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His Holiness the Seventeenth Gyalwa Karmapa
News Archive for March 16-April 10, 2000
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His Holiness the XVIIth Gyalwa Karmapa, In India
   Links to breaking news reports  

April 6-10

-Tribune

Office of Tibet transcript of Buchung Tsering to US Congress

Remarks by Julia Taft

Remarks by Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari, HH Dalai Lama's representative, to US Congress

Pratibha Chauhan, who regularly reports on affairs from Dharamsala, notes for the Tribune that after three months the Karmapa is still cooped up in Gyuto Monastery, without any resolution of his legal status in India, and without the ability even to travel for short three-day sightseeing trips to pilgrimage places in the area. An unnamed Indian official is quoted as saying that "Restrictions on whom he meets or the places he moves to will continue to remain till a formal decision on his status is taken by the Indian Government."

Chauhan reports as well on the speculation on possible reasons for the delay, restating the government's familiar refrain that it does not want to "annoy China," as well as indicating that local interests may prefer to see His Holiness remain in Dharamsala. It strikes us as ironic if Indian  officials tasked with the Karmapa's residence status actually believe they are appeasing China by restricting His Holiness Karmapa to Dharamsala, the seat of the exile Tibet government, rather than allowing him to quietly resume his studies outside the international political spotlight.

Regarding this spotlight, the Karmapa was recently referred to a number of times by persons testifying or reporting to United States Congressional committees regarding Chinese policies toward Tibet. Julia Taft, special U.S. State Department coordinator for Tibetan Issues, testified before the House Committee on International Relations that repressive conditions in Tibet continued, and cited the Karmapa's decision to leave Tibet "to pursue religious teachings in India" as an example of the effects of that repressive policy on inciting even prominent Tibetans to flee the country. Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari, Special Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, also made similar remarks. Finally, in Bhuchung Tsering reported at length to the Congressional Human Rights Caucus , extensively quoting His Holiness Karmapa's remarks in Dharamsala to make a point about the current situation of religious freedom in Tibet.

April 4-5

-The Tsurphu Foundation interview with the Karmapa

Tsurphu Foundation notes on a talk on buddha nature by the Karmapa

The Tsurphu Foundation has published online two remarkable transcripts containing statements by His Holiness Karmapa. Full text is available at the Tsurphu Foundation website, which we encourage you to visit so you can read these statements in their entirety. To whet your interest, we provide a few excerpts here:

In an interview, His Holiness Karmapa said that "I came to India for the preservation of my culture, the practice of Buddhism, and to spread Bodhicitta for all sentient beings. Even though I had to leave my monastery, my possessions, and my parents, it is worthwhile for the spreading of the Dharma. I want to try to help all sentient beings and the mountains, the trees and the rivers."

His Holiness also remarked on the meaning of Karmapa, which is from the Sanskrit word for "the movement of karma." Karmapa is "the manifestation of the activity of all the Buddhas" who spreads the "Buddha Dharma in the ten directions of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas." Read the rest of this remarkable interview at the Tsurphu Foundation website.

The second transcript is based on the notes of the director of the Tsurphu Foundation, Ward Holmes, and reflects remarks by His Holiness on Buddha Nature given spontaneously (and apparently unexpectedly) at a meeting with some celebrities in India.

His Holiness explained that that Buddha Nature is present in everyone. Shunyata, or emptiness, is the basis of this nature, which is luminous and uncreated. This nature is ultimately beyond ordinary conceptual mind, for it rests on the truth that phenomena both exist and do not exist at the same time.

His Holiness also stated that as well we must  all strive to develop compassion, or bodhicitta, in two respects: both as an aspiration to help all beings, and as an application and practice of actually helping beings. Without actualizing compassion, it is like "giving a feast and bringing empty plates and offering the feast of nothing."

If we practice with pure motivation and completely understand the truth of interdependence, we bring Dharma practice to fruition and thus actually benefit beings. If we do not have a pure motivation, we ultimately do not attain happiness, only misery.

