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His Holiness the Seventeenth Gyalwa Karmapa
News Archive for January 28-February 5, 2000
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February 5

-BBC streaming video

The BBC's Mike Woolridge reports from Delhi that though the Karmapa has been "largely out of sight and closely guarded," a "growing numbers of devotees have been coming to the monastery in the mountains in the hope of seeing him and receiving his blessing." It is critically important within the Kagyu religion that students and teachers meet. This religious interchange which forms the foundation of the oral tradition of the Kagyu religion does in fact appear to be the motivating force for His Holiness Karmapa's arrival in India. In addition to those who have known of His Holiness for many years, the Karmapa has also become a world figure and has captured the imagination of millions around the world.

As the uncertainty over his status wears on, the barriers to students' ability to see him have begun to raise questions for many students around the world. We cannot assess from afar the security problems for His Holiness, but only the most significant, valid reasons should be allowed to preclude His Holiness from ministering to his flock. We know this must be readily apparent to the Tibetan Government in Exile, since that administration enjoys the good will of so many of us across the world because of their long history of hospitality in providing a place for visitors to meet with Tibetan spiritual leaders. The Karmapa's students around the world owe a debt of gratitude to the Indian government and the Tibetan government in exile for providing a haven for His Holiness free from security problems, but we hope they soon can find some way of assuring the safety of His Holiness, while also allowing him to fully fulfill his role to his students from around the world. The BBC streaming video is available from the BBC website.

February 4

- The Hindu/PTI

AP/New York Times

The Statesman

South China Morning Post

BBC

A number of news organizations are reporting on His Holiness Karmapa's first public talks in Dharamsala. The Hindu reported that the Karmapa delivered "a sermon in the main temple hall of Gyuto Tantrik University at Sidhbari near here," at which time "the 14-year-old monk said individual freedom was a pre-requisite for world peace and one could not be achieved without the other." The AP report in the New York Times and South China Morning Post specifically quoted His Holiness as saying "'The most important tenet of Tibetan Buddhist teaching is compassion,''' the Karmapa said through an interpreter. 'But to try to practice this, one has to be free.'"

The South China Morning Post also has a nice photo of His Holiness waving from the roof of the Gyuto Monastery, near Dharamsala, where he is staying. Another photo is at the BBC website. The papers reported the Karmapa as praising the Dalai Lama, who he described as the "highest spiritual leader of Buddhists": and whose "preaching of peace and non-violence had contributed immensely to world peace."

Meanwhile, the BBC reported that the Karmapa was showing signs of being "a prolific writer." See the full text of the article at the BBC online site.

The AP reported that the speech was a surprise to the Tibetan Government in Exile. Security was also very tight for the audience, at which a few Westerners were present. The full text of the reports are available at The Hindu/PTI, AP/New York Times , South China Morning Post and The Statesman.

-Karma Triyana Dharmachakra official release

The Tsurphu Labrang (the administrative body responsible for assisting His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa), released today a record of resolutions made January 28 and 29, 2000. The resolutions were signed by, among others, His Eminence Tai Situ Rinpoche, His Eminence Tsurphu Gyaltsab Rinpoche, the Secretary to and Representative of His Eminence Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, the Representative of Kyabje Nenang Pawo Rinpoche, Ven. Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, Kalu Rinpoche, Dondrup Rinpoche, Dorlop Tenga Rinpoche, Drupon Bokar Rinpoche, Mingyur Rinpoche and Dhilyak Drupon Rinpoche. Biographical information posted on the web is referenced by linked text for the above-named participants. Full text of the resolutions available at the KTD website.

February 2-3

-Namo Buddha email announcement

Namo Buddha reports that Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, Head Abbot of the Karma Kagyu order, has agreed to serve as the tutor for His Holiness Karmapa.

