His Holiness the 16th Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, holder of the sacred treasure of Vajradhara, founded Rumtek Dharma Chakra Centre in Sikkim as his main seat in exile outside Tibet. As the supreme head of the Kagyu order of Tibetan Buddhism, the Karmapa embodies, represents, and guides its accumulated spiritual energy. Karma means “activity”, and the Karmapa embodies the activity of all the buddhas of the ten directions.
Born in eastern Tibet in 1924 to a noble family, he was recognised as the Karmapa incarnation in accord with a prediction letter written by the previous Karmapa, and enthroned when he was eight years old. The recognition of the 16th Karmapa was officially confirmed by His Holiness the 13th Dalai Lama.
He died in 1981 in Zion, Illinois, north of Chicago and passed into parinirvana, leaving a prediction letter found by one of his regents, His Eminence the 12th Situ Rinpoche. After his death, his body remained upright in meditation posture for three days, and the area over his heart was warm. During his cremation, his heart fell from the blazing body. This is now a venerated relic, stored in a stupa at Rumtek monastery.
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