Full text of the Karmapa's remarkable interview and Holmes' notes on His Holiness talk on buddha nature are available at the Tsurphu Foundation website.

- Kyodo News

Rediff.com

Tsurphu Foundation website transcript of talk of HH Dalai Lama

More remarks of the Dalai Lama regarding the Karmapa have recently been reported and reprinted at outlets available online. Ahead of his upcoming visit to Japan, he talked with Kyodo News about the Karmapa, indicating he felt a "moral responsibility and obligation" to look after the Karmapa because the 14-year-old boy wants to stay in India. "I asked the (Indian) government to allow him to stay on for studies. In principle, the government of India seems to have no problem. But a formal sort of response has not yet come."

His Holiness the Dalai Lama emphasized that the Karmapa had come to India to complete his studies in Buddhism, in a manner not possible in Tibet. His flight from Tibet was thus not political, but the Dalai Lama noted that the issue of his status had become "too politicized" leading to "problems."  The Dalai Lama also wisely sought to play down expectations about the Karmapa's role with respect to an eventual successor to the Dalai Lama. We note this issue has great cachet amongst the press, but in our view it is quite speculative and premature.

In an interview with Rediff.com, His Holiness the Dalai Lama focused his remarks for the Indian public. About the Karmapa, he said: "He is a very fine young boy. He has come to study here and, as long as the issue does not get politicised, it is fine. India is a warm country. India is always open to people to come to stay here. It welcomes everyone. That is its most wonderful quality. The problem is: Other nations do not always see it in this light."

Extensive remarks of the Dalai Lama were also posted recently at the Tsurphu Foundation website ( www.tsurphu.com). Particularly interesting was His Holiness Dalai Lama's explanation as to why the Karmapa needs further education and training. Viewing Karmapa from an ordinary perspective, it is easy to say a young 14-year-old needs to continue his education. Some who view the Karmapa as enlightened might tend to think that His Holiness comes completely fully matured from birth, so to speak. However, this is not the tradition with most tulkus (reincarnate masters), who usually at least manifest a process whereby they go through training to activate enlightened qualities. At a performance of the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, His Holiness Dalai Lama explained as follows:

"The lineage of the Karmapas descends till the 17th reincarnation who happens to be able to be here with all of us at this gathering today. I think it's quite unexpected and surprising as it is clearly obvious for all of us. From a young age Karmapa has displayed the ripening and manifesting of various latent qualities (karmic imprints) inherited from his previous lives. And now, regardless of obvious dangers, he arrived here in good health."

"Since Karmapa is of young age now, on the very first occasion when we met, we discussed what would be the most important things for the Karmapa to do now: Studying scriptures, receiving initiations, oral transmissions, instructions from teachers, retreats, recitations and other practices are to be the most important things for the coming ten years. In these terms, the need for him to actualize his latent tendencies (or karmic imprints) from previous lives and to bring them into this life's continuum is very important. Therefore, receiving teachings, contemplating, studying and meditation practices are of great benefit for him. When I mentioned this to him, he fully agreed. His intentions were identical with mine."

His Holiness also repeated that his first meeting with the Karmapa was "really amazing" and that the Karmapa had told him his intention in escaping was "to benefit and serve the cause of Tibetan Buddhism and the Tibetan People." Full text of this speech by His Holiness the Dalai Lama is at the Tsurphu website. His remarks to Kyodo News are reprinted at the WTN website. The interview with Rediff.com is at that website.

