Lineage
His Holiness Dorje Change Buddha III Wan Ko Yeshe Norbu has told us that we should not depend on lineage charts when evaluating any master's state of realization, dharma powers, or qualifications to be a master. There are many masters who have a genuine spiritual lineage yet who have not attained the corresponding level of accomplishment. A person's spiritual lineage can only be used as reference, since it is a source for receiving empowerment and initiations. Anyone can put their name on a lineage chart. The true Buddha-dharma state of realization, as you see exhibited on this web site and in the book H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, is what should be relied upon to attain liberation, not a lineage chart.
Dorje Pa Mu also tells us that we must be careful to follow only those vajra masters who are reincarnations of true buddhas or bodhisattvas. You can tell if a master has learned the highest dharma by whether or not the master is able to successfully invoke the buddhas to bestow true nectar. The transmission of the highest dharma requires initiations with true nectar. This is to prevent false teachers from deceiving people.
A formal lineage chart with biographical data on many dharma kings and great rinpoches is included in H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. The lineage charts provided on this web site are greatly simplified renderings of our true lineage. His Holiness Dorje Chang Buddha III Wan Ko Yeshe Norbu represents all the lineages that espouse true Buddha-dharma. His Holiness has said that we are the "Buddha-dharma Sect," or the "All Vehicles Sect," or the "Sect of Enlightenment and Liberation," but it is best to consider us the "Buddha Sect." Our rinpoches, lamas, and dharma teachers may belong to various sects. They teach from the hinayana, mahayana, and vajrayana traditions, depending on the karmic affinity of the student and their own karmic conditions.