Shamarpa

Shamarpa (Tibetan: ཞྭ་དམར་པ་, Wylie: Zhwa-dmar-pa; literally, "Person (i.e. Holder) of the Red Crown"), also known as Shamar Rinpoche or more formally Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche is a lineage holder of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism and the mind manifestation of Amitabha Buddha, He is traditionally associated with Yangpachen monastery near Lhasa.

The first Shamarpa, Khedrup Drakpa Senge (1283–1349), was the principal disciple of the third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje. Rangjung Dorje gave this disciple a ruby-red crown and the title Shamarpa, establishing the second line of reincarnate lamas in Tibetan Buddhism, Karmapa being the first. This is taken to be the fulfillment of a prediction of the second Karmapa, Karma Pakshi, who said "Future Karmapas will manifest in two forms". When the fourth Karmapa, Rolpe Dorje, returned the red crown to the second Shamarpa, he recalled Karma Pakshi's prediction, saying, "You are the one manifestation, while I am the other. Therefore, the responsibility to maintain the continuity of the teachings of the Kagyu lineage rests equally on you as it does on me." The Shamarpa is often referred to as the "Red-hat Karmapa," especially in early Kagyu texts.