Karmapa, 8th

Karmapa, 8th on the DRL

Classical Tibetan Authors • Tulkus

མི་བསྐྱོད་རྡོ་རྗེ་

Wylie	mi bskyod rdo rje
English Phonetics	Eighth Karmapa Mikyö Dorje
Sort Name	Karmapa, 8th
Chinese Script	噶玛·弥觉多杰
Chinese Transliteration	gá mǎ mí jiào duō jié

Himalayan Art Resources

Other names

• ཀརྨ་པ་བརྒྱད་པ་
• ཆོས་ཀྱི་གྲགས་པ་དཔལ་བཟང་པོ་

• karma pa brgyad pa
• chos kyi grags pa dpal bzang po

Alternate names

• Karmapa, 8th

Dates

Birth:	1507
Death:	1554
Place of birth:	ngom chu g.yas lung (nang chen)

Tibetan calendar dates

Dates of birth

Day
Month
Gender	Female
Element	Fire
Animal	Rabbit
Rab Jyung	9

Dates of passing

Day
Month
Gender
Element
Animal
Rab Jyung

Contact information

Website:	Official Karmapa Office Page on the 8th Karmapa Tsurphu Monastery Page on the 8th Karmapa

About

Religious Affiliation

Karma Kagyu

Is emanation of

Seventh Karmapa Chödrak Gyatso

Has following emanations

Ninth Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje

Teachers

Tai Situpa, 2nd · Sangye Nyenpa, 1st · Tai Situpa, 3rd · byams chen chos rje sna tshogs rang grol · karma phrin las pa

Students

Pawo Rinpoche, 2nd · Shamarpa, 5th · Tai Situpa, 4th

Biographical Information

The eighth member of the incarnation lineage of the Karmapas, Mikyö Dorje, was a prolific scholar and an acclaimed artist, often credited with the development of the Karma Gadri style of painting. Though he only lived into his mid-40's his contributions to the Karma Kagyu and Tibetan tradition, in general, were immense. His collected works are said to have originally filled thirty volumes and he is widely held to be one of the most significant of the Karmapa incarnations.

For a detailed discussion of The Eighth Karmapa's life, with interesting reference to source texts, see the 17th Karmapa's teachings from February 2021.

From the book, Karmapa: 900 Years (KTD Publications, 2016, revised 3rd edition):

Mikyö Dorje is among the greatest scholars Tibet has ever produced. He was an active participant in the rigorous intellectual debates of his day, making major contributions in virtually all areas of textual study. He was an accomplished Sanskritist, and wrote Sanskrit grammars alongside works ranging from poetry to art to tantra. The Eighth Karmapa’s voluminous writings include substantial commentaries on all the principal Sanskrit texts, clarifying points of confusion and deeply engaging with their inner meaning. The act of composing philosophical texts within the Karma Kagyu—a lineage so fully devoted to attaining realization through practice—is wholly unlike the act of producing philosophical texts in a modern academic or scholastic setting. Rather, the philosophical works of Mikyö Dorje point out the way to view reality in order to be liberated from the cycles of samsaric suffering. As such, his compositions are a supreme act of kindness. It is said that Mikyö Dorje’s deeds in recording his insight and understanding in his commentaries had the effect of doubling or tripling the lifespan of the Karma Kagyu lineage.(Source: Page 73, Karmapa: 900 Years (KTD Publications, 2016, revised 3rd edition). E-Book available online here: http://www.ktdpublications.com/karmapa-900-third-edition-e-book/ .

Mikyö Dorje left numerous Buddhist writings on all major and minor topics, including a biography of Bodong Chogle Namgyal (1376–1451), entitled Ocean of Miracles (ngo mtshar gyi rgya mtsho), a Gongchik commentary, and he introduced a special guru yoga in four sessions, which is the basis for contemporary Karma Kagyu practice. See a list of Tibetan works by the 8th Karmapa available as free ePubs on Tsadra Foundation's DharmaCloud website.

For more biographical information see the following sources:

• Rheingans, Jim. 2017. The Eighth Karmapa's Life and His Interpretation of the Great Seal: A Religious Life and Instructional Texts in Historical and Doctrinal Contexts. Bochum, Germany: Projekt Verlag.
• BDRC Person page for The 8th Karmapa, Mikyo Dorje
• WikiData entry for The 8th Karmapa, Mikyo Dorje
• Himalayan Art Resource page for The 8th Karmapa, Mikyo Dorje
• Tsadra Foundation person page for The 8th Karmapa, Mikyo Dorje
• Official Karmapa Office Page on the 8th Karmapa
• Tsurphu Monastery Page on the 8th Karmapa
  Other Biographical info:

See the Karmapa Lineage page.

Links

BDRC Link (P385)

https://library.bdrc.io/show/bdr:P385

Treasury of Lives Link

https://treasuryoflives.org/en/biographies/view/biography/6230

Treasury of Lives Excerpt

Himalayan Art Resources Link or Other Art Resource

https://www.himalayanart.org/items/560

Wiki Pages

• Karmapa, 8th on the DRL
• Karmapa, 8th on the LIB
• Karmapa, 8th on the DNZ
• Karmapa, 8th on the BNW

Buddha Nature Project

Person description or short bio

The eighth member of the incarnation lineage of the Karmapas, Mikyö Dorje, was a prolific scholar and an acclaimed artist, often credited with the development of the Karma Gadri style of painting. Though he only lived into his mid-40's his contributions to the Karma Kagyu and Tibetan tradition, in general, were immense. His collected works are said to have originally filled thirty volumes and he is widely held to be one of the most significant of the Karmapa incarnations.

Expand to see this person's philosophical positions on Buddha-nature.

Is Buddha-nature considered definitive or provisional?
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All beings have Buddha-nature
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If "Qualified", explain:
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Which Wheel Turning
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Yogācāra vs Madhyamaka
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Zhentong vs Rangtong
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Promotes how many vehicles?
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Analytic vs Meditative Tradition
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What is Buddha-nature?
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Svātantrika (རང་རྒྱུད་) vs Prāsaṅgika (ཐལ་འགྱུར་པ་)
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Causal nature of the vajrapāda
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The Kagyu school traces its origin to the eleventh-century translator Marpa, who studied in India with Nāropa. Marpa's student Milarepa trained Gampopa, who founded the first monastery of the Kagyu order. As many as twelve subtraditions grew out from there, the best known being the Karma Kagyu, the Drikung, and the Drukpa.

Tantra, when juxtaposed with Sūtra, generally refers to the scriptures and texts which discuss esoteric topics. While the term is used to refer to texts on other topics, it is mostly used to refer to the genre of scriptures and texts on themes and topics associated with Vajrayāna Buddhism.

Refers to something that is taught for a specific reason, rather than because it is entirely true.

Along with Madhyamaka, it was one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Asaṅga and Vasubandhu around the fourth century CE, many of its central tenets have roots in the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra and the so-called third turning of the dharma wheel (see tridharmacakrapravartana).

Along with Yogācāra, it is one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Nāgārjuna around the second century CE, it is rooted in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, though its initial exposition was presented in Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā.

The state of being devoid of that which is wholly different rather than being void of its own nature. The term is generally used to refer to the ultimate, or buddha-nature, being empty of other phenomena such as adventitious defiling emotions but not empty of its true nature.

The state of being empty of self, which references the lack of inherent existence in relative phenomena.

Tsen Khawoche's "meditative tradition" of exegesis of the Uttaratantra; it is one of two major Tibetan traditions of exegesis, both stemming from students of Sajjana.