The Karmapa (officially His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa, sometimes spelled Gyalwang Karmapa) is the head of the Karma Kagyu, the largest sub-school of the Kagyupa (Tibetan Bka' brgyud), itself one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

The historical seat of the Karmapas is Tsurphu Monastery in the Tolung valley of Tibet. His Holiness' principal seat in exile is the Dharma Chakra Centre at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, India. His regional monastic seats are Karma Triyana Dharmachakra in New York, Dhagpo Kagyu Ling in France and Tashi Choling in Bhutan.

Due to a controversy within the Karma Kagyu school over the recognition process, the identity of the current 17th Karmapa is disputed. See Karmapa controversy for details.

The first Karmapa, Düsum Khyenpa (Dus gsum Mkhyen pa) (1110–1193), was a disciple of the Tibetan master Gampopa. A talented child who studied dharma (Buddhist teachings) with his father from an early age and who sought out great teachers in his twenties and thirties, he is said to have attained enlightenment at the age of fifty while practicing dream yoga. He was henceforth regarded as the Karmapa, a manifestation of Avalokitesvara (Chenrezig), whose coming was predicted in the Samadhiraja Sutra and the Lankavatara Sutra.

The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Sino-Mongolian word далай (dalai) meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word བླ་མ་ bla-ma (with a silent "b") meaning "chief, high priest".

In religious terms, the Dalai Lama is believed by his devotees to be the rebirth of a long line of tulkus who are considered to be manifestations of the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteśvara. Traditionally, the Dalai Lama is thought of as the latest reincarnation of a series of spiritual leaders who have chosen to be reborn in order to enlighten others. The Dalai Lama is often thought to be the leader of the Gelug School, but this position belongs officially to the Ganden Tripa, which is a temporary position appointed by the Dalai Lama who, in practice, exerts much influence. The line of Dalai Lamas began as a lineage of spiritual teachers; the 5th Dalai Lama assumed political authority over Tibet.

For certain periods between the 17th century and 1959, the Dalai Lamas sometimes directed the Tibetan government, which administered portions of Tibet from Lhasa. The 14th Dalai Lama remained the head of state for the Central Tibetan Administration ("Tibetan government in exile") until his retirement on March 14, 2011. He has indicated that the institution of the Dalai Lama may be abolished in the future, and also that the next Dalai Lama may be found outside Tibet and may be female. The Chinese government was very quick to reject this and claimed that only it has the authority to select the next Dalai Lama.

Kyabje Ling Rinpoche (1903 - 1983) was a Tibetan buddhist scholar and teacher.

Born in Tibet, northwest of Lhasa, he also was the 97th Ganden Tripa and senior tutor to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. The Ganden Tripa is the spiritual head of the Gelugpa Sect, the largest sect in Tibetan Buddhism. Kyabje Ling Rinpoche was one of the four main disciples of Pabongka Rinpoche. Kyabje Ling Rinpoche was the Ganden Tripa for about 14 years. He served at the request of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people for the longest period that anyone sat on the Gaden throne. Together with Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche, he is considered to be root guru of the 14th Dalai Lama. Kyabje Ling Rinpoche died in 1983.

Prior to Kyabje Ling Rinpoche, three earlier incarnations of Ling Rinpoche were tutors for previous Dalai Lamas, including the 13th, the 12th and the 6th Dalai Lamas. Three incarnations of Ling Rinpoche were also Ganden Tripas. Over many years, the Ling Rinpoche incarnations founded many monasteries in Tibet and taught students in every sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Many of the monks in Ling Khangtsen come from these monasteries.

Lama Ole Nydahl (born March 19, 1941) is a Danish Lama in the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism under guidance of Trinley Thaye Dorje. Since the early 1970s, Nydahl has toured the world giving lectures and meditation courses. With his wife, Hannah Nydahl, he founded Diamond Way Buddhism, a worldwide lay organization of Karma Kagyu Buddhism.

Nydahl is the author of nine books in English, including The Way Things Are, Entering the Diamond Way, and Riding the Tiger.

Ole Nydahl was born in Copenhagen and grew up in Denmark. In the early 1960s, he served briefly in the Danish Army, then studied philosophy, English, and German at the University of Copenhagen, where he completed the examen philosophicum with the best possible grade. He began but did not finish a doctoral thesis on Aldous Huxley’s Doors of Perception. As a young man, Nydahl was involved in boxing, race car driving and also travelled overland from Denmark to Nepal several times. As described in his book "Entering the Diamond Way", his travels were financed through smuggling, for which he was once arrested and detained in Denmark.

Sakya Trizin (Tibetan: ས་སྐྱ་ཁྲི་འཛིན།, ZYPY: Sa'gya Chizin, literally "Sakya Throne Holder"; Chinese: 萨迦法王 or 萨迦崔津) or Sa'gya Gongma Rinboqê (གོང་མ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ།) is the traditional title of the head of the Sakya Order of Tibetan Buddhism.

The Sakya Order of Tibetan Buddhism was founded in 1073, when Khon Konchog Gyalpo (a.k.a. Kön Gönqog Gyäbo), a member of Tibet’s noble Khön (Koin) family, established a monastery in the region of Sakya, Tibet, which became the headquarters of the Sakya Order of Tibetan Buddhism. Since that time, the leadership of the Sakya Order has descended within the Khön family.

The current Sakya Trizin is the 41st Sakya Trizin. His legal name is "Sakya Trizin" and he is referred to as His Holiness Sakya Trizin. His religious name is Ngawang Kunga Tegchen Palbar Trinley Samphel Wangyi Gyalpo. H.H. Sakya Trizin is considered second only to His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the spiritual hierarchy of Tibetan Buddhism.

Sakya Trizin was born on September 7, 1945 in Tsedong, near Shigatse, Tibet. From his father, Vajradhara Ngawang Kunga Rinchen, he received important initiations and teachings in the Sakya lineage. He began intensive religious study at the age of five. In 1952, he was officially designated as the next Sakya Trizin by His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. He continued intensive training from his main teacher Ngawang Lodroe Shenpen Nyingpo and many other famous Tibetan scholars, studying extensively in both the esoteric and exoteric Buddhist traditions. In 1959, at the age of fourteen, he was formally enthroned as head of the Sakya Order of Tibetan Buddhism. In the same year, due to the political situation in Tibet, the Sakya Trizin, his family, and many lamas and monks from the Sakya Monastery relocated to India.