Norma Levine has travelled to Tibet, India, Europe and North America to record the stories of this memorable man and the impact he had on the people who met him. This book gives us a rare and intimate insight into the personality of the man who was the 16th Karmapa. Thaye Dorje, His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, giving a teaching about meditation at the Karmapa International Buddhist Institute, India. “For proper meditation what you need to realise is that it’s like a supplement, or nutrition, or like a diet. Meditation is more like that. His Holiness the 16th Karmapa was one of the greatest meditation masters of the 20th century. Find out why he was the inspiration and guide for so many people in the life of the 16th Karmapa. One of the most famous of the Indian masters of the Kagyu lineage, Naropa gave his name to the Six Yogas of Naropa, advanced meditations that are still. 16th Karmapa Meditation Pdf Instacode Crack 2008 Election Ez Antivirus Free Download 2010 Vijayi Vishwa Tiranga Pyara Full Mp3 Song Free Download Black Ops 2 Zombie.

In November 1980, Craig Lesser and I visited the 16^th Gyalwa Karmapa, Ranchung Rigpa Dorje, in Boise, Idaho.

It was arranged as a formal meeting between Adi Da Samraj (then Da Free John) and Adidam, (then known as the Advaitayana Buddhist Fellowship), and the 16th Karmapa, Ranjung Rigpe Dorje and the Karma Kagyu tradition. Adi Da Samraj asked us to have this meeting on His behalf. The 16th Karmapa was known to be a very great Realizer, with a broad sense of humor and one the greatest Spiritual Beings of the 20th century.

Craig Lesser was friends with a woman named Barbara Pettee who lived in Palo Alto and worked with many lamas (Skt. gurus) of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. The meeting was arranged by her.

Boise, Idaho was chosen specifically because we felt that because it was a smaller city, not as much would be going on with the Karmapa, and therefore he would have more available free time.

It was a cold and icy time in Boise, with white snow on the ground all around. We arrived by airplane and spent the night at a local hotel.

The next day we traveled over to a house that was the Center of Namgyal Rinpoche, known as the Open Path Dharma Centre. The Karmapa was not staying there, but was using it as a place for meetings.

Adi Da Samraj had Requested that we make this contact and connection. He had been speaking a great deal about Buddhism and its three yanas, and He had dubbed the Reality-Way of the Heart, Advaitayana Buddhism. This is of course described at length in the book Nirvanasara. It was the fourth turning of the wheel of the law or dharma, a new and unique Revelation by Him. But He felt that it could be seen as a form of Buddhism, a new and unique form, and therefore He felt that it was appropriate for us to visit with Buddhist leaders to discuss all of this. He wanted us to make links.

A full outline or “script” for the meeting was prepared by me, and the typed version of this was given to Adi Da for His Approval and Blessing. There were many Notes and discussions about how the meeting should be conducted, and I felt well-instructed and prepared to represent Bhagavan Adi Da and to present His Wisdom Teaching.

Adi Da had a great regard for the Kagyu tradition, especially in relationship to the Spiritual Masters, Marpa and Milarepa.

As a major gift, a hat was prepared that was made entirely out of white silk and that included a very large diamond right in the center. Joan Hammerschmidt made the hat. One evening, just before leaving for Boise, Idaho, Craig Lesser and I met with Bhagavan Adi Da in Bright Behind Me, where Adi Da was then residing, to go over the trip with Him. I had brought a picture of the Karmapa for Adi Da to view. He looked at it intently for quite a while and then He said very pointedly, “I am the kind of person who can tell that he is the kind of person, who will be able to tell who I am. The secret is that you bring his attention to it.” Adi Da looked at and admired the white hat, and then for a moment put it on His Head. It was clearly His Blessing of this gift for the Karmapa. He gave a big warm smile as He looked at Craig and I with the hat on His Head. And then He took it and placed it in the square white box that was prepared for it.

This was wonderful Instruction, which allowed me to understand a great deal about how such great beings, including Adi Da operated. They might hear about something in passing only, and therefore not put sufficient attention on that matter to “get” its significance. So many things might come their way in the course of any day, and because they were alive on many levels and not just the material dimension, they would notice things that a normal person might not. But in order to full receive the import of many things, what was required was their focus be brought directly to that matter. The extraordinary awareness that they had to see the deeper levels of things required that they really give something their attention.

We brought with us to Boise, also a very large framed 16″x20” murti photograph of Adi Da, so that in viewing Adi Da’s Picture, he would have the opportunity to really see Him.

