His Holiness 16th Gyalwang Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje
Karma Choeling was established in 1980 by HH 16th Karmapa.
HH 16th Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, was born in Tibet in 1924 and recognized by the 11th Tai Situpa. In 1959, during the communist invasion that had begun in 1951, the Karmapa left Tibet with portable spiritual treasures and relics and 150 tulkus, monks and lay people. He settled in Rumtek, Sikkim, India. By 1966, the construction of the new Rumtek monastery was complete, and the relics were installed. This was to be the hub from which Kagyu Dharma would spread throughout the world.
In 1974, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje set out on his first world tour. He took a second tour in 1977. As did the previous Karmapas, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje performed startling miracles. Numerous times he left footprints in rocks. He once tied sword blades in knots. During a visit to the Hopi reservation in northeastern Arizona, he made rain for the drought-stricken area.
The Sixteenth Karmapa died in 1981 in Zion, Illinois, north of Chicago. After his death, his body remained upright in meditation posture for three days, and the area over his heart was warm. The Sixteenth Karmapa is best known for having brought the Dharma out of Tibet into the Western world.
His Eminence 12th Tai Situ Rinpoche
The current 12th Tai Situpa was born in 1954 to a family of farmers in the Palyul district of the Derge Kingdom. He was traditionally recognized and enthroned at Palpung Monastery at the age of eighteen months. When he was six years old, political conditions forced him to leave Tibet with only a few attendants. He traveled to Bhutan first and then to Sikkim, where he joined the Sixteenth Karmapa who had also come out of Tibet. After recovering from illness and exhaustion, Tai Situpa went to live at the newly constructed Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, the new seat of the Sixteenth Karmapa. He received his formal religious training under the guidance of the Sixteenth Karmapa, until 1975, when at the age of twenty-two, he assumed his own traditional responsibilities. He established his first monastic project, called Sherab Ling, at the request of his Tibetan followers who had settled in northern India.
His Eminence 12th Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche
The first Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche, Paljor Döndrup (ca.1424-1486) became a disciple and general secretary of the Sixth Karmapa, and offered his service fully to the Karmapas. ‘Gyaltsab’ means regent, and the Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoches are traditionally responsible for caring for the Karmapas’ interests until each subsequent Karmapa is found and comes of age.
The Twelfth Goshir Gyaltsap Rinpoche was born in Central Tibet in Nyimo, near Lhasa. From generation to generation his family was well known for giving rise to highly developed yogis who achieved their attainments through the recitation of mantras and through Tantric practices.