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Mikyö Dorje (Wylie:mi bskyod rdo rje, 1507–1554) was the eighthKarmapa, head of theKagyu school ofTibetan Buddhism.

Mikyö Dorje was born in Satam,Kham. According to the legend, he said after being born: "I am Karmapa." and was recognized byTai Situpa. In this case there was another child fromAmdo who also claimed to be Karmapa.Gyaltsab Rinpoche, the regent of the region, thought of a test to decide who was the real Karmapa. This was the first time that a test was used to determine areincarnation. Later this became the standard method for all major lamas.

Mikyö Dorje left numerous Buddhist writings on Gongchik commentaryMadhyamaka,Abhidharma,Tantric andMahamudra texts, poetry (verses of profound wisdom) and even linguistics. He introduced specialguru yoga in four sessions, which is the basis for Karma Kagyu teachings.^[1] He was also a skillful painter and metal craftsman with many famousthangkas andstatues. The eighth Karmapa strongly influenced all arts of his time. He was invited by the emperor of China, however he said that the emperor would die before he could get to him; and according to the legend it happened as well.

He selected as lineage holder the fifthShamarpa, Konchog Yenlag, whom he had identified, and to whom he had passed on the Kagyu transmission, stating that the Karmapa and Shamarpa incarnations are inseparable, and of the samemindstream.^[2]

He compiled a biography of Bodong Chogle Namgyal (1376–1451), one of the main teachers ofDorje Pakmo, entitledOcean of Miracles (ngo mtshar gyi rgya mtsho).

• The Hundred Pith Instructions of Karmapa Mikyö Dorje^[3]
• The Collection of Monastic Activities^[4]
• E-Wam Mahamudra, An Introduction to the Three Kayas^[5]
• Introduction to the Middle Way^[6]

• Thinley, Karma (2008).The History of Sixteen Karmapas of Tibet. USA: Prajna Press. p. 150.ISBN 978-1-57062-644-9.

• The 8th Karmapa
• Mantra Karmapa mkyen no (Karmapa Chenno)
• TBRC - Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center entry for Mikyö Dorje

• 16th-century lamas
• 1507 births
• 1554 deaths
• Karmapas
• 16th-century Tibetan people
• Tibetan philosophers
• Buddhist artists

• CS1: unfit URL
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles containing Standard Tibetan-language text