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His Holiness the Seventeenth Gyalwa Karmapa
was born on the eighth day of the fifth Tibetan month in the year of the
Wood Ox (June 26, 1985 using the Western calendar) in Lhathok, located
in the nomad community of Bakor in eastern Tibet. His father is Karma
Dondrup and his mother, Loga. Just before the sun rose, His Holiness was
born without any difficulty. In the afternoon of the third day after his
birth, the wide-ranging sound of a conch shell resonated for about one
hour. For another half hour, the tones of various musical instruments
were clearly heard by all the people in this nomad community. The resounding
of the conch shell in the sky and on the earth was a wondrous event.
![[photo]](../hh/hb/hb-is/hb044b.jpeg) 
Before the Karmapa was born, a beautiful bird never
seen before landed on the roof of the family's tent and sang a lovely
song. Another time, a rainbow appeared over the tent. In this way, many
wonderful signs appeared which were directly perceived, and which led
all the people of the area to believe that this child was a very special
one.
When His Holiness was four years old, Amdo Palden from Kalek Monastery
invited him to go there and subsequently, he began his studies. The Karmapa
possessed great qualities within his physical form, great compassion within
his mind, and the knowledge of past and future time. For example, one
day when he was playing with his youngest sister, he said: "Father's car
has fallen down." When his sister rebuked him, saying "Don't talk like
that," His Holiness answered, "Everything is all right." When the Karmapa's
father came back, they found out that the Karmapa had known exactly what
happened: his father's vehicle had fallen off the road, but no one was
hurt.
![[photo]](../hh/hb/hb-is/hb045b.jpeg) 
  
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