January 22, 2000

• Time Magazine (Asia)
• India Express discussion forum
• Update on 1992 incident referred to in India Today

• South China Morning Post

• Time (Asia)
• Neue Zuercher Zeitung
• The Week (India)
• Asia Week
• New York Times/AP
• India Today
• Libération

Click here for articles for January 18-19, 2000

Click here for articles for January 15-17, 2000

CLICK HERE FOR FULL LIST OF
ARTICLE ARCHIVES

January 22

-Time Magazine (Asia)

Anthony Spaeth in Time Magazine (Asia edition) writes that Chinese officials seem willing to tolerate religion, but do not like giving up control. The Karmapa is mentioned as an example of "China's long-running battle with citizens of faith." Noting other Chinese actions, Spaeth says informed view indicates that intolerance is rising in the country. Spaeth wisely notes, however, that "China's religious wars defy easy answers." The controversy over the Karmapa, he writes, is due to India's wish to maintain good relations with China as weighed against the widespread sentiment in India and the Tibetan community that, as put by the well-known translator Ngodup Burkhar, the Karmapa  "needs to be protected." Full text of the article is at the CNN/Time website.

-India Express

eBate online discussion forum

The India Express maintains an online bulletin board, aptly titled "eBate," where readers respond to certain question posed by the editors of the paper. A discussion of the following question has been concluded: "China has demanded a detailed report on Karmapa Dorje's arrival in India. Do you think granting asylum would violate the principle of Panchsheel? Will this episode have a bearing on the Sino-Indian relations in the long run?" The near unanimous comment opinion is that India should ignore China and grant asylum to the Karmapa. The reader opinion is made more interesting given the historical editorial position of the Express, which prior to an editorial change lobbied on behalf of the anti-Karmapa faction. The eBate forum is here.

UPDATE and RETROSPECTIVE:
1992 news reports on the Kagyu regency and 1992

-India Today

It would be nice to live in a perfect world where religious affairs are unaffected by political concerns, but since we do not, we suggest that the best policy is to provide the readers of the flood of news about the Karmapa with tools to evaluate the accuracy and validity of news stories and other coverage of the Karmapa's arrival in Dharamsala, India. Most of the coverage has been exemplary. One of the goals of this website review is, however, to point out reporting that may contain unsubstantiated claims reported as facts. As noted in the comment on the India Today posted on this site January 20 (newstand date for the weekly is January 24), a few press outlets have erroneously reported certain unsubstantiated claims made by rival groups as facts, skewing coverage of the Karmapa's arrival in India. 

This update and retrospective is designed to address two specific inaccuracies:

1) inaccuracy: Shamar Rinpoche is the sole regent of His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa at Rumtek Monastery (reported for example by Crowell in the January 20 Asiaweek, and elsewhere), and

2) inaccuracy: Shamar Rinpoche was the victim of a violent protest from the Karmapa's supporters in 1992 (as reported for example by India Today, the India Express and other outlets)

1) correction: Shamar Rinpoche was one of four regents appointed by His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa. Erroneous reports that Shamar Rinpoche is the sole regent are based in part on misleading statements from his supporters, and in part on a disguised historical-theological argument made by Shamar Rinpoche about his line of reincarnations, which omits to state that the government of Tibet in the 18th century banned his line of incarnations because of accusations made agains the Tenth Shamar Rinpoche (1742-1792) Shamar Rinpoche was not again recognized by the Dalai Lama or allowed in Tibet until after the exile in the 1960s. See the previous comments based on Shamar Rinpoche's own biographical literature, The Seed of Faith: A Short History of the Line of the Incarnations of the Shamarpas, trans. Katia Holmes (Kagyu Samye Ling 1980) and Tsepon W.D. Shakabpa, Tibet - A Political History. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1967.

