VAJRA CROWN JEWELS OF THE KARMA KAGYU: The black and red crowns of the Gyalwang Karmapa and the Karma Kagyu

“To the powerful yogi, Dusum Khyenpa.
Hundreds of millions wisdom ḍākinīs of supreme activity,
Created a splendid, deep blue crown, which
When offered and placed on his head
Was called the ‘Powerful Yogi’’s ‘black crown’.” –8th Karmapa

“Each of the Gyalwang Karmapas has heart sons who are actually his emanations. As they are inseparable from him, the Gyalwang Karmapas bestowed upon them vajra crowns and commanded them to accomplish vast benefit for the teachings and beings. Together with his resolve, command of interdependence, and aspirations, the Karmapas enthroned them as Dharma Kings and thus arose the tradition of their vajra crowns.” –12^th Goshri Gyaltsab Rinpoche (2017)

On 31^st May, after the completion of the Garchen Tsechu dance at Rumtek Monastery, the 12^th Gyaltsab Rinpoche performed the ‘red crown’ ceremony at Rumtek monastery, see photos below and here. I have had the great fortune to witness the red crown ceremony of Gyaltsab Rinpoche in person twice, in Bodh Gaya in 2019 at the Kagyu Monlam, and at his Ralang Monastery, Sikkim in 2018. 

The Gyalwang Karmapas began the tradition of Vajra Crown ceremonies with the Black Crown, which is particular to them. The black and red crowns are thus a stunning, unique and distinctive feature of the Karma Kamtsang.  I first wrote about the origin of the Karmapa’s black crown in 2020, here: Karmapa’s Midnight-Blue Dākinī Hair Crown: Praise, Source and Benefits by 8th Karmapa and 1st Jamgon Kongtrul in my overview and translation of the 8th Karmapa’s text on the history of the black crown, and the 1^st Jamgon Kongtrul’s Praises to the Black Hat. 

The Chinese Ming Yongle Emperor (永樂 1402-1424)is said to have made a replica of the black-haired crown bestowed by the dakinis on the first Karmapa, Dusum Khyenpa,  and given it to the 5^th Karmapa, Dezhin Shekpa (de bzhin gshegs pa, 1384-1415).  Karma Pakshi, the Second Gyalwang Karmapa, stated that whoever witnesses the crown ceremony will not fall into the lower realms. Later, various Gyalwang Karmapas bestowed red crowns upon Shamarpas, Tai Situpas, and Gyaltsab Rinpoches, for more on that see below.

Thus crown ceremonies became an important aspect of the Kamtsang Kagyu lineage. Beholding the Vajra Crowns is said to grant liberation upon sight. However, this doesn’t mean that one is liberated in the very moment of seeing them, but rather that beholding the crowns plants the seed of future liberation in one’s being. In this short article, I give an overview of the black and red vajra crowns of the Karma Kagyu, their origin and use, as well as some images.

The current black vajra crown is said to be under lock and seal at Rumtek Monastery. It really is time that the `17^th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, who up to now as a result of court cases and false accusations by the Zhamar Rinpoche and his associates (see recent interview with Mick Brown for more on that), has been unable to visit Rumtek monastery and use the crown, which is rightfully the Karmapa’s to use and wear. One can only hope that this situation will soon change. The vast majority of the Karma Kagyu in Tibet and exile, the monasteries, nunneries, monks, nuns and laypeople follow Ogyen Trinley Dorje and that importance fact needs to be remembered in any discussion. 

May the Gyalwang 17^th Karmapa return to Rumtek soon, to don the precious vajra black crown on its rightful place!

Music? Black is the Colour of my True Love’s Hair by Nina Simone, and for the unbreakable ‘Naturally Arisen Wisdom’ ḍākinī hair crown and dancing ḍākinīs above the Karmapa’s head at all times, Halo  and You Won’t Break My Soul by Beyonce.

Written and compiled by Adele Tomlin, 1st June 2023.

The Karmapas and the Black Vajra Crown  – its origin, ceremony and current location

As I wrote in Karmapa’s Midnight-Blue Dākinī Hair Crown: Praise, Source and Benefits by 8th Karmapa and 1st Jamgon Kongtrul (2020) there are said to be three black crowns, with a different origin and manifestation:

• The ‘Naturally Arisen Wisdom’ ḍākinī hair crown (yeshe rang nang: ཡེ་ཤེས་རང་སྣང་) – made from millions of ḍākinīs hairs, given to the Karmapa, which is present at all times on the Karmapas’ heads.
• The ‘Liberates on Seeing’ crown (thongdrol: མཐོང་གྲོལ་)– given to the Fifth Karmapa, Dezhin Shekpa (karma pa 05 de bzhin gshegs pa, 1384-1415), by the Ming Yongle Emperor (永樂 1402-1424) (see more below) as a physical representation of the above wisdom dakini crown.
• The Action crown (leysha: ལས་ཞྭ་) – worn by the current Karmapa during teachings and other events.

