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stripping the gurus - Brahma Kumaris Info

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HELLO, DALAI! 245<br />

• An attempt to steal (literally) <strong>the</strong> previous Karmapa’s heart<br />

during his 1981 cremation ceremony<br />

• A short-lived claim by a Woodstock, NY, tulku that his wife<br />

was about to give birth to <strong>the</strong> reincarnated Karmapa, discounted<br />

when she delivered a baby girl, as opposed to <strong>the</strong><br />

expected male reincarnation<br />

• Billions of mantra repetitions (as a probable delaying tactic)<br />

enjoindered on devoted followers to allegedly “remove<br />

massive obstacles” before <strong>the</strong> new incarnation could be revealed<br />

• An attempted coup d’état for <strong>the</strong> leadership of <strong>the</strong> Karmapa<br />

lineage, with written replies to it being initially smartly<br />

given on (unused) toilet paper<br />

• Reported naïve back-room deals with <strong>the</strong> calculating Chinese<br />

government on <strong>the</strong> part of one of <strong>the</strong> four “highly<br />

evolved” lineage holders responsible for collectively recognizing<br />

<strong>the</strong> next Karmapa. The involved lama had as his emissary<br />

to China one Akong Tulku—Chögyam’s old nemesis<br />

—who came to be regarded as “<strong>the</strong> main felon splitting <strong>the</strong><br />

lineage” (Lehnert, 1998)<br />

• Alleged “forgery, deceit, and a looming fight right at <strong>the</strong> top<br />

of <strong>the</strong> lineage,” with <strong>the</strong> high-ranking lamas <strong>the</strong>re reportedly<br />

displaying “greed, pride, and lust for power”: “People<br />

were being intimidated, forced to sign petitions; some had<br />

been beaten.” Against that was heard <strong>the</strong> voice of one<br />

(European) Lama Ole Nydahl (Lehnert, 1998).<br />

Interestingly, Trungpa himself, in 1984, had Osel<br />

Tendzin write to Vajradhatu members, warning <strong>the</strong>m<br />

against Nydahl. Indeed, in that missive, Nydahl’s teaching<br />

style was described as being “contrary to everything we<br />

have been taught and have come to recognize as genuine.”<br />

Trungpa was fur<strong>the</strong>r of <strong>the</strong> opinion that “<strong>the</strong>re is some real<br />

perversion of <strong>the</strong> buddhadharma taking place by Mr. Nydahl”<br />

(Rawlinson, 1997).<br />

Pot. Kettle. Tibetan Buddhist. Black<br />

• Finally, two different children, each being touted as <strong>the</strong><br />

Karmapa by different factions within <strong>the</strong> global Tibetan<br />

Buddhist community. One had <strong>the</strong> support of <strong>the</strong> politically<br />

manipulative Chinese government and of <strong>the</strong> duped Dalai<br />

Lama. (The latter, having too-quickly given informal ap-

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