噶瑪巴的競爭
The Karmapa rivalries
Jayadeva RanadeExpress News Service First Published : 10 Feb 2011 11:07:00 PM IST
Last Updated : 11 Feb 2011 12:35:46 AM IST
Successions are often a messy business. When power, patronage and pelf are added, the scrabble for spoils is sharply accentuated. Even the incense-laden, cloistered confines of abbeys and monasteries in remote mountain redoubts are not immune from this affliction.
The Karma Kargyu, Tibetan Buddhism’s second oldest sect and one which first propagated the oral tradition and practice of reincarnation, is currently in the grip of bitter succession rivalries. This rivalry is not restricted only to capturing the throne of the Gyalwa Karmapa but, more importantly, for the considerable influence, patronage and wealth that the position offers. The large number of Buddhists, particularly in Asia, ensures that high ranking Buddhist personages will continue to command a lot of influence.
The history of Buddhist sects in Tibet is, interestingly, replete with accounts of often bitter infighting and intrigue. For over two centuries the various sects struggled for territory as well as primacy and influence over Tibet. In the process, they interacted and sided with Chinese emperors and Mongol Khans. It was, in fact, after the Mongol Khan — who were not Muslims — invited the head of the Gelugpa, or Yellow, sect to teach him and thereafter became Buddhist, that the Yellow sect was ensured the spiritual and temporal leadership of Tibet. It was also the Mongol Khan who bestowed the title of Dalai Lama, or Ocean of Wisdom, on the head lama of the Gelugpa sect. These developments enabled the Gelugpa sect to edge ahead of the Sakya, Kargyu and others.
Ranjung Rigpi Dorjee, the XVI Gyalwa Karmapa, fled from his monastery in Tsurphu in Tibet in 1959 after the Chinese communist regime took over Tibet. He managed to bring out considerable wealth belonging to the sect with him. In exile he established the first monastery of the Karma Kargyu sect at Woodstock in the US and later travelled to Sikkim where he was welcomed by the Chogyal and allotted land at Rumtek to build a monastery. The monastery that he built at Rumtek between 1962-65 became his designated spiritual seat in exile. The Gyalwa Karmapa presides over the Karma Kargyu, or Black Hat, sect with presently approximately 180 financially well endowed centres spread across the world. The Karma Kargyu is a wealthy sect and it is also the dominant sect in sensitive areas along India’s borders surrounding and including Sikkim and Bhutan. It is this that makes the internecine rivalry and its outcome a matter of concern for India.
After the demise of the XVI Gyalwa Karmapa a council of four Regents was entrusted with the task of ‘discovering’ the reincarnation. It was only after a lapse of 10 years, during which two of the Regents died, that Tai Situ Rimpoche, after numerous visits to China, ‘discovered’ Ughyen Thinley Dorjee as the reincarnation of the XVI Gyalwa Karmapa in 1992. Thereafter, Ughyen Thinley Dorjee escaped from Tsurphu monastery in Tibet in 1999.
Meanwhile, the other Regent, Shamar Rimpoche, propped up Thaye Thinley Dorjee as another candidate. Both these claimants were born in Tibet. There are two other claimants to the position of the XVII Gyalwa Karmapa, but it is Ughyen Thinley Dorjee and Thaye Thinley Dorjee who are the better known. Tai Situ Rimpoche, the Regent who ‘discovered’ and supported Ughyen Thinley Dorjee was also successful in securing the recognition of the Dalai Lama and Beijing for his candidate. This puts Ughyen Thinley Dorjee in the unique position of presently being the only claimant aspiring to head a Tibetan Buddhist sect who is formally recognised by both these entities. As long as the heads of the other major Tibetan Buddhist sects and the Dalai Lama are alive, the Gyalwa Karmapa will remain only the head of one of the sects. Thereafter, however, he could be one of the very few highest ranking lamas of Tibetan Buddhism who is formally recognised and will wield considerable influence over Buddhists. It is this that gives a sharp edge to the claims of the contending candidates for recognition as the true reincarnation of the Gyalwa Karmapa.
