<--- continues from Recognition of the 17th Karmapa: The young child exhibited an exceptional perception
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| Shamar Rinpoche |
Shamarpa: "To be able to arrive at a decision about who the young child was, I decided to do a meditation retreat, to obtain indications through meditation.
This is a method traditionally used by Lamas to verify their choice of a reincarnation. To ascertain the whereabouts of a reincarnation, it is not enough simply to think up some sort of a mission and then just forge ahead. This was thus the appropriate method because the late Karmapa - for reasons unknown to us - had not left instructions behind that could be revealed at the time.
The only way reliable indications can be obtained in such circumstances is through meditation, and it was my concern that the authentic reincarnation be found.
In the early morning of the seventh day of the retreat, the late Karmapa appeared to me in a dream. He was sitting on a seat performing a ritual carried out on behalf of deceased persons, to free them from the suffering of the world. This practice is also performed for the gravely ill. In the dream His Holiness told me "I've liberated those I set out to liberate. Now I can come to wherever you want me to be".
The next day I spent praying to my Yidam (a manifestation of the enlightened state). I had now become almost certain that the young child in Lhasa was the authentic reincarnation because of the information and the indications that I had obtained. But I also wanted to obtain evidence that he would serve the Buddha-Dharma to an extent consonant with this status.
In answer to my prayers for indications I had another dream on the following day.
I dreamt that a golden Buddha statue of enormous proportions appeared. In front of the statue were rows of offering bowls filled with scented water. In the dream I was in the process of consecrating the statue. As most of you probably know, it is customary during such ceremonies for the Lama to throw grains of rice towards the object that is to be consecrated. The rice grains that I scattered in the dream multiplied and turned into a rain falling on the Buddha statue. Behind the statue there were innumerable other Buddha statues. In their midst there was a very large butter lamp filled to the brim. In the centre of the butter lamp, where the flame should have been, there was a luminous ball from which light radiated.
Of course, since this was just a dream nobody can possibly confirm it. However, I felt strongly it was an indication that the young child in Lhasa was the authentic reincarnation. I became very excited and decided to go to Lhasa, travelling incognito.
I had planned to appear as an ordinary businessman, to do the rounds in the vicinity of the temple in the Bakhor district as is customary, and then to enter the family's house on the pretext of requesting advice but actually in order to observe the young child.
As I'd never been to Lhasa before, I'd imagined that the Bakhor district was very large. But it turned out to be quite a small area filled with people, much like the precincts of a small monastery. It became evident that I couldn't mingle with the crowd unnoticed. There were also many Tibetan traders from India and Nepal who could easily recognise me. To enter the family's house to observe the young child might have undesirable consequences. I had learned that the authorities knew that I was in the country and that they were probably watching my movements. I had also wanted to go to an area of Tibet called Tsari, to a place called the White Lake, to do a seven day retreat there.
This lake is important in the history of the Karma Kagyu lineage, because it's customary to do a retreat there to obtain indications when trying to decide about a possible candidate. However, in view of the circumstances I had to change my plans. I had travelled to Tibet via Hong Kong and Chengdu only to discover that I couldn't remain incognito despite my guise as an ordinary businessman. In order to divert the authorities' attention from my real purpose, I went off to the northern part of the country, to a tourist area called Namtso. When I was back in Lhasa, I took the next flight to Kathmandu."
