Karmapa wanted his followers to wear Tibetan clothes, keep their hair long and so on, although it was very hot in India. Karmapa also did a lot of printing work, traditional block printing, which was very time-consuming in the era before computers. He brought up some of the young Rinpoches like his own sons. He cared so much about them, it was unbelievable! He taught them, he gave them initiations, all those things.
In 1981 Karmapa became very sick. I was about to go to the United States with my daughter to enroll her in a school when I got a phone call from Rumtek. Jamgon Rinpoche or someone else told me that Karmapa couldn’t speak on the phone himself as he was too sick. His Holiness wanted me to come with him to Hong Kong because he was going there for treatment. I canceled my plans and went with Karmapa to Hong Kong. Somebody had recommended a doctor named Ong to him, a Singapori working in Hong Kong, but when we reached there the doctor had gone to Malaysia. We waited for two days, and Karmapa’s health was getting worse. Then the doctor came, but it turned out that he was practicing only in a particular hospital, the Queen Mary Hospital. It was a public hospital and not very good. Even the nurses were not very nice. I suppose the treatment was right, but it was just not the best hospital. Karmapa stayed there for two more days just because of this doctor. The doctor then said, “There is no hope, no hope. Karmapa knew, but we didn’t want to give up and we called some Japanese and American doctors. They tried all kind of things, and then finally we flew to Chicago.
During all this time, Karmapa was really sick, bedridden, and spitting up blood. But he was always nice to people. He always worried whether we had eaten our food. Early in the morning, he would tell us, “Go to sleep!” In Chicago, the nurses were totally in love with him and said, “Oh, Your Holiness, what a dignified person you are. Even when you are sick, you never forget us.“ He kept on smiling and sometimes it was quite irritating. In Chicago, he finally passed away. We took the body to Sikkim and cremated him there. When you look at the situation around his reincarnation, he’s nowhere to be found and there’s so much trouble! Anyway, let’s hope for the best. Think in a positive way, that is what we have to do.10
- The 1st Beru Khyentse Rinpoche,1895–1945. ↩︎
- A hint of the great courage of a bodhisattva, to voluntarily incarnate in this world instead of dwelling in the great bliss of the pure lands. ↩︎
- More details on this story in Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Blazing Splendor (North Atlantic Books, 2005). ↩︎
- The 11th Situ Rinpoche, Situ Pema Wangchuk, 1886–1952. ↩︎
- He was previously enthroned in Palpung in Kham. ↩︎
- Karsey Kongtrul, Palden Khyentse Özer, a son of the 15th Karmapa, 1902–1952. ↩︎
- sgom med is non-meditation, the highest level of the Great Seal, the perfection of which is full Enlightenment. It could be understood in the way that, although a Buddha, Karmapa appears in our world as a bodhisattva. ↩︎
- Karmapa left a footprint in the ice on a frozen river. When the ice melted the next spring, you could still see it in the water, and again in the ice the following year. ↩︎
- Tashi Dadul Densapa ↩︎
- These last remarks should be seen in light of the fact that they were made in the year 1993. At that time, the Kagyu crisis was really nasty and the 17th Karmapa Thaye Dorje was still in Tibet and unknown to his students. Topga Rinpoche often expressed some sadness at that time about what had happened to the community of students of the 16th Karmapa. ↩︎
