"The Gyalwang Karmapa has never forgotten the people of America for an instant"

Today was an incredible day for Buddhism in America. His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, gave his first public teaching in the West, at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom. His Holiness sat regally on a sofa in front of the audience of nearly 3,000 people, a giant three-story-tall thangka image of Shakyamuni Buddha hanging behind him. Jumbotron screens on either side of the stage brought close-up views to audience members throughout the Hammerstein. His Holiness Karmapa was introduced by The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche and Mr. Tashi Wangdi, Representative to the Americas for His Holiness the Dalai Lama.


His Holiness the 17th Karmapa at Hammerstein Ballroom, May 17, 2008.
Photographer: Gregg Rock. Copyright 2008 by Karmapa Foundation.

His Holiness Karmapa spoke of how happy he is to finally be able to visit America and how much affection he has felt towards Americans since he first encountered these “odd-looking people” when he was eight years old and was recognized as the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa and brought to Tsurphu, seeing Westerners for the first time.

“I’ve been waiting to come here since the age of eight,” His Holiness stated, evoking joyful laughter and a round of applause from the audience. His Holiness noted that the 16th Karmapa established a strong connection with the people of America that lives on in the deep love and affection he feels for the American people.

“The American people have never been outside the mind of the Gyalwang Karmapa,” His Holiness stated. “The Gyalwang Karmapa has never forgotten the people of America for an instant.”

“I’ve only been here for three days,” His Holiness also stated, “but since the moment I came to America, I have really, really enjoyed it.”


His Holiness the 17th Karmapa at Hammerstein Ballroom, May 17, 2008.
Photographer: Gregg Rock. Copyright 2008 by Karmapa Foundation.

His Holiness taught morning and afternoon sessions on “Awakening the Heart of Enlightenment.” In the morning he spoke about the development of patience and working with difficult emotions and challenging situations.

In the afternoon, to the apparent delight and astonishment of the audience, the teaching was preceded by a musical tribute by the legendary performer Lou Reed, accompanied by two other musicians. Reed sang his song “Perfect Day” (from the 1972 album “Transformer”) and a new song called “Power of the Heart.” Reed emphasized the song’s closing lyric “the power of the heart” with a gesture pointing to the Karmapa’s seat on the stage. His Holiness then entered the stage and shook hands with Reed and thanked him for the performance, and said in English “Now it’s my time” — again evoking laughter from the entire audience as the Karmapa took his seat.

Sometimes mixing English words or phrases into his Tibetan, His Holiness taught in the afternoon on compassion and the inseparability of self and other. He cited Shakyamuni Buddha as an example of someone who completely transcended any notion of difference between self and other and was the complete embodiment of altruistic compassion. Although the historical Buddha walked the earth 2500 years ago and is no longer living, His Holiness said, the Buddha’s love and compassion are very much alive and we can still feel their repercussions today.

His Holiness also spoke about afflictive emotions such as anger and desire. The problem, he said, is not that we feel attraction or rejection towards something — it’s that we go too far, and one-sidedly adopt or reject an entire thing on the basis of one (or a few) attributes — we confuse the attributes with the thing that appears to possess them.


His Holiness the 17th Karmapa at Hammerstein Ballroom, May 17, 2008.
Photographer: Gregg Rock. Copyright 2008 by Karmapa Foundation.