2) correction: Shamar Rinpoche, according to press reports published at the time, was accompanied by a band of Indian army regulars armed with submachine guns into the the inner sanctum of the prayer hall of the monastery. In public statements made after the incident, Shamar Rinpoche explains the he had inadvertantly led a band of "jawans" into the monastery. "The soldiers had orders not to let me go anywhere alone, so I had no choice but to be escorted by them. When I arrived at the monastery surrounded by my bodyguards, our dramatic entrance interrupted Situ Rinpoche's speech." "Interview with Shamar Rinpoche, France, August 1992,"  Karmapa Papers, p. 70 (October 1992). Since that time, the story has, through a failure of fact-checking by the press and due to misleading statements by Shamar Rinpoche supporters, metamorphosed into the erroneous reports that the supporters of the Karmapa instigated some disturbance in Rumtek. A review of the press coverage at the time indicates differently.

The following quotes are taken from press reports made immediately after the incident in 1992. It is of course possible that these reports are incorrect, though they are confirmed by independent accounts of persons at Rumtek during the incident. At a minimum, these reports may at least raise in responsible reporters an obligation to investigate to their satisfaction the facts of an account of that time prior to publication of that account.

The Sunday Times of India, No 37, Vol. II, Late City edition June 14, 1992
"The Times of India News Service, Gangtok, June 13"

"[T]he Sikkim chief minister, Mr Nar Bahadur Bhandari, has expressed shock at the army take-over of the Rumtek monastery 'without the knowledge and consent of the state government' reports PTI. Mr. Bhandari said he was given to understand that the Army action was ordered to ensure safety of a Tibetan refugee in the monastery after 'the king of Bhutan approached the external affairs ministry'. Expressing surprise that even the governor or the Army authorities stationed in the state did not have knowledge of the issue, the chief minister said the state administration had also 'not received any complaint about law and order problem in and around the Rumtek monastery'". . . . 

"Jawans of the Kumaon Regiment were deployed to guard the residence of His Eminence Shamar Rinpoche, one of the three co-regents of Rumtek monastery which is the seat in exile of His Holiness Gyalwa Karmapa. The Army personnel, it is alleged, had even entered the main chapel of the monastery yesterday evening. Led by Shamar Rinpoche, at least six armed jawans entered the monastery around 4.15 p.m. yesterday while their eminence Tai Situ Rinpoche and Gyaltsap Rinpoche, two other regents in charge of the monastery, were giving a public address in front of monastery declaring the discovery of 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, an event keenly awaited by Buddhists all over the world.

"ENTRY FORCED: While the two rinpoches were addressing the public, Shamar Rinpoche entered the monastery and forcibly opened the main door of the chapel followed by the armed jawans. This angered the crowd which tried to stop the jawans. What followed was open clashes between various factions in the Rumtek monastery. These included monks."

Sunday Statesman, Late City edition, Calcutta June 14 1992
"From our correspondent Gangtok, June 13"

"The Rumtek monastery presided over by the religious leader, Gyalwa Karmapa, had its peace and sanctity violated yesterday when armed jawans forced their way into the main temple, under the guise of escorting Shamar Rinpoche, one of the three regents of the Rumtek Dharma Chakra Centre. . . . At about 6 p.m., when two religious leaders were publicly announcing the new-made discovery of the reincarnation of the sixteenth Karmapa Lama, Shamar Rinpoche, escorted by gun-toting jawans, disrupted the meeting and entered the main temple despite public requests not to enter the premises of the holy shrine. The crowd, comprising lamas, and laymen tried to stop the jawans which resulted in a clash between the two rival factions of the monastery."

Sikkim Observer, National Hill Weekly, Gangtok June 20, 1992, Vol VII, No 14
"By Jigme N. Kazi, Gangtok, June 19"

"Representatives of various Buddhists organisations in the state and a few Gangtokians left for Rumtek in the morning of June 11. They were informed by Rumtek authorities to be present in Rumtek at around 2 p.m., the time scheduled for the announcement of the identification of the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa. Their Eminences, Tai Situ Rinpoche and Goshir Gyalstap Rinpoche, two of the three Regents of the Centre, were to arrive in Rumtek at around 12 p.m. from Delhi to publicly declare the identity of the 17th Karmapa. Their Eminences arrived at about 3 p.m. and by 4.15 p.m. everyone present in the premises were seated quietly in front of the monastery even as the two Rinpoches revealed the entire story relating to the discovery of the 17th Karmapa."

