Ogyen Trinley Dorje, the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, met with Trinley Thaye Dorje, another Tibetan Buddhist leader who is said to be his rival.

While the Dalai Lama has on several occasions in the past endorsed Ogyen Trinley Dorje as the future of the Tibetan movement, the other Buddhist leader has also laid claim to the legacy. The meeting assumes significance as Trinley Thaye Dorje was recognised as the real Karmapa by some government functionaries in India as Ogyen Trinley Dorje was suspected by them to have links with China.

Ogyen Trinley Dorje, who has been living in the U.S. for more than a year now, recently acquired citizenship of Dominica, a Caribbean country, to enable him to travel around the world.

The meeting between the two monks at a rural location in France is seen as an attempt by India to unite the warring factions for a stronger Tibetan movement.

In a joint statement issued after the meeting, the two monks said they had met to sort out the differences that had cropped up in the Karma Kagyu lineage.

“The purpose of our meeting was primarily to spend time together so that we could establish a personal relationship. We were able to talk together freely and to learn about each other for the first time. We were thus able to begin what we expect will develop into a strong connection,” the two monks said in the statement posted on Ogyen Trinley Dorje’s website.

“While we were together we also talked about ways that we could work to heal the divisions that have unfortunately developed within our precious Karma Kagyu lineage in recent years. We view it as our duty and responsibility to do whatever we can to bring the lineage together.”

The Karma Kagyu school, one of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism, is based at Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh, where the Dalai Lama is based. He escaped from Tibet in 2000.

“We therefore ask everyone within the Karma Kagyu community to join us in our efforts to strengthen and preserve our lineage,” the two monks said. “We view it as our collective responsibility to restore harmony to our tradition which is a lineage of wisdom and compassion.”