• 

The 8th Karmapa on its origin

In terms of primary Tibetan sources (that are available to read) about the Black Crown , there are not that many available. One text I found is by the 8^th Karmapa, Praise to the Source of the Gyalwang Karmapa’s Black Crown (རྒྱལ་བ་ཀརྨ་པའི་དབུ་ཞྭ་ཞྭ་ནག་གི་འབྱུང་ཁུངས་བསྟོད་པ་དང་བཅས་པ།) in the Collected Works of Mikyo Dorje (TBRC W8039. 3: 229 – 234. Lhasa, 2004) written at the peak of Ngur Monastery, near Gangkar Shamey.

The 17^th Karmapa is reported as teaching that the origin of the black crown ceremony is difficult to say, but that the earliest historical source they have, is that of the Eighth Karmapa, (but the name of that source was not given). Thus, this Praise composed by him is not only an important historical document regarding the history, and benefits of the black crown but is also by one of the Karmapas, who actually performed the black crown ceremony.

Interestingly, 8^th Karmapa begins the Praise by referencing the realisation of the ‘Supreme siddha, Brahmin Rahulabhadra’ as the catalyst force of the emanation of the 1st Karmapa. In this text, the 8^th Karmapa, speaks of the origin of the midnight blue ‘gold-emblazoned, black crown’ (zhwa nag gser gdongs can) given to the 1^st Karmapa created by millions of dakinis’ hair, which was then unbrokenly passed on to the 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th Karmapas:

Having erected an incomparable form
At the great abode of Gangkar Shamey
The Victors of the complete three seats and ten directions,
The vajra mind of the chief, Bhagavan Akshobya,
transformed into a midnight -blue crown,
bestowing the supreme empowerment of the one who performs activities of the vajra silk banner,
Instantly for the victorious ‘black hatted’ one
The vajra mind of the chief, Bhagavan Akshobya,
changed into a midnight blue crown

Said to be a manifestation of the aspect ‘Lion’s Roar’
In all realms of samsara and nirvana,
Greatly renowned, with activity equal to space.
To the powerful yogi, Dusum Khyenpa.
Hundreds of millions wisdom ḍākinīs of supreme activity,
Created a splendid, deep blue crown, which
When offered and placed on his head
Was called the ‘Powerful Yogi’’s ‘black crown’.

In terms of the benefits of ‘seeing it’, the 8^th Karmapa writes that:

“When Mañjuśrī , in the form of a Chinese King, offered
A jewelled, gold-emblazoned, black hat
On wearing it, the face of Avolekiteshvara is directly revealed,
to the assembly of the world’s sentient beings. At that time,
Fortunate ones with an eye for pure appearances,
When placing it on the crown, the Bhagavan Amitabha
Master of the family, will be revealed to others.
Likewise, the wondrous, midnight-blue crown
When seen by those of supreme faith and aspiration
Will bestow the qualities of the stages and paths.
Unfortunate ones with negative deeds, when seeing it will
Exhaust obscurations and sins accumulated over thousands of eons.
At that time, whatever abundance is desired,
When making a supplication to what you visualise
One’s hopes will be accomplished as they are.
Not only does Jetsun Karmapa’s black crown have wondrous qualities,
O Victor, merely seeing, hearing, remembering and touching
all your possessions, is the cause
of definitely attaining higher births.
Due to that, I completely take refuge in you!
Please look after us with great love!”

The Praise then goes on to extol other siddhas who previously wore the ‘gold-emblazoned black crown’ as being King Indrabhuti, Padmasambhava, Saraha up to the 1^st Karmapa. He explains that at that time, Padmasambhava was wearing the crown to tame rakshas. In the future, the black crown will be worn by ‘someone in the centre of India to spur the wheel of Dharma of Buddha Maitreya’.

The 17th Karmapa recently taught that: “In the article offered by Simhanada, entitled “The Black and Red Crowned Lamas,” it is stated that in turn for receiving the Black Vajra Crown from Emperor Yongle, “the Gyalwa Karmapa bestowed upon the heads of his disciples crowns which represent their spiritual qualities. The Red Vajra Crowns of the Tai Situ Rinpoche and Gyaltsab Rinpoche continue to benefit others through their presentation. These Red Crowns represent the enlightened qualities of the Tai Situpa and Gyaltsabpa and also their inseparability from the Gyalwa Karmapa as spiritual father and sons. The Black Crown of the Karmapa and the Red Crown of the Tai Situpa and Gyaltsabpa represent all their qualities, including the nature of the mind, the four immeasurables, the five Buddha families and activities, and the three bodies of the Buddha. Any of these, however, are surpassed by the precious Black Vajra Crown of the Gyalwa Karmapa.”