-Washington Post

India Today

Asian Age

Deccan Chronicle

A section of the Indian press continues to vociferously argue for a conspiracy theory approach to the Karmapa's departure from Tibet, despite what appears to most eyes to be overwhelming evidence that the Karmapa's arrival in Dharamsala was a geopolitical blow to China of earthquake magnitude (at least 8 on Richter scale). To see the striking differences between this small segment of the Indian press and major Western press outlets, it is useful to compare opinion pieces by Maura Moynihan in the Washington Post and Sayantan Chakravarty in India Today, as well as look at a couple of alarming reports about the Karmapa's accomodations in Tibet.

Moynihan expresses the view of the vast majority of experts on China when she describes the impact of the Karmapa's escape in this way: "The flight of the Karmapa exposed Beijing's increased repression of religion in Tibet, carried out through its Patriotic Education Campaign and Spiritual Civilization Campaign. The goal of these twin campaigns, which were implemented in 1966, is to annihilate Buddhism and consolidate Beijing's control over the Tibetan plateau. . . . Hundreds of monasteries, the traditional centers of Tibetan culture and commerce, have been closed. Thousands of monks, lamas and pilgrims have fled to India and Nepal in order to practice their faith without fear of persecution. . . .The Patriotic Education Campaign is specifically directed at monasteries, requiring compulsory attendance at Maoist study sessions, which purport to 'cleanse the feudal, foolish and backward atmosphere poisoned by the Dalai clique.'" 

Meanwhile, Asian Age and the Deccan Chronicle both report that  "Chinese assassins tried to kill the 17th Karmapa . . . The two Chinese intruders were discovered hiding under the bed in the Karmapa's bedroom. According to the official, the Karmapa, on that particular day, decided to sleep in another bedroom. During the night, the Karmapa asked one of his attendants to fetch a Buddhist scripture from his bedroom. The attendant, on entering the room, discovered two intruders hiding underneath the Karmapa's bed. The attendant immediately cried out for help and the two intruders were captured in the monastery, the source said. The two men were taken away by the Chinese police. But, according to the official, no case was registered against the intruders."

Chakravarty, however, looks at the same events and opines that the Indian establishment must be concerned that the Karmapa is "a pretender and a front for a China-Tai Situ conspiracy. After all, Dorje's ceremonial recognition as the Karmapa in 1992 was facilitated by Beijing. In 1984, a quarter century after he fled Tibet crying against communist suppression, Tai Situ began visiting China. He met many important politicians there, including, say intelligence officials, Deng Xiaoping. He even presented a development plan for Tibet that advocated greater interaction with China. Tai Situ also became a good friend of Nar Bahadur Bhandari, the then chief minister of Sikkim given to provocative views [and] very alive to growing Chinese influence in the region."

Or take this  equally striking contrast: Moynihan points out that when "Tibet's third most important religious leader--the 14-year-old Karmapa Lama, leader of the Kargyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism--made a dramatic escape to India, 'Chinese authorities in Tibet promptly enthroned an alleged reincarnation of another important Tibetan lama, Reting Rinpoche'. . . . In response, the Dalai Lama issued a statement saying that the reincarnation of the recently deceased Reting has yet to appear, which provoked fierce denunciations from the Chinese and will doubtless further polarize Tibet's masters in Beijing and the Dalai Lama's government-in-exile, based in Dharamsala, India."

Yet Chakravarty with a straight face argues that the Dalai Lama's recognition of the Karmapa was not made honestly, because "a small coterie around him had been influenced by the Chinese."

In insisting on the Chinese spy theory against all the contrary evidence, Charkravarty, like the anti-Karmapa faction, relies on the readers acceptance of the simple-minded belief that any agreement at all with the Chinese government is necessarily a sign that the party is a secret agent for China. Thus the anti-Karmapa faction and the anti-Karmapa press segment in India continuously trumpet the fact that China recognized the Karmapa. They then ask the reader to assume that the Karmapa was irrevocably a Chinese agent. Then, even when the Karmapa strikingly demonstrates his independence, the antis still cling to their secret agent theory.

