17th Karmapa

OrgyanThrinleDorje, the 17th Karmapa (b.1985)

Urgyen Trinley Dorje (Tibetan: ཨུ་རྒྱན་འཕྲིན་ལས་རྡོ་རྡྟེ་; Wylie: U-rgyan 'Phrin-las Rdo-rje) (b. June 26, 1985), also spelled Ogyen Trinley Dorje (and Orgyen Trinley Dorje & Ugyen Trinley Dorje) is recognized by many followers as the 17th Karmapa, leader of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism.

Born in Kham, Tibet to largely nomadic parents, Urgyen Trinley Dorje is said to have identified himself to family members as the Karmapa early in childhood. He was seven years old before he was recognized by a search party headed by the Tai Situpa, following instructions left by the previous Karmapa in a prophetic letter and hidden in a locket. Urgyen Trinley Dorje was installed at Tsurphu (Wylie: Mtshur-phu; ZWPY: Curpu) monastery, the traditional seat of the Karmapa in Tibet, where he lived for another seven years.

Over the 2000 Millennium he escaped to Nepal and then India, arriving in the Dalai Lama's exile headquarters of Dharamsala on January 5, 2000. Urgyen Trinley Dorje had felt that he was unable to obtain in China the specialized instruction he needed to complete his studies and to realize his full spiritual authority.

A controversy exists over the identity of the true 17th Karmapa: the Shamarpa, arguably the second highest Karma Kagyu lama, does not recognize Urgyen Trinley Dorje and instead has proclaimed another boy, Thaye Dorje (Wylie: Mtha'-yas Rdo-rje), whom he identified a few years earlier, as the true Karmapa. Urgyen Trinley Dorje, however, is supported by most of the Kagyu hierarchy, including two of those charged with finding the new Karmapa: Tai Situpa and Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche (a fourth such lama, the 3rd Jamgon Kongtrul, died shortly before the controversy arose.)

Other high Kagyu lamas who support Urgyen Trinley Dorje include H.E. the Fourth Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, H.E. the Eleventh Pawo Rinpoche, the Ninth Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche, the Ninth Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, the Third Kalu Rinpoche, the Seventh Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche and his Nalandabodhi organization, the Twelfth Surmang Trungpa Rinpoche, the Seventh Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, the Third Tenga Rinpoche, the Venerable Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, the Venerable Bokar Rinpoche, Bardor Tulku Rinpoche, the Venerable Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche (abbot of Karma Triyana Dharmachakra), H.E. Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche and his organization, Shambhala International, the Venerable Drupon Rinpoche, and Lama Norlha Rinpoche, among others. He is also recognized as Karmapa by the current Dalai Lama.

As of 2006 he resides at Gyuto Monastery in Sidhbari, near Dharamsala.

Orgyan Thrinle Dorje, o rgyan phrin las rdo rje, (b.1985). He became famous the world over for his daring escape from Tibet, arriving quite unexpectedly in early January 2000 in Dharamsala. The 17th Karmapa was born in 1985 in Kham/East Tibet and enthroned in his ancestral seat of Tsurphu in 1991. After it became apparent, that the Chinese government would not allow him to pursue his education as he intended, he escaped from Tibet and crossed the Himalayas in the depth of winter. He presently resides near Dharamsala where he has resumed his studies under various tutors.

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Main Teachers

• The 12th Tai Situpa, pad ma don yod nyin byed dbang po (b. 1954)
  
• The 12th Goshri Gyaltsab, grags pa bstan pa yar 'phe (b. 1959)
  
• Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, mkhan chen khra 'gu rin po che (b.1933)
  
• Tenga Rinpoche of Benchen, ban chen bstan dga' rin po che (b.1932)
  

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• Karma Kagyu

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