The 5th Dalai Lama recounts in his biography of the 3rd Dalai Lama, Sonam Gyatso, that this master approached Gyalwang Wangchuk Dorje (the 9th Karmapa), and requested him to perform the Black Crown ceremony. Afterwards, the Dalai Lama asked if he could inspect the vajra crown, and when Wangchuk Dorje handed it to him, the crown remained suspended in space, prompting the Dalai Lama to exclaim that the Black Crown is quite special indeed!

The 10th Karmapa replica of the black crown

In his book Dance of 17 Lives (2004), Mick Brown reports that in the 17th Century, the 10th Karmapa’s pupil, the Emperor of Jang presented him with a replica of the hat given to the 5th Karmapa  by Yung-lo. From then on, the Karmapas travlled with the replica and kept the original at Tsurphu monastery. 

The 16th Gyalwang Karmapa and the black crown ceremony

The 16th Karmapa was filmed several times while performing the vajra crown ceremony. This particular ceremony was held in the Cathedral in the Woods in New Hampshire (United States) in September 1980, 14 months before Karmapa passed. It was shot by John Karol, who would later win the Oscar for best documentary short (on a different project). The 3^rd Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche makes introductory remarks which are translated by Ngodrup T. Burkhar.

Here is a video clip of the black crown ceremony he performed in Boulder, Colorado, hosted by Chogyam Trungpa in 1980:

Also, Achi Tsephel his former translator, talks about his memories of the black vajra crown ceremony here.

This info-image from Himalayan Art Resources neglects to mention the fact that the Karma Kamtsang also wore the pointed yellow hats before they became associated with the Dalai Lama/Gelugpas. The 17th Karmapa taught about this historical fact in a recent teaching this year, see this article THE YELLOW-HAT KAGYUPAS: LOST, STOLEN AND DESTROYED KARMA KAGYU TRADITIONS AND MONASTERIES IN TIBET. 

The red crown of the Shamarpas

I wrote about the ‘red hat Sharmapa’ before here in 2020 and his connection to Kālacakra and Kālacakra master, Go Lotsawa Zhonu Pal and a new translation of texts he composed about the Kālacakra six vajra-yogas and the Jonang master, Dolpopa.

In a recent teaching on the four Karma Kagyu heart sons, the  17th Karmapa explained that the 1st Sharmapa was predicted by the 2nd Karmapa, Karma Pakshi, who said there would be two Karmapas, one would wear the black hat and one would wear the red hat. The 1st Shamarpa, received a red crown, an exact replica of Karmapa’s black crown from Rangjung Dorje, 3rd Karmapa, establishing the second line of reincarnate lamas in Tibetan Buddhism. The Karmapa was the first.

The 1st Shamarpa, Drakpa Senggé (grags pa seng+ge, 1283–1349), received the title “Shamarpa”, and a red crown, an exact replica of Karmapa’s black crown from Rangjung Dorje, 3rd Karmapa, establishing the second line of reincarnate lamas in Tibetan Buddhism. He was principal disciple of the 3rd Karmapa.

The ruby-red crown is an exact replica of Karmapa’s black crown (apart from the colour). Interestingly, it is said that the 5th Dalai Lama saw the Shamarpa as equal to the Karmapa:

“Since Je Chen-nga Thamchad Khyenpa Chokyi Dragpa (the Fourth Shamarpa) ascended the throne of the Phagdrupa dynasty, there was no longer any difference between the Red Hat and the Black Hat Karmapas. This was the reason why I afforded them both equal status.”

However, perhaps the 5^th Dalai lama was playing some kind of a political game by saying that, as the question of the authority of the 5^th Dalai Lama to make that decision, especially with the violent Mongolian/Gelug takeover of Tibet and over 40 monasteries and texts from the Karmapa and Karma Kagyu is controversial to say the least. Achi Tsephal, the 16^th Karmapa’s former translator, talks about the total lack of freedom for the Kagyu and Karmapas in Tibet prior to the Chinese communist invasion here..

