10th Karmapa Chöying Dorje

Chöying Dorje was Karmapa at the time of the great upheaval in Tibet, which was characterized by intrigue, betrayal and war and was accompanied by violence and striving for power. Despite all this, the 10th Karmapa maintained the connection to his teacher, the 6th Shamarpa, and his reincarnation, (the 7th Shamarpa) and was therefore spared from the turmoil and became a great example of inner freedom through his devotion to his root teacher.

Very early in his life, the 10th Karmapa and his family were serfs; as an adult he was banished from Tibet, took a wife and had a son.

He was incomparably equanimous and one-pointed. He was also an exceptional artist. Wherever Karmapa traveled, he produced countless thangkas and statues, as well as adding a great number of pagodas, temples etc. Being a master of painting, metal casting and carving, he showed one of his highest qualities in the unusual way of visual expression.