The Origin of the Inner and Outer Crown
In his next life, Rishi Gompa-kye was known as Pö Senge; in his next life he was Drupon Sinam (“Overcoming all Maras”). In his next life he was Drimed Karpo (“Stainless White One”). His next life was Pema Namdol (“The Play of Lotuses”). His next life was Lu-yang Ningpo (“Essence Melody of the Nagas”). Then he was Karma Wanu (“Cow”). Then he was the great Brahmin Saraha. After his life as the great tantric master Saraha, he was reborn in Tibet as Düsum Khyenpa, the First Glorious Karmapa.
The Black Crown was worn throughout all their lifetimes by the Karmapas; it was ever-present as the spontaneous manifestation of ultimate wisdom and was not something that could be obtained. The Karmapas have had the Black Crown from the First Karmapa and through all successive lives. Having realization of ultimate wisdom, this crown is naturally present. Therefore, all Karmapas have had the crown continuously, up to the XVIth Gyalwa Karmapa. If someone has clear awareness and very pure karma, they can see it, which is the spontaneous manifestation of wisdom. I have heard accounts of people having seen it.
The Vth Karmapa Deshin Shegpa was invited to China. The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty during those times was an emanation of Manjushri, so he had very pure karma. He saw the crown on the Karmapa’s head and said to him, “You are wearing a wonderful and excellent crown. If it were possible to have people see it, if I could have one made that looks the same, you could wear it so that others could see it. Would that bring great benefit to beings?” Karmapa Deshin Shegpa replied, “It is all right for you to make one. It will be of great benefit to beings.” So the emperor had a replica of the crown made, which is the outer crown that the Karmapa puts on during a grand ceremony for people to see - they see the outer crown, which is a replica of the inner wisdom crown. That was a description of the origin of the inner and outer Black Crown, which is a manifestation of wisdom and is always inseparably present with all Karmapas.
Question: Did anyone see the inner crown during the life of the XVIth Karmapa?
Tenzin Namgyal: Yes, there were people who saw it. I will describe this.
The tradition says that it is necessary for the Karmapa to visit and pay respect to the Dalai Lama. All Karmapas would go to see him; they would take off their hat and prostrate to him. When the XVIth Karmapa was in his 8th year, together with his father, he went to the Dalai Lama, the XIIIth at that time. The Dalai Lama and his minister entered the audience room and the Karmapa performed the prostrations. The Dalai Lama and his minister noticed that the Karmapa was wearing a hat, so the minister said, “Why are you prostrating with your hat on? That will not do!” He asked the father, “Where do you come from, a remote valley? Don’t you know that it is not allowed to wear a hat when you prostrate? That is a big mistake.” The father responded, “He is not wearing a hat. He hasn’t even brought a hat along. The Karmapas always have a wisdom hat on, so probably this is the hat that you see him wearing.” Having heard this, the Dalai Lama and his minister were amazed and felt great faith in the Karmapa. Then the Dalai Lama wrote a long-life prayer for him. This was the first occasion on which the secret hat was seen in the life of the XVIth Karmapa, so it is a quite extraordinary incident.
Later, when the Karmapa was staying at Palpung Monastery to receive teachings from the previous Tai Situ Rinpoche, he travelled to a monastery in Litang. On the way he and his escorts passed Dsongsar Monastery, the monastery of Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche. The first and previous Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche was there. At that time, Jamyang Khyentse saw the Karmapa as Düsum Khyenpa, the First Karmapa, and saw the Black Crown floating in space above his head while he was prostrating to him. So, he saw this and they heard Jamyang Khyentse describe what he had seen.
In 1944, when the Karmapa was going on pilgrimage through the south of Tibet, the IInd King of Bhutan, Jigme Wangchug, invited him to Bhutan. When the king met the Karmapa, he saw the Karmapa’s crown and felt very great devotion for him from the depths of his heart.
When the Karmapa left, the king cried like a little child – he cried because of his great devotion and perfect faith after having met the Gyalwa Karmapa.
In 1967, the Karmapa was invited to Ladakh. At that time a girl from Kashmir without any faith came to see him. As the Karmapa performed the Black Crown Ceremony, the girl saw the inner wisdom hat inseparably on his head; when he placed the fabricated outer crown on his head, she saw the inner one inside the outer crown. This happened in Ladakh at that time.
Tashi Lada, who was responsible for looking after the college in Rumtek, once lived near Tsurphu. When he was 11 years old, he escorted his father to pay respects to the Karmapa. Next to the Karmapa’s seat in his room was a statue of the Karmapa. When Tashi Lada entered the room he saw two statues and saw one moving about. He told his father, “There are two statues of the Karmapa. One is motionless and the other one is moving about. Which is the real one?” He had seen the statue with the Black Crown and he could see the real Karmapa with the inner crown; they were identical, while one was moving about. He was very young when this happened and did not know anything about the Black Crown at that time. There are many other accounts about people actually seeing the inner Black Crown.
