ABS 163
Code: ABS 163
Country: Tibet
Style:
Date: 1700 - 1800
Dimensions in cm WxHxD: 31 x 42 x 24.9
Materials: Gilt copper
Karma pa 08 Mi bskyod rdo rje (1507-1554)
Hollow cast in two parts.
The master is seated in meditation posture (vajraparyaṅka) on a lotus pedestal. His right extended hand touches the ground in bhūmisparśa mudrā with his right hand, while his left hand rests in his lap in dhyāna mudrā, cradling a book of Tibetan format. He wears the triple monastic garment with finely chiselled patterns, and his head is crowned with the famous black hat, symbol of the Karma pa hierarchs. Mi bskyod rdo rje was a religious figure of first rank, as he was instrumental in systematising the teachings of his school.
An inscription in Sanskrit runs along the base of the pedestal. Another in Tibetan dBu can script on the back reads:
༄། རྒྱལ་བ་ཀརྨ་པ་མི་བསྐྱོད་རྡོ་རྗེ་ལ་ན་མོ། ཤུ་བྷཾ།
rgyal ba karma pa mi bskyod rdo rje la na mo/ shu bhaṃ/
“Homage to the victorious Karmapa Mikyö Dorje. May all be well!”
Hollow cast in two parts.
The master is seated in meditation posture (vajraparyaṅka) on a lotus pedestal. His right extended hand touches the ground in bhūmisparśa mudrā with his right hand, while his left hand rests in his lap in dhyāna mudrā, cradling a book of Tibetan format. He wears the triple monastic garment with finely chiselled patterns, and his head is crowned with the famous black hat, symbol of the Karma pa hierarchs. Mi bskyod rdo rje was a religious figure of first rank, as he was instrumental in systematising the teachings of his school.
An inscription in Sanskrit runs along the base of the pedestal. Another in Tibetan dBu can script on the back reads:
༄། རྒྱལ་བ་ཀརྨ་པ་མི་བསྐྱོད་རྡོ་རྗེ་ལ་ན་མོ། ཤུ་བྷཾ།
rgyal ba karma pa mi bskyod rdo rje la na mo/ shu bhaṃ/
“Homage to the victorious Karmapa Mikyö Dorje. May all be well!”
Biography
The Eighth Karmapa : Mikyö Dorje (1507 - 1554)
“Your intelligence in regard to the modes of knowable objects is unobstructed.
Thus, you are free of hesitation when elucidating the intended meaning of the scriptures.
Of interfering with this conduct, distractions had not the slightest chance.
Mikyö Dorje, we supplicate at your feet.”
(from Supplication To The Karmapas)
The Eighth Karmapa, Mikyö Dorje, realized the activity of the Karmapas and Guru Rinpoche as the activity-aspect of all thousand Buddhas of our universe our universe.
Born in a small village called Satam, in the region of Kartiphuk of Ngomchu, in eastern Tibet, to a family of devoted yogins, the eighth Karmapa was said to have spoken the words "I am the Karmapa" at birth. Upon hearing this report, Tai Situpa confirmed the child to be the new Karmapa. He spent the next years at Karma Gön.
When he was five, a child in Amdo was put forward as the Karmapa. The Karmapa's regent, Gyaltsab Rinpoche, set out from Tsurphu to investigate the two children. However, on meeting Mikyö Dorje, he found himself spontaneously prostrating and knew that he was the real Karmapa.
Tai Situ Rinpoche, along with Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche and other students of the previous Karmapa, devised a test, which the child not only passed but to which he was heard to say "E ma ho! Have no doubts, I am the Karmapa." Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche enthroned him the following year when he was six.
Mikyo Dorje studied with Sangye Nyenpa Tashi Paljor, Dulmo Tashi Öser, Dakpo Tashi Namgyal, and Karma Trinleypa. He took the essential Kagyu teachings from Sangye Nyenpa, Tashi Paljor. The Karmapa received an invitation to China when quite young, but declined on the ground that the Emperor would pass away before he could arrive, a prediction that turned out to be true.
Mikyö Dorje was one of the most renowned of the Karmapas, a great meditation master as well as a prolific and learned scholar, author of over thirty volumes of work, including very significant commentaries on the sutrayana treatises and pithy instructions on tantras. The eighth Karmapa was also a visionary artist, to whom we owe the Karma Gadri style of thangka painting- one of the major schools of thangka composition. Mikyo Dorje also composed many sadhanas, practice liturgies, and other devotional practices for the Karma Kagyu school.