It is unclear which segment of the Indian people make up the readership which Chakravarty addresses, but it is apparent that Chakaravarty assumes those readers are extraordinarily simplistic. The Chinese secret agent theory requires a reader to accept a black-and-white picture of the world which can never be applicable to real life: a sort of "Chinese = bad anti-Chinese = good" approach. But no victory against overwhelming force was ever achieved without communication with the enemy and compromise over peripheral issues.

With respect to the vexatious problem of the Chinese policy towards Tibet, the informed view is that the only hope for free religious practice in Tibet is, as Moynihan points out, for someone like the Dalai Lama to unite those still living in Tibet with those who have left. This calls for necessary compromises and dialogue with the Chinese. Otherwise, we must completely abandon the Tibetan people. Such abandonment is something the Dalai Lama and the Karmapa have been unwilling to do, and it is indeed contrary to the Buddhist principles of bodhisattva action, which are based on the promise never to forsake even one being. Chakravarty is under no such obligation of non-abandonment; we wonder whether the same can be said for the other antis.

Chakravarty's article also expects the reader to be quite naive about assessing the motivations of the players. Chakravarty acknowledges that the primary source for the Chinese spy theory is Shamar Rinpoche, whose self-interested motives for pushing this view are well-known. Indeed, Chakravarty himself recognizes that Shamar Rinpoche considers himself a "sworn enemy" of Situ Rinpoche. Add to this the convincing demonstration by Sukhmani Singh in a recent Indian Express article that the ban against Situ Rinpoche arose only after Shamar Rinpoche's allies initiated baseless administrative proceedings and court actions against Situ Rinpoche. These actions were all summarily dismissed. Yet Chakravarty ignores this motive evidence and the evidence that the investigation cleared Situ Rinpoche, and continues to insist against that Situ Rinpoche too must be a spy.

As the evidence contrary to the Karmapa-the-14-year-old-Chinese spy continues to grow with tsunami-like intensity, one wonders how long the antis will hold out against the inevitable wave. Chakravarty's article is in India Today online; Moynihan's article is in the Washington Post .

-UPDATE

Tribune

The Tribune reported on the 29th that the main teachers of the Kagyu lineage had a series of meetings on Friday, 29 January, 2000 with His Holiness the Dalai Lama to discuss the Karmapa's future education and the Karmapa's future course of action, reports Pratibha Chauhan of the Tribune (India). "Regents and monks of the Kagyu sect from Nepal, Sikkim and Varanasi had been assembling here for the past few days to take a final decision about the future plans and the religious studies of the 14-year-old Karmapa. The Karmapa, who met the Dalai Lama for the fifth time today since his arrival here on January 5, spent about 20 minutes alone with him. Immediately after this the duo were joined by ten other Kagyu monks. The meeting lasted for about an hour till 12.40 p.m." Shamar Rinpoche did not attend the meeting.

We have been informed by attendees that additional Kagyu teachers met with the Dalai Lama than were listed in the Tribune article. Further, the Tribune correctly listed five of the teachers at the meeting, but errantly listed His Eminence Jamgon Kongtrul as attending. His Eminence, who is only four years old, did not personally attend, but his Labrang (adminstration) was represented by Tendzin Dorje and Droppon Khenpo Lodro Namgyal from Pullahari. For the convenience of the reader, we have linked the names of each of the teachers listed to biographical information available at different locations on the Internet:

• His Eminence Tai Situ Rinpoche
• His Eminence Tsurphu Gyaltsab Rinpoche
• Secretary to and representative of His Eminence Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche:  Tendzin Dorje representing His Eminence's Labrang with Drupon Khenpo Lodro Namgyal
• Ven. Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche
• Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
• Kalu Rinpoche
• Dorlop Tenga Rinpoche
• Mingyur Rinpoche
• Dhilyak Drupon Rinpoche

Click each name for biographical information. Full text of the article is available at the Tribune website.