"Situ Rinpoche's speech in Tibetan lasted for just over an hour and then Gyaltsap Rinpoche had his say on the matter. This was followed by the English version of the account by Situ Rinpoche. The entire public which included lamas and foreigners listened in rapt attention even as the two Rinpoches gave a full account of how the new Karmapa was discovered. When Situ Rinpoche was about to end his speech in English, suddenly Shamar Rinpoche, escorted by armed jawans, broke into the crowd and disrupted the meeting. Shamar Rinpoche said he wanted to talk to the two other Rinpoches in private and insisted that they go inside the monastery which was kept closed during the meeting."

"This took place around 6.15 p.m. Despite fervent request by the public not to enter the monastery, the jawans (numbering 6) led by a captain followed Shamar Rinpoche into the main temple of the monastery. This sparked off a row and open clashes between pro-Shamar supporters and those who opposed the army's entry broke out near the entrance of the monastery leading to the abrupt and immediate withdrawal of the jawans from the monastery and the scene of action." Hard copies of the full text of the articles available upon request.

January 21

-South China Morning Post

Of the number of articles listed yesterday and today concerning China's actions with respect to the Karmapa, today's generally attributed article in the South China Morning Post provides the most specific reports about apparent behind the scenes activity. Relying on unnamed diplomatic sources in Beijing and New Delhi, the SCMP reports that "mainland diplomats and Tibet experts were conducting negotiations with the Dalai Lama through intermediaries with a view to securing the return of the 14-year-old lama. Beijing has also sought the help of the Indian Government. 'In return for the boy lama's going back to Tibet, Beijing has hinted it may consider reopening talks with the Dalai Lama's representatives,' a diplomatic source said. 'However, it is unlikely Beijing will grant the Dalai Lama's wish of making a trip back to Tibet.'" The SCMP notes the acrimony in China's approaches to the Dalai Lama, as it hews to the Chinese conspiracy theory that the Dalai Lama assisted the Karmapa in leaving China.

The SCMP also reports of "subtle" negotiations between China and India. India is taking the position that it can do nothing to influence the Karmapa one way or the other, while China is reassured that at least India has not officially given asylum to the Karmapa. As to what might come of this dance between Chinese officials and intermediaries, it would seem too early to speculate.

The article contains an erroneous reference to the date and location of the death of His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa. The correct information is that the Karmapa died in 1981 in Zion, Illinois. Extensive biographical information on the Sixteenth Karmapa and the Kagyu lineage holders is available at the website of his North American seat, Karma Triyana Dharmacharka.

At bottom, the SCMP article gives the impression that the Karmapa is a pawn in an international chessgame, subject to the agendas of China, India, or the Dharamsala government in exile. That may not be wise; China, too, probably thought the Karmapa was subject to the official Chinese agenda until a few weeks ago.  But there is a more important point to note in this news report. It is astonishing that such a respected China watcher as the South China Morning Post even reports the existence of negotiations which may include some dramatic change in the (formerly intransigent) China government's policy regarding the Dalai Lama. It is a clear indication that Urgyen Trinley Dorje's arrival in India, the home of the Kagyu forefathers, cannot be characterized either as the trip of a spiritual leader to exert important religious perogatives, or the "flight" of a refugee from restrictions on his freedom of religious practice. Rather, it is the entrance of the Karmapa onto the world stage, in this new age of Internet communications and instantaneous international media coverage. At the ripe old age of age of 14, the evidence so far is that the Karmapa can take care of himself. Full text of the article is available at the SCMP website.

January 20

- Time (Asia) Viewpoint: Isabel Hilton

Providing a thoughtful "Viewpoint" for  Time Magazine's Asia edition, Isabel Hilton comments on the Karmapa's arrival in India in Bumbler on the Roof of the World. She wryly asks whether the official Chinese statement that Karmapa had only gone to India to "get his hat," sufficiently explained why he risked his life on such a dangerous journey. "The explanation offered by those close to the young Karmapa -- that he wanted more contact with his teachers -- is highly plausible. Advanced spiritual masters are thin on the ground in Tibet, a direct result of Chinese attrition over the years."

