The controversy at a glance:
>> Overview of the
controversy
>> The
historical background
>> Rebuttal
to the Time article of 1994
>>
Main
events surrounding the controversy (81-96)
>>
The
wrong prediction letter
>>
The Rumtek court case
>>
!
The Death of Damchoe Yongdu
>>
!
The Role of N.B. Bhandari
In old Tibet, sending open letters was a common way to raise an issue
in public discourse.
All
Open Letters
The
rebuttals to the book "The Dance of 17 Lives: The Incredible True Story
of Tibet's 17th Karmapa" by Mick Brown.
All
rebuttals
Responses to "Karmapa: The Politics of Reincarnation"
by Lea Terhune.
The
responses
Answer
to Linda (NY)
Answer
to Allison
Answer
to Ms. Gerhardt
Answer
to Ms. Hilton
Answer
to Ms. Hilton [2]
Answer
to Su Wong
Answer
to Tseten
Answer
to Manish Chand
 |
Letter of Shamar Rinpoche to the editors of Wisdom Publications concerning the book: 'Karmapa - The politics of reincarnation' |
First letter about the meeting by Administration of Shamar Rimpoche
After
various attempts to get an audience and have a personal meeting with
Shamarpa Rinpoche, H.H. Orgyen Trinley Rinpoche finally met Shamarpa
Rinpoche at Delhi on the 9th of January at New Delhi, India.
According to a reliable source of IKKBO, Shamarpa Rinpoche had been approached twice before to arrange a meeting between him and Orgyen Trinley Rinpoche which did not materialize. However, this time on behalf of Orgyen Trinley Rinpoche, Shamarpa Rinpoche was approached by venerable Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, the eldest son of late venerable Tulku Orgyen Rinpoche. Chokyi Nyima on his way back after meeting Orgyen Trinley Rinpoche at Bodh Gaya contacted Shamarpa Rinpoche at New Delhi and mentioned Orgyen Trinley Rinpoche's urgency for the meeting. Since Orgyen Trinley Rinpoche wanted to have the meeting immediately, Shamarpa Rinpoche and Orgyen Trinley Rinpoche met for the first time at New Delhi, India. However, it is not known at this point as to what they discussed.
IKKBO Staff reporter.
In early 2005, the head of the Drikung Kagyu School, H.H. Drigung Chetsang Rinpoche contacted H.H. Shamar Rinpoche while he was conducting teachings on the Sutra of Alankara in Hong Kong. Drigung Chetsang Rinpoche informed Shamar Rinpoche that in early 2004, he had a meeting with H.H.Orgyen Trinley Rinpoche in Bodh Gaya, India. Drigung Chetsang Rinpoche told Shamar Rinpoche that during their meeting, Orgyen Trinley Rinpoche had expressed respect for Shamar Rinpoche's important position as a lineage holder. Orgyen Trinley Rinpoche also said that he was willing to pacify the longstanding Karmapa controversy and asked Drigung Chetsang Rinpoche if he could arrange a meeting between himself and Shamar Rinpoche. Shamar Rinpoche told Drigung Chetsang Rinpoche that he would give his response once he returned to India. [more]
Scans
of original documents
In The Politics of the Incarnation written by Lea Terhune; we have already
challenged, in our Rebuttal to Lea Tehune, many of the purported facts,
in what is a blatant misinterpretation of Karma Kagyu history. Indeed,
several words she employs cannot be found in either Tibetan or Sanskrit
dictionaries. This kind of story telling is quite clearly designed to
mislead people who otherwise have little or no knowledge of Tibetan
Buddhist history or language. Additionally, six chapters of personal
allegations have been contested in court in the case of Karma Wangchoub
versus Wisdom Publications and Lea Terhune. On May 24, 2006, the High
Court of New Delhi, India, demanded proof of the above allegations.
To date, no proof has been given. Finally the court warned that the
judgement would be automatically against the defendants, (Wisdom Publications
and Lea Terhune), if no proof was forthcoming. At this time the following
two pages were presented:
>>
a
letter from Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche to Lea Terhune, with clearly no
relevance whatsoever
by Shamar Rinpoche
... It is especially crucial for me to clearly reply to all the points you make because you are a well-known and well-respected professor of Tibetan Buddhism in the United States. [more]
 |
Uncovering
Corruption at the Heart of Tibetan Buddhism Today by Erik D. Curren Order the book now! |
...
Regarding
the misrepresentation in your book, The dance of the 17 Lives, that
the Vajra Crown the 16th Karmapa wore during his lifetime is a duplicate
of the original: it seems as though you must know something more about
the crown than the crown holder himself, the late Gyalwa Karmapa. I
was with the late Karmapa since 1955 when I was six years old. During
his lifetime I had many
opportunities to hear him talk about the crown, to see many historic
documents about the crown, to see the crown itself many times, and to
write documents
myself about it... [more]
...
I cannot understand the value or nature of your professional ethics: that you have obligation to a questionable source but not to me, the entire subject of your story. Would that mean I had to accept your verdicts just because you are a journalist? Justice is the basis of ethics, and rights always equal responsibility. But somehow your journalistic practice looks the other way so that a journalist is able to exercise many rights over his subjects but zero moral responsibility toward them. That makes your position insensitive to say the least. [more]
Please read also: the referred letter of Mick Brown
...
