Buddhism traces its beginnings to India, where the Buddha provided a vast array of teachings tailored to the diverse needs of beings. Although the Buddha primarily taught orally, his early followers documented his instructions, preserving them in their original form. In time, Buddhist masters wrote numerous texts to elaborate on the Buddha’s teachings. These writings focused on ensuring the authenticity and accuracy of the transmission. As disciples became teachers, distinct lines of transmission emerged, each with its unique characteristics.
About fifteen hundred years after the Buddha’s passing, Northern India was home to several great Buddhist masters who held key instructions for meditation. Among them was Tilopa (988-1069), who possessed four significant esoteric Buddhist lineages. These lineages were later referred to in Tibet as “ka bab shi’i gyu pa,” meaning “the lineage of the four transmissions,” which was shortened to “Kagyu.”
Tilopa passed on these teachings to his disciple Naropa (1016-1100). Other important figures within the Kagyu tradition include Saraha and Maitripa, who were renowned for their teachings on Mahamudra and mental non-engagement—practices that Tibetan masters continued to transmit skillfully to this day.
Buddhism’s arrival in Tibet occurred in the 8th century, when King Trisong Detsen invited two Indian Buddhist masters, Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) and Shantarakshita, to help establish the teachings in Tibet. This event marked the beginning of the Nyingma or “Old” tradition.
In the 11th century, a second wave of translations took place, revising earlier terminology and introducing new translations. The traditions that primarily stemmed from this period are called the Sarma or “New traditions,” which include the Kagyu, Sakya, and Gelug schools.
The Karma Kagyu tradition is a prominent sub-school within the Kagyu lineage. Like all Tibetan Buddhist schools, it traces its origins to the Indian Buddhist masters who helped establish Buddhism in Tibet.
Marpa (1012-1097), a Tibetan translator, studied in India with both Naropa and Maitripa. Upon returning to Tibet, he mastered and transmitted these teachings, including to his disciple Milarepa (1052-1135). Milarepa’s student, Gampopa (1079-1153), helped establish various sub-schools within the Kagyu tradition, one of the most notable being the Karma Kagyu lineage, founded by the first Karmapa, Dusum Khyenpa (1110-1193).
The recognition of Karma Pakshi (1204-1283) as the second Karmapa marked the beginning of the line of reincarnating lamas in Tibet. Since then, the Karma Kagyu tradition, with its focus on Mahamudra meditation, has been transmitted through the successive Karmapas and their lineage holders.
The central teaching passed down in the Kagyu school can be captured by the words of the great yogi Saraha, who expressed in one of his songs:
“Mind alone is the seed of everything, from which cyclic existence and nirvāṇa emanate. Homage to the mind that is like a wish-fulfilling jewel, which grants what fruit is desired.”
In the deluded minds of unenlightened beings, karmic seeds—imprints from past thoughts, words and actions ripen and create an outer world that we mistakenly believe to be real. Upon closer examination, however, we realize that both external phenomena and the mind that perceives them are devoid of inherent reality. The mind itself is empty, free from inherent existence, yet it is luminous, as it is the source of all appearances, and unceasing, as its emptiness and luminosity are indestructible.
Ordinary beings are unaware of the true nature of their minds. We mistakenly identify the mind’s natural awareness as a perceiving subject (“I”), and the mind’s natural manifestations as external objects. This leads to dualistic thinking, which creates emotional entanglements with ourselves and others.
Despite this ignorance, the true nature of the mind remains pure, as it is buddha nature—unaffected by afflictions and defilements, always empty and luminous. The practice of Mahamudra meditation is designed to realize this true nature of the mind, allowing it to settle into its uncontrived natural state. There is nothing to remove or achieve, as the mind is already pure and perfect at all times.
Alongside Mahamudra, the gradual path (Lamrim), which dates back to the Kadampa tradition, is also practiced within the Kagyu tradition. As His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, Thaye Dorje, explains:
“Lamrim is essentially a gradual path, a process where each step leads to the next. To reach an enlightened state of mind, one must go step by step. This path helps us overcome the confusion and karma that shape our conditioned existence. As we gradually eliminate misunderstanding and confusion, we come to understand that we are not driven by karma, but can influence it instead.”
The gradual path provides a way to reverse the habits of confusion and emotional entanglements, ultimately leading us to clarity and freedom from the influences of karma.