Hilton argues that the Karmapa's Chinese handlers could have accommodated his requests to teach and be taught without risking security, but instead, by being completely insensitive to the importance of the Kagyu tradition of lineage teachers, have opened a Pandora's Box for themselves in China. Hilton wonders whether, through their intransigence, the Chinese officials may have forced the Karmapa to go to Dharamsala. The Karmapa's actions have put China's management of the Tibetan population into a spotlight within China itself, but provide China an opportunity to choose between trying for "peaceful co-existence" or continuing to try to manage religious traditions through ever-tightening security, enforcment of party loyalty and purges.

The greatest danger for China's geopolitical position? "If the Karmapa continues to demonstrate the courage and charisma he has shown so far, he could prove a formidable symbol of resistance to China's occupation of Tibet."  Full text.

-Neue Zuercher Zeitung

1/17/00

The German-language Neue Zuercher Zeitung analyzes the impact of the Karmapa's departure on the Chinese Communist Party in Chinas KP kämpft um die Übersicht Kontrollanstrengungen nach der Flucht des 17. Karmapa Lama (THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY FIGHTS FOR OVERSIGHT: Efforts for Control following the Escape of the 17th Karmapa Lama) (rough translation courtesy of Dr. Robert Cutler). U. Schmid concludes that "the secret flight of the 14-year-old boy, deemed to be one of the numerous 'living Buddhas', according to official Chinese phraseology (of which most Tibetans disapprove), is the heaviest setback for China's Tibet policy since the escape of the Dalai Lama. It has embarrassingly revealed that even the most rigorous security arrangements are obviously not infallible, above all in Tibet and the region of Lhasa."

The NZZ notes that the Karmapa "obviously acted primarily from religious motives," but the geopolitical observation of the article is that such actions are seen by the government as part of a general restiveness which may result in religious and other social movements which have the potential to threaten the social order. The Kamapa's departure is thus part of a general trend that has been met with heightened security and attempts to bar any demonstrations of social unrest throughout China, and increased surveillance of monks and nuns in Tibet. The NZZ also states that increasing reports of social unrest in the interior are motivating efforts to tighten party discipline. Despite the tightening of security, Schmid opines that, based on the high level of continuing dissent tolerated in the country, the government is "still clearly split over how rigorously the religious and political opposition should be policed." Full Text.

-The Week (India)

The weekly magazine from India The Week contains an informative article by Vijaya Pushkarna on the Karmapa and preparations for his arrival at Sherabling Monastery. The article pays particular attention to Tai Situ Rinpoche, who has "been the main player in identifying the 7-year-old Apo Gaga as the reincarnation of the 16th Karmapa. . . . Tibetan Buddhist tradition required him to pass on all the teachings of Buddha to the young Karmapa. The teaching, directly and through other monks and lamas, would be through oral transmission." The article provides an accurate recounting of the official account of the discovery of His Holiness Karmapa through the use of a prediction letter and confirmation via dreams had by both Situ Rinpoche and HH Dalai Lama.

Pushkarna describes the reported divisions within the Kagyu community quite differently than in other accounts in the Indian press, focusing on the views expressed in the Tibetan community: The "entire Tibetan community with the exception of Shamar Rimpoche, who had identified another boy, Thaye Thinley Dorje, as the 17th Karmapa, have welcomed his arrival in India and there is a general feeling that India should give him political asylum on humanitarian grounds. The government-in-exile is not bothered about the detractors of the Karmapa, saying Apo Gaga was the boy recognised both by the Dalai Lama through a vision and the Tai Situpa Rimpoche who had an elaborate search done."

The Week also notes the decision by Dharmsala and those around the Karmapa to defer any contact with the press while the status of the Karmapa is pending. "The Tibetan government-in-exile has directed discretion and silence on all matters pertaining to the Karmapa. Most questions get the standard three-word reply, "I cannot say". The Karmapa has also been kept out of sight of the media and the public were generally denied access to him." There are also pictures of Sherabling Monastery, and a sidebar on His Eminence Situ Rinpoche entitled "Rimpoche's Dream." Full text.

