The
Shamarpa lineage is a line of incarnate lamas who since the
14th century have reincarnated as teacher and disciple
to the Gyalwa Karmapa, head of the Karma Kagyu lineage of
Vajrayana Buddhism. The 2nd Karmapa Karma Pakshi predicted, "for
the benefit of sentient beings, in the future the Karmapas
shall manifest as two human forms, not to be thought of as
one, but not to be considered as separate either." To
symbolize their indistinguishableness, the 3rd Karmapa presented
the 1st Shamarpa Drakpa Sengye with a red crown, the exact
replica of the Karmapa's own black crown. The Karmapa also
bestowed the name, "Shamarpa," meaning, "The
One With The Red Crown." As predicted by Buddha Shakyamuni, "In
the future, a great bodhisattva with a ruby red crown will
come to the suffering of the multitude, leading them out
of their cyclic bewilderment and misery." In the Shamarpa,
the Buddha's prediction was fulfilled.
The present-day 14th Shamarpa Mipham Chokyi Lodro was born
in 1952 in Derge, Tibet as the nephew of the16th Karmapa
and was formally recognized by him at age four. In 1959,
the Shamarpa and the Karmapa were forced to flee their homeland
due to the impending invasion by the Chinese and took refuge
in Sikkim. In the years following at Rumtek Monastery, the
Shamarpa received the entire transmission of the Kagyu lineage's
teachings from the Karmapa and other renowned Tibetan masters.
After the Karmapa's death in 1981, Shamar Rinpoche devoted
his efforts to fulfilling numerous projects initiated by
the Karmapa. Among his many worldwide activities, Rinpoche
has overseen the reprinting of the Tengyur, a body of 214
volumes in which prominent Indian and Tibetan masters elucidate
the teachings of the Buddha; Shamarpa established the Karmapa
International Buddhist Institute in New Delhi for the study
and translation of the great treatises of Buddhism; Rinpoche
recently founded the Shri Diwakar Vihara Institute, a Buddhist
Research and Educational Institute in Kalimpong, India and
he is the founder of the worldwide BodhiPath Buddhist Centers.
In keeping with centuries-old spiritual tradition, Shamar
Rinpoche formally recognized the 17th Karmapa Trinley Thaye
Dorje in 1994.
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