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Lot Essay
The Karmapa (officially His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa) is the head of the Karma Kagyu, the largest sub-school of the Kagyupa, one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The Karmapas are the holders of the Black Crown and are sometimes known as the Black Hat Lamas. It is said this crown was woven by the dakinis from their hair and given to Karmapa, in recognition of his spiritual realization.
The first Karmapa, Dsum Khyenpa (1110-1193), was a disciple of the Tibetan master Gampopa. A gifted child who studied Buddhist teachings from an early age, he is said to have attained enlightenment at the age of fifty, and thereafter regarded as the Karmapa, a manifestation of Avalokitesvara. The oral lineage, which is traced back to the Buddha Vajradhara, was transmitted to the Indian master of mahamudra and tantra Tilopa (989-1069), through Naropa (1016-1100) to Marpa and Milarepa. The subject of the present painting, the Fifteenth Karmapa Kakyab Dorje lived 1871-1922.
The first Karmapa, Dsum Khyenpa (1110-1193), was a disciple of the Tibetan master Gampopa. A gifted child who studied Buddhist teachings from an early age, he is said to have attained enlightenment at the age of fifty, and thereafter regarded as the Karmapa, a manifestation of Avalokitesvara. The oral lineage, which is traced back to the Buddha Vajradhara, was transmitted to the Indian master of mahamudra and tantra Tilopa (989-1069), through Naropa (1016-1100) to Marpa and Milarepa. The subject of the present painting, the Fifteenth Karmapa Kakyab Dorje lived 1871-1922.