Just like a rosary without any missing links, the Kagyu lineage has been passed down through an unbroken chain of masters and disciples.

From the great Mahasiddhas of India, the Kagyu tradition was successfully passed down to Tibetan masters.

Mahasiddha Tilopa is often referred to as the first holder of the Kagyu tradition because he brought together the transmissions from various masters and accomplished enlightenment, seeing directly "the face" of the Buddha Vajradhara.  He is famous for reaching realization while grinding sesame seeds.

Tilopa transmitted the lineage to Naropa, a former chancellor at Nalanda who became a great Mahasiddha.

The teachings of the Kagyu lineage were brought from India to Tibet by Marpa Lotsawa, who courageously went to India three times to receive the transmission of the lineage from Naropa and Maitripa. Although Marpa was a layman, he accomplished complete realization.

Marpa Lotsawa passed down this profound tradition to Jetsun Milarepa. Jetsun Mila is renown as a wandering sage whose songs of realization are still in the hearts of the Tibetan people today. Milarepa passed down the Kagyu lineage to Je Gampopa, who integrated the code of monastic discipline (Vinaya) and the tradition of gradual studies and mind training with the mainstream Kagyu lineage.

One of Gampopa's foremost disciples was Dusum Khyenpa, the 1st Gyalwa Karmapa. The Gyalwa Karmapa's foremost disciple was Drogon Rechen, a past incarnation of the Tai Situ Rinpoche. Since that time, the Gyalwa Karmapa and Tai Situpa have been the main holders of the Karma Kagyu lineage. 

Integrating the Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism paths, Kagyu practices can bring realization to the practitioner in a single lifetime. Mahamudra known as the Great Seal or Gesture, is the meditation which brings forth the fruition of enlightenment in Kagyu practice. The Six Yogas of Naropa and the completion of three-year meditation retreats, usually accompanied by intensive study in monastic colleges (shedras), are core practices of the Kagyu lineage.

The supreme holiness of the Karma Kagyu Lineage, the most wide-spread and thriving Kagyu tradition today, is the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa. The Karma Kagyu Lineage has been headed for centuries by the Gyalwa Karmapas. The present regents of the Karma Kagyu Lineage are Chamgon Tai Situ Rinpoche and Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche.

The 1st Karmapa, Dusum Khyenpa, was one of the principle disciples of Gampopa. The Karmapas are considered to be living examples of enlightenment, embodiments of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, known as Avalokitesvara or Chenrezig, and take birth solely to benefit others.

The Karmapas alternate as the master, and disciple who receives the transmission, with the other leading Lamas of the Kagyu tradition such as the Tai Situ Rinpoche.

Below one can find out more on the Kagyu lineage and its development, in India and Tibet, along with the history of important Lamas of the lineage and the Black and Red Crowns of the Kagyu tradition.

Starting with Gampopa's disciple, the 1st Gyalwa Karmapa Dusum Khyenpa, the Karma Kagyu tradition has been passed down through the incarnations of the Gyalwa Karmapa and other great masters who have served as the Karmapa's regents:

The Kagyu lineage has successfully re-established itself in-exile. The 16th Gyalwa Karmapa founded the Dharmachakra Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, India, as his main seat outside of Tibet.

The Tai Situpa founded Palpung Sherab Ling Monastery in Himachal Pradesh, India. The Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche founded Pullahari Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal. The Gyaltsab Rinpoche has been guiding Rumtek Monastery since the 16th Karmapa's passing in 1981, and also looks after his own centers such as Ralong in Sikkim.

Many other important Kagyu centers in India have been established. Benchen Monastery, the seat of Sangye Nyenpa and Tenga Rinpoche, was founded in Nepal. Thrangu Rinpoche has founded centers in Nepal and India, including Namo Buddha and the Vajra Vidya Institute.

Dorjechang Kalu Rinpoche and his spiritual heir, Bokar Rinpoche, guide numerous monasteries and retreat centers in West Bengal and other regions of India.

The main seats of the Kagyu lineage in Tibet, including Tsurphu and Palpung monastery, have been re-established too. The 17th Gyalwa Karmapa was enthroned at Tsurphu monastery in Tibet, like all other previous Karmapas, and Kagyu masters have visited Tibet since the 1980s to revitalize Tibetan religion and culture.

Through the efforts of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Akong Tulku Rinpoche, the Karma Kagyu lineage successfully arrived in the Western world. Great masters of the lineage such as the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa and Kalu Rinpoche were teaching by the 1970s in America and Europe.

Numerous centers soon sprung up across the Western world. The Shambhala centers set up by Trungpa Rinpoche developed into a wide organization of devoted practitioners. Kagyu Thubten Choling, the first three-year retreat center in the west, was established under Kalu Rinpoche's direction in New York. Samye Ling Monastery was founded in Great Britain and is one of the largest Buddhist monasteries in Europe.