-Asia Week

Todd Crowell of AsiaWeek report on the Karmapa's arrival in India, providing a thorough recap of events. One amusing piece of analysis by Crowell is worth quoting: "Adding to the confusion, the regent in Rumtek, Shamarpa Rimpoche, disputes the boy's claim, favoring a 17-year-old personally selected by him. He has loudly proclaimed the Karmapa's flight as a "political ploy" of the Chinese government acting in collusion with the Dalai Lama - perhaps the only person who would make such a claim." The article contains the standard misleading factual statements, such as the description of Shamar Rinpoche as "the regent in Rumtek," and in its completely unexplained estimation of assets of the Kagyu order. Full text .

-New York Times/AP

The AP, in the NYT, reports that Sun Qi Wen, China's vice president for Tibet held a "rare news conference called by the Chinese embassy." The AP reports that the official stated that the Karmapa "would be welcomed back, but the Chinese government will continue to control ordination of key Buddhist religious figures." Sun also stated that the Karmapa's departure would have no impact on China's relations with India, explaining that the Karmapa is "'only a child' and could not affect the two country's ties. Chinese officials have avoided any request that India refuse the youth sanctuary." Full text .

-India Today

In India Today, Ashok Malik and Avirook Sen write the lead story in the magazine on India's reaction to His Holiness Karmapa's arrival. The cover is emblazoned with a full color formal picture of Karmapa, over the somewhat sensational title of the story, Lama Wars. The piece exemplifies all that is good and bad with the coverage of this story by Indian media outlets. Malik and Sen write well and vividly, and they have done some solid research. Most importantly, they bring to the story a perspective we might hope to see from the original home country of some of the greatest religious cultures the world has known, including Buddhism: some curiosity about what might motivate Buddhist followers of the Karmapa to believe in the incredible legends and myths which surround him.

Unfortunately, the India Today journalistic train jumps the tracks when he authors appear to provide a description of what they term "a succession struggle [which] ensued 11 years after the death of the 16th Karmapa, which saw the regents of the monastery divided." The authors' portrayal of this painful situation fails the most basic test of fair journalism: it gives only one side of the story.

Sen and Malik note that at least two boys other than the Karmapa have claimed to be "the Karmapa." This is true, but hardly surprising. Indeed, given the worldwide publicity over the Karmapa's arrival in India, we can no doubt expect to see an exponential increase in claimants who may be quoted as saying (as Sen and Malik do)  "But I am Karmapa." That is a very large "but."

Such claims are not by themselves a basis for judging the validity of the Karmapa. Granted, one may well decide that the contentiousness between the regents of the lineage is different, and a valid reason for disavowing religious belief in part or in whole, but Sen and Malik are not proposing any atheistic alternative. Rather, they are asking the reader to judge the facts of the internal conflict within a sympathetic religious framework. If a journalist seeks such judgment from the reader, the journalist may perhaps have an obligation to present the facts in a way that permits the reader to make a fair judgment. The following easily-discoverable factual errors in Sen and Malik's piece prevent the reader from making that judgment:

India Today: Recognition of the Karmapa by the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama is in itself some proof that the Karmapa was illegitimate. "'This is a Chinese ploy,' said Shamar Rimpoche. He still wonders how the Dalai Lama, having refused to recognise a Panchen Lama whose nomination was overseen by the Chinese changed the rules when it came to the Karmapa."

Inaccuracy: Someone has the history backwards (even though the chronology is set out correctly in a sidebar of the article). As has been reported numerous times, as recently as two days ago by the New York Times, the Karmapa was recognized in 1992; the Panchen Lama recognition was not  made until 1995. The Dalai Lama thus didn't "change the rules." Moreover, the situation was very different, as the Dalai Lama had already recognized another Panchen Lama.

Shamar has repeatedly accused the Dalai Lama of coddling the Chinese over the Karmapa, changing his story with each new interview, but this accusation flies in the face of the Dalai Lama's unerring action in refusing to accept Chinese demands for four decades. The Shamar side seeks to automatically condemn the Karmapa as being a communist stooge simply because he tried to stay in Tibet to minister to his flock; such a condemnation is a demand to abandon the people left in Tibet.