- The Week

The Week , which bills itself as "India's No. 1 Weekly News Magazine," in with its issue dated February 6th weighs in with its own analysis of the arrival of His Holiness Karmapa. Adding a global perspective to the conspiracy theories swirling around the Karmapa, R. Prasannan writes an article entitled New Strategic Triangle--Sino-Indian ties: Did China send Karmapa  Lama as a warning to India against ganging  up with the US and Japan?

The news items that provided the opportunity for Prasannan's article are a number of off-the-cuff comments by Defense Minister George Fernandes that the Karmapa would be allowed to stay in India. Fernandes made the remarks even though no official statement has been made by those in the government with responsibility for granting the Karmapa status in India. Fernandes happened to be on an official visit to Japan shortly after the Karmapa arrived in India, and has apparently publicly explained that his comments were in response to an outpouring of questions about the Karmapa raised during his visit to Japan, a country in which 90% of the inhabitants are said to have some affiliation with Buddhism.

Prasannan's strategic theory is based on the following components: 1) the United States administration has in large part orchestrated a "new-found love" for Tibet which has resulted in a more than "doubling" of "Tibetan Buddhist teaching centres in the US" between 1987 and 1998.  2) This orchestration is part of a plan by the U.S. to get New Delhi "to sing with Washington in the Tibetan orchestra."  3) The pro-Tibet orchestra's song is anti-China, because "the US has selected China as its strategic antagonist for what is increasingly called a new cold war." 4) The United States is employing this Tibet strategy in an attempt to create a triangle of strategic interests allied against China. 5) The third player in the triangle is Japan, China's arch-rival. 6) As part of this international strategic conspiracy, Japan pressured Fernandes to agree to accommodate His Holiness Karmapa in India, by continuously raising the issue of the Karmapa "at all discussions, even at social get-togethers." 7) However, to the contrary, the Karmapa is not an agent of Japan, but of China. 8) The Karmapa has a loyal following in Sikkim. 9) China has never recognized India's sovereignty over Sikkim. 10) Therefore, China "stage-managed" the Karmapa's arrival in India "as a warning to New Delhi" not to gang up with the United States against it.

The investigative press in the United States has largely failed to confirm The Week's revelation of the purported US plan to increase the number of Tibetan Buddhist dharma centers in the United States for geopolitical reasons, but we will keep an eye out for this story if it breaks here. Frankly, we must admit that those of us who have grown up in the United States have a radically different perspective on the strategic motivations of the United States, which makes Prasannan's reasoning difficult to follow. We thus recommend that those interested in better understanding this extended strategic analysis read the full text of the article at The Week's website.

January 29-February 1

UPDATED

-Deccan Chronicle

Indian Express

The Tribune

2/1/00

The Deccan Chronicle reports more definite information on a possible compromise solution between the Indian government and those seeking asylum on behalf of the Karmapa. The paper says that former foreign secretary A P Venkateswaran, a China expert and acquaintance of the Dalai Lama, was appointed by Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee as his special emissary to the Karmapa from the office of the Prime Minster. Meetings between Venkateswaran and the Karmapa and Dalai Lama have been reported. The compromise speculated upon by the paper would involve granting refugee status, rather than asylum, to His Holiness Karmapa. (This compromise on refugee status has been reported as an option a number of times, the best discussion still being, in our view, that by Guha in the Times of India on January 14, 2000.)

Regarding where His Holiness would be allowed to go in India, according to the Chronicle there are discussions whether a tacit agreement would be acceptable purusant to which the Karmapa would study at Sherab Ling with Tai Situ Rinpoche, and would not go to Rumtek, Sikkim for the time being. The Chronicle reports the Tibetan government would be willing to agree to this, since the primary motivation for avoiding a visit to Rumtek is the factionalism in the order, which neither the Tibetan government in exile or the government of India wants to see. In return, during this period, Shamar Rinpoche and his candidate would also be officially barred from Rumtek. Full text of the article at the Deccan Chronicle website.

