- Wangchuk Dorje
Wangchuk Dorje (1556-1603) was the ninth
Gyalwa Karmapa , head of theKagyu School ofTibetan Buddhism .Wangchuk Dorje was born in Treshod,
Kham . According to legend, he said after being born: "I am Karmapa." He received his education from Shamar Köncho Yenlak, the fifthShamarpa , in a nomadic camp which traveled throughTibet but also passed through present dayMongolia andBhutan . During his travels many monasteries were founded. Wangchuk also wrote many classic Buddhist texts, many of which are still being taught today.*"The Chariot for Travelling the Path to Freedom", the principal Karma Kagyu
ngondro thereafterMahamudra Texts
* [http://www.nitartha.org/mahamudra_contents.html "Ocean of Definitive Meaning" (By 9th Gyalwa Karmapa)]
* "Pointing out the Dharmakaya"Wangchuk Dorje was not only a spiritual leader, but was also a mediator in conflicts. He was invited by the king of
Sikkim to settle a dispute and while there he founded three monasteries one of them being inRumtek which is currently the most important monastery of the lineage after the Chinese occupation ofTibet .Near the end of his life,
Yonten Gyatso was installed as the fourthDalai Lama by theMongolia ns. Wangchuk Dorje tried to reconquer the power ofLhasa together with monks of theGelugpa sect who didn't recognized the fourth Dalai Lama. The conquest was violent and monasteries were conquered by force. During this time Yonten Gyatso died under suspicious circumstances. This ultimately resulted in the next Karmapa having to flee Tibet during the civil war which followed.
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