The lineage of Guru Vajradhara H. H. Chamgon Kenting Tai Situpa starts with the Bodhisattva Maitreya nine months before Siddharta Gautama’s birth when Buddha Shakyamuni, the Buddha of our time, crowned the Bodhisattva Maitreya in Tushita heaven to be his regent and become the future Buddha on earth after him. According to the sutras, Maitreya will become the future fifth Buddha in around 2 million years.

Therefore, the lineage is older than 2600 years. The connection between the lineage of The Gyalwang Karmapa and Guru Vajradhara H. H. Chamgon Kenting Tai Situpa is just as old, they have been appearing as Gyalwang Karmapa and Chamgon Kenting Tai Situpa for 900 years.

Guru Vajradhara H. H. Chamgon Kenting Tai Situpa has throughout the centuries appeared as many realized masters, Indian and Tibetan Mahasiddhas. Amongst the most known are Guru Rinpoche who brought the Dharma from India and firmly established it in Tibet in the 8th century.

Further  Lord Marpa, Lord of all Yogis who deeply rooted the Kagyu lineage from India in Tibet. This is why Kagyu which reached us through this line of enlightened masters is actually called Marpa Kagyu.

Drogon Rächen was the first incarnation referred to as the first Situpa, since the time of Guru Vajradhara H. H. 5th Chamgon Kenting Tai Situpa, Chökyi Gyaltshen, having received the Red Crown from The Gyalwang Karmapa, they have been known as The Chamgon Kenting Tai Situpas. You may read more about the 12 incarnations of the Guru Vajradhara H. H. Chamgon Kenting Tai Situpa here.

excerpted from “The Himalayas and Beyond“