At the same time, the Indian Express reports that a high-level "Central" government team headed by a joint secretary of the External Affairs Ministry is in Dharmsala meeting with the Karmapa. Supposedly, the head of the team apprised the Dalai Lama "of the government's reservations regarding granting asylum to Karmapa as requested recently." The Tribune reports that the the central government team meeting with His Holiness Karmapa were member of the Research and Analysis Wing and the Ministry of External Affairs, and included the Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, Mr Rangrajan, who also called on the Dalai Lama, at his palace in McLeodganj. The Tribune.

-AsiaWeek

New York Times

1/30/00

Two seasoned reporting organs weigh in this week with a hard look at the facts of His Holiness Karmapa's escape, concluding that the Karmapa left Tibet against the wishes of his Chinese hosts. The long awaited Asiaweek article (earlier leaked to the AP to stir interest) has emerged. Ajay Singh reports from Dharamsala that the "CIA did not whisk him away. Nor did Beijing plot his departure. Tibetan exiles reveal how and why the Karmapa lama fled to India." In fact, most of the details of the Karmapa's departure mentioned in the Asiaweek article had been reported before, but the piece provides a solid conclusion based on those facts: "Despite conspiracy theories - that Beijing deliberately let the lad go in an attempt to divide the exiled Tibetan community, that the CIA flew him out in a helicopter - it appears that the Karmapa left of his own accord, for his own reasons. Tibetan sources tell Asiaweek that the trip was meticulously planned."

Moreover, Singh provides two critical facts which may be decisive in reading the Indian government tea leaves. First, he reports that the Karmapa applied for asylum in India shortly after he arrived, which is a different account than has been in the rest of the press. And a second detail is of critical importance: remarking on the conspiracy theories rattling around the halls of the Indian government, Singh notes that "many Indian officials dismiss the idea that the Karmapa's flight is a Chinese ploy. 'It was a genuine defection,' says former foreign secretary A.P. Venkateswaran. 'Would you keep living in Tibet if you were a religious head?'"  Venkateswaran is reported today to be the special representative of Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to the Karmapa and the Dalai Lama regarding resolution of the issue of status for the Karmapa. See above. If the reports are true, it would seem key components of the government are not using the Chinese agent theory as a basis for determining what status should be given to the Karmapa.

Other details reported by Singh provide a human interest angle: "A policeman who guarded the boy during the first three days, says the Karmapa spent a lot of time laughing and playing boisterous games with his aides. But the Karmapa would snap out of 'play mode' when approached by Indian officials, who grilled him through an interpreter. 'The Karmapa knew only one English word - "thank you,"' says the guard. 'And he used it frequently.'" A few nits: Singh's account of the Black Crown is colorful, but makes the usual mistake of failing to distinguish the hat stored at Rumtek from its spiritual analogue. See the previous comment on January 10th. Second, the use of the term "Karmapa lama," is, again, a misnomer, not only for the reasons mentioned before but also because the term when used by Tibetans appears to mean "a lama of the Karmapa order," (short hand for the Karma Kagyu order) and hence refers to others than the Karmapa. This lengthy AsiaWeek article, filled with in-depth reporting from a sure-handed reporter, new details and insightful conclusions is worthy of a major magazine piece and well worth a read.

In the The New York Times , Barbara Crossette provides fresh details on the Karmapa's departure that fill in Singh's report, in a piece entitled Buddhist's Escape From Tibet, by Car, Horse and Plane. The Karmapa "was driven by monks to a rugged border area with Nepal and then rode unnoticed on horseback before flying on to India. . . . Much of his path through Nepal crossed the former Buddhist kingdom of Mustang, a territory almost entirely isolated from the world until the last decade. . . . "

Crossette's account is by far the most detailed in the press yet. She believes that once in Mustang, the Karmapa's party "rode on horseback to the nearest airport, possibly at Jomsen, which connects to Pokhara, in a Himalayan valley about 125 miles west of Katmandu, Nepal's capital. By some accounts, they rode directly to Pokhara, but trekkers familiar with the area question whether that much territory could have been covered on horseback between Dec. 30 and Jan. 2. The Karmapa and a few followers apparently avoided Katmandu by taking a flight from Pokhara to an airport in northern India on Jan. 3, and then either flew or drove to New Delhi -- accounts diverge on this point." Should Crossette's facts pan out, her piece is a reportorial coup in the Karmapa "escape route" coverage. Full text at  The New York Times site.

