The Karmapas — 900 Years of Enlightened Activity

The Karmapas — 900 Years of Enlightened Activity

Thursdays evenings
6:00–7:30 pm PT
October 3, 10, 17, 24, 2024

Shakyamuni Buddha (5th or 6th century BCE) is said to have foretold that many centuries later a fully realized teacher would appear “in the land of the red-faced ones,” who would wear “monastic robes and a black crown.” Beginning in 1110, seventeen persons holding the title of Karmapa were born in succession, up through the current Karmapa, Orgyen Trinley Dorje, the seventeenth, who was born in 1985. “Karmapa,” refers literally to ‘the one who performs the activity of a Buddha,’ and each Karmapa is renowned for his mastery in meditation, the profundity of his teaching and the courage in his leadership of the Buddhist community.

Each of the Karmapas grew up and were educated in Tibet. In this series of classes, we will look beyond prophecy to consider the historical context of each of these storied masters, using contemporary historical criteria as one of our vantage points. We will survey their religious and philosophical writings and consider some of their greatest accomplishments in meditation, and how they inspired the development of the institutions supporting the spiritual practices of the Karma Kamtsang lineage of the Dakpo Kagyu flowing through Gampopa.

These classes will also consider the often-tumultuous times during which the Karmapas lived. Tibetan communities were confronting the fallout of war in the Song Empire to the east, the Pala Dynasty to the southwest, followed by the armies of the Mongol Empire which conquered Tibet and most of Asia. We will also examine how the Karmapas came to be considered a single line of reincarnations, and their formative role in the development of what is known as the “tulku tradition” of Tibet.

Please join us in classes tracing the history of the Karma Kagyu lineage. Martin Marvet, a senior student of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche and a scholar of the Karma Kagyu lineage, has generously offered to teach a series of classes on the origins of the Karmapa lineage as well as the spiritual biographies of each Karmapa. Four classes in October will begin a series that will continue into 2025. In the first class, Marty will present a high-level overview of the origins of the lineage and the main historical events that influenced its development. In the following three classes, he will dive into the rich, spiritual biographies and historical context of the first three Karmapas – Dusum Khyenpa (1110–1193), Karma Pakshi (1206–83) and Rangjung Dorje (1284–1339).

Schedule & Format

Thursdays, 6:00–7:30p Pacific Time on Zoom.

Recordings will be available for a period of time after each class.

October 3 — overview of lineage
October 10 — Dusum Khyenpa, the first Karmapa
October 17 — Karma Pakshi
October 24 — Rangjung Dorje

Martin Marvet

Martin Marvet has been a student of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche for decades. Since Karmapa Orgyen Thrinley Dorje’s arrival in Dharamsala in 2000, Martin has worked closely under Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche’s guidance to support Karmapa’s role in the West and was one of the lead co-ordinators for Karmapa’s visits to the U.S. in 2008, 2011, 2015 and 2017. This role engendered a life-long interest in research into the history of the Karmapas. As attorney and administrator, Martin supported Rinpoche in the legal formation and management of Nitartha International since 1992, Nalandabodhi since 1997, and Karmapa Foundation U.S. since 2007, as well as the acquisition, development and management of Nalanda West since 2003. Martin was a lawyer in private practice in New York prior to moving to Seattle in 1999 to help develop the Office of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche.