Fri, 29 Jan 2010
Dorje Karmapa
I was reading a book which lists the names of the Seventeen Karmapas and it stuck me that all the names since the eighth end with dorje. Dorje is usually cross-translated into the Sanskrit word vajra or translated as diamond. It liteally means noble stone (rdo = stone and rje = noble). The sense of the metaphor is that the diamond is indestructable, as it is the hardest substance. Likewis the vajrayana represents the highest teaching of the Buddha. All other views are refuted by higher views, but the vajrayana is not refuted, as it is the highest. I'm not saying this to assert the superioirty of my tradition, I'm just giving the sense of the metaphor.