January 28-29

- UPDATED

Times of India/ Press Trust of India news service

AP/Washington Post

BBC

India Today

South China Morning Post

Boston Globe

Deccan Herald

Rediff

The Hindu

Sri Lanka Daily News

Indian Express

In a report by Press Trust of India news service, picked up almost immediately by the AP and BBC, Rabi Ray, the former speaker of India's lower house of parliament, released to the press a letter he received from His Holiness Dalai Lama, in which the Dalai Lama thanked him for his stand on granting status to the Karmapa. Mr Ray was reported to previously have "demanded that political asylum be granted to the Karmapa keeping in view the country`s age old tradition of religious tolerance and openness." In the letter, the Dalai Lama is reported to say that though he could understand the "'cautious stand of the Indian government . . . it would be a terrible mistake both for India's image as well as in substance if he (the Karmapa) is not allowed to stay on in India.'"

Acknowledging that factionalism among the Kagyu was "complicating" the matter, His Holiness stated that "Despite this, I believe if the young Karmapa can remain above these factions and concentrate on his studies, he will definitely be able to make considerable contribution not only to his own traditional lineage, but also to Tibetan Buddhism in general." It was reported in The Hindu and Express that this factionalism referred to "The Shamar and the Situ groups."  and that "the escape of the monk from Tibet to India had triggered off controversy among the three living regents of Sikkim's influential Rumtek monastery with the majority supporting him." India Today: "With Shamar Rimpoche based in Delhi, Buddhists in Sikkim supported Trinley Dorje." First referenced both by The Times of India, the AP and BBC , as well as by numerous other papers listed in the margin.

-Indian Express

The Indian Express has an "Analysis" section, wherein Sukhmani Singh reviews the Kagyu schism in Brief History Of The Lama Wars. In what appears to be an exemplary piece of investigative journalism from the press of India, Singh provides the most extensive information to date on the "desperate attempts" being "made by rival claimants to forestall the installation of the 17th Karmapa, Orgyen Trinley Dorje, in the Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim." Terming Shamar Rinpoche the "leader of the slugfest," Singh records that in a letter dated June 17, 1992, Shamar Rinpoche wrote of the Karmapa "I offer my willing acceptance." In "a complete volte face" the following year, Shamar Rinpoche "orchestrated a seven-year series of litigations against rival Tibetan regent Tai Situ Rinpoche, spiritual guru of the 17th Karmapa."

The letter to which Singh refers was written in 1992 after Shamar Rinpoche was widely reported in the press to have tried to lead a band of Indian army regulars armed with automatic weapons into the shrineroom of the Rumtek Monastery. (Previously discussed press reports of the incident are excerpted here .) Shortly thereafter, Orgyen Tulku Rinpoche, who had been a principal teacher of both Situ Rinpoche and Shamar Rinpoche, arrived at the monastery to mediate. Writing in Tibetan, Shamar Rinpoche appeared to apologize. The letter was witnessed by Orgyen Tulku Rinpoche himself. Immediately thereafter, the letter was translated as saying: "now I have attained complete confidence in Situ Rinpoche, and the contents of this letter, according to which the reincarnation has definitely been discovered and further confirmed by the Dalai Lama as the incarnation of His Holiness the Gyalwang Karmapa." He also withdrew his demand to examine the sacred testament.  (Translation in 1992 by Michelle Martin). Subsequent to that translation, Shamar Rinpoche asked another student to retranslate the letter from the Tibetan, rephrased so that the withdrawal was conditional. Asked about this by Singh, Shamar Rinpoche is quoted as "confessing that he did so (wrote the letter) because "'I did not want to create trouble.'"

