The previous Karmapa Lama died in 1981, and the controversy over his successor that has raged ever since also epitomizes a struggle for control of the $1.5 billion in assets held by the Kagyu order, the richest in Tibetan Buddhism. With control of the Rumtek monastery embroiled in rival lawsuits, the New Delhi-based Karmapa has, not surprisingly, greeted the recent cash seizure as “exposing” his Chinese-appointed rival.