Until the Valley Fire I still had the script which outlined the introduction to Adi Da and Adidam that I verbally presented to the Karmapa. We spoke through a Tibetan devotee of Karmapa who served as translator. And also there was Jamgon Kongtrul, a great lama in his own right, and a principal lineage holder in the Kagyu tradition. So there were the five of us. We were on the second floor of the Open Path Dharma Centre. Karmapa sat on a raised platform-like chair, and the rest of us sat on the floor before him.

The meeting took place on a Saturday in the afternoon, and we had told Adi Da the exact time of the meeting so that He could have His Attention on it.

When we presented the Murti of Adi Da to the Karmapa, He did a double take. In other words he looked at it, and then he turned his head away, and then he turned and looked again at it with great intensity. It felt like he could not believe what he was looking at at first, but then got it, received the Darshan of Adi Da. It felt like the moment where his attention was brought to Adi Da. As Adi Da had told us he would, he could tell who Adi Da was. Because he became immediately very happy, and began laughing and smiling as he continued to look at the picture. Very animated and alive. He was totally energized by seeing Adi Da’s Picture, and of course at this exact time, Adi Da had His Attention also on the meeting and on Karmapa. The whole room was filled with wonderful Presence.

From that moment on, the mood of the meeting was everything for which we could have hoped. The Karmapa very eagerly listened to all we had to say. It felt like a real and genuine connection was being made between these two extraordinary beings.

His laughter and happiness was infectious and he gave instructions as the meeting went on, for the other monks that were with him, to also view Adi Da’s Murti. They were in a room just adjoining the room we were in, but around the corner. When the Murti of Adi Da was brought into the room where they were sitting so that they could view it, we could hear their “oohs and awes” and happiness, and they also were laughing. They too could feel that something really special was happening with this meeting with this Master, and Karmapa was including the lamas who traveled with him into this remarkable event and its energy.

There was a great deal of very high Dharma described in my presentation. I went through Adi Da’s Own Sadhana and Life. And also the Sacred History of His Work. I described His Realization in terms that were very akin to highest Buddhism. I talked about the transcendence of attention itself.

His Holiness Received all of this very warmly and with what appeared to be full comprehension. He made periodic comments as the presentation was being made. When He received the white hat, he really lit up, especially when he noticed the large diamond. He immediately also put it on his head for a moment, smiling and beaming with reception of Bhagavan Adi Da’s energy that came with the hat.

16th Karmapa with Swami Muktananda

As Adi Da Requested, we invited him to see Adi Da at the Mountain of Attention. Adi Da had given already lots of instructions for hosting the Karmapa and the monks in his traveling party there when He was also present. He suggested in these notes that there was nothing that He and Karmapa had to “do” with one another. It was really more just like being in the same space. Maybe we should just “watch TV together” Adi Da joked.

The Karmapa immediately and warmly accepted the invitation to come to see Adi Da. He was very definite about it, and very happy. At Adi Da’s Instruction, we also mentioned that Adi Da might be at Da Love-Ananda Mahal at some times, and that this was our second Sanctuary, and that he was invited to visit there as well. The Karmapa immediately said that would also come there, for sure. He said that this particular tour that he was presently on, was already fully arranged with all of its itinerary. But the very next time that he came to the West, he would come to see Adi Da in both places. You could feel how he relished this idea.

We also asked Karmapa a question about Adi Da’s past lives. The Karmapa has the role within the Kagyu tradition of identifying tulkus (lamas who have intnetionally reincarnated from a previous lifetime) and is known to have that particular psychic skill. We told him that Adi Da had suggested His deeper personality pattern connected with Marpa Lotsawa, and asked him if he had any feelings for this, based on his own function as an identifier of past life connections.

His response was very simple. He said that his own knowledge of individuals only went back so far, and that he was not alive at the time of Marpa and therefore he did not know. This was a very literal response. The first of the sixteen Karmapas, Dusum Khyenp

Marpa, Milarepa, and Gampopa

a, was a disciple not of Marpa or Milarepa but of Milarepa’s disciple Gampopa. Therefore, the Karmapa himself extended back only so far, and not to Marpa’s time. This whole discussion was very straightforward. It was clear that the Karmapa had accepted Adi Da and His Realization at such a depth of recognition, that it was not unusual to ask him about Adi Da’s possible identity with one of the greatest figures in his own tradition. It just felt like an interesting question. But it felt that the relationship between the Karmapa and Adi Da had already been established at a depth deeper than any kind of verbal discussion.

