years went by, the pressure to find the next incarnation of the Karmapa mounted. Discovery of prediction letter One central issue in the recognition of the 17th Karmapa is a prediction letter Tai Situ claimed was written by the 16th Karmapa. It indicates the parents, location, and year of the 17th Karmapa's rebirth. In January 1981, nine months before the 16th Karmapa's parinirvāṇa, the 12th Tai Situpa maintains that the Karmapa gave him an amulet with a yellow-brocade cover, telling him, "This is your protection amulet. In the future, it will confer great benefit." Although Tai Situpa wore the locket on a gold chain for about a year after the Karmapa's death, he moved it to a side pocket, not realizing its significance or that it contained a message. Tai Situpa states that he followed an intuition to open the amulet and found in late 1990 the third prediction letter, inside an envelope marked "Open in the Metal Horse Year". The letter reads: Oh Marvel! Self-realization is continual bliss. The dharmadhatu has neither center nor periphery. To the north of here, in the east [of the Land] of Snow,[1] Lies the country where Divine thunder spontaneously blazes.[2] In a beautiful place of nomads [marked] by the sign of "that which fulfills all desires",[3] The method is Döndrup and the wisdom is Lolaga.[4] [Born] the year of the one used for the earth[5] With the miraculous and far-reaching sound of the white one,[6] He is the one known as the Karmapa. Sustained by the lord Dönyö Drubpa,[7] Impartial, he fathoms all directions. Neither close to some, nor distant from others, he is the protector of all beings: The sun of the Buddha's Dharma that benefits others blazes continually. In translating the letter, Lama Kunsang, Lama Pemo, and Marie Aubele state: "The numbered lines can be interpreted as follows: [1] Ogyen Trinley Dorje was born in Kham, a region of Eastern Tibet [2] The Last Testament uses the term "Nam Chak," "Heavenly Iron"; the place of birth of the Karmapa is called "Lhathok," "Divine Thunder." [3] "That which fulfills all desires" refers to the "cow that fulfills all desires," a term found in Buddhist texts; the name of the nomadic community where the child was born is "Bagor," and "Ba" means "cow." [4] Here, the sixteenth Karmapa indicates very clearly the names of his future parents. In Buddhist texts, method and wisdom