Karmapa: The Politics of Reincarnation

In January 2000, the world was introduced to the 17th Karmapa lama, a young man who had just made a dramatic escape from Tibet, where Chinese officials had installed him as a ranking Tibetan political leader. This fascinating story begins 900 years ago and reveals political intrigue and controversy among powerful spiritual leaders. Karmapa: The Politics of Reincarnation reveals how the Karmapa, one of the most important reincarnate lamas in Tibet, is chosen. Through interviews with personal associates, friends, the Dalai Lama, and the Karmapa himself, award-winning journalist Lea Terhune paints a portrait of an extraordinary young man who defied the Chinese and escaped to freedom. It is the ancient story of the Karmapa"s often disputed incarnations throughout the history of Tibetan Buddhism, and of a young man who will likely play a key role in the future of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism.

About the Author :
Lea Terhune is a professional writer and journalist based in India, where she has lived since 1982. Currently editor of SPAN (a magazine of the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi), she has also worked as a correspondent and producer for CNN International, ABC News Radio, and Voice of America. Her work has appeared in The Far-Eastern Economic Review, Asiaweek, International Herald Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, Yoga Journal, and ABCNews.com. She lives in New Delhi.

Review :
"Consider the plot line: an unusual teenager--intense, magnetic--daringly eludes his captors, who have been preventing him from enacting his role as an important leader. Imagine a treacherous escape across nine hundred miles of icy, mountainous terrain. Imagine disguises, helicopters, near misses, near connections--and, at last, our exhausted heeo reaching apparent safety. No sooner is his escape accomplished, however, than he faces a rival who claims to be the true leader. This blockbuster tale is no movie, but a true story that continues to unfold in real time. Karmapa covers the material in a methodical way. Terhune lays out a comprehensive, footnoted examination of the history and politics of the Karmapas. Her systematic approach to the material includes a glossary, an index, and several appendices. One appendix describes the Black Hat ceremony, at which the Karmapa is believed to transform himself into the Bodhisattva of Compassion... Ogyen Trinley, the current Karmapa, is charismatic, wise beyond his years, and from all indications, has the X-powers to make sure the Tibetan cause remains big-screen, front-page material."-- "Tricycle" "Ten years ago, the world witnessed the startling spectacle of maroon-robed Tibetan monks hurling stones, soda bottles and curses at each other at the gates of a Buddhist institute in New Delhi. The scuffle in the Indian capital was over a 7-year-old boy, Orgyen Trinley Dorje, enthroned two years earlier in a monastery in Tibet as the seventeenth incarnation of the Karmapa, the head of the Karma Kagyu stream of Tibetan Buddhism. With that conflict as a backdrop, Lea Terhune, an India-based American journalist and a longtime student of Tibetan Buddhism, has written an absorbing portrait of the Karmapa--in his current and previous lifetimes--in her book Karmapa: The Politics of Reincarnation... This story is important for Tibet-watchers because the Karmapa one day could succeed the Dalai Lama as the public voice of Tibet."-- "The Associated Press" "Terhune is an experienced journalist and has worked for CNN, Radio Deutsche Welle and Voice of America. This shows through in her impartial story-telling and the depths she has gone to collect the facts and intricacies underlying the 'politics' lying below the surface of the Kamarpa's recognition. She draws on numerous interviews conducted over years with the majority of the story's key figures--including the Karmapa himself. She unlocks the mysteries underlying the recognition process and the historical background for the incarnate lineage tradition. At the same time she carefully builds the ground work for her insightful analysis of the politics surrounding the process. She goes centuries back in time to draw out the threads and tendrils of history that nuance Tibetan temporal and spiritual politics to this day. Karmapa: The Politics of Reincarnation presents a riveting tale and Terhune upholds the highest journalistic ethics throughout its telling."-- "Ashe Journal"