Music in the Sky: the life, art and teachings of the Seventeenth Karmapa, Ogyen Trinle Dorje

Contains 59 color photographs, 12 black and white photographs, 8 maps and drawings.

As the second millennium drew to a close, the Seventeenth Karmapa leapt from a window at his monastery in Tibet. Evading his Chinese guards, the 14-year-old spiritual leader began a grueling, dangerous journey to India. The Karmapa's picture has appeared all over the world since then-yet his own words are hard to find. Now, for the first time in print, Music in the Sky offers a series of the Karmapa's profound teachings, an extensive selection of his poetry, and a detailed account of his life and flight from his homeland. Readers will be captivated by the amazing teaching and writing skills evident in this work-particularly in light of the fact that the Karmapa is still only 17 years old.

Music in the Sky concludes with brief biographies of all sixteen previous Karmapas, specially composed for this collection by the highly respected Seventh Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche. Here, the reader will discover the compelling histories of the first Tibetan masters to be recognized as reincarnate lamas. Music in the Sky presents a definitive portrait of the Seventeenth Karmapa, strengthened and illuminated by an authoritative depiction of his place in one of the world's most revered lines of spiritual teachers.

"The bright sun of the Gyalwa Karmapa shines throughout this book. It illuminates his young life from his discovery in eastern Tibet through his difficult journey to India. The text also reveals the breadth of his teachings and the beauty of his poetry and art. It has been my experience that the XVIIth Karmapa delights in the study of Buddhism, demonstrating a seriousness and concentration well beyond his years. Anyone wishing to know more about him and the ancient tradition of Buddhism he embodies would do well to read this book." —Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, tutor to H.H. the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, senior teacher of the Karma Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism and author of Essential Practice and Everyday Consciousness and Buddha-Awakening.

"I was so very surprised and happy when I read the profound poem by the 17th Karmapa as he wrote about his escape from Tibet in a poetic form. Even my poems do not have this quality or profundity. From that point onwards, I realized that the Karmapa is in fact a being who possesses the clarity of inner wisdom, who is very keen to learn Buddhist logic and philosophy. I told many others about the poem and how wonderful it was from the point of view of his knowledge of Dharma and the wisdom within."—From a Public Talk by the Dalai Lama, Namgyal Monastery, Dharamsala, India, 21 August 2001.

"Music in the Sky is a profoundly moving story of one of Tibet's greatest teachers. His Holiness the Karmapa is alive and very well in India, and shares with us his teachings, poetry and spiritual insights in this delightful book."—Richard Gere

"An emanation of the Buddha of compassion, the Gyalwa Karmapa engages in all the enlightened activities of the Buddha. The present Karmapa, Ogyen Trinle Dorje, is the seventeenth in the line of the Karmapa's incarnations. Even at his young age, he is benefiting living beings through the variety of his skillful means. I believe all readers of this book will enjoy it and, further, find valuable knowledge that will lead them to the awakening of their own wisdom."—The Twelfth Tai Situpa

Michele Martin has published numerous translations and has served as an oral translator from Tibetan and as a teacher all over the world. She lives in Woodstock, NY