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The 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, Trinley Thaye Dorje, the current head of the Karma Kagyü lineage was born in Kham (Eastern Tibet) on Mai 6th, 1983. Even as a child, he said that he was the Karmapa and in 1994 was formally recognized by H.E. Shamar Rinpoche as the legitimate reincarnation of the Karmapa according to the 900-year-old tradition of the Karma Kagyü transmission lineage.
In the same year, Karmapa escaped to India with his family, where he was enthroned by Shamar Rinpoche soon after his arrival. Since then, the Karmapa has received a complete traditional education and advanced training in Buddhist philosophy and meditation as well as in western academic fields of knowledge. Hence, for example, he speaks English fluently and thus has access to our modern world in a direct manner too. Currently he is living in Kalimpong in Northern India, where he is completing his spiritual and worldly training as well as planning and carrying on his activities for the benefit of all sentient beings. More about him and the tradition of the Karmapas may be found on his website:
www.karmapa.org

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The 14th Künzig Shamar Rinpoche (also called Shamarpa) is the second highest lineage holder of the Karma Kagyü lineage after the Karmapa. Shamar Rinpoche was born in 1952 in Derge in Eastern Tibet. At the age of four he was recognised as the incarnation of the 13th Shamarpa by H.H. the 16th Karmapa (1924-81).

† 11th June 2014 in Ulm (Renchen) Germany.

After the invasion of Tibet by the Chinese, both of them fled and Shamarpa lived and studied under the Karmapa's guidance at the seat in exile of the Karma Kagyü lineage in Rumtek (Sikkim, India) where he was also enthroned in 1964. Since the death of the 16th Karmapa, Shamar Rinpoche has started numerous helpful activities, such as the foundation of the Karmapa International Buddhist Institute (K.I.B.I.) as a centre for studies in New Delhi as well as other meditation centres. He travels a lot to transmit the authentic Buddhist doctrine by giving teachings and empowerments to interested people as well as practitioners. More about Shamarpa on his website: www.shamarpa.org

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Khenpo Choedrak Tenphel Rinpoche began his Buddhist studies at the age of ten under the guidance of H.H. the 16th Karmapa Rangjung Rigpe Dorje at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, India. He received novice vows at the age of sixteen and full monastic ordination at twenty-six. Also, at the age of twenty-six, Khenpo Choedrag Rinpoche, after completing 12 years of training in Buddhist philosophy, epistemology, linguistics and dialectics, received the title of Junior Khenpo from the 16th Karmapa, and at the age of thirty-one the title of Main Khenpo of the Karma Kagyu Lineage. In the following years, Khenpo Rinpoche continued to study and practice the Buddhist texts, received empowerments of various lineages and practiced meditation. Among his teachers are the 16th Karmapa, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Pawo Rinpoche, and Kalu Rinpoche. Until the age of forty-two Khenpo Rinpoche directed the Nalanda Institute for Higher Tibetan Studies in Rumtek. In those days, his students graduated as "Khenpos" for the first time and the Karmapa Charitable Trust awarded him the title of "Khenchen". Since the early 1990s Khenpo Rinpoche headed the Karmapa International Buddhist Institute in New Delhi for 14 years, where he also came into contact with Western practitioners on a broader basis. He travelled extensively to teach at Buddhist centers in Europe, the USA, and South East Asia. Khenpo Choedrag Rinpoche is one of the teachers of the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa. His teaching activities in Europe emphasize central works of Buddhist philosophy (the Middle Way, the Theory of Cognition [epistemology], and Buddha nature).  Thus, since the 1990s in Vienna and since 1992 at the three-week summer course in Dhagpo Kagyu Ling, practitioners could rely on the vastness of his knowledge as well as on the reliability and accuracy of his explanations. He currently lives in Vienna.

Khenpo Choedrag Rinpoche analysis reality: Download...

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May the Buddhadharma,
The sole medicine for all suffering,
The source of all bliss and happiness,
Be upheld with reverence,
And may it remain for a long, long time.
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