Shortly afterward, Rangjung Rigpei Dorje met with the 13th Dalai Lama in Lhasa, who performed the "cutting of the hair" ceremony. Upon returning to Tsurphu, the Gyalwa Karmapa was enthroned a second time on the golden seat by Situ Rinpoche, Drukchen Rinpoche and Mipham Tcheukyl Wangpo, head of the Drukpa Kagyu school.

For four years after his enthronement, Rangjung Rigpei Dorje studied under Beru Khyentse Rinpoche and the great Pandit, Bo Gongkar, who was as renowned as the last great Kamtsang Kagyu scholar of the time. Gongkar Rinpoche had memorized the entire Tripitaka and the great scholar Dakya Dechung Rinpoche was one of his students. While studying under Gongkar Rinpoche, the Gyalwa Karmapa related episodes of his previous existences to his lama.

In 1937, Rangjung Rigpei Dorje and his followers set out on a journey to visit Situ Rinpoche in the Dergé district of Kham. The Gyalwa Karmapa was invited to visit the king of the Nang-Shin palace and the Gompa at Tsechu, a Drukpa Kagyu monastery, which was under his authority. He also stopped at the Kaytcha monastery, a Drukpa Kagyu nunnery in Nang-Shin which housed over nine hundred nuns, the largest in Tibet.

When the Gyalwa Karmapa finally reached Palpung monastery, he was met by Situ Rinpoche. Thereafter, it was Situ who schooled the young man in the Kagyu Ngak Dzeu, one of the most profound works of Kongtrul Lodreu Thaye, which includes the higher tantric teachings of Marpa Lotswa. He also studied the Dangnak Dzeu, a collection of teachings from the eight original schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

After a short meditative retreat, the Gyalwa Karmapa and Situ Rinpoche were invited to go to China by General Chiang Kai-shek. However, the Gyalwa Karmapa did not personally accept the invitation, preferring to delegate Beru Khyentse Rinpoche as his representative.

At the Khyentse Tcheuky Lodreu monastery in Dzongsar, Rigpei Dorje performed the Black Hat ceremony, during which he appeared to Khyentse Rinpoche as Dusoum Khyenpa, the first Gyalwa Karmapa. Upon returning from Palpung, Rigpei Dorje received the complete initiations, ritual readings and instructions for the spiritual practices of the Sakya Lineage (Droup Thap Kun Tou).

In the ninth month of the Iron Dragon year (1940), Gyalwa Karmapa undertook the journey back to Tsurphu. For three years after his return, he practiced intensively while new additions were being made to the monastery. In 1944, he went on a pilgrimage during which he first visited the Samye monastery, and later Lhodrak, the homeland of Marpa Lotsawa. That same year, Rigpei Dorje was invited to go to Bhutan at the request of the second king, Jigme Wangchuk. While he was there, he performed the Black Hat ceremony several times and gave many initiations...

The following year, Situ Rinpoche, despite his advanced age, travelled to Tsurphu to give his spiritual son several new teachings. On this occasion, Rigpei Dorje, who was twenty-two at the time, entered the major orders with Situpa's blessing. The master also instructed the young man in the collection of the Gyatchen Kedzeu by Kongtrul Lodreu Taye and in the Chikdje-Kundreul by Orgyen Rinpoche. The Gyalwa Karmapa received the complete transmission, the initiations and the ritual readings of the teachings of the terton Chogyur Lingpa.

In that same year of 1955, serious conflicts broke out in the Dergé and Nang-Shin districts of the Kham region. The Gyalwa Karmapa traveled to Chamdo, where he attempted to restore peace between the Khampas and the Chinese forces. Both parties agreed to observe a five-year truce.

In 1956...