It was clear to Craig and I that the real meeting had happened at a level prior to our verbal discussion, but directly, between Adi Da and the Karmapa in the Spiritual dimensions. This was confirmed when we reported to Adi Da. He said that the meeting ha

d gone well at the deeper level connection between Himself and the Karmapa. This was not something that Adi Da often said. He listened to the details of the meeting, but said that He already knew what had happened. He was pleased with the meeting.

What it felt like to me as one participating in this meeting, was that the Karmapa was free enough so that he could “meet” or connect with Adi Da prior to human politics, or lineages, or religious or Spiritual Institutions. His involvement was simply at the level of direct recognition of Adi Da and connection to Adi Da. It felt to all of us that something very simple but really profound had happened at this connection being established. It was happy and positive, like it should truly always be, but usually wasn’t.

The next morning, Sunday, we were invited to attend a Black Crown ceremony with the Karmapa in the same house. It was downstairs in the main Shrine room, and there were perhaps 60 people there. Even with this small group for the Black Crown ceremony, it was done with full pomp and show. The highlight of the ceremony is when, with Tibetan trumpets blaring, the Karmapa takes the Black Crown from its box and puts it on his head.

After the Black Crown ceremony, we flew by airplane back to San Francisco. Adi Da asked to meet with us there at Andrew Johnson’s house, to continue the discussion about the meeting with the Karmapa.

Adi Da had been in the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco during the early morning and we were all gathered waiting for Him in front of His Chair in the living room. As He walked past us to go into His room to get changed He said, “What are you all doing here? You were supposed to come tomorrow not today.”

Da Free John (Adi Da Samraj) on porch of Bright Behind Me

And as He said it, with an edge of criticism, He “got me” for an instant. Of course, after that first second I realized He was joking around, but He had undermined me and put me beyond any fixed orientation. And having just seen the Karmapa that weekend, and even that morning, I realized that the Karmapa could not have done this with me. He was just too Tibetan. I had read a lot of Tibetan books in preparation for meeting the Karmapa and the teachings, translated into English and often explained in easy ways to receive. This all made it seem to me that Tibetan Buddhism was simply another Spiritual offering. But when I met with the Karmapa himself and heard him speak, in the Tibetan language and with his Tibetan mannerisms, I realized that he was from a completely different and foreign culture, a totally different idiom of expression. And I knew that I needed a Teacher or Master who was going to be able to know me and understand how I operated. Only in that way, would he be able to serve me and deal with me where I truly “lived”.

Sadly, the Karmapa never made a “next tour” of the West and so the physical meeting with Adi Da Samraj never occurred. He was to pass away still in the midst of the same tour the next year, in Chicago on November 5th. A letter and gifts from Adi Da were sent to be used in the cremation ceremony of the Karmapa. They were delivered into the hands of Jamgon Kongtrul, who had been in the meeting in Boise, and had seen something of the relationship between Adi Da and the 16th Karmapa. He received the gifts and letter from Adi Da in the airport in Chicago, as Jamgon Kongtrul was waiting to board an airplane going back to Rumtek Monastery, in Sikkim, where the cremation ceremony was to occur. (Jamgon Konrgtrul himself passed away in car accident in 1992. )

Interview with Lama Ole Nydahl about the meditation on the 16th Karmapa.

The sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje (August 14, 1924 – November 5, 1981) (Wylie Rang 'byung rig pa'i rdo rje) was spiritual leader of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. He was born in Denkhok in the Dergé district of Kham (Eastern Tibet), near the Dri Chu or Yangtze River.

• 1Biography

Biography[edit]

After the 15th Karmapa's passing, the Karmapa's attendant, Jampal Tsultrim, hid for months believing that the 11th Tai Situpa would punish him. However, the attendant finally revealed that he possessed the sacred letter of prediction, which matched exactly with the proceeding the 11th Tai Situpa was already undertaking to find the 16th Karmapa Rangjung Rigpe Dorje. The 11th Tai Situpa later recognized the 16th Karmapa Rangjung Rigpe Dorje.

He was taken to the Palpung Monastery where the 11th Tai Situpa, Pema Wangchok, gave him ordination, the Bodhisattva vows and many teachings. Beru Khyentse Lodro Miza Pampa'i Gocha taught him the tantras. Bo Kangkar Rinpoche taught him the sutras. Jamgon Palden Kyentse Oser taught him Mahamudra and the Six Yogas of Naropa. He regarded the 11th Tai Situpa, Pema Wangchok, and the 2nd Jamgön Kongtrül Khyentse Öser as his root gurus.^[1] In 1931, at the age of seven, he performed his first Black Crown ceremony. He received his hair cutting ceremony at age thirteen from Thubten Gyatso, 13th Dalai Lama.^[2]

During his education he received all the Kagyu transmissions and was also taught by the Sakya Trizin for many years. In the beginning of 1940 he went into retreat, and in 1947 started a pilgrimage to India together with Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama.^[3] Rangjung continued his education with the 10th Mindrolling Trichen of the Nyingma School and it was concluded with the Kalachakra initiation of the Gelugpa School. Rangjung had therefore received all the major teachings of all the major Tibetan Buddhist schools.