Though the ongoing court battles over possession of the Rumtek monastery have delayed the formal enthronement of the Gyalwa Karmapa, among all the claimants Ughyen Thinley Dorjee has emerged as the more widely known. Thanks to the deft management of circumstances, Ughyen Thinley Dorjee has additionally benefited from his physical proximity to the Dalai Lama. For convenience of receiving teaching and guidance from the Dalai Lama, the then 14-year-old Ughyen Thinley Dorjee was lodged in the Gyutoe monastery in the same compound as the Dalai Lama’s establishment. This had the advantage of affording Ughyen Thinley Dorjee an opportunity to attend the Dalai Lama’s occasional public audiences and prayers and, by virtue of his position, be seated next to the Dalai Lama. In public perception this made Ughyen Thinley Dorjee second in rank to the Dalai Lama. This proximity simultaneously encouraged followers coming for an audience with the Dalai Lama to meet Ughyen Thinley Dorjee too and the number of his adherents increased.
Another advantage for Ughyen Thinley Dorjee is the effective machinery that his aides seem to have created to popularise his claims. In the midst of recent revelations that some of his aides had engaged in large-scale illegal financial transactions including purchase of land, numerous articles in the media incorrectly referred to him as the XVII Gyalwa Karmapa. His sympathisers and followers also quickly organised public protests in a bid to divert attention from the financial irregularities and pressurise the government into waiving legal provisions.
In the interregnum, while Ughyen Thinley Dorjee has been receiving religious instruction at the Gyutoe monastery and the succession issue among the various claimants remains unresolved, Beijing has chosen to remain silent regarding the rival claims. It has also refrained from any criticism of Ughyen Thinley Dorjee. It is apparently waiting for the situation to evolve. The departure of the Dalai Lama from the scene will introduce an additional complication. There is likely to be enhanced restiveness among Tibetans inside China and the Tibetan diaspora in exile would be leaderless. Against this backdrop the role that any council that the Dalai Lama may constitute while he is alive will be crucial as it will have to retain the Tibetan people’s confidence and provide them leadership till such time as the next reincarnate Dalai Lama is able to assume the mantle. The role of inheritor to the throne of the Gyalwa Karmapa at such a time will be crucial
Jayadeva Ranade is a former additional secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India
Jayadeva RanadeExpress News Service First Published : 10 Feb 2011 11:07:00 PM IST
Last Updated : 11 Feb 2011 12:35:46 AM IST
Successions are often a messy business. When power, patronage and pelf are added, the scrabble for spoils is sharply accentuated. Even the incense-laden, cloistered confines of abbeys and monasteries in remote mountain redoubts are not immune from this affliction.
The Karma Kargyu, Tibetan Buddhism’s second oldest sect and one which first propagated the oral tradition and practice of reincarnation, is currently in the grip of bitter succession rivalries. This rivalry is not restricted only to capturing the throne of the Gyalwa Karmapa but, more importantly, for the considerable influence, patronage and wealth that the position offers. The large number of Buddhists, particularly in Asia, ensures that high ranking Buddhist personages will continue to command a lot of influence.
The history of Buddhist sects in Tibet is, interestingly, replete with accounts of often bitter infighting and intrigue. For over two centuries the various sects struggled for territory as well as primacy and influence over Tibet. In the process, they interacted and sided with Chinese emperors and Mongol Khans. It was, in fact, after the Mongol Khan — who were not Muslims — invited the head of the Gelugpa, or Yellow, sect to teach him and thereafter became Buddhist, that the Yellow sect was ensured the spiritual and temporal leadership of Tibet. It was also the Mongol Khan who bestowed the title of Dalai Lama, or Ocean of Wisdom, on the head lama of the Gelugpa sect. These developments enabled the Gelugpa sect to edge ahead of the Sakya, Kargyu and others.
Ranjung Rigpi Dorjee, the XVI Gyalwa Karmapa, fled from his monastery in Tsurphu in Tibet in 1959 after the Chinese communist regime took over Tibet. He managed to bring out considerable wealth belonging to the sect with him. In exile he established the first monastery of the Karma Kargyu sect at Woodstock in the US and later travelled to Sikkim where he was welcomed by the Chogyal and allotted land at Rumtek to build a monastery. The monastery that he built at Rumtek between 1962-65 became his designated spiritual seat in exile. The Gyalwa Karmapa presides over the Karma Kargyu, or Black Hat, sect with presently approximately 180 financially well endowed centres spread across the world. The Karma Kargyu is a wealthy sect and it is also the dominant sect in sensitive areas along India’s borders surrounding and including Sikkim and Bhutan. It is this that makes the internecine rivalry and its outcome a matter of concern for India.