In fact, the Dalai  Lama/Gelug subsequently banned the recognition of the Shamarpas from the 10^th onwards. The 14^th Shamarpa was recently reinstated by the 16^th Karmapa, with the official seal from the 14^th Dalai Lama. However, the 14^th Shamarpa subsequently himself made many statements that were positively anti-Gelug and against the Dalai Lamas getting involved in any Karma Kagyu internal matters when it comes to teachers and recognitions, (even though the Dalai Lamas gave the official seal of approval to both the 16^th Karmapa and the 14th Shamarpa).  So the statement by the 5^th Dalai Lama about the equality of the Sharmapa and Karmapa would surely be equally as unvalid in his eyes too. I tried to find a photo of the 14th Shamarpa performing the red crown ceremony but was unable to find one.

Himalayan art Resources has a useful website section that details the symbolism and design of the red crown of the Shamarpas: 

The red crown of the Tai Situpas

The Tai Situpa is one of the highest-ranking and oldest lineages of tulkus of the Karma Kagyu lineage. Chokyi Gyaltsen was the first to bear the title “Grand Situ” (Chinese: 大司徒; pinyin: Dà Sītú), conferred upon him in 1407 by the Yongle Emperor of Ming China.

He was a close disciple of Deshin Shekpa, 5th Karmapa who appointed him abbot of Karma Gon, the Karmapa’s principal monastery at the time. As the 17^th Karmapa recently taught, the Tai Situpa established the first Karma Kagyu shedra as well.  Karma Gon remained the official seat of the successive teachers that bore the title of Tai Situ until the eighteenth century when the eighth holder, Situ Panchen Chokyi Jungne, moved his monastic seat to the newly built Palpung Monastery in the Dege area of Kham province.

The 9th Karmapa bestowed the 5th Kenting Tai Situpa a Red Vajra Crown of radiant gold, which mirrored the Karmapa’s own Black Vajra Crown. The Red Crown symbolizes the inseparability of the Karmapa and Kenting Tai Situpa.

At the age of five years old, after being recognised by the 16^th Karmapa, the current 12^th Kenting Tai Situpa went to Tsurphu. For the first time, Kenting Tai Situpa assisted by 9th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche performed the ceremony of the Red Vajra Crown at the chamber of 16th Karmapa. At the age of six years old, for the political conditions and on the advice of the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa, he fled historic Tibet. He traveling first to Bhutan, and later joining the Gyalwa Karmapa in Rumtek Monastery, Sikkim, India.

Here is a precious video record of the 12^th Tai Situpa performing the red crown ceremony in 1988.

The red crown of the Goshri Gyaltsabs

I wrote about the life-story of the second Goshri Gyaltsab for the Treasury of Lives, and his crucial role in the early life and dispute regarding the recognition of the 8^th Karmapa, Mikyo Dorje. It is said that he was bestowed the red crown by the 7^th Karmapa, Chodrag Gyatso.

The 12^th Gyaltsab Rinpoche gave this history teaching about the red crown ceremony of the Gyaltsab Rinpoches at the first red crown ceremony given in Bodh Gaya, at which the 17^th Karmapa was present himself:

“Each of the Gyalwang Karmapas has heart sons who are actually his emanations. As they are inseparable from him, the Gyalwang Karmapas bestowed upon them vajra crowns and commanded them to accomplish vast benefit for the teachings and beings. Together with his resolve, command of interdependence, and aspirations, the Karmapas enthroned them as Dharma Kings and thus arose the tradition of their vajra crowns. Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche’s red crown originated with a prophecy. The Lotus-born Great Guru Padmasambhava prophesied to the Seventh Gyalwang Karmapa Chödrak Gyatso:

If the agent of the victor’s activity—
The emanation of Karchen Pelgyi Wangchuk
And Dromtön Gyalwe Jungney—
Dons the crown that is the command of the guru,
It will create auspicious conditions
For the Buddha’s teachings to flourish.

Subsequently, a red crown with a golden blaze that liberates upon sight was consecrated through the practice of Lama Gondu. Having been blessed as the essence of vajra speech, Amitabha, it was placed on the head of the 2nd Gyaltsab, Tashi Namgyal.  Gyalwang Chödrak Gyamtso then proclaimed that the mind of the teacher and student had become undifferentiated and he thus appointed Gyaltsab Tashi Namgyal as his regent to turn the wheel of dharma. The Karmapa continued, saying that with the Vajra Crown remaining inseparable from the Gyaltsapas, it will create auspicious conditions to sustain all the Buddha’s teachings in general, and in particular, the long-standing tradition that is the essence of the Practice Lineage. He then recited verses, scattering flowers of auspiciousness.”

Here is a video of the red crown ceremony in 2020 in Bodh Gaya by Gyaltsab Rinpoche, which I personally attended:

Here are some photos of the Rumtek monastery red crown ceremony event, held yesterday, more can be seen on the Rumtek Monastery FB page:

Here is my translation of a Praise to the 12th Gyaltsab Rinpoche composed by the 17th Karmapa.