His Holiness 17th Gyalwa Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje was born in Tibet on 6th May 1983. Being the oldest child of Mipham Rinpoche, great Nyingma Lama, and Dechen Uangmo coming from a noble family of king Geser from Ling, and being 1.5 years old he announced him being a Karmapa. In 1994 him and his family managed to escape from Tibet first to Nepal, followed by India. In March that very year the boy arrived to New Delhi where Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche officially recognised him as 17th Karmapa during the welcome ceremony. 17thKarmapa was named Trinley (meaning “Enlightened activity”) Thaye (Limitless) Dorje (Indestructible).
In 1997 Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje received an official invitation to Butan to take part in cremation ceremony of Topga Rinpoche. Karmapa was welcomed and honoured according to his title. The journey from Butanese border to the capital of Thimphu usually taking three hours last seven hours because all the way along Karmapa’s travel route thousands of Butanese people gathered to greet a great Lama. 17th October 1997 three thousands people came to receive his blessing.
Royal family have also recognised 17th Karmapa in Thaye Dorje, he was accepted by the Butanese king and four queens. In October 1999 His Holiness 17th Gyalwa Karmapa started on his first international journey during which he had been teaching and giving empowerments to several thousands of his students in Singapore and Taiwan. The millennium was marked with his first truly historical visit to the West. Six thousand students from thirty countries, representing several hundreds of Diamond Way centres, enthusiastically greeted him in Dusseldorf (Germany).
In summer 2003 His Holiness’s first USA tour occurred. In December that year once completed his formal education Karmapa Thaye Dorje received the title of Great Master of Tantra (Sanskr. Vajraharya). In June 2009 His Holiness 17th Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje visited Russian Federation by the invitation of K.Ilumzhinov, the head of Kalmykia Republic. His journey started off in Saint-Petersburg and ended in Vladivostok. 17th Karmapa met officials and the public in six Russian cities, attended the head of Russian Buddhists Hambo Lama Dambu Ausheev and expressed his respect to incorruptible body of Hambo Lama Itegelov in Ivolginsky Datsan (Buryatia) which was widely addressed in Russian press.
His Holiness currently lives in his residence in Kalimpong (India) and continues his education. These are far not all of the events which have occurred or still go on in the life of His Holiness 17th Karmapa Thaye Dorje.