The Karmapa's Visit to America

"They are both supposed to be emanations of enlightened beings, and yet they have this bitter squabble. "

We should also consider our karma which is the main filter for all of our
experiences. Just maybe, if there is enough purity in your vision, u can clearly
see the rainbow body of Lama. Otherwise he could be seen as a ordinary person.

* and whose members are kinder, more compassionate, and friendlier. It might be helpful to ask yourself ,"Do I want to be more like these people in 5 or 10 years?" *

I also agree on this, just look how practioners develop trough time. Although shopping can sometimes function
as obstacle for meditation

To respond to your question:

It depends on what one wants to get from practice of Buddhadharma.
There're levels of practitioners: some want to have a better life right now,
others want a better future life, others want no future lives, some are
committed to developing capacity to serve all beings everywhere, then
some wish to become omniscient Buddhas.

Sure you can learn from anyone and anything, but again what you learn
may not lead in a direction you want to go. Destination determines the path.
Without commitment to your destination, you'll likely end up "somewhere."
You don't pick a lineage, rather you become the lineage you teacher holds.
You don't incorporate new knowledge into what you already know and believe,
rather you engage the methods and ultimately they take you beyond anything
you have previously known, seen, experienced or been. In the end, there's
nothing to get, because the unknown thing you experience is what you always
were but never knew. But to get "there" requires release of a sense of self
that knows who it is and what it knows a priori. And THAT is why a guru
and a lineage is so necessary, its simply too risky to go without the guides
who have already done it. Specific destination, specific path, specific starting
place: in Dharma terminology-- base, path and fruit.

I have some definite knowledge and concerns on these issues.

First, you are very fortunate that tribe owner Mark is intelligent and patiently approaching this issue and communication in a clear and responsible manner. Communication and learning is therefore possible here.

The "current Karmapa" - whichever one you may choose to honor or spit upon or ignore and so forth, does not and CANNOT represent ALL Kagyu lineages. For example, a Karmapa does not and cannot guide the Drikung Kagu lineage, which also derives from Milarepa. Period.

Kagyu lineages branch off and become independent over the centuries. They overlap in teachers and practices, but maintain organizational independence by definition. If the Drikung Kagyu were under the Karma Kagyu, then they would be called the Drikung branch of the Karma Kagyu, i.e. the Karma Kagyu / Drikung branch. But there is no such thing.

There are sub branches of lineages, for example the Sakya Ngor sublineage of the Sakya lineage. But no one has any doubt that Sakya Ngor is Sakya both in doctrine *and* in organizational terms.

It is true that the Shangpa Kagyu lineage is organizationally tied to the Karma Kagyu. HH Kalu Rinbochay, primary lineage holder of the Shangpa Kagyu, "accepted the command" of the Sixteenth Karmapa to give Kalacakra empowerment several times. That was his choice, and as primary Shangpa lineage holder he can choose to orient or reorient the Shangpa Kagyu school in whatever ways he deems necessary.

However, be it known to all that the Shangpa Kagyu lineage does not descend from Marpa, Milarepa and Gampopa. It descends from Khyungpo Naljor and the Indian teachers of Khyungpo Naljor. Therefore no-one could mistake the Shangpa Kagyu as being Marpa / Milarepa lineage, and therefore it cannot be Karma Kagyu lineage, which descends from Marpa, Milarepa and Gampopa.

I am a direct student of several primary Kagyu lineage holders, including HH Khentin Tai Situpa ( Karma Kagyu ), HH Kalu Rinbochay ( Shangpa Kagyu ), and HH Chetsang Rinbochay ( Drikung Kagyu ), not to mention three major Karma Kagyu abbots. That includes a complete set of Kagyu transmissions, 4 full Milarepa empowerments, lots of Mahamudra instruction and so forth. All these teachers and all these teachings are clearly authentic, effective, and mutually consistent. There is no argument as to the quality of the instruction.

It is true that there are, in effect, two contenders for the throne of Karmapa, one supported by HH Khentin Tai Situpa, and one supported by HH Sharmapa. This is an irrevocable split, and as both groupd can claim strong international support, the "Karma Kagyu" lineage has now become two wholly separate lineages. This is only an issue within the Karma Kagyu schools and fellowships. It does not have anything to do with the teaching and practice of the Sakya, Nyingma, Gelug, the Drikung Kagyu and so forth.

There have been several apparent splits in Karma Kagyu lineage before, according to the histories. One "defeated" contender became an absolutely brilliant teacher of both Mahamudra and Atiyoga and a main source for teachings used today. I use his texts. They are of highest importance to my own primary practice. So, politics does not have to matter in the long run, only quality and effectiveness of practice and teaching. Does this make sense to you?

