Several Indian news sources are reporting that the government of India will allow His Holiness the Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, to travel to the U.S. this week. He is expected to arrive in Washington, DC, this Friday to attend Kalachakra observances with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The Kalachakra begins today and lasts for eleven days.
This morning there was no confirmation of this news from the Karmapa's press office, but perhaps they are too busy packing to update the website. I'll keep an eye on it.
Last year the government of India forced the Karmapa to cancel plans to travel to Europe and the U.S., which elicited criticism that His Holiness was being kept under house arrest. If the new reports are accurate, it certainly will be welcome news.
Karmapa Chenno!
Well Barbara, there seems to be a controversy over who is the real 17th Karmapa.
1. Ogyen Trinley Dorje
2. Trinley Thaye Dorje
Has the Dalai Lama straightened this out?
I saw this printed: In late January 2011, medical records that indicated that Ogyen Trinley was too old to really be the incarnation of the 16th Karmapa went missing. Endocrinology tests had indicated that he was older than claimed.
and this: In February 2011, Ogyen Trinley Dorje was accused of being a Chinese spy by elements of the government of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh,[31] due in part to the fact that $1 million cash was found in his monastery, part of it in Chinese yuan.
Don’t you just love this stuff?
Phra Ahan Bill — If you had read the article linked to about the Karmapa, you would have seen that it discussed the Karmapa controversy and the “other” Karmapa. His Holiness the Dalai Lama all along has recognized Ogyen Trinley Dorje as the “real” Karmapa, but Trinley Thaye supporters all along have said that doesn’t count, because the Dalai Lama has no authority to choose the Karmapa, who is head of another school. I don’t see any resolution to this anytime soon, or even in my lifetime. More likely it will split the Kagyu school and there will continue to be two Karmapas. However, the majority of ethnic Tibetans appear to support Ogyen Trinley, and I think they will turn to him for leadership with the 14th Dalai Lama passes.
This blog also covered the Chinese spy accusations in great detail last February. It’s in the archives, if you want to look it up. In a nutshell, the Karmapa was cleared of wrongdoing, although it’s still possible some of his assistants will face charges. The problem, very briefly, is that a great many admirers and supporters of the Karmapa bring donations of foreign currency, but Indian law doesn’t allow the Tibetans to simply deposit such donations in a normal bank account without special permission. And such permission was applied for a long time ago, but it was never received. So the cash has been stored in a monastery. There’s a bit more to it, but that’s the main issue with the money.
Babara, thanks for an excellent synopsis of the very complicated events that happened which reek of conspiracy!