Singh lists the following legal proceedings launched by Shamar Rinpoche after 1992:

• 1993: Shamar's disciples challenge the recognition of the Karmapa in Sikkim High Court. The petition is dismissed in 1994.
• 1996: another Shamar follower files an action against the state of Sikkim challenging the recognition of the Karmapa, but the petition is withdrawn a few weeks later.
• 1997: a petition is filed in Patna criminal court by Shri Narayan Singh, who claims he is a former monk, and that Situ Rinpoche, Gyaltsap Rinpoche and the Dalai Lama "were indulging in anti-Indian activities and were Chinese agents." The action claiming sedition is dismissed.
• 1997: Singh refiles the criminal complaint as a civil action. Denials are submitted and the case is pending.
• 1998: Singh files a criminal complaint with the same sedition charges in the office of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in Delhi. The case is dismissed in January 1999.
• 1998: In Delhi High Court, a Shamar disciple challenges a government decision relaxing a ban against Situ Rinpoche entering the country. It is subsequently dismissed.
• 1998: A special leave petition filed in the Supreme Court is also subsequently dismissed.
• 1998: Shamar Rinpoche files a case in the court of the district judge of Sikkim asking that the court find that the Karmapa Charitable Trust is the rightful administrator "of all movable and immovable properties of the 16th Karmapa," and asks that he be declared the sole trustee of Karmapa Charitable Trust. See the discussion of the Karmapa Charitable Trust below. (Singh is a little ambiguous in describing the claim of Shamar in the Trust action.)

Singh concludes his article with the following summary of Shamar Rinpoche's assets: "Shamar currently resides in a monastery in Mehrauli given to the 16th Karmapa by the President of India in 1979. He owns a house in Rajpur, Dehradun and the palatial Galangka House in Kalimpong, apart from land in Nepal, where most of his followers resides." Singh also discusses Shamar Rinpoche's contacts with a "key anti-Dalai Lama player" in Chengdu. The full text of the article is at the Indian Express website.

-Outlook magazine 1/31

Outlook 1/31

Outlook

Outlook 1/24

Outlook magazine,  an Indian weekly, has extensive coverage of His Holiness Karmapa. In this week's issue, Lea Terhune writes an op-ed in which she mulls over the uneven coverage of events involving His Holiness Karmapa and the "long drawn-out mulling-over by the Indian government" over the status of the Karmapa. She notes that the decision of the Indian government regarding permitting the  Karmapa to go to Rumtek has been made harder because of factionalism within the Kagyu school, such that "several of the antagonists have made it their life's work to file one court case after another to either wrest control of Rumtek property or to harass supporters of the 17th Karmapa."

Terhune concludes by reminding us of a point very often forgotten in reporting on this situation, the point of view of the traditions within the Kagyu lineage itself, which she describes as the Karmapa's traditional spiritual quest to ensure "that the oral transmission of this lineage continues unbroken[. This is what] the Karmapa was born for - not to do politics with the Chinese or Indians or aspirants to his assets in Sikkim. . . . In matters of this sort, it might behoove the government, the politicians and commentators alike to take the humble, larger view that 'there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy.'" Full text of the op-ed in Outlook Online.

In the same issue is a report from Yukteshwar Kumar in Beijing that the local Chinese residents there are uniformed about the departure of the Karmapa or reasons behind it. The only mention of it has been in the English-language paper which did not really proffer any reasons, and only those who surf the Internet have any real perspective. The article provides some valuable perspective on China's relations to India by a reporter on the ground in Beijiing, and is available in the same Outlook issue.

In addition, the previous week's issue (dated January 24, 2000) covered the Karmapa's arrival in Dharamsala in a cover story entitled A Monk's Passage: India's diplomatic skills are put to test over the issue of granting asylum to the 17th Karmapa. Written during the early days after His Holiness' arrival, the article contains few new facts, but does have a thorough discussion of Indian-Chinese diplomatic relationship issues raised by the arrival of His Holiness. Outlook January 24, 2000. Accessible via links from the top right corner of the cover story page are four more stories on either the Karmapa or Tibet. In Red Run for a Black Hat, the magazine reviews the split of Shamar Rinpoche from the Kagyu order, briefly setting out a litany of charges and counter-charges.

