The First Reincarnation Line, and the Crown It Wears

Dusum Khyenpa founded the school in the twelfth century and established its seat at Tsurphu. What happened after his death changed Tibetan religion generally: a successor was identified as his rebirth, and the recognition was accepted. Karma Pakshi is accordingly counted as the second Karmapa and as the first recognised tulku in Tibet, and every later reincarnation line, including that of the Dalai Lamas, follows a pattern this one set.

The school is sometimes called the Black Hat lineage after the crown the Karmapa wears at a ceremony performed for the public. The tradition account holds that the crown exists in a form visible only to those with sufficient perception and that the physical one was made as a replica, and a version of the story attributes the physical crown to a Ming emperor. The ceremony of placing it on the head was performed widely, including on tours outside Tibet in the twentieth century.

Karma Kagyu also produced a distinctive scholarly and artistic culture, including the Karma Gadri painting style and a substantial body of commentarial work. Since 1992 two candidates have been recognised as the seventeenth Karmapa by different parties within the school, with different regents supporting each, and the question has been complicated by the involvement of governments. The atlas records that the recognition is disputed and does not adjudicate between the claims.