Lama Shree Narayan Singh, India, Tibet, Budhhism, HH Gwalwang Karmapa, Dalai Lama, Tibetan Healing

The Karma Kagyu Declaration 1995

THE KARMA KAGYU DECLARATION

We, the undersigned, do hereby assert, affirm and declare

That we are devotees and disciples of His Holiness the Gyalwang Karmapa – Sri Jinendra Karmapa in Sanskrit;
That our tradition, known as the Karma Kagyu or Karma Kamtshang, constitutes one of the Four Major Schools of the Dhagpo Kagyu which traces its ancestry through Marpa the Translator, 1012-1097 C.E.;
That since the time of Dhusum Khyenpa, the 1st. Gyalwang Karmapa, 1100-1193 C.E., the lineage has been ably held by sixteen incarnations of this Mahasattva, who is destined to be the sixth Buddha of our fortunate aeon, to be known as Simhanada;
That interspersed amongst these sixteen, various incarnations of the Zhamarpa, Tai Situpa, Jamgon Kongtrul, Goshri Gyaltshabpa and Sangjay Nyaenpas have acted in their stead ably preserving and transmitting the Buddha Dharma through an unbroken lineage of transmission;
That the above constitute the Golden Rosary of the Lamas of this our glorious traditions;
That the other schools of the Dhagpo Kagyu has each its own Golden Rosary of the Lamas of the Lineage as also its own independent Lineage Holder, held in esteem by their followers, just as we revere our own Masters;
That we seek hegemony over none, nor do we accept that of any other tradition or person over us;
That we are immensely fortunate that incarnations of our authentic Masters currently live and move amongst us, imparting instructions in the verities of the Bauddha Dharma both through explanations and example, through multifarious skillful means we may or may not comprehend;
That we constitute a multi-racial and multinational congregation speaking a diversity of languages, each inexorably bound to one’s own nation and culture and yet bonded spiritually together in vajra companionship through the person of His Holiness the Gyalwang Karmapa, transcending national racial, cultural and linguistic barriers;
That whereas we are each proud of our individual heritage we simultaneously affirm the validity of the heritage of the other each in no manner superior or inferior to any other;
That it is an undisputable fact of history that during the last millennium and more, the Tibetan peoples have preserved a within the folds of their culture, the Dispensation of the Buddha as received by them from the Indian sub-continent through enlightened Masters, and have further elucidated upon it for the benefit of the world at large;
That the time has now come for the firm establishment of the Buddha’s Dispensation in various continents as also for it return to the land of its birth;
That this may only and truly be accomplished through the processes of mutual understanding and appreciation rather than the perpetration of false prejudices, racial discrimination, personality cults and so on;
That we vehemently oppose and decry the attempts of forces external to the Karma Kagyu to interfere in the affairs of our tradition creating schisms and upheavals within its comiti;
That although from amongst us, many may personally interact with Masters of various other traditions, Buddhist and non-Buddhist, this is not to be construed as an opportunity by them for interference in the affairs of our tradition;
That the governance of Greater Tibet has now passed on to the Govt. of the Peoples’ Republic of China , legitimately or otherwise;
That His Holiness the XIVth. Taala’I Lama, spelt incorrectly as Dalai Lama, together with his govt. in exile, which does not enjoy the sanction of Indian or international laws, currently based in Dharmsala, H.P., India, no longer exercises sovereignty in its own region of jurisdiction, nor does it enjoy any legitimate sanction to recognize, instate or cause to be instated, any incarnations of our lineage, be it H.H. the XVIIth. Gyalwang Karmapa or any other; hence they are totally irrelevant to all matters pertaining to the Karma Kagyu. Similarly the Panchen Lama has no jurisdiction over the Karma Kagyu;
That three and a half centuries of governance of successive Taala’I Lamas and their governments in Tibet were characterized by obscurantism and sectarian persecutions of non-Gelugpa traditions by a professedly Gelugpa government as is historically documented;
That prior to 1642 C.E. when the Fifth Taala’I Lama was instated on the throne of Tibet after an inordinate amount of bloodshed, there had existed only one state religion – the Bauddha Dharma, where individuals were free to follow any persuasion in accordance with their conscience, neither was any persecuted on these grounds;
