The Prophecy of the Fifth Karmapa
"At the end of the time of the Sixteenth
in the rosary of Karmapa
And at the beginning of the time of the 17th,
An incarnation of a demon (lit. “samaya-breaker”)
One with the name Na-tha (also, a “relative,”
spec. “nephew”)
Will arise in this seat, Sacho.
By the power of the person’s perverted aspirations,
The Karmapa lineage will be near destruction.
At that time, one having true aspirations
from a previous life,
A heart emanation of Padmasambhava,
From the Western direction,
One with a necklace of moles, fierce and wrathful,
Whose mouth speaks wrathful speech,
Having dark maroon colour and eyes protruding.
This one will subdue the incarnation
of the samaya breaker,
He will protect Tibet and Kham for a while.
At that time happiness, like beholding the sun
In Tibet this will occur, I think.
Without this, even if karmically virtuous ones come
The dharma will wane downwards,
As fruit of the negative aspirations of the demon.
It will be difficult for happiness to arise.
From the center the King of the center will be defiled
The emanation of a demon, an officer of high rank,
coming from Kong,
Will disturb the center and destroy the center’s domain.
Many outsiders not existing before,
[Not knowing] what has arisen, will conceal.
The beings of the degenerate times, will be
seduced by the demon.
Not having faith in Dharma, will become
full of suffering.
Upper, lower and middle, in all three regions,
Blood of disturbances and arguments will rain.
From quarrels, disturbances and debates,
There will be no place of peace even for awhile.
Except for this poor and busy state
There will be no place for riches and leisure
Except for these very tormented fetters,
There is no liberty.
Three precious ones, the three roots and
the Dharma protectors,
It is not that they don’t have compassion.
Due to the Karma of beings and the
power of aspirations of the demon,
A time will arrive of a downward decrease.
At that time the Secret Lineage Dharma,
Will have more power and bring swift blessings."
- The 5th Karmapa, Deshin Shekpa (1384 – 1415)