Book Club

Book Club 2025: 4th Tuesday of each month: 7-8pm

Hybrid Meeting (in-person and online) (zoom link)

Our book club is reading and discussing from the book, A Golden Swan in Turbulent Waters: The Life and Times of the Tenth Karmapa Choying Dorje

The Tenth Karmapa (1604–1674) lived through dramatic changes in Tibet, including the rise to political supremacy of the Fifth Dalai Lama and the Gelug sect following a Mongol invasion. Regarded as a remarkable bodhisattva and artist, the Karmapa has largely escaped the close attention of modern scholars.

In this book, Shamar Rinpoche, the Fourteenth Shamarpa, introduces the Tenth Karmapa through his translations of the Karmapa’s autobiographical writings and an eighteenth century biography of him. As a direct lineage-descendant from the Sixth Shamarpa—the Karmapa’s guru—the Shamar Rinpoche shares his unique knowledge and experience through extensive annotations and a historical overview of Tibet from the thirteenth through seventeenth century.

The text of A Golden Swan in Turbulent Waters: The Life and Times of the Tenth Karmapa Choying Dorje is complemented by maps and color illustrations depicting places where the Karmapa lived and his prolific artistic work, with some object images being published for the first time.

If you would like to receive a separate monthly email about the book club, please write to wmeulenkamp@gmail.com

Link to previous books read: link