Five Karmapa monasteries in Lijiang

    In the Lijiang district of Yunnan in Southwest China there are five Karmapa monasteries that were beautifully situated on the hillsides and surrounded by forests. At an altitude 2400 meters, the old town borders Tibet, and is crisscrossed by canals and a maze of narrow lanes.

    The mystic doctrine of Vajrayana Buddhism, with its colorful rites and its ecclesiastic connection to Tibet strongly appealed to the Nakhi people, who are descended from Tibetan nomads, and are the original inhabitants of the area. References in Nakhi literature to Lake Mansarovar and Mount Kailash, and the fact that the Nakhi people too, hold both sacred, also confirm their Tibetan origins.

    Over a period of a thousand years, the Nakhi people created an extraordinary writing system, of pictographs. Their Shamens, the Dongbas, who passed knowledge down from father to son, and were loosely linked with other shamen in the culture, were the guardians of the writing, and mediated between the Nakhi people and the spirit world. It was on Kawa Karpo mountain, also held sacred by the Buddhists, above the village of Lijiang, that the Dongbas held religious rites every ten years. The Dongba religion and Bon, the indigenous religions of the Nakhi and the Tibetan peoples before the advent of Buddhism and Taoism (in Yunnan) bore deep similarities to one other. This possibly explains the affinity the Nakhi people developed for Vajrayana Buddhism, since its expression had been flavored by the trappings of the Bon religion, some of which it had absorbed over the course of time. In Nakhi areas, it is mainly through the Kagyu lineage that the people developed devotion to the Buddha Dharma.

    The people of the Lijiang area and the Karmapas share an ancient history. For Vajrayana Buddhists, Kawa Karpo Mountain is known to be the abode of the great Yidam Demchog (In Sanskrit: Chakrasamvara). No human had ever been able to find a way to reach this sacred spot, but Karma Pakshi, the 2nd Karmapa, had a vision of the route, and soon had it opened for pilgrimage.

    In the sixteenth century, the King of Jiang (Now known as Li-jiang) in Yunnan heard about the teachings of the 8th Karmapa, Mikyo Dorje, and invited the young Karmapa to visit his country. The king dispatched four generals and ten thousand soldiers to accompany Karmapa on his long journey. On the third day of the fourth month of the male fire rat year (1516) Karmapa reached the border of Tibet. There he was met by the King of Jiang, riding in a palanquin, and accompanied by his brother and his uncle both riding elephants and escorted by many riders on horseback, making a magnificent welcome. The king prostrated before the Karmapa, and as he did so, the elephants broke their tethers and also bowed down three times before him, raising their trunks to the sky. At that moment, thunderclaps were heard overhead.

    When the 10th Karmapa, Choying Dorje, was travelling toward Jiang, it is said that bears, wolves and other animals offered food from the jungle. Monkeys came to receive his blessings, and led him and his attendants through the thick growth until they reached the safety of Targye Gang Monastery in Jiang, after a journey of over three years. Everyone gathered to meet Karmapa, and there was great rejoicing at his wellbeing. At the word of his arrival, the king sent his chief minister with many offerings and an invitation for the Karmapa to visit the palace. On the first day of the first month of that year (1645) Karmapa arrived at the palace and was laden with many gifts and feted with great processions and joyful ceremonies. Dance and drama were performed, and Karmapa began to teach the Dharma throughout the country. On one occasion, it is recorded that Karmapa called together the beggars from the four directions, and, seating himself in their midst, chanting the 'Mani' mantra, distributed all the offerings and gifts that had been presented to him since his arrival. Around the same time, Mongol forces were in the border regions and were raiding and pillaging quite close to Jiang. The King of Jiang sent his army to make a survey, and in a sudden engagement, the Mongols were defeated. In conference with his ministers and generals, the king made a decision to send his 300,000-man force over the border to attack the Mongol army in Tibet proper. A vow was made to make the Karmapa Supreme Ruler if this campaign succeeded, but Karmapa suddenly appeared and forbade such an action, saying that such aggression is contrary to the Buddha's teachings. While teaching in the king's palace, Karmapa had a vision about the whereabouts of an important tulku, again, he distributed all his possessions among beggars and gave all his books, relics and ritual implements into the care of his servant Kuntu Zangpo. He then set off on horseback towards the extreme north on a search. Carrying only a little food he passed through Bokyul, where he met twelve beggars. He gave them the rest of his food, and continued his journey disguised as on of them. He passed through a Sakya hermitage and, while begging there, was recognized, helped and honored. A shepherd also recognized him intuitively and spread the word among the local people who gathered together one hundred horses laden with provisions, and presented them to him. Choying Dorje called the stone masons of the area and told them to carve a large number of Mani stones. When the work was finished, he paid them with all the provisions he had just received. It was this Karmapa, the 10th, Choying Dorje, who founded the first monastery, called Ogmin Namling at Lashiba, behind the lake there.