The king of yogis,

the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa

Buddha declared the future of the Karmapas in the "Lankavatara sutra".:

"In the nothern country will apear the one who increases virtue, the supreme spiritual friend. The one who possesses the greatest enligthend power, who has the greatest ascetic ability, who many will listen to. He will cary the name of 'the knower of the three times' or ' the holder of all Buddhas' activity: Karmapa'. Whoever sees his face, be it only once, will be freed from their obscuring veils, as it is prophesied that simply seeing him brings liberation.