March 28-April 3

-Associated Press

KTD shrine photo

KTD Karmapa room photo

KTD shrineroom photo

Bardor Tulku Rinpoche at KTD

Michael Hill of the Associated Press writes about the preparations underway at Karma Triyana Dharmachakra Monastery in Woodstock, New York, for an expected visit by His Holiness the Gyalwang Karmapa. "The placid face of a towering Buddha and the sonorous sound of chants lend this mountainside monastery an air of tranquility. But lately the Buddhists here are abuzz. They are convinced His Holiness will come. . . . 'We have been expecting this for 12 years," said Chojor Radha, an interpreter at the monastery." The article describes the preparations at the monastery and the growing excitement among the residents at KTD as they adjust to the onrushing reality that His Holiness will arrive soon. We are happy to see that His Holiness is referred to as "the Karmapa" without the "Lama."

Hill notes that the Sixteenth Karmapa founded the Monastery site, but the Seventeenth Karmapa will witness its fruition. He quotes Bardor Tulku Rinpoche, a resident teacher at KTD, as remarking on the similarity between the two ""The only difference is his body. His heart is the same." ."

Photos of KTD accompany the article, which may be accessed from links in the margin. The Associated Press story and photos are available at the Excite website.  In addition to Excite, numerous other web outlets across the world are carrying this story, which we will update as events warrant.

- Array of photographs of His Holiness the Gyalwang Karmapa at Worldbridges Tibet website

Other photos of HH Dalai Lama's 60th anniversary ceremony

A website called Worldbridges Tibet has posted a dazzling array of portrait photographs of His Holiness the Gyalwang Karmapa taken by photographer Chamb Meeham, who took them at the 60th Anniversary of HH Dalai Lama's enthronement celebration on February 18, 2000. Other photos of the anniversary ceremony are available on the Worldbridges Tibet website.

March 20-27

-UPDATED

The Seattle Times

The Seattle Times recently printed an op-ed by Marsha Vande Berg which contained a number of factual errors concerning the Karmapa. The primary error in the article lies in the following statements. Vande Berg mistakenly relies on a misleading press release which states that  "Up to this date, two karmapas have been recognized. . . . It will be up to His Holiness [the Dalai Lama] to sort through the fact and fiction - a task for which he is uniquely qualified. His criteria are sure to include an outline of just who he believes is the rightly [sic] heir to the title of Karmapa . . . ."

As we have explained before, according to a number of statements from the Dalai Lama's office over the years, there is no dispute before the Dalai Lama over another "Karmapa." After the Karmapa was discovered in 1992, the Dalai Lama studied the proofs and issued the traditional Buktham Rinpoche acknowledging him as the Karmapa.

It is correct that in 1997 the Dalai Lama was approached and specifically requested to endorse two Karmapas. As indicated in an official letter from the office of the Dalai Lama, the suggestion was dismissed. Full text of The Seattle Times article is at its website.

March 19

- The Statesman

Zee News Online

Economic Times (India)

The Statesman last week ran a thoughtful editorial in which it reflected on China's diplomatic offensive against the Karmapa, suggesting that China's barrage of messages is a test of India's diplomatic maturity:

"HOW serious is Beijing when it tells Delhi that the 'boy' Karmapa Lama could split China, and India should desist from offering him refuge? Beijing had harboured hopes that it could groom the boy Lama to succeed the ageing Dalai Lama, and thus secure its control over Tibet in a post-Dalai Lama era when Chinese policies in Tibet are bound to come under increasing international scrutiny. With the Karmapa Lama's flight to India, as well as the Dalai Lama's recent statements about the cultural genocide in Tibet, the fears that Tibet may be slipping out of China's grasp are real, which accounts for their skittish response. Delhi needs to work out a sophisticated balance: its desire to be a major player in Asia necessitates arriving at an understanding with China, yet it cannot afford to genuflect before every verbal blast from it. It is possible to be both firm and accommodating. Delhi should make it clear to Beijing that India's political system makes it impossible to muzzle the Dalai Lama or turn back the Karmapa Lama."

