7th Karmapa Chödrag Gyamtso

1447 Gendün Drub, the 1st Dalai Lama (1391 – 1475), a nephew of Tsongkhapa, founded the famous Tashilünpo-monastery in Shigatse.  He was (posthumously) recognized as the 1st Dalai Lama. 

1470s The Gelugpas had already the force and authority in Lhasa. In many other parts of Central Tibet the Karma Kagyü Lineage was influential. The Rinpung-ruler Dönyo Dorje who had controlled wide parts of Central Tibet since 1479 was a follower of the Karmapas and a close student to the 4th Shamarpa Chökyi Dragpa. Shakabpa p. 87: “The administrative officer who supported the Gelugpa Lineage refused the permission. The monastery was finally erected outside of Lhasa. Monks of the neighboring Gelugpa monasteries raided it one night and tore it down. A Karmapa-lama, Chödrag Gyamtso, was almost killed and escaped to Lhasa”.

1487 Gendün Gyatso (1475 – 1542) became the 2nd Dalai Lama posthumously. 

 

1487 – 1499 The 4th Shamarpa took the role of a king until the deceased king Gong-ma Kunga Legpa’s son could take over. Shamar Rinpoche relegated all worldly matters and remained a spiritual advisor. Many termas (terlungs) were found in which it was predicted that the Yellow Sect (= Gelug) would invite Mongolian warlords to destroy the dharma. Although many tertöns were Nyingmas they often asked Karmapa to confirm the authenticity of the termas.

The 8th Karmapa’s spiritual activity and knowledge was unparalleled. He helped to heal the rift between the Gelugpas and Kagyüpas. At the same time his influence brought forward a relativ ely peaceful time. The Kagyü lineage became the most powerful sect in Tibet.

1546 Sönam Gyatso became the 3rd Dalai Lama. 

 

1578 Sönam Gyatso proselytized the Mongol ruler Altan Khan who became Buddhist. The khan conferred Sönam Gyatso the honoray title Dalai Lama – originally in Mongolian “Tale Lama”. Thus, the Mongols became the patrons of the Gelugpas (there were tribes, hich had aleady become Buddhists before that time).

1601 Enthronement of the 4th Dalai Lama Yöntan Gyatso (1589 – 1617). He was Mongolian (a grandson of Altan Khan. He had left Mongolia in 1601 and arrived in Lhasa in 1602.

1605 Sönam Chopal, the head of the Gelug administration, the duke of Lhasa and some Monogolian troops a ttacked the Tsang government – and lost. Afterwards the Tsang Desi wanted to peacefully unify Tibet where politics and religion should smoothly co-exist (the Tsang Desi’s family had the 8th, 9th 10th Karmapa and the 5th and 6th Shamarpa as their personal gurus).

1605 The 6th Shamarpa wrote a poem on a scarf as a gift for the 4th Dalai Lama. Shamarpa only received a very rude reply from the Gelug administration because of a probably deliberate misinterpretation.

1606 The 4th Dalai Lama’s administration thwarted a meeting between Dalai Lama and Shamarpa although they were in the same region.

1618 Troops from Tsang conquer the Gelug monasteries of Drepung and Sera. As a consequence, an army of Koshot Mongols invaded Tibet in 1620/21.

1622 Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, the 5th Dalai Lama (1617 – 1682) enthroned.

De facto there was civil war. Karma Tenkyong Wangpo who ruled in parts of Tsang was Kagyü. Although the 10th Karmapa strongly advised him not to prepare for war, he attacked Gelugpas in Central Tibet. He even wanted to ask the Mongolian Chogtu-tribe for support but they eventually joined the troops of Gushri Khan, military leader of the Koshot Mongols. When Gushri's troops started to attack Bönpos, Nyingmas and Kagyüs, there actualy happened attemps of mediation. The young Dalai didn't want that something happened to the 10th Karmapa. Sönam Chöpel, Dalai Lama's main advisor, urged the Mongols that they finally attacked Tsurphu and created a bloodshed. Karmapa escaped and only returned to Tsurphu as an old man. Gushri Khan abolished the old Tibetan political system and passed on the worldly power over Tibet to the 5th Dalai Lama. Many Kagyü and Nyingma monasteries were converted into Gelug monasteries. Later the Gelug administration requested the Mongols that the 10th Karmapa should be killed; together with his secretary Küntu Zangpo they escaped to Yünnan/China where he stayed in exile for ~ 28 years (he was also in Northern Burma).

During the lifetime of the 10th Karmapa the political situation in Tibet became completely unstable. First local rulers formed various alliances and followed different ideas and people (such as warlords, Buddhist leaders etc.), then manipulation, treason, assassinations and local wars kept on destabilizing Tibet even more. Dalai Lama’s administration called in the Mongolian emperor Gushri Khan and his army for support – first the Dalai Lama was not amused by this solo action of his leading administrator but he didn’t stop him – who conquered Tibet between 1639 and 1642, and as a result established the 5th Dalai Lama as the supreme authority in Tibet. All former stable political structures were demolished, including the separation of worldly and religious life, and the Dalai Lama himself and his administration even wanted to rule and influence the Sakyapas, Nyingmapas and Kagyüpas. A lot of Kagyü monastaries were transformed into Gelug places. Many times, Mongolian warlords were called in by Gelug-representatives to enforce the claim to rule both over worldly and spiritual matters.

Several wrong accusations referring the 6th Shamar Rinpoche Chökyi Wangchug and the 10th Karmapa led to the fact, that in 1644 Karmapa had to escape in a miraculous manner only with his secretary Küntu Zangpo. They went into exile to Yünnan/China, mainly Lijiang, where he lived and worked until almost 1672. This south-western Chinese region had a lot of Kagyü supporters since the time of the 8th Karmapa. In the same year Karmapa, upon Gyaltsab Rinpoche’s persuasiveness and his familial connections, was able to return to Tibet where he was invited by the Dalai Lama in Lhasa to pacify the tensions between the Buddhist schools in Tibet.