I have a pair of tickets for the Avalokitesvara empowerment to be given in Seattle this June 1st by HH the Seventeenth Karmapa. The fact that I have profound faith in this teacher before having met him is due to several factors, including a dream vision some years ago. However, for some years I had no idea who might be a "true reincarnate Karmapa". It's above my pay grade as a vajrayana guru, and probably above yours as students, unless you can do something like give a full Milarepa empowerment - not likely!

I wish Lama Ole Nydahl and the "Other Karmapa" All The Best! I hope they do tons of good work worldwide. I can tell you that the Kagyu empowerments practiced by the Other Karmapa derive from the Sakya lineage, from one of my primary Sakya teachers. Something to think about. I have no argument with Lama Ole Nydahl and no argument with any of his people, it's just that as someone who is so deeply connected to the Karma Kagyu lineage and abbots associated with HH Khentin Tai Situpa, I cannot take transmissions from the "other" Karma Kagyu teachers without confusing my lineage. So, I have already chosen.

The same applies to others who have taken or will take Karma Kagyu empowerment. Choose only one of the divergent lineages, or none. You cannot do both. Again, this has nothing to do with any other lineage.

This is simple enough. This is how it works in practice.

I am glad I did not introduce this topic. I am glad to have helped you gain a definitive and functional approach to working with this issue, as far as that is possible. It's good to talk things over.

I would be very happy to share pizza with Lama Ole Nydahl. We both share very common concerns. We both are very very concerned about Islam. Like many people in London, in Paris, in Sudan, in Australia, and so forth.

It is sad when Kagyus throw physical bricks on the heads of other Kagyus and other Tibetan Buddhists. Apparently this happens. There have been serious struggles between groups of Buddhists in Tibet. Think about the Fifth Dalai Lama, for example. That is much more serious than what we are seeing now among and between Kagyus, or among and between Gelugpas.

I have to be particularly careful, being a broadly based Mahayana practitioner, a Native American tantric Buddhist, a "Chinese Buddhist", a "Tibetan Buddhist", a Kagyu practitioner many times over, and so forth.

I have sixty three full Vajrasattva class empowerments, of which thirty three are full Vajrakilaya empowerments. The first Vajrakilaya empowerment I received was from HH Kyabgon Khentin Tai Situpa in San Francisco almost twenty years ago. I remain deeply thankful for this breakthrough, and by simply practicing two empowerments I received from HH Khentin Tai Situpa, the Padmasambhava and the Vajrakilaya, I can cover all my Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya and Gelugpa practice requirements. I have these from all four Indo-Tibetan lineages, from HH Dilgo Khyentse, from HH the Dalai Lama, from HH Dagchen Sakya Rinbochay, and so forth.

I also have the Karma Pakshi guru yoga and also dzogchen trekcho empowerment from Lama Mingyur, who is associated with HH Khentin Tai Situpa and so on and so forth. I assure you all that the Karma Kagyu lineage associated with HH Khentin Tai Situpa will not fail, and that this visit of the Seventeenth Karmapa to Seattle, giving Avalokitesvara and so forth, is a great blessing for us all.

I can tell the power and authenticity of a vajrayana empowerment with a blindfold on, sometimes even before it is given! I feel the presence of the transmission and the stages of the transmission. I know when it is real. This is not "religious belief", this is sensitivity to tantric transmission. Seems like the students seldom or rarely get this, at least not the way I do.

When I first received Patrul Tsik Sum Ne Dek, the Dzogchen Breakthrough, tears were pouring down my face, and I felt like I was going to be physically slammed backwards. Fortunately, I was sitting in a backed chair. My clear recollection is that basically no one out of eighty present got it like I did. I was truly stunned speechless and staggered outside. Other people just sat there.

So that is the kind of connection to be made, you see? If you do 100,000 long Vajrasattva you might develop sensitivity to these transmissions. I have done 250,000, and have a lot more to do.

That means I am working on my own karma and my own dharma, not causing problems for other so-called "Tibetan Buddhists". Mahayana practiioners are those who help other Mahayana practitioners, and who do not cause problems for them. This is also true with regard to the general muggle population and so forth. It is a simple, straightforward approach.

But why do I always find it is so difficult to get "Mahayana communication" to square one? Why make problems for yourselves and others? I think some of these people are just spraying in the wind.

Back in India, and indeed Tibet, people challenged each other with mage combat, with death-dealing sorcery. It was a Trial By Fire. Hindu teachers have tried to nail other Hindu teachers and so forth. I also have had to handle mage combat, the world class kind, without any previous training! I know what a real test of personal dharma comes to, and I barely survived. A lot of so-called tantrikas could not chant their way out of a wet paper bag. So be thankful you have not been put to the real test, mes petits!

No points awarded for sneering at real lineage holders, or even we mere western Buddhist gurus. As is said in the yogic lineage,
" I may succeed, and I may fail. At least I'm trying!" That's how they say it in India, that's how a PhD yoga teacher from North India said it to me. And that is what I'm saying to you. It's pretty simple in practice.

'Nuff said.

K T
dagger priest and inner medical tantrika