That in a gross misuse of power and authority, the then Taala’I Lama and his govt. had in 1792 maliciously abrogated the title of Hu-thu-tho from the Zhamarpa; confiscated his Red Vajra Crown given him by the Gyalwang Karmapa and buried it under a stupa; issued edicts usurping his principal seat at Yangpachen together with its ancillary monasteries, forcibly converting them to adhere to the Gelugpa tradition; and had banned the recognition of future incarnations of this Mahasattva;
That we appeal to H.H. the XIVth. Taala’I Lama to reverse this historical error in his supposedly boundless compassion and magnanimity, in consonance with the one-pointed desire of the Karma Kagyu congregation, this the more so since the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to him for 1989;
That should H.H. the Taala’i Lama fail to do so, then we shall be compelled to exercise our inherent democratic right and declare the actions of the then Taala’i Lama and his govt. as male fide and ultra vires, issue a charter reinvesting the Zhamarpa with his title, proclaiming the reversion of his confiscated monasteries and lands to him, fabricate afresh a Red Vajra Crown and offer it to him with the earnest supplication that he fearlessly turn the Wheel of the Dharma for the benefit of all beings;
That we do not accept the authority, either spiritual or temporal of H.H. the XIVth. Taala’i Lama over the Karma Kagyu and openly denounce his attempts to recognize Urgyen Thrinlay Dorje, a Chinese national resident in the Autonomous Region of Tibet as being H.H. the XVIIth. Gyalwang Karmapa without any concern for the national security of his host country, India ;
That in so doing His Holiness the Taala’i Lama together with Their Eminences Tai Situpa and Goshri Gyaltshab Rinpoches and others, have endangered the national security of the Union of India and the Kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan, the very same countries which have graciously granted asylum to Tibetans fleeing Chinese oppression in their homeland, for which they should not only be ever grateful but also express their gratitude by living in accordance with the laws of these countries as is enunciated in the Vinaya.
That this action of H.H. the Taala’i Lama has engendered a schism within the Buddha’s Dispensation in general, the Karma Kagyu in particular, which is in direct contradiction of the teachings of the Buddha both in letter and in spirit as expounded and practiced in the various yanas;
That this unskillful action of H.H. the Taala’i Lama has resulted in the unwarranted use of physical violence within the Dispensation of the Buddha;
That we strongly condemn the use of violence within the Karma Kagyu as being anti-Dharma and exhort any and all who call themselves Buddhists to abjure violence forthwith and live in accordance with the teachings of the Buddha;
That we exhort the Holders of the Lineage of the Gyalwang Karmapa to make the implementation of the vision of H.H. the late XVIth. Gyalwang Karmapa the sole intent and purpose of their existence, to bury their differences and make the service of the Buddha’s Dispensation their only concern, irrespective of any and all considerations of expediency such as race, nationality, culture and so on;
That until the demise of H.E. Jamagon Kongtrul Rinpoche April 26, 1992, the Dharma Chakra Centre, Rumtek, Sikkim, was being run democratically under the provisions of The Indian Trust Act, 1882, by the Karmapa Charitable Trust, registered in Gangtok, Sikkim, India;
That subsequently with the approval and active participation of H.H. the Taala’i Lama and his so-called govt. in exile, all the powers of this trust have been illegally usurped by Their Eminences Tai Situ and Gyaltshab Rinpoches who are now running this monastery and its affairs as their personal fiefdom either directly or indirectly by their diktats in total contravention and defiance of the provisions of The Indian Trust Act, 1882 and all existing norms of civilized society;
That this is reminiscent of the Third Reich and the fascist manner in which it was run by the Fuhrer, his henchmen, the dreaded Gestapo and others, the only difference in this case being the promotion of Tibetan nazism;
That through this document we hereby empower ourselves to institute a thorough enquiry into the recognition of H.H. the XVIth. Gyalwang Karmapa in all its minute details which have been conveniently overlooked until now and examine each and every claim to this exalted status irrespective of the race and nationality of every claimant;
That to this end we will constitute a committee who will submit their findings to us within a period of six months of its constitution;
That this committee will include authentic incarnations of Bodhisattvas from the Tibetan Autonomous Region, India and others indigenous to Bhutan and Nepal as also those in the west;
That this committee will be empowered to recognize and enthrone other incarnations both Tibetan and non-Tibetan within the Karma Kagyu tradition irrespective of their multiplicity, e.g. the western incarnation of H.E. Kalu Rinpoche, the Sherpa incarnation of Lama Samdrub, various Indian incarnations and so on;
