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His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa Orgyen Trinley Dorje is the head of the 900-year-old Karma Kagyu Lineage and guide to millions of Buddhists around the world. Orgyen Trinley Dorje is a Tibetan practitioner and scholar, a painter, poet, songwriter and playwright, an environmental and social justice activist, and world spiritual leader who uses modern technology, such as Facebook and other digital platforms, to teach Buddhism and bring the Karma Kagyu lineage’s activities fully into the 21st century. You can see some of the projects he has initiated on Adarsha or Dharma Treasures: [https://digital-toolbox.dharma-treasure.org/ Digital Toolbox] & [https://dharmaebooks.org/ Dharma Books]
[https://kagyuoffice.org/news/ News and links to teachings from His Holiness]
*[https://kagyuoffice.org/joint-long-life-prayer-for-kunzig-shamar-rinpoches-reincarnation/ Long Life Prayer for Shamar Rinpoche with HH Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje]
*[https://www.facebook.com/karmapa/ Facebook - Live Teachings and News]
*[http://www.kagyuoffice.org/karmapa.html Karmapa Biography from kagyuoffice.org]
*[https://kagyu.org/gyalwang-karmapa-ogyen-trinley-dorje/ Karmapa Biography from kagyu.org]
[[Category:Karmapas]] +
The Cowherds are scholars of Buddhist studies from the United States, Great Britain, Switzerland, Korea, Australia and New Zealand. They are united by a commitment to rigorous philosophical analysis as an approach to understanding Buddhist metaphysics and epistemology, and to the union of philology and philosophy in the service of greater understanding of the Buddhist tradition and its insights.
They are: Amber Carpenter, Charles Goodman, Stephen Jenkins, Georges Dreyfus, Bronwyn Finnigan, Jay L. Garfield, Guy Martin Newland, Graham Priest, Mark Siderits, Koji Tanaka, Sonam Thakchoe, Tom Tillemans, and Jan Westerhoff. +
The tenure of the Eighth Dalai Lama, Jampel Gyatso, was a tumultuous era in the Himalayan region, filled with battles and intrigues. This period saw the emergence of the first contacts between Tibet and the British, and the Manchurian representatives of the Qing Empire also managed to enhance its position in Tibet when it was called upon to eject the invading Gurkhas. The Eighth Dalai Lama was an active leader in the midst of all of this, despite being disinclined to rule. ([https://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Eighth-Dalai-Lama-Jampel-Gyatso/2339 Source Accessed Sep 27, 2022]) +
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, describes himself as a simple Buddhist monk. He is the spiritual leader of Tibet. He was born on 6 July 1935, to a farming family, in a small hamlet located in Taktser, Amdo, northeastern Tibet. At the age of two, the child, then named Lhamo Dhondup, was recognized as the reincarnation of the previous 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso.
The Dalai Lamas are believed to be manifestations of Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion and the patron saint of Tibet. Bodhisattvas are realized beings inspired by a wish to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings, who have vowed to be reborn in the world to help humanity. ([Read more online]) +
"After the death of 'Jam dbyangs chos kyi grags pa (the 3rd Drukchen or Gyalwang Drukpa), monks found the rebirth in the house of a minor aristocrat of Kongpo, to the disappointment of both the families of Rwa lung and Bya. This child, the sprul sku Ngag dbang nor bu, was to be the great Padma dkar po. Padma dkar po was one of those rare renaissance men. The breadth of his scholarship and learning invites comparison with the Fifth Dalai Lama. It was Padma dkar po who systematized the teaching of the 'Brug pa sect. It is no wonder that the 'Brug pa Bka' brgyud pa always refer to him as Kun mkhyen, the Omniscient, an epithet reserved for the greatest scholar of a sect. Padma dkar po was a shrewd and occasionally ruthless politician. His autobiography is one of the most important sources for the history of the sixteenth century. Padma dkar po was a monk and insisted on adherence to the vinaya rules for his monastic followers. He also held that in the administration of church affairs the claims of the rebirth and the monastic scholar took priority over those of the scion of a revered lineage. Although he preached often at both Rwa lung and Bkra shis mthong smon, the seats of his two immediate predecessors, he never exercised actual control over these monasteries and their estates. He founded his monastery at Gsang sngags chos gling in Byar po, north of Mon Rta dbang, which became the seat of the subsequent Rgyal dbang 'Brug pa incarnation." (Gene Smith, ''Among Tibetan Texts'', 81) +
A remarkable master who lived at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century. He wrote ''The Great Medicine That Conquers Clinging to the Notion of Reality'' (''Byang chub kyi sems bsgom pa'i rim pa bdag 'dzin 'joms pa'i sman chen''). He was a disciple of the greatest luminaries of the nineteenth century, including Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye, and Lama Mipam Rinpoche. +
The first rebirth of Terchen Barway Dorje was recognized by the 15th Karmapa, but lived only a short time and, in fact, died before he was reached by the search party seeking him. The Karmapa later explained what happened: Terchen Barway Dorje had promised a great sinner named Changkyi Mingyur that he would not be reborn in a lower state. Changkyi Mingyur died shortly before the new incarnation of Terchen Barway Dorje was discovered and was about to be reborn in a lower state. In desperation, he called on Barway Dorje and it was therefore necessary for Bardor Rinpoche to depart his new body in order to fulfill his promise.
