For many years, Mipham Chökyi Lodrö, the 14th Künzig Shamarpa, worked to bring about a peaceful resolution to the controversy surrounding the recognition of the Gyalwa Karmapa, which divided monastic and lay practitioners, families, and friends. On several occasions, Shamarpa publicly encouraged (notably in a series of three videos in Tibetan) a meeting between His Holiness Trinley Thaye Dorje and His Holiness Ogyen Trinley Dorje.
This meeting did not take place during Shamarpa’s lifetime, but it was later facilitated by Lama Jigme Rinpoche. Thus, on October 11 and 12, 2018, His Holiness Trinley Thaye Dorje and His Holiness Ogyen Trinley Dorje made history by meeting for the first time, in complete confidentiality, in a rural location in France. Their goal was to get to know each other personally. They also discussed how they could work together to preserve and strengthen the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism.
Following this first meeting, a joint statement was published simultaneously on the websites of both masters in English, Tibetan, and Chinese.
We are both very pleased to have had this opportunity to meet and get to know each other in a peaceful and relaxed environment. We both had this wish for many years, and we are gratified that this wish has now been fulfilled.
The purpose of our meeting was primarily to spend time together so that we could establish a personal relationship. We were able to talk together freely and to learn about each other for the first time. We were thus able to begin what we expect will develop into a strong connection.
While we were together, we also talked about ways that we could work to heal the divisions that have unfortunately developed within our precious Karma Kagyu lineage. We view it as our duty and responsibility to do whatever we can to bring the lineage together.
The undertaking is critically important for the future of the Karma Kagyu lineage as well as for the future of Tibetan Buddhism and the benefit of all sentient beings. We therefore ask everyone with the Karma Kagyu community to join us in our efforts to strengthen and preserve our lineage. We view it as our collective responsibility to restore harmony to our tradition which is a lineage of wisdom and compassion.
This statement was picked up by Agence France Presse (AFP) and many other media outlets around the world. His Holiness the 12th Gyalwang Drukpa, Jigme Pema Wangchen, head of the Drukpa Kagyu tradition, was the first spiritual leader to react on Facebook on October 11, 2018, saying,
The meeting has set an example of how spiritual masters can and should come together and resolve internal problems through dialogue, bearing in mind the bigger picture of the interests of the Dharma in general and the Karma Kagyu Lineage in particular. I congratulate Their Holinesses on taking this brave initiative and I am sure that the young generation of spiritual masters will follow their example in resolving issues through dialogue with a sense of spiritual brotherhood. My best wishes and prayers for the success of Their Holinesses’ initiative for the future of the Karma Kagyu Lineage, Buddhism in general and the well-being of sentient beings.
The beneficial repercussions of this meeting are considerable, particularly among Tibetan practitioners, pacifying hostilities that sometimes existed within the same family and restoring harmony among followers of one master or the other.
This statement paved the way to private communications between Their Holinesses and to other key meetings, such as in October 2019 or December 2023. Further to this last meeting, the two masters published a joint statement regarding the reincarnation of Künzig Shamar Rinpoche in clear and direct terms:
We see that it is our responsibility to continue to recognise the reincarnations of Kunzig Shamarpa. For the recognition to be unmistaken and undisputed would have tremendous benefit for reuniting the Karma Kagyu. Thus, the two of us are shouldering this responsibility that has fallen on us both. Despite many difficulties, we have met several times and had deep conversations that have greatly increased our sincere intentions.
In a letter published after this 2023 meeting, His Holiness Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang,Tenzin Thrinle Lhundrup, 23rd holder of the Drikung Kagyü lineage, underlined its full importance,
It is indeed a new dawn for the teachings of the Karmapa and good news to not only holders of the Karmapa lineage throughout the world but also for the entire Kagyu lineage. The successive reincarnations of Künzig Shamar Rinpoche and the precious lineage that came from them are well documented by Kagyüpas in general and in The Golden Rosary Lineage of Karma Kagyü in particular. The inseparability of the lineage of the Künzig Shamarpas and the Karma Kagyü is clearly attested to in all historical works.
His Holiness Trinley Thaye Dorje and His Holiness Ogyen Trinley Dorje thus continue to hold the commitment made in their very first meeting—to do everything possible to reunite the lineage and restore harmony within the Karma Kagyü tradition.
Event
To commemorate this event, on Saturday, October 11, we will perform the practice of purification through a smoke offering ritual.
