Ogyen Trinley Dorje (Tibetan: ཨོ་རྒྱན་འཕྲིན་ལས་རྡོ་རྗེ།, Wylie: O-rgyan 'Phrin-las Rdo-rje, Chinese: 鄔金欽列多傑; born 26 June 1985), also written as Urgyen Trinley Dorje (Wylie: U-rgyan 'Phrin-las Rdo-rje) is a claimant to the title of 17th Karmapa.
The Karmapa is head of the Karma Kagyu school, one of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Ogyen Trinley Dorje and Thaye Dorje are the persisting claimants to that office and title.
Ogyen Trinley Rinpoche was born Apo Gaga in 1985 in Lhatok Township, Chamdo County, Tibet Autonomous Region, to nomadic parents.
The 14th Dalai Lama issued an official statement of recognition and confirmation of the 16th Karmapa's reincarnation as Ogyen Trinley Dorje, on 30 June 1992. He was enthroned as the 17th Karmapa on 27 September 1992 at Tsurphu Monastery (Wylie: Mtshur-phu), the traditional seat of the Karmapa in Tibet, and there he began his Tibetan and Buddhist studies.
Ogyen Trinley Dorje received the official sanction of the State Council of the People's Republic of China on 29 June 1992, who declared him to be a "living Buddha", the first time the People's Republic of China has officially confirmed a tulku. A year later, the Chinese announced during the UN World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna they would train him in Tsurphu for his future task as the successor of the Dalai Lama.
In 1999, at the age of 14, the Karmapa escaped Chinese-controlled Tibet during the winter, traveling to India through Nepal, arriving at the Tibetan exile quarters at McLeod Ganj on 5 January 2000. Ogyen Trinley Dorje stated he was unable to obtain in China the specialized instruction he needed to complete his studies and to realize his full spiritual authority. He has resided at Gyuto Monastery in Sidhbari, near Dharamshala up to 2017.
Travel through the United States and Europe
From May 15-June 2, 2008, the Karmapa made his first trip to the US, visiting New York City, Boulder, Colorado, and Seattle and was formally enthroned in the North American seat of the Gyalwang Karmapa at Karma Triyana Dharmachakra monastery in Woodstock, New York. He gave multiple teachings on compassion and the environment, gave the reading transmission for a new form of ngöndro, and bestowed several empowerments, including those of Avalokiteśvara and Padmasambhava. He also spoke about the special challenges of the rapid pace of modern society, and the virtues of the Internet as a tool for the study and practice of Buddhism. Ogyen Trinley Dorje Visited the United States again in 2011, as well as France, Switzerland in 2016 and the United Kingdom in 2017.
Residing in US and becoming citizen of a Caribbean nation
As of October 2018, Ogyen Trinley Dorje was residing in the United States and had been outside of India continuously since May 2017. In 2018, to facilitate travel abroad, he became a citizen of the Caribbean nation Dominica through a provision widely used which allows citizenship through investment.
Tibetan culture, unity, language and literacy
For many years Ogyen Trinley Dorje has emphasized the importance of preserving Tibetan culture, unity, language, and literacy; underlining the importance of sustaining the written and spoken Tibetan language, because it is the very root of the Dharma in Tibet and its culture. Tibetan language is the lifeline that links Tibetans to their culture, arts, and spirituality. Tibetan culture, he states, is the mind and life force of the Tibetan people.
Ogyen Trinley Dorje has worked on digitizing Buddhist scriptures and commentaries in order to expand access to students, scholars and monasteries.
There are four main websites – Dharma Treasure, Adarsha, Ketaka, and Dharma Ebooks – each one dealing with a different format, tool, or translation. Adarsha, for example, makes the Kangyur, Tengyur, and Tibetan masterpieces available in digital format and has been catalogued under the guidance of Ogyen Trinley Dorje.
108 Translations was initiated in 2015 by Ogyen Trinley Dorje in order to produce a needed body of reading material that can promote the reinvigoration of Tibetan language. Rather than focussing on translating a few famous works that match the interests of a small group of well-educated readers (which has been the case for translations into Tibetan up to the present), 108 Translations aims to provide a plethora of good and easily accessible reading materials for average Tibetan readers. The translations must be easy to understand and pronounce in Tibetan, and the selected works need to meet the interests of the readership.
Supporting the female Buddhist community
Ogyen Trinley Dorje has taken an interest in the welfare of the female Buddhist community, and encouraged equal rights and opportunities for women practitioners. He has, in particular, taken the responsibility to restore full ordination for Tibetan nuns.
On January 3, 2007, Ogyen Trinley Dorje mandated a purely vegetarian diet in all his monasteries and centers and strongly urged vegetarianism among all his students, saying that generally, in his view, it was very important in the Mahayana not to eat meat and that, even in Vajrayana, it is preferable for students and practitioners not to eat meat.