H. H. 1 7 T H K A R M A P A
His Holiness the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, is head of the Karma Kagyu school. He was born in Tibet in 1985, and identified himself to family members as the Karmapa early in childhood. 1n 1992, at the age of 7, he was recognized by a search party headed by Tai Situ Rinpoche, who was sent by the Dalai Lama. The 16th Karmapa had left him a locket, containing a prophetic letter, directing him to his future birthplace, the year of his rebirth, and the names of his future mother and father.
In 2000, at the age of 14, he successfully escaped from Tibet, and was welcomed by the Dalai lama and the Tibetan community at Dharamsala, India. In 2008, he took his first trip the the United States to teach the Dharma. The 17th Karmapa is a gifted writer, painter, and reformer— he is known for his environmentalism and for support female issues, including restoring the ordination of nuns in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.