The 16th Karmapa continued his predecessor's activities, travelling and teaching throughout Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, Sikkim, India and parts of China. His activity also included locating the rebirths of high reincarnate lamas spontaneously, without meditation.

Escape from Tibet[edit]

Political circumstances altered Tibet radically with the 1950 takeover by China. Karmapa, along with the Dalai Lama, government officials, and other high lamas, attended talks in Beijing to negotiate a settlement. This succeeded for a while, but in 1959 the Chinese government insisted on land reform, and the conflict with the lamas who owned a lot of land accelerated.

In February of that year Karmapa took 160 students from Tsurphu Monastery and escaped to Bhutan, taking the lineage's most sacred treasures and relics with them.^[4]

Tashi Namgyal, the King of Sikkim, offered land to the Karmapa near the site where the 14th Karmapa had established a monastery. It was here that his new seat, Rumtek Monastery, was built in 1966. The traditional seat of the Karmapa, Tsurphu Monastery, still exists, but the number of monks is restricted.^[5]

Focus on the West[edit]

In the beginning of the 1970s the Karmapa made the prediction^{[citation needed]} that Tibet would have a hard struggle gaining independence and even if it did, it would not allow the refugees to return. Rumtek would not be a good place either, and although Sikkim and Bhutan are still stable, they can deteriorate as well. However the Western world will embrace Buddhism, so he sent Lama Gendün to Europe.^[6]

In 1974, with the help of Freda Bedi, he embarked on his first world tour, travelling to Europe, Canada and the United States, giving several Black Crown ceremonies, and attended an audience granted by Pope Paul VI. In 1976-77 he began a more exhaustive tour, giving extensive teachings, visiting nearly every major city in Europe.

The sixteenth Karmapa helped foster the transmission of Tibetan Buddhism to the West. He established Dharma centers and monasteries in various places around the world in order to protect, preserve, and spread Buddha's teachings. As part of an initiative by the Tibetan government-in-exile to consolidate the organizations of Tibetan Buddhism, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje became the first formal head of the Kagyu School, although the earlier Karmapas had long been considered the most prestigious and authoritative lamas of that school.

Death[edit]

In 1980-81 the Karmapa began his last world tour, giving teachings, interviews and empowerments in South East Asia, Greece, Great Britain, Canada and the United States. Rangjung Rigpei Dorjé died on November 5, 1981 in the United States in a hospital in Zion, Illinois. Doctors and nurses at the hospital remarked on his kindness and how he seemed more concerned with their welfare than his own.^[7]

One doctor was also struck by the Karmapa's refusal of pain medication and the absence of any signs of feeling the profound pain that most patients in his condition report.^[7] Upon his death, against hospital procedure but in keeping with Tibetan tradition and with special permission from the State of Illinois, his body was left in the hospital for three days and his heart remained warm during this time.^[8][9][10]

He was cremated in Rumtek.^[11]

Legacy[edit]

Like his predecessors, he was primarily a spiritual figure and therefore not involved in politics. He instead made efforts to keep the spiritual traditions of Tibet intact and in this way helped to preserve the identity of Tibet as a unique and individual culture.^{[citation needed]}

Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, as with all other Karmapas and tulkus, is accepted by Tibetan Buddhists as a manifestation of an enlightened being.^[12]

Watch collection[edit]

The 16th Karmapa was very fond of watches. He had a collection of various kind of watches. One of his favourites was an 1800s pocket watch, which he gifted to Gyan Jyoti.

