12/17/2020
Tashi Delek & Namaste! I just wanted to remind all my dharma brothers, sisters, and friends that today, December 17, 2020, is the 3rd of the 11th month in Tibetan Buddhist calendar and it is the parinirvana day of H.H. the 1st Gyalwang Karmapa Dusum Khyenpa.
In the future, you will be the buddha named Drukpa Sengge,
In the present, you nurture all realms through many emanations.
Lord of Dharma, ruler of the teachings of the practice lineage, Düsum Khyenpa,
we supplicate at your feet.
Düsum Khyenpa who lived 1110–1193CE was the 1st Gyalwang Karmapa, head of the Kagyu tradtition of Tibetan Buddhism. Düsum Khyenpa in Tibetan means "knower of the three times" (past, present and future).
He was born to a family of devoted Buddhist practitioners in Teshö in eastern Tibet. The boy who was to become known as the first Karmapa was called Gephel as a child. He first studied with his father, and became a knowledgeable and seasoned practitioner, even as a young child. He continued his education with other Buddhist teachers of the region.
Among these many teachers, his root teacher was Lord Gampopa. After going through many years of Buddhist studies and practices of both sutra and ta**ra, under many qualified teachers such as Lord Gampopa, Rechunpa, Chapa Chokyi Senge, Patsab Lotsawa Nyima Drakpa and so on, Düsum Khyenpa became of one of the greatest scholars and accomplished masters in the history of the entire Tibetan Buddhism.
At the age of 55 (1164), Düsum Khyenpa founded a monastery at Kampo Nénang; and at the age of 60 (1169), he started the Panphuk monastery in Lithang, in East Tibet. Later, at the age of 76 (1185), he established an important seat at Karma Gön, in eastern Tibet (1184). At the age of 80 (1189), he established his main seat at Tsurphu, in the Tolung valley, a river which feeds into the Brahmaputra, in central Tibet.
Düsum Khyenpa passed away at the age of eighty-four. Before his parinirvana, Düsum Khyenpa made predictions about future Karmapas. In particular, he prophesied details about his next incarnation. Düsum Khyenpa passed away at the age of eighty-four. The first tulku line of Tibet is the Karmapas as the second Gyalwang Karmapa, Karma Pakshi, was recognized as the reincarnation of the the Gyalwang Karmapa, Düsum Khyenpa. Karmapa Khyenno!!! Sarva Mangalam!
