15th Karmapa
Date of birth:	1871
Place of birth:	Sheikor, Tsang, Tibet
Birth name:	Khakyab Dorje
Date of death:	1922
Place of death:	?
School:	Vajrayana
Practice School:	Kagyu
Lineage:	Karma Kagyu
Order:	N/A
Titles/Honours:	Karmapa, Lama, Rinpoche.
Quote:	?

The fifteenth Karmapa

Karmapa

The Karmapa is the head of the Karma Kagyu, the largest sub-school of the Kagyupa , itself one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism....

, Khakyab Dorje (1871-1922), spoke the mantra of Chenrezig "Om mani peme hung" at his birth in Sheikor village in Tsang province in Central Tibet. Five years later he was able to read the scriptures.

Recognised and enthroned by the ninth Kyabgon Drukchen, Khakyab Dorje was given the Kagyu

Kagyu

The Kagyu, Kagyupa, or Kagyud school, also known as the "Oral Lineage" or Whispered Transmission school, is today regarded as one of six main schools of Himalayan or Tibetan Buddhism, the other five being the Nyingma, Sakya, Jonang, Bon and Gelug...

 teachings by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye. Khenchen Tashi Ozer and other masters completed his education.

He was enthroned at Tsurphu Monastery

Tsurphu Monastery

Tsurphu Monastery is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery which served as the traditional seat of the Karmapa. It is located in Gurum town of Doilungdêqên County in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, 70 km from Lhasa. The monastery is about 14,000 feet above sea level...

 when he was six years old. He went on to teach and give empowerments throughout Tibet, and preserved many rare texts by having them reprinted.

In 1898 he travelled to Bhutan

Bhutan

Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...

 bestowing many transmissions. On his return to Tibet he took several consorts as his guru

Guru

A guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom, and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others . Other forms of manifestation of this principle can include parents, school teachers, non-human objects and even one's own intellectual discipline, if the...

 had predicted. In some rare cases, bhikshus are given permission by their lamas to do consort practices, but only lamas who have attained realisations may do so.

Unlike the previous Karmapas, Khakyab Dorje married Khandro Ugyen Tsomo

Khandro Rinpoche

Mindrolling Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche is a rare example of a female Tibetan Buddhist lama...

, and fathered three sons, one of whom was recognised as the second Jamgon Kongtrul and another the twelfth Shamarpa

Shamarpa

Shamarpa of the Red Crown"), also known as Shamar Rinpoche or more formally Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche is a lineage holder of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism and the mind manifestation of Amitabha Buddha, He is traditionally associated with Yangpachen monastery near Lhasa.The first...

, Jamyang Rinpoche.

Among his closest students were Situ Pema Wangchok Gyalpo (who Karmapa had recognised as the Tai Situpa

Tai Situpa

In Tibetan Buddhism the Tai Situpa is one of the oldest lineages of tulkus in the Kagyu school. According to tradition, the Tai Situpa is an emanation of the bodhisattva Maitreya, who will become the next Buddha, and who has been incarnated as numerous Indian and Tibetan yogins since the time of...

 reincarnation), Jamgon Palden Khyentse Ozer, and Beru Khyentse

Beru Khyentse Rinpoche

His Eminence 2nd Beru Khyentse Rinpoche is an important lineageholder of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. Rinpoche is a veryprominent contemporary Kalachakra Tantra master...

 Lodro Mizay Jampa'i Gocha.

A few years before he passed into parinirvana

Parinirvana

In Buddhism, parinirvana is the final nirvana, which occurs upon the death of the body of someone who has attained complete awakening...

at the age of fifty-one he entrusted a letter containing a prediction regarding his rebirth to an attendant.

External links

• "THE FIFTEENTH GYALWA KARMAPA, Khakhyab Dorje". http://www.kagyu.org/kagyulineage/lineage/kag38.php