The eighth Karmapa had many visions of the inseparability of his own manifestations and those of Guru Rinpoche. Guru Rinpoche carries out the activity of the Buddha himself, and is considered one of the ways in which the Buddha accomplishes his enlightened activity. The eighth Karmapa realized his prior manifestation was coincident with the Guru Rinpoche manifestation activity of another historical Buddha, Dipamkara, who according to Buddhist cosmology preceded Buddha Shakyamuni in an era prior to the history of the current era. In Buddhist cosmology, it is said there are to be 1000 such buddhas, and hence the Karmapa and Guru Rinpoche can both be said to be the activity-aspect of all thousand Buddhas of our universe.
Foreseeing his imminent passing, he entrusted a letter of prediction to the Shamar Konchok Yenlak and entered parinirvana at the age of 47. Among his many disciples, the main ones were Shamar Konchok Yenlak and Pawo Tsuklak Trengwa. His prediction letter said: "In the life following this one, I will be born as the glorious, self-arisen lord (Wangchuk) of the world. In the upper regions of the snowy region of Tre-shö to the east, a place where there is the sound of water and the dharma is heard. I have seen the signs that it will not be long before I am born in there."
The Eighth Karmapa : Mikyö Dorje (1507 - 1554)
“Your intelligence in regard to the modes of knowable objects is unobstructed.
Thus, you are free of hesitation when elucidating the intended meaning of the scriptures.
Of interfering with this conduct, distractions had not the slightest chance.
Mikyö Dorje, we supplicate at your feet.”
(from Supplication To The Karmapas)
The Eighth Karmapa, Mikyö Dorje, realized the activity of the Karmapas and Guru Rinpoche as the activity-aspect of all thousand Buddhas of our universe our universe.
Born in a small village called Satam, in the region of Kartiphuk of Ngomchu, in eastern Tibet, to a family of devoted yogins, the eighth Karmapa was said to have spoken the words "I am the Karmapa" at birth. Upon hearing this report, Tai Situpa confirmed the child to be the new Karmapa. He spent the next years at Karma Gön.
When he was five, a child in Amdo was put forward as the Karmapa. The Karmapa's regent, Gyaltsab Rinpoche, set out from Tsurphu to investigate the two children. However, on meeting Mikyö Dorje, he found himself spontaneously prostrating and knew that he was the real Karmapa.
Tai Situ Rinpoche, along with Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche and other students of the previous Karmapa, devised a test, which the child not only passed but to which he was heard to say "E ma ho! Have no doubts, I am the Karmapa." Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche enthroned him the following year when he was six.
Mikyo Dorje studied with Sangye Nyenpa Tashi Paljor, Dulmo Tashi Öser, Dakpo Tashi Namgyal, and Karma Trinleypa. He took the essential Kagyu teachings from Sangye Nyenpa, Tashi Paljor. The Karmapa received an invitation to China when quite young, but declined on the ground that the Emperor would pass away before he could arrive, a prediction that turned out to be true.
Mikyö Dorje was one of the most renowned of the Karmapas, a great meditation master as well as a prolific and learned scholar, author of over thirty volumes of work, including very significant commentaries on the sutrayana treatises and pithy instructions on tantras. The eighth Karmapa was also a visionary artist, to whom we owe the Karma Gadri style of thangka painting- one of the major schools of thangka composition. Mikyo Dorje also composed many sadhanas, practice liturgies, and other devotional practices for the Karma Kagyu school.
The eighth Karmapa had many visions of the inseparability of his own manifestations and those of Guru Rinpoche. Guru Rinpoche carries out the activity of the Buddha himself, and is considered one of the ways in which the Buddha accomplishes his enlightened activity. The eighth Karmapa realized his prior manifestation was coincident with the Guru Rinpoche manifestation activity of another historical Buddha, Dipamkara, who according to Buddhist cosmology preceded Buddha Shakyamuni in an era prior to the history of the current era. In Buddhist cosmology, it is said there are to be 1000 such buddhas, and hence the Karmapa and Guru Rinpoche can both be said to be the activity-aspect of all thousand Buddhas of our universe.
Foreseeing his imminent passing, he entrusted a letter of prediction to the Shamar Konchok Yenlak and entered parinirvana at the age of 47. Among his many disciples, the main ones were Shamar Konchok Yenlak and Pawo Tsuklak Trengwa. His prediction letter said: "In the life following this one, I will be born as the glorious, self-arisen lord (Wangchuk) of the world. In the upper regions of the snowy region of Tre-shö to the east, a place where there is the sound of water and the dharma is heard. I have seen the signs that it will not be long before I am born in there."
Bock, Etienne; Falcombello, Jean-Marc; Jenny Magali, 2022. Trésors du Tibet. Sur les pas de Milarépa. Paris: Flammarion. P. 267