The world-wide media attention, the continuing volleys from spokesmen for Beijing, and the unscrupulous press campaign mounted against His Holiness by "Buddhist" competitors have elevated the question of the status of the Karmapa to what media outlets consider "an international issue." Zee News Online. Indeed, the spokesmen for Beijing and spokesmen for the anti-Karmapa faction have formed an unholy alliance attacking India's foreign and domestic policy with the same rationale. In a frightening way, the Buddhist anti-Karmapa faction and athiest government officials of China have been working together towards the same goal: returning the Karmapa to the kind ministrations of his Beijing handlers. In doing so, neither group evidences any concern for India's national interests.

All this colorful activity has naturally become wonderful fodder for the international press. Yet while it is undeniably a newsworthy story, attention should not be deflected from equally important local interests in India. The Karmapa is a religious figure, and there is no real dispute among the leadership of Tibetan religious orders in India that the Karmapa should assume his rightful place in his exile seat in Sikkim. There are also significant concrete economic benefits to the Karmapa's return to Sikkim. For example, the value of His Holiness' return to Rumtek on Sikkim's tourist industry is so obvious that it has become a subject of commentary by the Indian financial press. Economic Times (India) . Finally, returning the Karmapa to his seat in Sikkim would restore a domestic stability to the Rumtek Monastery and the Sikkim area that has been sorely missing there for the last decade. Claims to the contrary by the anti-Karmapa faction amount to the domestic equivalent of Beijing's "verbal blasts," and Indian government officials concerned with domestic policy can no more afford to "genuflect" to such domestic blasts than to Beijing's foreign volleys.

Nevertheless, despite these obvious benefits for domestic Indian constituencies, so vocal has been Beijing and their erstwhile allies, the anti-Karmapa faction, that the Sikkim chief minister Pawan Kumar Chamling, who logically should be lobbying hard to bring benefits to his constituents, has instead recently stated that he feels he needs to defer to Delhi on the question of the Karmapa's return to Rumtek monastery. Zee News Online. And Delhi has been frozen, keeping the Karmapa under wraps in Gyuto Monastery.

While it is in a sense flattering to view the Karmapa as a central figure on the international stage, focus on that forum overlooks more earthy venues. The Karmapa is a young man who needs to engage in many years of study. His Holiness is a highly revered religious icon whom will be able to serve many Indian citizens, as well as citizens of the world, if accorded a proper seat. His proper seat is at Rumtek, the seat of the Kagyu in exile, and it would benefit everyone save the verbal blasters to allow the Karmapa to begin his studies there as soon as possible.

The Statesman editorial writers counsel diplomatic maturity in resolving the dispute with Beijing over the Karmapa, and would no doubt counsel the same maturity in resolving any domestic uncertainties in returning Karmapa to his seat at Rumtek Monastery. India's political system requires not only that India provide refuge to the Karmapa, but that India allow him to return to his proper seat in Rumtek Monastery, where he can finish his studies and someday, as a free citizen in his adopted home, determine his own way.

March 16-18

-UPDATED

WTN

Rediff

Tribune

In a couple of miscellaneous and unrelated reports relating to the Karmapa, WTN has reprinted a release from the Tibet Initiative Munich reporting on a meeting in which a film by Clemens Kuby, entitled the Living Buddha, was shown.We understand that the Living Buddha is a documentary on the XVIIth Karmapa that has been shown in Europe but withheld from distribution in the United States for copyright reasons. We suggest that now is a good time to reconsider releasing the video in North America. It is more vital than ever that all available information about the Seventeenth Karmapa be made publicly available.

It was also reported at the Rediff news site that Shanta Kumar, the Union minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution System, was scheduled to meet with the 17th Karmapa. The Tribune subsequently confirmed that the minister "today called on the 14-year-old 17th Karmapa Ugyen Trinley Dorje at Zwtou monastery at Sidbari where the Karmapa has been staying since January 7, and sought his blessings."

