Riding A Huge Wave of Karma-Irmgard Mengele

The tenth Karmapa was one of the greatest artists and religious leaders of seventeenth century Tibet, but as a young child, his life was far from easy. Wishing to gain control over the young Karma-pa, a greedy monk ruler, Icags-mo Gushri from the northeastern Tibetan borderlands, "bought" his family and had them moved to his own lands. He then deceived the Karma-pa's parents so as to gain exclusive control over the child and over the substantial offerings that were made to this important young lama by his devoted followers. For years, Icags-mo Gushri denied the child religious education causing hardship and distress to the Karma-pa and his family. This is undoubtedly why the Karma-pa would later write in his biography, "Though you have all the wealth in the world, life is miserable if you are under the control of others."

By: Irmgard Mengele