Presentation of His Holiness the XVI Gyalwa Karmapa

His Holiness the XVI Gyalwa Karmapa performed the ancient ceremony of the Vajra Crow during five presentations in four U.S. cities to more than 10,000 people in 1977. As head of the Kagyu Order of Tibetan Buddhism, which is the medium of transmission of the meditative teachings known as the mahamudra, the Karmapa was the sixteenth in an unbroken succession of Karmapas dating back to the 12th century. His Holiness heeded the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism and embodied, represented and guided its accumulated spiritual energy

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Werner Erhard had made a special trip to Sikkim, a small Himalayan province, to visit with the Karmapa. He was greeted with unreserved enthusiasm, inspired by His Holiness' boundless joy and enlightenment and the ways which these qualities manifested in the people he serves. Werner Erhard invited him to be with est graduates and their friends during his upcoming visit to America. The Karmapa accepted with delight.

Werner Erhard introduced the Karmapa on four evenings sponsored by the Werner Erhard Foundation. As a special acknowledgement for est graduates, the Karmapa performed the 14th century Black Crown ceremony, in which few westerners have participated and that only he is empowered to perform. Tibetan tradition holds that a glimpse of the Black Crown ensures getting off "the wheel of life and death" in this lifetime.

The Werner Erhard Foundation in support of the world's rich spiritual and cultural heritage of transformation, presented His Holiness the XVI Gyalwa Karmapa in San Francisco on Feb 22, 1977, Los Angeles on February 26, 1977, New York on April 27, 1977, and in Boston on May 1, 1977.