The 15th Karmapa decided to perform another recognition of the 2nd Barway Dorje, but before the time for recognition arrived, the 15th Gyalwang Karmapa departed this realm for the benefit of beings in other places.
For this reason, the rebirth of Terchen Barway Dorje—the 2nd Bardor Rinpoche—was recognized by the 11th Tai Situ Rinpoche, Padma Wangchok Gyalpo.
The 2nd Bardor Rinpoche was born at the end of 1920 and many auspicious signs accompanied his birth. He was enthroned at Raktrul Monastery at the age of five but received his training and transmissions at Surmang and Kyodrak monasteries.
In his thirteenth year, the 2nd Bardor Rinpoche met the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa. Because the Gyalwang Karmapa had been Bardor Rinpoche’s karmically destined guru in many lives, Bardor Rinpoche felt great devotion for the Karmapa upon meeting him.
The 2nd Bardor Rinpoche spent much of his life serving the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa, although he occasionally traveled back to Raktrul Monastery to look after its needs. Toward the end of his life, he made an aspiration to be able to serve both the Karmapa and Raktrul Monastery in his future lives. As a result of that aspiration we now have two incarnations of the 3rd Bardor Rinpoche—one who has devoted most of his life to the service of both the 16th and 17th Karmapas and has founded Kunzang Palchen Ling in the US, and one who remains in Tibet and looks after Raktrul Monastery.
A detailed account of the life of the 2nd Bardor Rinpoche is available in English translation as ''The Light of Dawn'' composed by Karma Tupten. ([https://www.kunzang.org/treasure-lineage/2nd-bardor-rinpoche/ Source Accessed June 28, 2023])
Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche (b.1964) — the present Dzigar Kongtrul, Jigme Namgyel (འཛི་སྒར་ཀོང་སྤྲུལ་འཇིགས་མེད་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་, Wyl. 'dzi sgar kong sprul 'jigs med rnam rgyal), was born in Northern India, shortly before the Tibetan community settlement at Bir was established by his father, the third Neten Chokling Rinpoche. When Rinpoche was just nine years old, his father passed away. Soon after this His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche recognized him as an emanation of Jamgön Kongtrul the Great and His Holiness the 16th Karmapa confirmed this. He was soon enthroned at Chokling Gompa in Bir.
Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche grew up in a monastic environment and received extensive training in all aspects of Buddhist doctrine. In particular, he received the teachings of the Nyingma lineage, especially those of the Longchen Nyingtik, from his root teacher, His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. Rinpoche also studied extensively under Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche, and the great scholar Khenpo Rinchen.
Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche then moved to the United States in 1989 with his family and began a five-year tenure as a professor of Buddhist philosophy at Naropa University (then Institute) in 1990. Not long after arriving in the United States, he founded Mangala Shri Bhuti, an organization dedicated to furthering the practice of the Longchen Nyingtik lineage. He established a mountain retreat centre, Longchen Jigme Samten Ling, in southern Colorado, where he spends much of his time in retreat and guides students in long-term retreat practice.
Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche's students include Pema Chödrön, the best-selling buddhist author, his wife Elizabeth Mattis-Namgyel, and his son Dungse Jampal Norbu. He is also an avid painter in the abstract expressionist tradition. ([https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Dzigar_Kongtrul_Rinpoche Source Accessed Dec 11, 2020]) +
His Eminence the 2nd Kalu Rinpoche was born on September 17, 1990 in Darjeeling, India. His father, Lama Gyaltsen, was a nephew of the previous Kalu Rinpoche and had also been his secretary since his youth. The 2nd Kalu Rinpoche was recognized on March 25, 1992 by Tai Situ Rinpoche. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has officially confirmed the recognition.
On February 28, 1993, he was inducted into Samdrub Darjay Chöling (Sonada). His father passed away in 1999 and he asked to live in the monastery of Bokar Rinpoche in order to grow and study under his direction. In 2004, he began the traditional three-year retreat, which he completed in 2008. In 2009, he received from Tai Situ Rinpoche all the transmissions of the Shangpa Lineage. On this occasion, he undertook to confer 108 times the cycle of initiations of the lineage from which he is now holder.
In 2010, Kalu Rinpoche traveled to the West and took charge of the meditation centers created by the first Kalu Rinpoche around the world. In 2014, he returned to Burgundy, in the center of meditation Palden Shangpa La Boulaye, to teach and to resume the tradition of Monlam Shangpa initiated by his predecessor. +
The Third Purchok Jampa Gyatso (pur bu lcog 03 byams pa rgya mtsho) was born in the pasture land of Dzachu Aurtok in Kham (khams rdza chu a'or tog) in 1825, the wood-bird year of fourteenth sexagenary cycle. His father was called Jamcho (byams chos) and his mother was named Tsering Dolkar (tshe ring sgrol dkar).
At the age of five, having been identified as the reincarnation of the Second Purchok, Lobzang Jampa (pur bu lcog 02 blo bzang byams pa, 1763-1825), Jampa Gyatso was escorted to U and installed in the Purchok Hermitage (pur bu lcog ri khrod) above Sera Monastery (se ra dgon)outside of Lhasa. He began his basic education in reading and writing, and memorization of daily prayer-texts under a man named Ne Lama (gnas bla ma), the master of the hermitage at that time.
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At the age of thirty-seven, Purchok Jampa Gyatso served as the tutor to the Twelfth Dalai Lama, Trinle Gyatso (ta la'i bla ma 12 'phrin las rgya mtsho, 1857-1875). Nearly two decades later, at the age of fifty-three, he served as the tutor to the Thirteenth Dalai Lama Tubten Gyatso (tA la'i bla ma 13 thub bstan rgya mtsho, 1876-1933). Purchok gave teachings, empowerments and initiations, transmissions and instructions on various important topics of both sutra and tantra to the two Dalai Lamas. He also gave the vows of full ordination to the Thirteenth Dalai Lama.
The works of Purchok Jampa Gyatso were collected into two volumes containing forty-four texts covering subjects such as commentary on logics, rituals, and biography.
Read more at ([https://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Purchok-Jampa-Gyatso/3274 Treasury of Lives]. +
The Third Trijang Rinpoche, Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso (1901–1981) was a Gelugpa Lama and a direct disciple of Pabongkhapa Déchen Nyingpo. He succeeded Ling Rinpoche as the junior tutor of the 14th Dalai Lama when the Dalai Lama was nineteen years old. He was also a lama of many Gelug lamas who taught in the West, including Zong Rinpoche, Geshe Rabten, Lama Yeshe, Kelsang Gyatso, and Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
[https://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Trijang-03-Lobzang-Yeshe-Tendzin-Gyatso/4309 See Treasury of Lives for more information]. +
Lungtok Tenpai Nyima (Tibetan: ལུང་རྟོགས་བསྟན་པའི་ཉི་མ, Wylie : lung rtogs bstan pa'i nyi ma) was the 33rd Menri Trizin, the abbot of the Menri Monastery and former leader of Bon.
At the age of 17 he took novice monk vows and got the name of Sherab Namdak (shes rab rnam dag) from Sherab Tenpai Gyeltsen (shes rab bstan pa'i rgyal mtshan). He achieved Geshe degree at age of 25 at Kyangtsang Monastery under the guidance of the chief teacher Horwa Drungrampa Tendzin Lodro Gyatso (hor ba drung rams pa bstan 'dzin blo gros rgya mtsho, 1889-1975)
Lungtok Tenpai Nyima's first visit to the West was thanks to the Rockefeller Foundation and David L. Snellgrove who brought him, Lopön Tenzin Namdak (slob dpon bstan 'dzin rnam dag) and Samten Gyaltsen Karmay to London in 1961.