Notes[edit]

1. ^Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche: : Blazing Splendor. The memoirs of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, as told to Eric Pema Kunzang and Marcia Binder-Schmidt, Marcia, Hong Kong, Rangjung Yeshe Publications, 2005, pg. 272.
2. ^Simhas.orgArchived 2006-09-07 at the Wayback Machine Biography of the 16th Karmapa. (Retrieved: September 16, 2006)
3. ^citation needed as none of the official biographies nor the Dalai Lama himself state this.
4. ^Diamondway BuddhismArchived 2009-02-20 at the Wayback Machine Biography 16th Karmapa Rangjung Rigpe Dorje. (Retrieved: September 16, 2006)
5. ^SaveTibet.orgArchived 2007-10-24 at the Wayback Machine Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2002. (Retrieved: September 16, 2006)
6. ^Karmapa Thaye Dorje, Het Boeddistische boek van Wijsheid en Liefde, page 76, 9080582352 (Dutch translation).
7. ^ ^ab16th Karmapa, The Lion's Roar (DVD), linkArchived 2006-11-19 at the Wayback Machine
8. ^Kagyu.orgArchived 2006-12-06 at the Wayback Machine Biography of 16th Karmapa. (Retrieved: September 16, 2006)
9. ^Lama Ole Nydahl, Tibets geheimen voorbij, page 176, 908058231X (Dutch translation)
10. ^Karmapa Thaye Dorje, Het Boeddhistische boek van Wijsheid van Liefde, page 46, 9080582352 (Dutch translation. original title: Le livre bouddhiste de la sagesse et de l'amour)
11. ^Lama Ole Nydahl, Tibets geheimen voorbij, page 179, 908058231X (Dutch translation)
12. ^Rinpoche, Sogyal (2002). The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. New York: HarperCollins. p. 355. ISBN0-06-250834-2.

References[edit]

• Radiant Compassion--the Life of the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa. Volume One by Gerd Bausch, Edition Karuna 2018.
• Kagyu Life International Volume 3 'A Brief History of the Karma Kagyu Lineage of Tibet' by Topga Yugyal Rinpoche
• Buddhism Today Volume 2 1996 'The Karmapas of Tibet' by Brooke Webb
• Buddhism Today Issue 15 2005 Volume 1 'The Golden kagyu Garland' By Bruce Tawer
• Riding the Tiger by Ole Nydahl
• Entering the Diamond Way by Ole Nydahl

External links[edit]

• Biography of the 16th Karmapa at Kagyuoffice.org (Ogyen faction)
• Biography of the 16th Karmapa at Diamondway Buddhism (Thaye faction)

This interview was conducted by Stefan Watzlawek and Melanie Zaremba on May 24, 2006, in Houston, Texas and appeared in Volume 20 of the Magazine Buddhism Today published in 2007 and is also held on the Buddhachannel.tv online portal. It concerns the main practice taught in Diamond Way Buddhist Centres worldwide, the “Guru Yoga” Meditation on the 16th Karmapa.

The meditation on the 16th Karmapa is the main meditation in all of our centers, and every new person coming to our centers first meditates on the 16th Karmapa. Why? What is so special about this meditation?

Karmapa wanted that from those who saw him as a buddha. He first started giving this meditation to Hannah and me in 1970, during our first three years in the Himalayas. During the 12 years we were with him, most of the time when we had to leave he put two dark, coarse pieces of very strong Bhutanese paper into our hands. They contained this very meditation, hand-printed in bold Tibetan letters. He often mentioned that this practice would be very good for our friends and that I should pass it on in such a way that it would always be relevant and useful to Westerners. Frequently, he repeated that meditation on the Lama is the fastest way of all. Since 1972, I have done nothing but establish Diamond Way centers for lay people worldwide. That’s why Hannah and I are totally convinced that wherever this meditation is used, things will fit. Where this meditation is practiced, people stick together. Everything stays fresh, and one can feel the confidence and a stream of blessing that helps people mature quickly. There are several Tibetan-style monasteries and groups in the West. There, people mainly meditate on buddha forms of energy and light, and sing invocations in Tibetan language. Such practices employ the finest of spiritual science regarding the feedback of enlightened forms, colors, and vibrations on body, speech, and mind. But experience shows that everything there falls apart easier. People have more discussions and there is less of a down-home feeling that holds them together. Through the great gift of his joyful powerfield, the 16th Karmapa consciously filled space with his enlightened mind-stream. Simply because he was so great and possessed limitless bliss at all times and places, this method is very effective. Taking a closer look at its structure, however, one understands that this practice is more an instant initiation into the Lama than a meditation on him. Therefore, it is something very close.

How and when did the meditation on the 16th Karmapa appear?

It was given after the 16th Karmapa’s escape from the Chinese in 1959. At that time, a lama from Bir in the Western Himalayas asked the 16th Karmapa several times to pass on something meaningful, powerful, and short for the new world. It worked! No Tibetan meditation is used as much in the West as this one.

Is it possible to reach enlightenment just by doing this very meditation?

To quote the Great Yogi Chen, a highly accomplished teacher of Hannah and myself who did not leave his home in Kalimpong for 21 years, “When male and female essences are balanced in a lama, any meditation on him is Maha- Annuatara-Yoga-Tantra, the fourth and highest initiation level.” In this case, any practice identifying with the teacher may bring the highest level of accomplishment. Since not all Karmapas were monks, bliss and space are inseparable in his transmission. Called “de-tong” in Tibetan, it is the heart of our Diamond Way and my own daily practice. After having taken refuge in the morning, such identifications are the best for building up energy and moments of insight during the day.

Why is it, then, that we still need practices like the Ngondro, for example?

They make you tough! Also, when practiced in the right way, the Ngondro may take one to the goal. The practice is, however, designed to be used as a “preliminary.” With this basis, one can better melt together with the Lama and accomplish his qualities. Guru Yoga, however, is the most important practice for us.

This became known already since Marpa visited Naropa in India the second time, around 950 years ago. At that time, a huge and bright form of the Buddha Kye Dorje (Skt. Hevajra now Oh Diamond) with his partner No-Ego Nairatmya (Skt. Dagmema), condensed next to Naropa and was as large as a house. It was Marpa’s most involved buddha aspect. At the moment when Marpa felt this lightenergy form to be more important than the Lama, Naropa laughed. He transformed the entire manifestation into rainbow light and drew it into his heart. Then he said, “With us, everything is the Lama.” That’s how it is. Whoever is capable of seeing a human form as perfect is much closer to experiencing the world as a pure land than somebody who practices with the far easier light-energy forms. Things close to home—daily and lasting practices— those are what count.

Where do you see the main difference between this practice and other Guru Yogas, for example on the 8th Karmapa?

In its application. The blessing of the lineage and one´s recognition of mind’s nature are the same everywhere, but this practice is especially easy, practical, fast, and efficient. Above all, Hannah and I were given and carry the energy of the 16th Karmapa. At the same time, however, he gave us the meditation on his 8th incarnation to be continued after the Ngondro. The 8th Karmapa was given as the general yidam, both for us and our students as well, because this meditation pushes such a wide variety of unusual buttons in our subconscious. All invocations of the lama are good and show us mind directly, but they take us there through different means. The 2nd Karmapa, for example, invokes a huge protective powerfield, the 3rd opens us up through wishes and insight, and the 15th brings ultimate meditations on union. But for today’s chopped-up lifestyle and goal-oriented thinking, the 16th Karmapa meditation is right for us. He is so close, his power is so massive, and his broad and liberating joy vibrates in our Diamond Way centers everywhere. Because he blows away all tight and bureaucratic tendencies, he is the boss.

When we are done with Ngondro and practice the 8th Karmapa meditation, does it make sense to practice the meditation on the 16th Karmapa as well?

One cannot always manage to eat a full meal. Sometimes a hot dog fits. It is the same with meditations. Even when one enjoys the 8th Karmapa for one’s own main meal, for the time in between the 16th is excellent.

How often should we do the meditation on the 16th Karmapa?

There are no rules, just suggestions. At least so often that one feels surrounded by blessing and that a good wind pushes one forward. If one experiences everything as at least interesting and life as fresh and meaningful, the meditation works. This practice of identifying with the lama is a steady injection of vitamins in one´s life.

Should we do it on a daily basis along with Ngondro practice?

It is not possible to always practice the Ngondro. Certain conditions—inner as well as outer—are needed, as is time. However, meditating on the 16th Karmapa as inseparable from one’s own lama is immediate and easy. If people are moody or tired during the day and then take in the lights, the strength of the veils dissolves. Also, one doesn’t have to take refuge each time. Whoever takes refuge in the morning and keeps a feeling of wishing sentient beings all the best may let the lama appear at any time and can use the lights and mantras whenever one likes.

Sometimes you say that we can practice this meditation at work during a break. Can you explain how to do this? Are we taking refuge? Do we practice the dissolving phase?

17th Karmapa Blogspot

The phase of dissolving the lama into light, merging with that, and then becoming the timeless space of awareness, I would do each time, even if only possible for moments. It is exceedingly important. If one can meditate for a longer time, it is useful to go through all the steps contained in a given text.

Is it possible to do anything wrong when meditating on the 16th Karmapa?

Here and now, I couldn’t think of anything to warn against. Meditation is such a round thing, and by following the text one slides automatically from one level of blessing to the next. I would say that whoever is without “roof damage,” as we say in Europe, and knows how to read can hardly do anything wrong.

Are there people who you would advise not to do the 16th Karmapa meditation?

