In May 2026, a remarkable event will unfold in the Nepalese capital: the 12th Chamgon Kenting Tai Situpa, one of the highest lamas in the Karma Kagyu lineage, will give in‑person instructions on the classic Mahamudra practice text Pointing Out the Dharmakaya. The 20‑day teaching starts today, 8 May, until the 28th at Tergar Osel Ling Monastery.
A subsequent Mahamudra session during the monastery’s grand opening (31 May to 4 June) offers a rare chance to receive the “Great Seal” Dharma directly from a living lineage holder, an opportunity not to be missed by serious practitioners.
The Mahamudra, or “Great Seal,” is the very heart of the Karma Kagyu tradition. More than a philosophical doctrine, it is a direct, experiential path to realising the mind’s true nature – the innate union of wisdom and emptiness – and is often described as the “summit of all vehicles” within this lineage. The upcoming teachings are not a casual seminar.
Pre‑registration is required, and participants must commit to attending all sessions, undertake a daily one‑hour practice for five years (or complete 1,825 hours of practice), and complete the Mahamudra preliminary practices (Ngöndro) within that same period. Such rigour reflects the profound nature of the transmission: Mahamudra is considered a path of essence, capable of simultaneously removing all emotional and cognitive obscurations, leading to immediate realisation and liberation.
The Mahamudra is understood as the “Great Seal” because it stamps every phenomenon with the seal of wisdom and emptiness. This is not an abstract concept but a direct perception of how things truly are. In the Vajrayana view upheld by the Kagyu schools, Mahamudra is the most direct method for recognising one’s own Buddha nature, cutting through all conceptual elaboration and philosophical debate. It is the cosmic reality itself – the ultimate nature of mind – that the lineage masters have “pointed out” to their disciples for over a millennium.
The story of the Mahamudra in the Karma Kagyu begins not in Tibet, but in 10th‑century India with the Mahasiddha Tilopa (988–1069). Tradition holds that Tilopa received a direct transmission of the Mahamudra from the primordial Buddha Vajradhara himself. Tilopa passed the lineage to his heart disciple, the great scholar‑yogi Naropa (1016–1100), famous for the “Six Yogas” that bear his name. From Naropa, the transmission crossed the Himalayas into Tibet with the translator Marpa (1012–97), who made three perilous journeys to India to bring back the precious Dharma. Marpa is recognised as the first Tibetan master and the founder of the Kagyu school. He united the Mahamudra teachings from the master Maitripa with Naropa’s meditations on inner energies, creating the unique synthesis that defines the Karma Kagyu.
From Marpa, the lineage passed to the poet‑saint Milarepa, then to the physician‑monk Gampopa, who systematised the Mahamudra path and laid the foundation for the Karma Kamtsang Kagyu, the branch headed by the Karmapas. The most important figure for the Karma Kagyu is the 1st Karmapa, Dusum Khyenpa (1110–93), a disciple of Gampopa who (posthumously under the 2nd Karmapa, Karma Pakshi (1204–83)) became the first in the line of incarnate Karmapas: the oldest reincarnate lineage in Tibetan Buddhism.
It is through this unbroken chain of master‑to‑disciple transmission, spanning over nine centuries, that the living wisdom of Mahamudra has been preserved, flowing from Vajradhara to Tilopa, Naropa, Marpa, Milarepa, Gampopa, the Karmapas, and to the Tai Situpas who have served as the Karmapas’ close teachers from the 15th century onward.
The current, 12th Tai Situpa was recognised by the 16th Karmapa and, in turn, recognised the 17th Karmapa, maintaining the karmic bond and the pure, living stream of the Mahamudra lineage.
In May 2026, that sacred stream will once again flow in Kathmandu.