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
The recognition of reincarnated lamas in Tibetan Buddhism
Statement from the Rumtek Office concerning Akong Rinpoche
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Letter from Shamar Rinpoche to Samdhong Rinpoche, Prime Minister of the Dalai Lama |
| Letter from 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
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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 ]
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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 ] |
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>> 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 ]
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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 ]