After the demise of the XVI Gyalwa Karmapa a council of four Regents was entrusted with the task of ‘discovering’ the reincarnation. It was only after a lapse of 10 years, during which two of the Regents died, that Tai Situ Rimpoche, after numerous visits to China, ‘discovered’ Ughyen Thinley Dorjee as the reincarnation of the XVI Gyalwa Karmapa in 1992. Thereafter, Ughyen Thinley Dorjee escaped from Tsurphu monastery in Tibet in 1999.
Meanwhile, the other Regent, Shamar Rimpoche, propped up Thaye Thinley Dorjee as another candidate. Both these claimants were born in Tibet. There are two other claimants to the position of the XVII Gyalwa Karmapa, but it is Ughyen Thinley Dorjee and Thaye Thinley Dorjee who are the better known. Tai Situ Rimpoche, the Regent who ‘discovered’ and supported Ughyen Thinley Dorjee was also successful in securing the recognition of the Dalai Lama and Beijing for his candidate. This puts Ughyen Thinley Dorjee in the unique position of presently being the only claimant aspiring to head a Tibetan Buddhist sect who is formally recognised by both these entities. As long as the heads of the other major Tibetan Buddhist sects and the Dalai Lama are alive, the Gyalwa Karmapa will remain only the head of one of the sects. Thereafter, however, he could be one of the very few highest ranking lamas of Tibetan Buddhism who is formally recognised and will wield considerable influence over Buddhists. It is this that gives a sharp edge to the claims of the contending candidates for recognition as the true reincarnation of the Gyalwa Karmapa.
Though the ongoing court battles over possession of the Rumtek monastery have delayed the formal enthronement of the Gyalwa Karmapa, among all the claimants Ughyen Thinley Dorjee has emerged as the more widely known. Thanks to the deft management of circumstances, Ughyen Thinley Dorjee has additionally benefited from his physical proximity to the Dalai Lama. For convenience of receiving teaching and guidance from the Dalai Lama, the then 14-year-old Ughyen Thinley Dorjee was lodged in the Gyutoe monastery in the same compound as the Dalai Lama’s establishment. This had the advantage of affording Ughyen Thinley Dorjee an opportunity to attend the Dalai Lama’s occasional public audiences and prayers and, by virtue of his position, be seated next to the Dalai Lama. In public perception this made Ughyen Thinley Dorjee second in rank to the Dalai Lama. This proximity simultaneously encouraged followers coming for an audience with the Dalai Lama to meet Ughyen Thinley Dorjee too and the number of his adherents increased.
Another advantage for Ughyen Thinley Dorjee is the effective machinery that his aides seem to have created to popularise his claims. In the midst of recent revelations that some of his aides had engaged in large-scale illegal financial transactions including purchase of land, numerous articles in the media incorrectly referred to him as the XVII Gyalwa Karmapa. His sympathisers and followers also quickly organised public protests in a bid to divert attention from the financial irregularities and pressurise the government into waiving legal provisions.
In the interregnum, while Ughyen Thinley Dorjee has been receiving religious instruction at the Gyutoe monastery and the succession issue among the various claimants remains unresolved, Beijing has chosen to remain silent regarding the rival claims. It has also refrained from any criticism of Ughyen Thinley Dorjee. It is apparently waiting for the situation to evolve. The departure of the Dalai Lama from the scene will introduce an additional complication. There is likely to be enhanced restiveness among Tibetans inside China and the Tibetan diaspora in exile would be leaderless. Against this backdrop the role that any council that the Dalai Lama may constitute while he is alive will be crucial as it will have to retain the Tibetan people’s confidence and provide them leadership till such time as the next reincarnate Dalai Lama is able to assume the mantle. The role of inheritor to the throne of the Gyalwa Karmapa at such a time will be crucial
Jayadeva Ranade is a former additional secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India