That we acknowledge the possibility of H.H. the late XVIth. Gyalwang Karmapa and other Bodhisattvas to have chosen to manifest in multiple forms for the simple reason that the aspirations of international Buddhists cannot be subsumed within the nationalistic aspirations of the peoples of Greater Tibet be they resident in their homeland or in exile;
That we acknowledge that it is not humanly possible for any Bodhisattva or Mahasattva to serve the Dispensation of the Buddha efficaciously in various continents in singly manifest forms, necessarily constrained by the limitations of one’s culture, history, birth and upbringing;
That based upon the recommendations of the committee constituted as above, we empower ourselves with the authority to recognize and enthrone the authentic incarnations Gyalwang Karmapa and other Trulkus of our tradition;
That we condone the untimely and unfortunate demise of His Eminence Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, April 26, 1992 in a mysterious car crash and express our concern that neither H.H. the Taala’I lama nor the then Chief Minister of Sikkim instituted or caused to have instituted a proper investigation into the circumstances in which India and the world was deprived of one of its greatest sons. This would have removed beyond the possible of pre-meditated murder through politics, sorcery and sabotage.
That we exhort the Heads of state of countries of South Asia identify and designate individuals colluding with foreign powers to destabilize this region and employ rigorously all the methods at their disposal to stem such mischief at its source and preserve the sovereignty of these countries.
That a large number of Tibetan refugees have fraudulently obtained citizenship of India and Nepal through the falsification under oath, details of their birth, parentage and so on and are thus enjoying privileges which as refugees they are not entitled to, in contradiction of the laws of these countries as also the teachings of the Buddha. Of this H.H. the Taala’t Lama and his so-called govt. are fully aware.
That it is such who have little regard for the laws of their host countries who are involved in the Karmapa imbroglio and a speedy method to resolve this would be to institute enquiries into the travel documents possessed by each and every Tibetan refugee and replace their illegal passports by proper refugee registration certificates.
That Tibetan refugees in India and Nepal have absolutely no business whatsoever to create law and order problems for the genuine citizens of South Asia, nor should they avoid paying taxes, and should they be averse to mending their ways, should be forthwith deported to their fatherland;
That simultaneously their property should be ordered seized and their bank accounts frozen;
That the leadership of the Karma Kagyu is exhorted to lead its congregation in a responsible and accountable manner rather in the feudal and autocratic manner of their functioning until now;
That we exhort the Govts, of India and Sikkim to ensure the smooth running of the Karmapa Chatitable Trust in accordance with the provisions of the Indian Trust Act 1882 and the Constitution of Indian, not to permit the usurpation of its authority by vested interests, and permit its legitimate office bearers to function in accordance with the vision of H.H. the XVIth. Gyalwang Karmapa;
In conclusion we exhort H.H.the XIVth. Taala’I Lama and his so-called govt. in exile to realize their total irrelevance to the Karama Kagyu and accept the will of its followers as expressed here in which is their birthright.

In witness of which we 1.

(Please give your full name, address, nationality, passport/social security number etc.)

do hereby affix our signatures of our own free will and volition, sound in body and mind and with full understanding of the above:

Signatures: 1.

Place Date

Signed copies of this declaration are to be sent to:

1. The Secretary General of the United Nations, New York, U.S.A.;
2. H. E. the President of India, Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delh, India.;
3. H. E. the Governor of Sikkim, Gangtok;
4. H.H. the XIVth. Taala’I Lama, Thegchen Choling Mcleod Ganj. 176 219 H.P., India.
5. His Eminence Kunzig Zhamar Rinpoche, KIBI, B-19 Mehraulli Institutional Area, New Delhi 110 016. India;
6. H. E. Tai Situ Rinpoche, Sherab Ling, Sansal 176 125,India;
7. Jamgon Kongtrul Labrang, G.P.O. Box 6956,Kathmandu, Nepal;
8. H.E. Goshri Gyaltshab Rinpoche, Rumtek 737 135, Sikkim, India;
9. H.E. Sangjay Nyaenpa Rinpoche, Rumtek 737 135, Sikkim, India;

10. The Karmapa Charitable Trust, c/o Sri J.D. Densapa, Cherry Bank, Gangtok , Sikkim , India ;

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