Fair journalistic reporting at least requires more thoughtful consideration of whether it makes sense, geopolitically or religiously, for the Dalai Lama to provide a fake recognition in order to achieve ulterior motives. In making such a report, a journalist would be well advised to review the eye-opening record of the continually shifting story lines emanating from Shamar Rinpoche. Such documents are publicly available, in such forms as the 1997 correspondence between Shamar Rinpoche and His Holiness Dalai Lama, online at the website of a Shamar Rinpoche supporter, and an interview with Shamar Rinpoche at a Shamar Rinpoche related website.

India Today: "Violence had already broken out at Rumtek in June 1992, following allegations by Shamar Rimpoche that the prediction letter Tai Situ carried was a forgery. There were even demands for forensic tests."

Inaccuracy: it is true that there was an incident at Rumtek Monastery in 1992, but the India Today's protrayal of the "violence" is skewed. The Sikkimese press unanimously reported in 1992 that a contingent of armed "jawans," apparently Indian army regulars who crossed the border from an adjoining state, led by Shamar Rinpoche, attempted to enter Rumtek Monastery in 1992 when the Dalai Lama announced his initial recognition of the Gyalwa Karmapa. Other Indian national papers picked up the story when the government of Sikkim objected to the use of Indian army regulars in Sikkim without consent of the government, in violation of Indian federal agreements. Supporters of the Karmapa were reportedly not instigators, but victims, of the assault by the armed guard, and had no reason to engage in violence; they had already achieved their goals of obtaining the recognition of the Karmapa. The India Times at least owed us some independent investigation of the 1992 incident. By portraying the violence as an assault by supporters of the Karmapa to avoid examination of the prediction letter, rather than a raw attempt to grab power by opponents of the Karmapa, India Today risks accepting the disinformation campaign of the Shamar Rinpoche side.

 India Today: "Shamar Rimpoche also pointed to contradictions in the letter. It said, for instance, that the next Karmapa would be born in the 'year of the earth ox'. The year of the earth ox came 32 years before the 16th Karmapa died. It will next occur 26 years after his death. If the letter is correct, Trinley Dorje is too young to be the 17th Karmapa."

Inaccuracy: The prediction letter, which is in fact available online, does not refer to the "year of the earth ox." The actual line is translated as "the year of the one used for the earth." The year specified in the letter is indeed cryptic, but was interpreted by religious authorities within the Kagyu order, and accepted by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, as referring to the year of the wood ox, since "a tree lives from the earth and an ox is used to plow it."  His Holiness Karmapa was born in the year of the wood ox.

Surely, Shamar Rinpoche has every right to interpret the prediction letter differently, but as such, this disagreement becomes a theological dispute and cannot serve as a basis for the claim made by the India Today that there are "contradictions in the letter."

 More importantly, what conclusion is Shamar trying to draw by interpreting the letter as contradictory? Supposedly, Shamar Rinpoche is arguing that the prediction letter was forged as an instrument to get Urgyen Trinley Dorje confirmed as the Karmapa. Yet if forged, then why use a birth date 30 years different from Karmapa Urgyen Trinley Dorje's, when the forger was well aware of his birthdates ? Even if the date of his birth was not exactly known, the "earth ox" year last occured while the Sixteenth Karmapa was still alive, and hence makes no sense for the forger's goals. And if not forged, then just what is the point?

More puzzling is the journalistic principle applied by the India Today reporters. Earlier in the article, the authors actually quote the prediction letter and describe it as "a cryptic message written in January 1981."  A few paragraphs later, however, the authors of the article apparently believe the letter so crystal clear that they take upon themselves to become Kagyu religious experts able to accuse the Kagyu order of phonying up a letter so ineffectively it included the wrong birthdates.

India Today: "The Karmapa Charitable Trust, which raises funds and manages the Karmapa's property, has 350 branches worldwide."

