Karma Pakshi is known as being a very early example in Tibetan history of such a child. In his case, his predecessor was a veritable saint: Düsum Khyenpa (1110–1193). As an adult, Karma Pakshi wrote several times that he was “no different” from Düsum Khyenpa, his teacher’s teacher’s teacher. The “guru great-grandfather,” so to speak, had died eleven or thirteen years before Karma Pakshi’s birth. Karma Pakshi was the first to self-identify as Karmapa (he used Karmāpa), and eventually Düsum Khyenpa was attributed retrospectively the epithet of First Karmapa.

This book is divided into two main parts. The first is an extensive description of his life and how he became known as the second Karmapa.

The second part of the books is a translatin of seven of Karma Pakshi's writings including discussion of meditation, manjushri, tantra, discipline and a "deathbed" spiritual song.PDF816