32.75" x 23" The 8th Gyalwa Karmapa Thangka Painting

The Eighth Gyalwa Karmapa – Mikyo Dorje

The Eighth Gyalwa Karmapa, Mikyo Dorje, was born in the fire – rabbit year to a family of devoted yogis in a small village called Sa – tam in the region of Gomchu – Gyalung, East Tibet (according to the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center (abbr. tbrc) the name of his birthplace is Khams – nang – chen – ngom – chu – brgyud – bar – khang). His father’s name was Ajam, and his mother’s name was Lama Dron. At his birth, Mikyo Dorje spoke the words, "I am the Karmapa." Ajam looked up the Third Tai Situ Rinpoche, Tashi Paljor, and told him about his son. His Eminence immediately knew that the baby was the reincarnation of the Seventh Gyalwa Karmapa.

When Mikyo Dorje was 5 years old, a family from Amdo claimed that their child was the Karmapa. The Seventh Karmapa’s regent, the Second Gyaltsab Rinpoche, Tashi Namgyal, immediately set out from Tsurphu Monastery to investigate the matter. When he saw Mikyo Dorje, he spontaneously prostrated to him and - aware of the meaning of this intuitive act - realized that the young boy was the true Karmapa. Yet, he, the Third Tai Situpa, as well as close students of the Seventh Karmapa officially needed to carry out tests. Mikyo Dorje not only passed all tests but said to all further tests, “Emaho! How wonderful! Have no doubts. I am the Karmapa.” Both Crowned Princes as well as the witnesses testified that Mikyo Dorje was the Eighth Karmapa. The young Karmapa recognized that the other candidate was the reincarnation of Zurmang Chungtsang from Zurmang Monastery in East Tibet and saw to it that he was cared for. A year later, Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche gave Mikyo Dorje all possessions from his previous life and enthroned him with the Black Vajra Crown as the Eighth Gyalwa Karmapa at his main seat, Dechen Zong of Tsurphu Gon in the Tolung Valley.

After having studied with His Eminence Tai Situ Rinpoche at Tsurphu Gon, when he was 8 years old, Mikyo Dorje took up his studies with the First Sangye Nyenpa, Tashi Paljor, who had been appointed by the Seventh Karmapa to pass on the Karma Kagyü Practice and Whispering Lineage to his next incarnation. Mikyö Dorje received all essential empowerments and instructions from His Eminence Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, who therefore became his Root Guru. Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche passed into Parinirvana when Mikyo Dorje was approximately 18 years old. The Eighth Karmapa’s other teachers, who were all brilliant scholars, were Dulmo Tashi Oser, Karma Trinlepa, and Dakpo Tashi Namgyal.

 Iconography

His Holiness the Eighth Gyalwa Karmapa was one of the most universal masters of the Karmapas. He was also a visionary artist, and to this day we are indebted to him for having founded one of the major schools of thangka painting, the Karma Gadri Tradition. Karmapa Arts offers an introduction to the art styles prevalent in the Tibetan culture and wrote that there are three major styles of Tibetan paintings, the Mendri, the Mensar, and the Karma Gadri styles. The Mendri style, the oldest, was developed by Menla Dondrub, who studied under an expert in Nepalese-style painting. Through acquiring a thorough knowledge, he revised the proportions and composition of religious figures, developed new pigments, defined the religious requirements of both the artist and patron, demonstrated the need for accurate painting by showing the consequences of inaccurate work, and gave instructions in various methods of painting. It was these revisions that came to be known as the Mendri style. The Eighth Gyalwa Karmapa developed the Karma Gadri School. His Eminence Gyaltsab Rinpoche taught him how to paint in a distinctive style that was based upon such examples as the silk thangka given to the Fifth Gyalwa Karmapa by the Ming emperor, the masks that were made by artists who had witnessed the revelation of the Third Gyalwa Karmapa's image in the full moon, and a Chinese thangka that depicted the Sixteen Arhats of early Buddhism. Thus, the Eighth Karmapa’s style incorporated components from three sources: Indian forms, traditional Tibetan composition, and Chinese colours.

His Holiness was not only an exemplary person, a great yogi, and meditation master, but he was also an eminent scholar and sage, author of twenty-eight volumes covering subjects of imagination, compassion, and practical application, e.g., linguistics, religious law, the arts, poetry and songs, and compelling commentaries on the Sutras, profound Tantras, and Mahamudra. He composed many Sadhanas (“liturgical texts”) for dedicated disciples of the Karma Kagyü Tradition, specifically “The Four-Session Guru-Yoga.”.