If they simply don’t like its feeling. There are people often of the envious-proud-angry types for whom such a bond to the teacher is too much. They simply don’t like its closeness. Then one advises them to instead do the shine/ lhaktong (Skt. shamatha/vipassana) holding and calming insight meditation, which is something neutral. If people can’t develop confidence in the realization of another human being, or if they don’t enjoy it, there exist other fine but less complete meditation methods than the Guru Yoga. Nothing is more effective than identifying body, speech, and mind with those of a buddha.

What do we visualize while saying the mantra? Are the lights still shining into us at this point?

With some people yes, and that’s okay. The reason for inserting an empty line before the mantra into our recently printed text is that some meditators started reciting the mantra before having taken in the three lights together. This happened also to me, therefore I noticed it, and also Shamar Rinpoche warned against this tendency. The three lights simultaneously bring the limitless transmission of the Great Seal. That’s why we inserted an empty line and in some languages also the word “pause.” Hopefully in this way, after having basked in the blue light, one doesn’t skip taking in the three lights as a unity before the mantra phase.

In the dissolving phase everything disappears. If we keep our eyes open, an outer world is still there. How should we understand this?

This is no problem at all. The disturbance is not the stream of sense experiences, but one’s habitual judgment of things. Only this attachment hinders one’s meditation, and with such realization the tendency must gradually dissolve. One certainly also perceives the movements in one’s body, the quality of one’s seat, one’s breath, and many other kinds of stimulation. These may come and go but shouldn’t distract; they shouldn’t be given any importance when meditating. I often compare this to watching CNN or BBC. One rests with the main picture, that which is happening. Underneath runs the news bar. This strip containing all kinds of information does not disturb and may even be useful. I mention this especially to women, because they are most plagued by thoughts. For their benefit, I hope to have found an unforgettable example and antidote: One meditates as if relaxed after doing a fulfilling job all day. Calmly one hears the children playing in the background and one only jumps into action when noticing that they will put their little sister into the sausage machine!

When the three lights are shining together, we experience the Great Seal and we rest in “Karmapa’s state.” In the dissolving phase of the 16th Karmapa meditation, there is only “awareness, beyond center and limits.” Is there a difference? Aren’t both phases of the Great Seal?

Yes, they are. But the Great Seal consists of foundation, our Buddha nature; way, our non-dual methods; and goal, enlightenment. We here distinguish a “striving” Mahamudra with form and a “realized” state of awareness beyond this. The Great Seal is without any limitations. Its basis is space, the buddha nature of every sentient being, mind’s inborn and limitless awareness. Its path is the awakening of devotion and use of the conscious power contained in body, speech, and mind. And its goal is timeless spaceawareness— fearless, joyful, and compassionate. Experiencer, object experienced, and experience here become one, and whatever happens or doesn’t happen is mind´s free play. Absorbing the lights together thus opens us up for the ultimate state of non-duality.

Please explain each phase of this meditation.

Generally speaking, the beginning and sequence of all Buddhist meditations is the same. One watches one’s breath and remembers the four basic thoughts of precious human body, impermanence, causality, and reasons for reaching perfection—until one understands that these relate to oneself. Before this realization becomes cluttered with ideas, one gratefully takes refuge, develops one’s mind for enlightenment for the good of all beings, and then goes on to the building-up phase. In this meditation it means letting one’s trusted teacher appear as inseparable from the 16th Karmapa and Kagyu lineage—as “Tibetan” as one likes (that is, with the wished-for amount of cultural markers around him). But always there should be the Black Crown. Its very form exposes beings’ unconscious and allows for quick changes in one’s character. This is the building up stage. The empowerments of the lama’s body, speech, and mind then follow. They are transferred through the three lights in sequence, leading to the ultimate empowerment of the Great Seal given with the three lights together. Mind’s capacity is sharpened through the syllables and mantras used. Then one dissolves the lama in front into light, melts this into one’s own experienced body, and, according to one’s ability, lets everything inner and outer dissolve and return into space. Now, only radiant consciousness remains. From this state of awareness the non-separation of space and appearances is recognized, and mind becomes limitless. Before the experiencer again becomes unclear or habits catch up, one lets a pure world appear. Everything around is now fresh and exciting, and mind’s potential simply shows its richness with each inner or outer event. All sentient beings have buddha nature, and even though everything is true on the ultimate level—just because it happens or not—one is free on the relative level to create the circumstances that one likes. Such freedom convinces the meditator of his innate buddha nature and potential, and the sign of the Diamond Way is always and everywhere the same: The practitioner does not leave the pure land again. Instead he strengthens the purity of his experience in everyday activities according to his ability, until one can again reinforce it fully during the next meditation. The openness of the practitioners for this text has changed markedly during the last 35 years. In the beginning, everything “Tibetan” was magic and significant— the gold on the crown and all of the details on it. However, in actuality only the black pentagonal form of the crown denotes the hairs of the 100,000 enlightened female forms (dakinis or khandros, sky-walkers). The ornaments donated by the devoted Chinese Emperor 600 years ago and later blessed by the Karmapas were given great importance, as well as the world’s riches around and underneath his form. Then the three lights became important by themselves. Actually, in its original version, they were only absorbed together and at the same time. It was on Hannah’s and my request that we now do them individually first. Afterward, the meaning of the mantra that became prominent and this movement toward the allimportant ending of the meditation continued until today, where the possibility for enlightened action appearing after the naked awareness of the dissolving phase mainly inspires people. The continuation of the pure view in one’s daily life is a never-ending and deeply inspiring job. Working with people makes sense. They all are essentially buddhas who just haven’t recognized this yet. And, if one observes well, everything happens within a most meaningful framework. I think that returning to the world with the power of the meditation and improving it is what inspires people most right now. But it is also possible that—once the 17th Karmapa Thaye Dorje gets back his crown and it is not damaged, which we hope very much—the beginning stages of the meditation will regain their importance. The 16th Karmapa hardly showed the crown publicly after 1980, and one year later he died.

