Despite the central Tibetan Administration (CTA) leader Sikyong, Penpa Tsering and speaker visiting Sikkim recently, and announcing some change in the court case in Himachal Pradesh, there has been no further announcement, movement or change on the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa being able to visit Sikkim and his main seat of Rumtek Monastery there.
One can only assume that they did not raise the issue at all, or did raise it but were unable to effect any real change on it. Do they care that the supreme head of the 900 year old Karma Kagyu Tibetan Buddhist lineage (with hundreds of thousands of Tibetan followers inside and outside Tibet) is still unable to visit and reside there? Actions speak louder than words. In addition, it seems as if that surprise (and rather odd) photo shoot in Switzerland with the 14th Dalai Lama (rather predictably) has had zero effect or impact whatsoever on the 17th Karmapa’s situation, and worse may have set back to some extent his favourable position with the Chinese government too.
The US-Gelugpa strategy of continuing to insist on the Dalai Lama/Gelugpa authorities in exile (now operating under the guise of the ‘democratic’ CTA) as being the only ones who can bring political and spiritual freedom to Tibetans in Tibet (even though the Chinese government still refuse to accept their ‘authority’) has not only failed, but is starting to look more and more desperate, divisive and counter-productive. They simply will not accept the karmic lessons and results of what they did in Tibet to Tibetans and great spiritual masters, like the 10th Karmapa and Jetsun Tāranātha.
In fact, worse, information has come to light (from a reliable Indian source) that the International Buddhist Confederation (a front for Gelugpa sectarianism in India for many years) has started inviting people from the Thaye Dorje controlled KIBI institute in New Delhi, even though the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa himself is still not able to attend their meetings!
Email the Bodhi Temple Committee members
Therefore, the next suggested action (as the CTA cannot, or will not effect any real change) is to put pressure on the Thaye Dorje group to not only abandon their court cases for Rumtek but also to write to the Bodhi Temple management to suggest that as the vast majority of Karma Kagyu monasteries and nunneries in India, Nepal and Bhutan do not follow Thaye Dorje, and he is not recognised officially by any of the senior Karma Kagyu Rinpoches (other than the 14th Zhamarpa who has now passed away) , that it is no longer suitable for him to hold ‘Kagyu Monlam’ under the Bodhi tree using the name Karmapa (with Indian police presence), as it misleads and divides people as to who the official Karmapa is. Can you imagine if an unofficial Dalai Lama was going around doing the same thing?
In any case, below is a suggested letter (which can be edited as you wish) to send to the Mahabodhi Temple Committee members at bodhgayatemple@gmail.com.
SUGGESTED EMAIL/LETTER
“Bodhi Temple management committee, Bodh Gaya, Bihar, 824231 India
DATE December 2024
Request to stop use of Karmapa and Kagyu Monlam name by Thaye Dorje and his followers
Dear Honourable Bodhi Temple committee members,
I am writing to kindly request that Thaye Dorje (the unofficial claimant to the title Karmapa) and his followers no longer be allowed to use the name Karmapa and Kagyu Monlam to hold a mass annual gathering under the sacred Bodhi tree. The reasons for this request are the following.
1) The vast majority (if not all) the Karma Kagyu monasteries and nunneries in India, Nepal, Bhutan and other neighbouring countries follow Ogyen Trinley Dorje and not Thay Dorje.
2) The recognition of Ogyen Trinley Dorje was based on the traditional means of recognizing the Karmapas, the handwritten letter of his predecessor, 16th Karmapa. This letter was given to a senior Karma Kagyu Rinpoche, Tai Situpa by the 16th Karmapa before he passed away, and is a sacred and important document. False accusations by followers of Thaye Dorje that the letter was a fraud and that Tai Situ fraudulently created it, have never been substantiated or proven, and should be withdrawn immediately.
3) Thus, the candidate Thaye Dorje, (whose unclear basis for claiming to be the Karmapa) was never officially accepted by the Karma Kagyu senior lamas, such as Tai Situ Rinpoche, and Gyaltsab Rinpoche, Bokar Rinpoche, Jamgon Kongtrul 3rd and 4th and so on. The candidate was put forward later as an alternative by the 14th Zhamarpa only, after Ogyen Trinley Dorje had been discovered in Tibet. Thaye Dorje thus does not even hold the full lineage of the Karma Kagyu or their support.
4) Even though it is not strictly relevant for the Karma Kagyu, the 14th Dalai Lama, did not recognize Thaye Dorje as a valid or authentic candidate for the Karmapa, and told the 14th Zhamarpa his reasons for that directly.
5) Also, 150 years ago a respected treasure-revealer, Chogyur Lingpa revealed a text composed by Guru Padmasambhava that clearly states that the 17th Karmapa would be ‘one mind with Tai Situpa Rinpoche’.
6) The use of legal court cases by the Thaye Dorje faction and his supporters to block the 17th Karmapa’s return to Rumtek Monastery has caused great division and sadness among the Karma Kagyu followers in India and outside India and is a reason why there is no genuine friendship or harmony with the Thaye Dorje group.
7) The use of the sacred ground of the Bodhi tree by Thaye Dorje using the name Karmapa and Kagyu Monlam, has also caused much confusion and division in Karma Kagyu too.
Thus, I sincerely request the Bodhi Temple Committee to consider these reasons and others and allow them to still gather and conduct prayers there like any other group of Buddhists, but no longer using the name Karmapa and Kagyu Monlam.
Good wishes,
YOUR NAME”