Chödrak Gyatso

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Chödrak Gyatso (1454-1506), also Chödrag Gyamtso, was the seventh Gyalwa Karmapa, head of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism.

Chödrak Gyatso was born in Chida in the north of Tibet. According to the legend, he said at the age of five months: "There is nothing on this world, except for emptyness." He was recognized as Karmapa at the age of nine months.

According to the legend he established peace at the age of five during a tour through Tibet where in the south the tribes of Nagaland and Bhutan were engaged in a war.

He spent a large part of his life protecting animals and teaching people to give up hunting and fishing. His main activities were to prevent and solve conflicts between the tribes and building bridges and roads to connect the different areas. The best medicine against all problems and conflicts was saying "Om mani padme hum" one million times. Chödrak send a lot of gold to India to enable the guilding of the statue of the Gautama Buddha near Bodhgaya.

He was also an accomplished scholar, most famous for authoring the Ocean Of Logic, which is considered the most important text on pramana in the Kagyu tradition. He also authored an important comentary on Asanga's Abhisamayalamkara called The Lamp Of The Three Worlds.

Preceded by: Thongwa Dönden

Reincarnation of the Karmapa

Succeeded by: Mikyö Dorje