Karmapa row resurfaces before Dalai visit

“I’ll urge his Holiness Dalai Lama to find out who is the real incarnate of 17th Karmapa.” Dawa Sangpo Dorje, who resides at Norbu Yangdup Chholoung monastery in South Sikkim, told Deccan Herald here over the phone from Gangtok.

Claiming that he was the “original” 17th Karmapa, Dorje said the Dalai Lama was opposed to him “because he is not a Tibetan.”  Dorje requested the Dalai Lama to give him an opportunity to prove his “supernatural power.”

The Tibetan spiritual leader arrived at Kalimpong amid a tight security arrangement on Sunday. The spiritual leader, who is on a three-day tour to the hill region of West Bengal, addressed Buddhist followers at Kalimpong, speaking on the teachings of the three principal paths (lamtso namsum) on Monday.

He is scheduled to confer a Long Life Empowerment (tsewang) followed by a session on Buddhist sermons to the Tibetan community at the Central Tibetan School Kalimpong Ground on Tuesday. Security arrangements have been tightened after his arrival, the police said. The Dalai Lama will visit Sikkim on December 15.