KARMAPA: H.H. Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa Urgyen Trinley Dorje by Ken Holmes
Many people have heard of the Dalai Lama, but fewer are aware of the unique role of the Gyalwa Karmapa, Tibet's very first 'reincarnate' lama. in June 1985, among the nomads of Eastern Tibet, the Karmapa took birth again for the 17tn time in this millennium, fulfilling the hopes and prayers of millions of Buddhists of the Kagyu tradition worldwide.
Like so many of his fellow lamas, the previous Karmapa, the 16th, left Tibet at the time of the Chinese invasion in the l950s, bringing with him a treasury of Buddhist teachings which had been preserved for more than 800 years in the isolated beauty of 'the land of the snows'. Since that time these teachings have taken root in many countries around the world.
After the 16th Karmapa's death in 1981 his followers had to wait until 1992 to discover his reincarnation. He was found exactly in accordance with instructions left in a letter he himself had concealed in an amulet given to one of his chief disciples, the 12th Tai Situpa. The Dalai Lama subsequently gave his offical approval and the 17th Karmapa was enthroned in his tradidonal seat at Tsurphu, not far from Lhasa, in Tibet.
DANCE OF 17 LIVES: The Incredible True Story of Tibet's 17th Karmapa by Mick Brown
The extraordinary story of the exiled Tibetan teenager who has been hailed as one of the greatest spiritual leaders of the coming age.
In January 2000, an Ambassador taxi twisted its way up the narrow road leading towards Dharamsala in the Himalayan foothills of northern India - the home in exile of the Dalai Lama. In this aging car was a fourteen-year-old boy: the 17th Karmapa, one of the most important figures in Tibetan Buddhism.
The boy's arrival in Dharamsala was the culmination of a breathtaking escape. He had journeyed nine hundred miles across the Himalayas, in conditions of high danger, from the monastery in Tibet where he had lived since he was identified as the 16th reincarnation at the age of eight. His arrival took everybody by surprise: far-flung devotees, the world's press, the Chinese government, even the Dalai Lama himself, who was reminded of his own escape into exile more than forty years earlier.
KARMAPA: The Politics of Reincarnation by Lea Terhune
In 2000, the young 17th Karmapa--one of the most important reincarnate lamas--made a dramatic escape from Tibet and was given haven by HH. the Dalai Lama. However, some controversy continues to swirl around the choice of this young man. Through wide-ranging research and interviews with key figures, including the Karmapa, award-winning journalist Terhune tells the riveting story of the Karmapas' often disputed incarnations.
KARMAPA, THE SACRED PROPHECY Chogyur Lingpa / by Kagyu Thubten Choling
While visiting Karma Monastery in Nangchen, Eastern Tibet, the great nineteenth century master Chogyur Dechen Lingpa was granted a prophetic vision of twenty-one incarnations of Karmapa, the supreme head of the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Chogyur Lingpa described his vision in detail to Karmai Khenchen Rinchen Tarjay, Supreme Abbot of Karma Monastery, who painted a representation of the prophecy on silk. Disciples of Chogjur Lingpa committed his oral description of the vision to writing, in a text later printed in woodblock at the renowned monastery of Mindroling.
HISTORY OF THE SIXTEEN KARMAPAS OF TIBET by Karma Thinley
The Karmapa is the spiritual leader of the Karma Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Karma Thinley presents the biographies of all the Karmapas, based on his translations from numerous Tibetan sources. These biographies are not only histories of the training and teaching of these great teachers; they are also inspirational texts used to cultivate devotion in the practitioner.
This condensed biography, A Handflull of Flowers, was composed in praise of Buton Rinchen Drub, one of Tibet's most outstanding scholars, who lived from 1290 to 1364. Known as the 'Lord of Zhalu'- Zhalu being the location of his principal monastery-this unique master was a prolific translator into Tibetan of the Buddha's teachings, as well as a~supremely wise and compassionate teacher who worked tirelessly to bring all beings to liberation. His close disciple, Dratshadpa Rinchen Namgyal, wrote this work out of a strong faith and devotion in his master. In it he relates many of the wondrous events of Buton Rinpoche's virtuous life and deeds. Students of the Buddhadharma will find much inspiration and encouragement in the pages of this book. This fascinating work also vividly conveys a sense of the historical period in which Buton Rinpoche lived and taught in Tibet.
FOUR LAMAS OF DOLPO: Autobiographies of Four Tibetan Lamas (16-18th century) by David L. Snellgrove
This volume presents in English translation the autobiographies of four Tibetan Lamas in the land of Dolpo, which was part of Western Tibet until the end of the 18th century. Three of them were born in the 16th century, and one in the 17th. In every case the substance of these biographies was dictated by the lamas themselves, in response to the entreaties of their disciples.
A MARVELOUS GARLAND OF RARE GEMS: Biographies of Masters of Awareness in the Dzogchen Lineage by Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche, trans. by Richard Barron
A Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems: Biographies of Masters of Awareness in the Dzogchen Lineage is the only comprehensive history of the Nyingtik lineage, which forms the core of the body of teachings known as Dzogchen (Great Perfection) in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. It was written by the late Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche, Jamyang Dorje (1931-1999), one of the most outstanding and knowledgeable exponents of Dzogchen. In this work, framed as a series of biographical accounts, Nyoshul Khenpo provides a wealth of information invaluable to spiritual practitioners as well as to historians studying the cultures of central Asia.
TARANATHA'S LIFE OF KRSNACARYA KANHA by David Templeman
This biography of one of the most charismatic Indian siddhas or tantric adepts, prominent in the tantric lineage that were conveyed to Tibet, particularly those concerning Cakrasamvara and Vajravarahi, was complied by the renowned Tibetan historian Jonang Taranatha from both written and oral sources. He describes Krsnhacarya's training with his own guru, Jalandharipa, his exploits in various parts of India and his eventual untimely death.
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