This beautiful painting, from the collection of the Rubin Museum of Art, New York, is in the Karma Gardri style of Eastern Tibet and dates from the 19th Century. It is based on the Guru Yoga in Four Sessions (Tib. tun shi lami naljor) meditation composed by the 8th Karmapa Mikyö Dorje (1507–1554). This practice is taught in Diamond Way Buddhist centres, after one has completed the Four Foundational Practices (Tib. ngondro) (click on image to enlarge).
Posts Tagged ‘8th Karmapa’
New book with account of the early years of the 8th Karmapa
Sunday, January 9th, 2011A new book published by Wisdom Publications entitled “Lives Lived, Lives Imagined – Biographies of Awakening” is an impressive collection of cross-traditional accounts of the lives of Buddhist practitioners, with contributions from a range of contemporary authors and scholars. In particular, it contains a fascinating account of the early years of the Eighth Karmapa Mikyö Dorje (1507-1554).
The section of the book in question is “Narratives of Reincarnation, Politics of Power, and the Emergence of a Scholar – The Very Early Years of Mikyö Dorje”, by Jim Rheingans. In it, Rheingans presents a vast range of biographical and historical material on the early years of the Eighth Karmapa Mikyö Dorje, whose recognition and enthronement were overshadowed by attempts to install a rival candidate as the new Karmapa. Rheingans makes clear how the method of establishing spiritual lineages through identifying reincarnations was (and is) embedded into the politics of the day. Biographies and autobiographies reflect this religio-political dimension, and some of the stock elements of such narratives, like the self-recognition of an incarnate young lama or the establishment of the prototypical patron-priest relationship in later years, serve to legitimize the position of the Karmapa and establish the political alliances that were necessary for maintaining a religious legacy.
Sherab Gyaltsen Rinpoche and Lama Ole Nydahl in London
Friday, September 25th, 2009In September 2009 we were very fortunate to be able to welcome two of our precious teachers to London; Sherab Gyaltsen Rinpoche and Lama Ole Nydahl. This was a particularly auspicious occasion, as it was the first time Rinpoche had given teachings in the UK.
Sherab Gyaltsen Rinpoche (born 1950), a highly respected Karma Kagyu lama, holds the title “Maniwa”, given to masters of the Loving Eyes (Tib. Chenrezig) practice who have accomplished at least a billion OM MANI PEME HUNG mantras. Rinpoche was ordained in Rumtek Monastery by the 16th Karmapa. The official programme took place over the weekend of 18-20 September 2009, a course entitled “Meditation in Diamond Way Buddhism”.