One new fact appears in the piece when Yshey Jugnei, described as "a member of the Karmapa Charitable Trust at Rumtek monastery and a Shamarpa follower:" is quoted as saying of the Karmapa's arrival: "It's clearly a Chinese ploy. If tomorrow the Tibetan boy comes here, takes the black hat and other belongings of the 16th Karmapa and returns to Tibet, China would have proved its claim on Sikkim." This appears to be another missing piece in the conspiracy theory tying together China, their 14-year old undercover agent, the Kagyu order's sacred ritual items and Sikkim. The theory apparently requires  assuming simultaneously that these religious objects are both coveted by the heretofore nonreligious Chinese government, and that they confer some legal authority over non-Buddhist India.  Red Run can be found in last week's  Outlook.

-La Repubblica

1/23/00

In Il 'volo' del piccolo Buddha; un rebus per gli 007 indiani: L'India vuole conoscere i dettagli della fuga dalla Cina; durata troppo poco per l'impervia Himalaya (translated from the Italian by Dr. Robert Cutler as (The "Flight" Of The Little Buddha, A Puzzle For The Indian 007's: India Wants to Know the Details of the Escape from China; For the Impassable Himalayas, It Didn't Take Very Long), Renata Pisu, with tongue firmly planted in cheek, surveys the street people of Dharamsala on just how politics mixes with religion in the airy Himalayas. Interviewing a souvenir salesman about the unexpected snowfall which has shut down the town, he elicits the following: "The snow is very much an  extraordinary sign. . . . It is a welcome sign for the Karmapa," he maintains, "so that Dharamsala better remembers its Tibet, our Tibet." Certainly the unexpected snow has helped to make still more magical the story of the rebellious Little Buddha . . . ."

The article provides a great sense of atmosphere, and though it is an atmosphere colored by the writer's own doubts about the rationality of some of those he surveys, it is a colorful presentation nevertheless. A couple of factual points need remarking, however. First, the title theme which sees some conspiracy in the speed of the departure has by now largely been discredited, based on prior articles commented upon here.

However, another remark in the article bears scrutiny: "This is but a skirmish in the Lama War: if not a pitched battle, inasmuch as the Karmapa Charitable Foundation, thanks to various donations, has assets of over a billion dollars." This characterization of the "billion dollar trust" is particularly confused. We do know some specifics about the "Karmapa Charitable Trust," thanks again to the eternally-distributed Karmapa Papers, wherein a copy of the trust document may be found at pp. 153-54. The amount of "rupees two lakh fifty one thousand four hundred seventy three n.P sixty four" was settled on the trust to create it in 1961. It is unclear how much money this was in 1961 Sikkim but at today's rates is  about $999,995,000 shy of a $1,000,000,000. (Interest rates are, however, high in India.)

Regarding the control of the trust over Rumtek Monastery, the trustees were given the power to manage the trust, and to spend its money "for the benefit of the Karmapa," by providing "food, cloth, shelter . . . erecting and maintaining religious buildings, and carrying on religious rights . . ." They were also given the right to accept other donations, but we do not know how much they received subsequent to settlement of the trust.  By simply providing money to the Karmapa's projects, however, the trust gained no ownership rights in those projects. It is a similar principle to the Red Cross. When they aided victims of Hurricane Floyd, the Red Cross did not through that aid become owners of the possessions of the victims. So the trust instrument itself appears by its wording to provide no control over the Karmapa or Rumtek monastery.

In his Hindustan Times op-ed, Shamar Rinpoche alludes to the Trust's ownership of property and the right of a Karmapa resident in India to gain control of the property. According to the instrument, the Karmapa Charitable Trust does control the funds which have been donated to it, but from the face of the trust deed itself the Trust has no control over the property of Rumtek. It is of course possible the trust was amended; more powers may have been added to the Trust in the years after settlement, and it may involve