-UPDATED

PTI

Agence France Presse

South China Morning Post

Kyodo wire service

Los Angeles Times

San Jose Mercury News

Sacramento Bee

San Francisco Chronicle/ Examiner

The Chinese Ambassador to India, Zhou Gang, today told the Press Trust of India that "he 'hoped' India would not grant political asylum to" the Karmapa. In making such a suggestion, Beijing appears to be giving advice to India as to how to conduct its domestic affairs, since determining who should and who should not be granted refugee or citizenship status within India is purely a decision that is within the government of India's province. Accordingly, Beijing's suggestion appears inconsistent with its previously stated positions regarding noninterference in domestic policy, and also would appear to be contradictory to the specific Panchsheel principles adopted in the treaty between India and China regarding Tibet. The PTI report of the Ambassador's statement was first reported in The HIndu's updated news section and later in All India News. The PTI story was also picked up by the international newswire service, Agence France Presse , published at Inside China Today.

Reasons for Beijing's discomfiture are not hard to find, and appear to result from a confluence of events, in which the Karmapa's escape plays some part. The United States has mounted a campaign in the United Nations to criticize Beijing for what it describes as recent human rights violations and an apparent policy shift away from liberalization. In a story entitled U.S. to Blast China's Human Rights Situation, the Kyodo wire service reports on the US plan to severely criticize China's human rights practices, and notes that "The Tibet issue was highlighted earlier this year by reports that a teenage Tibetan Buddhist leader, the 17th Karmapa, had fled to India from Tibet."

The Tibetan Independence Day celebrations recently brought extensive attention to China's treatment of Tibet, and to the Dalai Lama's remarks on China's relationship to his government. As noted earlier, the Karmapa's escape also figured prominently in connection with that press coverage. In his remarks, the Dalai Lama argued that China's cultural arrogance toward Tibet was evidenced by "the flights of Agya Rinpoche, the Abbot of Kumbum Monastery, and more recently Karmapa Rinpoche."

When the Dalai Lama gave his address mentioning Agya Rinpoche, the latter had made no public statements. However, in the changed climate, Agya Rinpoche changed his minds. On March 16th, Agya Rinpoche, former head of Kumbum Monastery who fled Tibet in 1998, spoke before the US Commission on International Religious Freedom about conditions in China. Prior to his escape from Tibet, Agya Rinpoche held a number of very high posts within the Chinese communist party and government in Tibet. In his remarks to the Commission, he criticized Beijing for failing to provide "true freedom to practice our religion and uphold our traditions" and for requiring participation "in government practices that went against my religion and my personal beliefs."

The AP's Tom Verdin, in reporting on Agya Rinpoche's comments, also drew parallels to the Karmapa's flight, concluding that the Karmapa's "escape was considered a setback to the Chinese contention that it respects Tibetan culture and religion."  The story about Agya Rinpoche's remarks were widely carried in such outlets as the South China Morning Post, and in numerous major newspapers in California. Los Angeles Times, San Jose Mercury News , Sacramento Bee, and the San Francisco Chronicle/Examiner.

The mere fact that the 14 year-old Karmapa's presence in India serves to remind the world and the press of shortcomings in China's human rights policies towards Tibet is no basis for China to assert that India has no right to provide a home for the Karmapa. This is the type of intrusion into a sovereign country's domestic policy considerations that China has eschewed again and again, and indeed we wonder if such comments are sanctioned by Beijing. For at its root, by making such a demand, Beijing would not only be interfering with domestic immigration policy, but also would be attempting to undermine India's domestic protections for speech and the press.

March 13-15

Click here to go to the news archive containing references to articles on His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa dated March 13-15, 2000

March 10-12

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Click here to go to the news archive containing references to articles on His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa dated March 7-9, 2000

March 4-6

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February 20-27

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February 17-19

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February 8-16

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February 4-7

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January 28-February 3

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January 24-27

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January 22-23

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January 20-22

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January 18-19

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January 15-17

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January 12-14

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January 11

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January 10

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January 9

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January 8

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January 7

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

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