- Chöying Dorje
Chöying Dorje (1604-1674), also Choying Dorje was the tenth
Gyalwa Karmapa , head of theKagyu School ofTibetan Buddhism .Chöying Dorje was born in Khaytri Tang in the kingdom of Golok in
Amdo . At the age of eight, he was recognized by Shamar Mipan Chökyi Wangchuk, the sixthShamarpa and received the complete Kagyu transmissions. He traveled extensively throughTibet , however the country was very unstable, because theLozang Gyatso , the 5th Dalai Lama, together withGushi Khan , the warrior king ofMongolia , tried to gain control overCentral Tibet . During the reign of the previous Dalai Lama, the Kagyus were allied to the princes ofTsang and fought against the4th Dalai Lama .The army attacked
Shigatse and forced many monasteries to convert to theGelugpa school. [Laird, Thomas. (2006). "The Story of Tibet: Conversations with the Dalai Lama", p. 165. Grove Press, New York. ISBN 978-0-8021-1827-1.] [Richardson, Hugh E. (1984). "Tibet and its History". Second Edition, Revised and Updated, p. 42. Shambhala. Boston & London. ISBN 0-87773-376-7.(pbk)] The civil war became such that Chöying Dorje had to flee Tibet and he appointedGoshir Gyaltsab as the temporary regent. The Kagyu school was almost completely annihilated in theTsang province, however it remained in the provinces ofAmdo andKham .During his exile, Chöying Dorje travelled extensively through
Bhutan ,Yunnan (Chinese province),Burma andNepal and founded many monasteries. He returned to Tibet twenty years later, however the Kagyu school was, by then, no longer the most important school of Tibetan Buddhism.In 1674 the
Fifth Dalai Lama met with Chöying Dorje at thePotala , and the reconciliation was welcomed by all after the many conflicts and difficulties. [Karmay, Samten C. (2005). "The Great Fifth", p. 2. Downloaded as a pdf file on 16th December, 2007 from: [http://www.iias.nl/nl/39/IIAS_NL39_1213.pdf] ]References
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