In 1967 he was invited by Per Kværne to Norway in the interest of doing research together and to lecture on Tibetan history and religion at University of Oslo.
In 1968 at the new Tibetan Bonpo settlement in Dolanji, after a seven days long special ritual of selection process by the highest bonpo teachers and lamas, he was appointed on the golden throne of Nyamed Sherab Gyaltsen as the 33rd abbot of Menri monastery. He was enthroned on 4 March 1969 as supreme head of all the Bonpo followers and the chief of all the Bonpo Lamas both in exile and in Tibet, and received the name Lungtok Tenpai Nyima as his enthronement name.[5]
Lungtok Tenpai Nyima was the first Tibetan monk to have an in-person meeting with Pope Paul VI and had a great relationship with Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama. +
The Yakherds are a collective of Western and Tibetan scholars in Philosophy and Buddhist Studies based in the USA, India, Australia, Nepal, and Germany. Between them, they have translated, edited, and written over 70 books and several hundred articles and reviews, including important translations of Tibetan philosophical texts.
They are: José Ignacio Cabezón, Ryan Conlon, Thomas Doctor, Douglas Duckworth, Jed Forman, Jay L. Garfield, John Powers, Sonam Thakchöe, Yeshes Thabkhas, and Tashi Tsering. +
Fyodor Ippolitovich Shcherbatskoy or Stcherbatsky (30 August 1866–18 March 1942), often referred to in the literature as F. Th. Stcherbatsky, was a Russian Indologist who, in large part, was responsible for laying the foundations in the Western world for the scholarly study of Buddhism and Buddhist philosophy. He was born in Kielce, Poland (Russian Empire), and died at the Borovoye Resort in northern Kazakhstan.
Stcherbatsky studied in the famous Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum (graduating in 1884), and later in the Historico-Philological Faculty of Saint Petersburg University (graduating in 1889), where Ivan Minayeff and Serge Oldenburg were his teachers. Subsequently, sent abroad, he studied Indian poetry with Georg Bühler in Vienna, and Buddhist philosophy with Hermann Jacobi in Bonn. In 1897, he and Oldenburg inaugurated ''Bibliotheca Buddhica'', a library of rare Buddhist texts.
Returning from a trip to India and Mongolia, in 1903 Stcherbatsky published (in Russian) the first volume of ''Theory of Knowledge and Logic of the Doctrine of Later Buddhists'' ( 2 vols., St. Petersburg, 1903-1909 ). In 1928 he established the Institute of Buddhist Culture in Leningrad. His ''The Conception of Buddhist Nirvana'' (Leningrad, 1927), written in English, caused a sensation in the West. He followed suit with his main work in English, ''Buddhist Logic'' (2 vols., 1930–32), which has exerted an immense influence on Buddhology.
Although Stcherbatsky remained less well known in his own country, his extraordinary fluency in Sanskrit and Tibetan languages won him the admiration of Jawaharlal Nehru and Rabindranath Tagore. According to Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya, "Stcherbatsky did help us – the Indians – to discover our own past and to restore the right perspective of our own philosophical heritage." The Encyclopædia Britannica (2004 edition) acclaimed Stcherbatsky as "the foremost Western authority on Buddhist philosophy". ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fyodor_ShcherbatskoySource Accessed Sept 25, 2020])
Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh is a global spiritual leader, poet, and peace activist, renowned for his powerful teachings and bestselling writings on mindfulness and peace. A gentle, humble monk, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called him “an Apostle of peace and nonviolence” when nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize. Exiled from his native Vietnam for almost four decades, Thich Nhat Hanh has been a pioneer bringing Buddhism and mindfulness to the West, and establishing an engaged Buddhist community for the 21st Century. Read his biography [https://plumvillage.org/about/thich-nhat-hanh/biography/ here]. +
Thierry Dodin is a Tibetologist who has taught at the University of Bonn and recently served as director of the Tibet Information Network in London. ([https://wisdomexperience.org/content-author/thierry-dodin/ Source Accessed Oct 25, 2025]) +
The Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje, was a prominent Karma Kagyu hierarch who also held Nyingma and Chod lineages. He was likely the first man to carry the title of Karmapa, following his identification by Orgyenpa Rinchen Pel as the reincarnation of Karma Pakshi, whom Orgyenpa posthumously identified as the reincarnation of Dusum Khyenpa. He spent much of his life traveling across Tibet and made two visits to the Yuan court in China. ([http://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Third-Karmapa-Rangjung-Dorje/9201 Read more at the source: Treasury of Lives]) +