Numerous retreat facilities were established in America and Europe, many under KaluRinpoche's direction. Karma Triyana Dharmachakra in New York was later on named the Seat of the Gyalwa Karmapa in North America. Numerous branch centers and dharma study groups soon emerged under KTD's direction.

The Kagyu lineage soon became the largest school of Tibetan Buddhism in the West.

Teachers such as Tai Situ Rinpoche, Thrangu Rinpoche, Tenga Rinpoche and Khenpo Tsultrim Rinpoche teach almost every year to western students. Kalu Rinpoche's reincarnation (yangsi) and spiritual heir Bokar Rinpoche have also visited the west. Many resident Lamas and trained masters presently reside in the Americas, Europe, Southeast Asia and Taiwan, teaching the dharma to students.

The Kagyu lineage will continue to develop in the west, awaiting the day when the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa will assume his role to guide the numerous monasteries and centers established. Likewise in the near future, the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa will return to his main seat in exile, Rumtek Monastery, and perform the ceremony of the Black Vajra Crown for the benefit of all beings.

The Gyalwa Karmapa is adorned with an invisible Black Vajra Crown upon his head. This crown was woven of the hair of celestial sky-goer goddesses (dakinis). These dakinis offered the crown to one of the Karmapa’s past incarnations eons ago, as a symbol of his enlightenment. Since then, his successive incarnations are adorned with this Black Vajra Crown.

Only those of spiritual realization, or those who have a glimpse of pure mind with devotion, can see the actual Vajra Crown which is invisible to the ordinary eye. Individuals such as His Holiness 13th Dalai Lama and Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche saw this invisible Vajra Crown above the head of the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa Rigpe Dorje.

The following is an explanation of the Black and Red Crowns of the Kagyu lineage, base upon the words of Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye the Great (translated by Ngawang Zangpo).

Enlightened Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, who act solely to benefit living beings, possess skillful means by which others can be aided and advanced on the path to enlightenment.

Each symbol and aspect of their bodies, pure lands, ornaments and possessions guide an inconceivable number of beings towards enlightenment. These Buddhas and Bodhisattvas appear in many forms, whether like an ordinary being or supreme Buddha, as listeners or solitary sages, as spoken words or symbols, as seers, Brahmins, gods, universal monarchs, forms of light, blossoming lotus flowers and even the scent of incense. They appear as Buddhist kings, their wives, children, ministers, and even artistically manifested forms such as statues, the supreme statue being the Jowo image (of the Buddha in the Jokhang temple of Tibet).

Due to the freedom of mind of an enlightened being, and their ability to manifest based on the disposition of sentient beings, various forms appear. On the origin of aiding others through the presentation of crowns, masters such as Guru Padmasambhava and Je Gampopa have praised the measureless benefits for both the wearer and the viewer of crowns representing the Buddha families. These types of crowns are used in the traditions of Tibet. Any of these, however, are surpassed by the precious Black Vajra Crown of the Gyalwa Karmapa.

The Ming Emperor Yongle of China, an emanation of the Bodhisattva Manjushri, saw a glimpse of the Black Vajra Crown when the 5th Gyalwa Karmapa visited the imperial court. The Emperor made a physical replica of the crown and offered it to the Gyalwa Karmapa, who consecrated it to be in essence the same as the actual, invisible Vajra Crown. So, all practitioners whether ordinary or realized can obtain the benefits of seeing the replica of the Black Vajra Crown which liberates on sight.

In turn, the Gyalwa Karmapa has bestowed upon the heads of his disciples crowns which represent their spiritual qualities. The Red Vajra Crowns of the Tai Situ Rinpoche and Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche, bestowed upon them by the Gyalwa Karmapa, continue to benefit others through their presentation. These Red Crowns represent the enlightened qualities of the Tai Situpa and Gyaltsabpa, and also their inseparability from the Gyalwa Karmapa as spiritual father and sons.

Thus, the red and black crowns have the same shape, a symbol that no difference exists between the mind and qualities of the father Karmapa and his spiritual sons. The slight differences in colors and designs of the crowns show that each maintains his individual enlightened activity. Whether one sees the red or black crown makes no difference in the benefit of beings through the four means of liberation: sight, hearing, touch and remembering.

The benefit of empowerments depends upon the individual, such as having all the senses intact, devotion, ability to develop wisdom, visualization, keeping one’s commitments and virtue. However, unlike this, the benefits of viewing these crowns which liberate on sight does not depend on whether one’s senses are intact, one has kept all one’s commitments, or any other distinction. The seeds of realization are planted through hearing, seeing, making offerings, praising or even thinking about these crowns.

The Black Crown of the Karmapa and the Red Crown of the Tai Situpa and Gyaltsabpa reperesent all their qualities including the nature of the mind, the four immeasurables, the five Buddha families and activities, and the three bodies of the Buddha.