Thekchok Dorje (1798–1868), also Thegchog Dorje, was the fourteenth
Gyalwa Karmapa
The Karmapa (honorific title '' His Holiness the Gyalwa'' ½¢à¾’ྱལ་བ་, Victorious One''Karmapa'', more formally as ''Gyalwang'' ½¢à¾’ྱལ་དབང་ཀརྨ་པ་, King of Victorious Ones''Karmapa'', and informally as the ' ...
, head of the
Kagyu School of
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...
.
Thekchok Dorje was born in Danang,
Kham and was recognized because Drukchen Kunzig Chokyi Nangwa received a letter from
Dudul Dorje
Dudul Dorje (1733–1797) was the thirteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, head of the Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism.
Dudul Dorje was born in Champa Drongsar and recognized by Gyaltsab Rinpoche at the age of four. He received an education in the monast ...
, the thirteenth Karmapa, detailing where his next reincarnation would be born. He was ordained at the age of nineteen as a monk.
Thekchok Dorje traveled extensively through Tibet and was very active in the
Rimé movement
The Rimé movement is a movement or tendency in Tibetan Buddhism which promotes non-sectarianism and universalism.Sam van Schaik (2011). ''Tibet: A History'', pp. 161-162. Yale University Press. Teachers from all branches of Tibetan Buddhism - ...
, which was an attempt to bring all the Tibetan schools together and find common grounds without attempting to equalize the different schools. He was especially interested in the exchange of knowledge between his own
Kagyu school and the different
Nyingma
Nyingma (literally 'old school') is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It is also often referred to as ''Ngangyur'' (, ), "order of the ancient translations". The Nyingma school is founded on the first lineages and transl ...
schools. Thekchok other interests were with poetry, sculpturing and
dialectic.
His direct successor is not counted, because he died at the age of three. The
Gelugpa
240px, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Bodhgaya (India).
The Gelug (, also Geluk; "virtuous")Kay, David N. (2007). ''Tibetan and Zen Buddhism in Britain: Transplantati ...
school, on the other hand, does count children who are too young to receive transmissions.
External links
* "THE FOURTEENTH GYALWA KARMAPA, Thegchog Dorje"
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorje, Thekchok
1798 births
1868 deaths
14
19th-century lamas
18th-century Tibetan people
19th-century Tibetan people