Inaccuracy: The publicly available legal documents through which the trust was created make no reference to any authority over the management of Karmapa's property or to fundraising. Rather, the trust documents merely provide for the fiduciary management of the corpus of the trust donated at its founding. Additional research would indicate that Shamar Rinpoche and allies currently control the trust and did so for the years after the Karmapa died. They have initiated legal action to assert the trust's authority over a variety of Kagyu related assets worldwide, but simple research would disclose that the description asserted as fact in India Today are merely allegations in a legal pleading. More complicated research might disclose the suit is baseless.

In the end, because of this misreporting, Malik and Sen effectively imply that the Karmapa has come to India because he is threatened by the countless counterfeits claiming to be Karmapa, or that he is jealous of their successes. What's missing from these portrayals is a comparison of the Karmapa's situation in Tibet to the reality of the world that the Karmapa has voluntarily chosen to enter.

Had the Karmapa sought a mysterious world where he was viewed -- to quote the authors -- as a "boy-king," he would certainly have remained in Tibet. Instead, the Karmapa chose to come to the part of the world which has almost completely renounced not only royalty, but the mysterious and magical in religion. Indeed, the Karmapa's Kagyu adherents in the West are now some of the most cynical "Buddhists" on the planet, having been scarred not only by the scandal of Shamar Rinpoche's apostasy, the incessant empire-making aspirations of his European allies led by Ole Nydhal, and numerous other internal disasters within the Kagyu order.  His Holiness Urgyen Trinley Dorje cannot but be aware of this. But making himself available at the age of 14 to these cynics is not, from a geopolitical point of view, a move designed to increase one's personal standing. It is however, possible that the Karmapa is motivated by other goals. The basic Buddhist teachings require Buddhists to be compassionate, to seek and accomplish the cessation of others' suffering. It is doubtful that His Holiness personally will benefit from coming to India as an exile without a monastery, but it is clear that many members of the Kagyu church will. Full text at the India Today website.

-Libération

1/16/00

The French language daily Libération dated January 16, 2000 (translation courtesy of Dr. Robert Cutler) has a lengthy story on His Holiness Karmapa's arrival in India, primarily focusing on the incongruity of an avowedly atheistic government involving itself in the Tibetan religious practice of choosing reincarnations of Tibetan Buddhist teachers. "'The role of the government,' an official of the Bureau of Religious Affairs of the Chinese government recently announced, 'is to supervise the research work [i.e., the search for the reincarnated 'child'--newspaper's editorial note], so as to verify that the deceased lama has the qualities necessary to be reincarnated.'" The paper closely examines some of China's pronouncements and actions regarding Tibet, noting the analysis by  the historian Laurent Deshayes: "Peking realized that there is such an osmosis between the culture and the religion, between the behaviour and the devotion, that the only way to exercise complete power over Tibetans is to extend its political capacity to the religious field." ( Auteur d'Histoire du Tibet (Fayard, 1997)). The story provides some insight into Chinese government policy towards Tibetan religious institutions. 

In a valuable sidebar, some history of the institution of incarnations/tulkus in Tibet is discussed: "There are hundreds of "reincarnations" in Tibet. The Chinese improperly call them 'living Buddhas.'" The sidebar does base part of its analysis on the questionable assertion of the equivalence of Tibetan 17th Century society to the European feudalist society existing at approximately the same time, but also correctly spotlights a number of valuable details not found in other reports on this important institution. Full text.

January 18-19

Click here to go to the news archive containing references to articles on His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa dated January 18-19, 2000

January 15-17

Click here to go to the news archive containing references to articles on His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa dated January 15-17, 2000

January 12-14

Click here to go to the news archive containing references to articles on His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa dated January 12-14, 2000

January 11

Click here to go to the news archive containing references to articles on His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa dated January 11, 2000

January 10

Click here to go to the news archive containing references to articles on His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa dated January 10, 2000

January 9

Click here to go to the news archive containing references to articles on His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa dated January 9, 2000

January 8

Click here to go to the news archive containing references to articles on His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa dated January 8, 2000

January 7

Click here to go to the news archive containing references to articles on His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa dated January 7, 2000