''The Dance of 17 Lives'' is a 2004 book by UK journalist and author
Mick Brown. It is the story of an exiled Tibetan teenager, the
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 ' ...
, who has been hailed as one of the greatest spiritual leaders of modern times.
The Dance of 17 Lives
Page at Bloomsbury USA.
Karmapa controversy
Considerable controversy surrounded the enthronement of the 17th Karmapa, as there was not just one contender for the vacated throne, but two. Both contenders were represented by rival factions who wanted to get their candidate recognised as the true incarnation of the 16th Karmapa. The alternative to Urgyen Trinley Dorje
Ogyen Trinley Dorje (, ; born 26 June 1985), also written as Urgyen Trinley Dorje () is a claimant to the title of 17th Karmapa.
The Karmapa is head of the Karma Kagyu school, one of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Ogyen Trinley Dor ...
was Thaye Dorje
Trinley Thaye Dorje () (born 6 May 1983 in Lhasa) is a claimant to the title of 17th Karmapa.
The Karmapa is head of the Kagyu, Karma Kagyu school, one of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Ogyen Trinley Dorje and Thaye Dorje are the pers ...
, who enjoyed the authoritative backing of Shamar Rinpoche
The Shamarpa (; literally, "Person (i.e. Holder) of the Red Crown"), also known as ''Shamar Rinpoche'', or more formally Künzig Shamar Rinpoche, is a lineage holder of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism and is regarded to be the mind ma ...
.[The Dance of 17 Lives --The Incredible True Story of Tibet's 17th Karmapa. Dharma Life, Issue 24.]
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While this book may not appeal to scholars of Tibetan culture
Tibet developed a distinct culture due to its geographic and climatic conditions. While influenced by neighboring cultures from China, India, and Nepal, the Himalayan region's remoteness and inaccessibility have preserved distinct local i ...
, it does demystify this culture for a general readership. Brown shows how spiritual and secular power are closely related in the world of Tibetan Buddhism, with many monks and lamas vying for the power that comes from spiritual authority.[
]
See also
*Karmapa controversy
There are currently two, separately enthroned 17th Gyalwang Karmapas: Ogyen Trinley Dorje and Trinley Thaye Dorje. The Karmapa is the spiritual leader of the nine-hundred-year-old Karma Kagyu lineage of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism.
The ...
*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 ...
References
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Bibliography
*Brown, Mick. (2004). ''The Dance of 17 Lives: The Incredible True Story of Tibet's 17th Karmapa'', Bloomsbury Press, {{ISBN, 0-7475-7161-9
Books about Tibetan Buddhism
Karmapa claimants