Katok Situ Chökyi Gyatso was the third incarnation from Katok monastery of the great master from Palpung, Situ Panchen Chökyi Jungné. He was born in 1880, near Katok monastery, and was the nephew of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo. He received his name Chos kyi rgya mtsho during his ordination, in front of Jamgön Kongtrul and Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo. Following his ordination, miraculous signs appeared which led to his recognition as the reincarnation of the deceased Katok Situ. He was then brought to Katok Dorje Den, where he studied the sutras and tantras from more than eighteen great masters, particularly Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Jamgön Kongtrul, Patrul Rinpoche and Mipham Rinpoche. After Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo passed he begged Jamgön Kongtrul to recognize an incarnation of the great master for Katok monastery. Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö was recognized as Katok Khyentse and Katok Situ Chökyi Gyatso took care of his upbringing and education. (Source: [https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Katok_Situ_Ch%C3%B6kyi_Gyatso Rigpa Wiki]) +
Thomas Cleary passed away on June 20, 2021. https://www.shambhala.com/remembering-thomas-cleary
:Of his passing, renowned Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman wrote on Facebook:
::“There is no doubt in my mind that Thomas Cleary is the greatest translator of Buddhist texts from Chinese or Japanese into English of our generation, and that he will be so known by grateful Buddhist practitioners and scholars in future centuries. Single-handedly he has gone a long way toward building the beginnings of a Buddhist canon in English.”
Cleary became interested in Buddhism when he was a teenager; his researches into Buddhist thought began with a desire to learn during this time of his life. When he began translating, he chose either untranslated works or—as in the case of Sun Tzu's ''The Art of War''—books whose extant translations were "too limited".
Cleary earned a Ph.D in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University and a JD from the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. Since completing his doctoral studies, Cleary has had little involvement with the academic world. In a rare interview, Cleary stated: "There is too much oppression in a university setting . . . I want to stay independent and reach those who want to learn directly through my books."
Cleary's brother Jonathon also completed his doctoral work in EALC at Harvard. The two brothers worked together to translate the koan collection ''The Blue Cliff Record''; Shambhala published the translation in 1977.
Thomas Cleary's most widely disseminated translation has been of Sun Tzu's ''The Art of War'' (''Sunzi Bingfa'').
He also translated the monumental ''Avatamsaka Sutra'' (also called ''Huayan Jing'', or the ''Flower Ornament Scripture'').
Another major translation was of the commentaries of the 18th century Taoist sage Liu Yiming, who explains the metaphoric coding of the main Taoist texts dealing with the transformation of consciousness, and the fusion of the human mind with the mind of Tao.
In 2000, Cleary's various translations of Taoist texts were collected into four volumes by Shambhala Publications as ''The Taoist Classics''. Following the success of these publications, a five-volume collection of Buddhist translations was collected as ''Classics of Buddhism and Zen''. Another translation from the Muslim wisdom tradition is ''Living and Dying with Grace''. In 1993 Cleary published a translation of Miyamoto Musashi's ''Book of Five Rings''. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cleary Source Accessed Sept 18, 2020])
Thomas Doctor received his BA and MA degrees in Tibetan Studies from the University of Copenhagen and his Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from the University of Lausanne. He has studied Buddhist philosophy at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery since the late 1980s and serves as a senior translator for the lamas and scholars there. Thomas’ main research interests are the pāramitā and mantra views and practices of Buddhism in India and Tibet. He has translated several classics of Buddhist philosophy, including Speech of Delight (Ju Mipham's commentary to the Madhyamakālaṃkāra) and Ornament of Reason (Mabja Jangchub Tsöndrü's commentary to the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā). Thomas contributes to the 84000, an ongoing project to translate the Tibetan collection of the Buddha's words and associated treaties into English. He is currently teaching several courses on the MA program at RYI. (Source: [http://www.ryi.org/faculty Rangjung Yeshe Institute]) +
