Born on 6 May 1983 in Tibet, Trinley Thaye Dorje is the son of the 3rd Mipham Rinpoche (Tshe-dbang Bdud-'dul lineage) of Junyung Monastery, one of several persons believed to be a reincarnation of Ju Mipham, an important lama of the Nyingmapa school, and Dechen Wangmo, the daughter of a noble family descended from King Gesar of Ling. At the age of six months, he is reported to have started telling people that he was the Karmapa. (The identification of the 17th Karmapa is disputed. See Karmapa controversy)