What does it mean “to rest within the mantra”?

Our languages were not constructed to handle nondualistic concepts, but the meaning is to rest within the sound itself. That is to say in the experience of sound and emptiness, vibration and space being inseparable. After having felt the beyond-personal influences of the vibrations in one’s inner energy-lines and wheels, one gets lost in the vibration. It then has no center or limit, in its essence it is timeless and limitless. Here, especially the Om Mani Peme Hung is well-known. Its six syllables remove the six disturbing emotions of pride, jealousy, attachment, ignorance, greed, and anger, and the 100 syllables of the effective Diamond Mind invocation invoke the same number of purifying buddha families. If several people recite a mantra together, everything starts to vibrate and hum; and people today, who are looking to meditation for quiet “inner” time, then find it here. At the same time, many beyond-personal and most useful buttons are pushed subconsciously.

Do you see us still practicing the 16th Karmapa meditation in the next 50 years, or will we be doing something else?

Absolutely, but probably along with other fast working meditations, such as melting the preferred buddha or lama into oneself from above and staying in that space. I don’t know what the 17th Karmapa may bless us with. I mentioned a few times that there are people who would like a meditation from him. He looked a bit startled, as if this was not necessary and asked me, “Does it have to be now?” As he understood that it was nothing urgent, he seemed relaxed. All Karmapas are the same stream of consciousness, and different incarnations choose to work in different ways.

Is there anything else you would like to say regarding this topic?

I would like to again point out the great and precious opportunity we have through our guru yogas. We are exceedingly rich to have such direct connections to our buddha nature through the blessing of an unbroken transmission. And I would like to assure those who might know the Karmapa only slightly that although “Karmapa” is the title for the first reincarnation-line in Tibet, the power stream of the lineage includes whoever shares in his work and brings the blessing of the buddhas into the world. Also those who have never met any Karmapa or are confused by some exotic aspects of Tibetan culture are fully included through their wish to be of benefit.

Do you have any brief advice for a Diamond Way practitioner’s daily life?

First of all, maintain the pure view. Try to see everybody and everything on the highest possible level. Meditate when possible, even if only for a few minutes. Use mantras when not engaged in learning or other necessary mental activity, and consciously enjoy their blessing and protective aspects. Understand everything pleasant as a blessing and something good to be shared with others, and see everything unpleasant as a life-experience, as purification and a teaching that should help others later. Don’t judge your meditations, and enjoy the aware space behind and between the experiences. It is your buddha essence and the source of highest, timeless bliss. During repetitions of prostrations and mantras, some mental distraction is permissible. However, it should be avoided during the phase of dissolving with the buddha or lama, or when meditating on mind directly. Also: memories, thoughts, and feelings may appear but should not catch one’s mind. In this case, let the thief enter an empty house. Please stay conscious and don’t let him find anything! All the best for you all and enjoy our rich qualities.

16th Karmapa Rainbow Body

Buddhism Today, #20, 2007

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Buddhism Today aims to be a living document of authentic Buddhist transmission for the lay person and yogi practitioner in the West. Online subscription to the magazine is available at the website:www.buddhism-today.org. he photographs were taken in 2007 by Jes Roger Petersen and are used with his kind permission.

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