Yesterday the formidable Shamar Rinpoche, passed away. The news is devastating, but at the same time leaves us with a great sense of blessing and gratitude to have met this wonderful teacher and having received teachings from him.

Born in 1952 in Tibet, he was recognised as the 14th Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche by His Holiness the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa Ranjung Rigpe Dorje. Rinpoche was instrumental at finding and recognising His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje.

He is also known as the Red-Hat Lama or the Red-Hat Karmapa, with Shamar being a contraction of Sha (zhwa – ཞྭ་) meaning hat or crown and marpo (dmar po – དམར་པོ་) meaning red.

I have been lucky to have met Shamarpa several times, but it seems I only took pictures on one occasion, which was at the Losar (Tibetan New Year) celebrations in 2005 in Kalimpong.