His Holiness, the Seventeenth Gyalwa Karmapa, In India
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January 10

January 9

Tribune (India)

Pratibha Chauhan of the Tribune (India) quotes unnamed "top sources" as revealing the names of the persons who accompanied His Holiness Karmapa. "On his flight journey, he was accompanied by his elder sister, Ngodup Palzom (24), who is also a nun, and his personal attendant, Gelek Kuchok, to take care of him during the arduous journey to India. Two monks, Tswang Tashi and Tsultrim Gyaltsen from the Nenang and the Tsurdon monasteries, respectively, and two drivers, Dhargye and Tsewang Tashi, formed part of the escape group.The sources disclosed that to avoid the early detection of his escape by the Chinese, he had gone into retreat before fleeing from Tibet. So that nobody suspected them, the Karmapa's teacher and cook stayed back. He is learnt to have reached the Tibet-Nepal border after travelling both on foot and by car. He illegally entered Nepal on December 30, after which he travelled to Delhi via Gorakhpur and Lucknow. After reaching Delhi on January 4, he travelled to Dharamsala by car." Full text of the article is online.

BBC's Mike Woolridge update

BBC One TV News

BBC's Mike Wooldridge

1/9/00

There are three clips available on the BBC online site. BBC's Mike Woolridge has an early two minute piece on His Holiness Karmapa which shows only fleeting footage of His Holiness Karmapa, and mainly concentrates on the atmosphere in Dharamsala surrounding news of His Holiness. An UPDATED Woolridge clip shows extensive footage of the Karmapa . In addition, streaming newscasts at the site carry a report including the Woolridge update (one is at time marker 8:14), but this video stream alternates with live and updated broadcasts so we the link is to an alternating content source and is intermittant. If it is not available when you check, you may be able to find it if you try again later.

BBC

BBC

11-8 thru 11-9

The BBC Worldservice also reports that the Karmapa has moved to an undisclosed location, and speculates on where he is now. A short audio clip is part of the BBC World report, and other BBC online articles are linked in the sidebar.  Full text. In another article, The BBC provides some new perspective on the background of His Holiness and his place within the Tibetan sociopolitical structure. In Who Is Karmapa Lama, Reporter Dylan Reynolds also provides a more careful account of the claims by the anti-Karmapa faction who dispute the Karmapa's authority. Full text.

CNN

CNN

CNN reports that the Karmapa made a brief public appearance before moving to an undisclosed location. The article describes the excitement among devotees in India. Full text of the article is here. CNN earlier reported that the Tibetan government had been surprised by the Karmapa's arrival in Dharamsala. Full text. A streaming video report is also available from this page.

The Observer

1/9/00

The Observers's Jenny Morris, in a piece oddly titled Dalai Lama Succession In Doubt, writes at length about the Karmapa. The reference to the Dalai Lama's succession seems to erroneously assume a central hierarchy of religous leaders in Tibet, an assumption contrary to the traditional Tibetan system which recognizes four major schools (Gelug, Kagyu, Sakya and Nyingma) and many minor schools, each with their own independent hierarchy. The Dalai Lama belongs to the Gelug school; the Karmapa to the Kagyu schools. The Dalai Lama is acknowledged in Tibet as having temporal authority and a certain spiritual authority over everyone in the country, and is traditionally consulted with respect to spiritual matters in other schools. However, while for instance the Dalai Lama and Karmapa are revered by other schools as spiritual figures, one is typically not a direct teacher outside of each one's own school. Indeed, other revered teachers lead the other schools of Tibet, and with regard to spiritual authority, each school is relatively independent.

With regard to a succession of temporal authority, the issue seems moot since China governs Tibet according to its own laws, and the Dalai Lama has repeatedly stated that he would seek a democratic government should he ever return to Tibet.

The article is otherwise full of interesting detail and usefully notes the long-standing historical connection between the Karmapas and China, but no one in the press has yet ventured to assess whether this relationship plays any role in the Karmapa's relationship to China. Full text of the article is available at the Observer website.

Reuters/NYT

1/9/00

Reuters reports that the Karmapa has been moved to an undisclosed location near Dharamsala. "He has been taken to another location to keep him away from the public eye so that he can rest and recuperate,'" said Tashi Wangdi, minister for religion and culture in the Tibetan exile government in Dharamsala, northern India. Reuters also picks up the news releases from an anti-Karmapa group, including the questionable information discussed earlier at this website. Full text of the article is at The New York Times website.

AP/NYT

The Times includes at its website an AP report of an additional meeting between His Holiness Dalai Lama and His Holiness Karmapa. "Today he was taken by car back and forth across the 500 yards between Chonor House -- the house in the Dalai Lama's compound where he has been resting since his arrival on Wednesday -- and the Dalai Lama's house for their meeting." Full text at the NYT site.

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

The Nalandabodhi site has more information on the Karmapa and His relationship to The Dzogchen Ponlop, Rinpoche.

We will keep you posted here and on the Nalandabodhi BBS as we learn more.