Karma Pakshi: the first reincarnated living Buddha [Photo/China Tibet Online]  

The reincarnation system of rinpoches is a break-through solution to the lineage problem of Tibetan Buddhism, which originated from the Garma Gagyu Sect.

According to historical data, Dusum Khyenpa (1110-1193), the founder of the Garma Gagyu Sect, left his will on the death bed saying that he would reincarnate in the mortal world after death and would ask his disciples to look for the reincarnated soul boy.

Then Karma Pakshi was found to be the reincarnation and is considered the first reincarnated rinpoche in the history of Tibetan Buddhism.

Karma Pakshi also inherited the abbot position of the Curpu Monastery. He was once appointed to be at the Kublai Khan's service, but he rejected eventually and turned to Kublai Khan's elder brother, Mongka, who was then the ruling Khan of the Mongolian kingdom. Then, Karma Pakshi was inaugurated as the Guoshi, Buddhist master of the empire, and awarded with a gold-lining black cap and a golden seal.

However, due to his involvement in the fighting for the throne, Karma Pakshi was put into jell and exiled far away from home by the Kublai Khan, who later on freed him because of his popularity in the Mongolian and Tibetan regions and allowed him to go back to his hometown.

Karma Pakshi had traversed the vast land of today's Gansu and Qinghai provinces as well as Ning xia Hui Autonomous Region, preaching Buddhism to people along the road for eight years until he finally got home, the Curpu Monastery.

Karma Pakshi, witnessing the fierce competition among the local theocratic factions, wanted to consolidate and develop his own sect of Buddhism, but was too old to fight. In 1283 A.D., he called on his disciple, Ugyenpa, to his deathbed and left an oral note: "After my death, there will be an heir of the black cap lineage in the remote Latoh. Before he comes up, you will be the interim regent of Buddha." Then he bestowed the gold-lining black cap to Ugyenpa's head and passed away.

Then, in 1288 A.D., Ugyenpa found his reincarnated soul boy in Gungtang, in today's Xigaze Prefecture, and named the boy religiously as Rangjung Dorje.

The reincarnation system of rinpoches in the Black Cap Lineage of the Garma Gagyu Sect Tibetan Buddhism then continued.