In this article, you wrote that the assets of the Karma Kagyu school are estimated to be worth £600 million, and that two factions are fighting over these assets. This issue of who is claiming ownership of what has caused some confusion among the devotees of our sect as well as people around the world who are interested in the Karmapa issue. [more ]
---------------------------------------------
...
To follow on previous statements on the Karmapa issue at this web-site, here are further 'proofs' supplied by none other than our detractors themselves: proofs to the effect that the whole controversy was conceived and put in motion by Mr. Juchen Tupten in the Tibetan exiled government, to subvert our rights to recognize the Karmapa from within; to bring Karma Kagyupa to its knees till it became a vassal to Dharamsala. [more ]
...
On the donation in question, you will recall that in your book The Dance of 17 Lives, on page 103, you write that Shamar ' also had a gift for raising funds. One Western devotee recalls being with him in New York, in an apartment on 5th Avenue, with a wealthy sponsor, and he extracted this $25,000 donation, just like that. He had enormous charm and personality. It was just his way.'
I
have asked you to present your evidence for this alleged donation. [more
]
Overview Open letters
Visitors
to this site may know that there has been a lot of publishing activity
in the last few years on the controversy around the recognition of the
seventeenth Karmapa. The Karmapa is the first reincarnated lama of Tibet
and one of Buddhism's most venerated masters. As it turns out, he is
also famous enough in the West to inspire four books in English, all
published in 2003 and 2004. Unfortunately, the authors of these books
show a unanimity of opinion that makes me wonder if they started their
books together in the same coffee klatch. [
more ]
I am writing you about the pending inventory of valuables at Rumtek Monastery. I came to Rumtek in 1961 at the age of 10 years and was guided in meditation and studies by the late 16th Gyalwa Karmapa himself who appointed me to the office of Khenpo of the Monastery in 1976. I also, from an early age, acted as the personal secretary and assistant to His Holiness the Karmapa.[ more ]
| >>
Open letter by
Lama Thubten
Gyaltsen to Mick Brown concerning the Black Crown ... As
one of the best living authorities on the Black Crown, I can
say without a doubt that you are mistaken here Mr. Brown. I
am not sure who your source for this story is, but for those
of us who packed the Black Crown at Tsurphu and helped His Holiness
the sixteenth Karmapa bring it into exile, there is no doubt
whatever that we brought the older crown from the Chengzu (Yongle)
emperor and not the newer crown from the king of Li Jiang [
more ] |
>> Resolution
>> H.H. Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche's message to the IKKC
>> Statement by the monks community at the IKKC
>> Open letter to H.H. the Dalai Lama
Recently, HH Dalai Lama visited Gangtok, the capital city of the state of Sikkim in northeastern India . Gangtok is only a couple hours drive from Rumtek, the monastery that the sixteenth Karmapa built as his seat-in-exile in the early 1960s. His monks were violently expelled from Rumtek on a tragic day in August, 1993...[ more ]
| Dear
Mick Brown,
Thank you for your letter of 29 th July 2004. My understanding from your reply is that you will stand by the words you used in the description (of the $25,000 donation given to me by a New York City lady), and that your source has reconfirmed that they are 'entirely accurate'. But 'accuracy' is not the issue here. The real issue is Honesty: i.e. whether your source is honest or not, if indeed it ever existed...[ more ] |
| >>
Open letter from 20.
Mar. 05 |
>> Novelist Tries to Wrestle with the Karmapa Controversy in Non-Fiction Format:
IKKBO Says She Should Have Stuck To Fiction
By the IKKBO, New Delhi [ more ]
|
 |
His Master's
Voice #8 Director, Kathmandu Office, IKKBO The
eighth in a Series of responses to "The Dance of 17 Lives:
The Incredible True Story of Tibet's 17 th Karmapa" |
Author Lea Terhune accused in spreading false information solely to harm Tibetan Buddhist leader and lineage
By the IKKBO, New Delhi [ more ]>>
New
statement by the IKKBO
A Curious Question of Legal Strategy:
Where to Go Next on the Rumtek Case? [
more
]
Indian Supreme Court Rejects Claim of Tsurphu Labrang, Clearing the Way for the Karmapa Charitable Trust to Regain Control of Rumtek Monastery [ more ]
Also read the text of the decision from the Indian Supreme Court.
>>
Clarification of the Term 'Heart Sons'
by
Shamar Rinpoche
Sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction.
For reasons that I cannot fathom, recent books on the Karmapa controversy
by two supporters of Tai Situ Rinpoche, Lea Terhune and Mick Brown,
employ the term 'Heart Sons' to describe four Karma Kagyu lamas Shamar
Rinpoche, Situ Rinpoche, Gyaltsab Rinpoche and Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche. [
more ]
The third in a Series of Responses to Karmapa: The Politics of Reincarnation by Lea Terhune (Wisdom Publications, 2004)
Read article Nr. [ 1 ] [ 2 ]
Here are the scans of the original documents of the indian court. [ more ]