The following is an excerpt from “The Benefits and Practices related to Statues and Stupas” by Lama Zopa Rinpoche 

The conclusion for Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike is that the stupa is a way to purify defilements. A holy stupa is a way to benefit sentient beings without words. It will liberate beings from samsara [...]]]>

The following is an excerpt from “The Benefits and Practices related to Statues and Stupas” by Lama Zopa Rinpoche 

The conclusion for Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike is that the stupa is a way to purify defilements. A holy stupa is a way to benefit sentient beings without words. It will liberate beings from samsara in silence. To have such a holy object existing in a country makes it very rich and very lucky. Many people will come to visit for pleasure as tourists, but it will at the same time make their life meaningful. The most important point is that holy objects help beings to purify their mind and to collect extensive merit so that it is possible for them to easily have realizations of the path. That is the main function of these holy objects – to help us sentient beings have quick realizations of the path to enlightenment by the power of the holy object.

Those who build and work to actualize those holy objects will bring these beings to enlightenment. So anyone who sees it, touches it, remembers it, even dreams of it will have the seed planted for their own enlightenment. As well, prostrating and so on to the stupa helps bring them to enlightenment. By have the Secret Relic mantra within the stupa, any animals, ants, butterflies, etc. that go around the stupa even just once are purified of their negative karma to be born in the hot hells.

Even if we all die, as long as the holy objects that we have created last, our work, our effort [to create holy objects], is still benefitting sentient beings continuously. For all the many hundreds and thousands of years that the stupa will last, every day it will liberate sentient beings in silence…without words…without our talking Dharma to them. You see, just by seeing the stupa, the minds of of sentient beings who come here get purified. So many negative karmas get purified. Even the insects who are killed by machines during the construction – even they will not be reborn in the lower realms. Even those that die during the building process will receive a good rebirth. It is mentioned by a great Indian teacher in a text calledMatasara, or something like that, that even if you make food for the people building the temple, your negative karma will be purified.

Stupas can be roughly divided into two categories – Theravada or Hinayana stupas, and stupas in the Mahayana tradition.  There are further subdivisions of those stupas, with different shapes and designs.

In the Hinayana tradition, there are stupas that [...]]]> An excerpt from a teaching called Cosmology of a Stupa by Tulku Sang-ngag Rinpoche

Stupas can be roughly divided into two categories – Theravada or Hinayana stupas, and stupas in the Mahayana tradition.  There are further subdivisions of those stupas, with different shapes and designs.

In the Hinayana tradition, there are stupas that are roughly in the shape of the Buddha’s body, some in the shape of his robes, some in the shape of his alms or begging bowl, and some in the shape of his throne or in the shape of a staff.  There are different renditions.

In the Mahayana tradition, there are eight principle stupas.  At the time after the Buddha was cremated, his relics were divided into eight piles and given to eight different great kings who made stupas for those relics.  According to the great teacher, Nagarjuna, there are eight principle stupas that perform eight different functions.

These eight principle stupas in the Mahayana tradition commemorate the great deeds of the Buddha’s life, from the time when he was born till his passing into nirvana.  For example, there is a stupa that commemorates his birth, that moment just after his birth when he took seven steps in the four directions.  Each time he took a step, a lotus flower blossomed under his foot. And so, there is a stupa that commemorates the birth of the Buddha.

There is a stupa that commemorates the fact that the Buddha studied a whole variety of topics in his youth and mastered them all.  There is another stupa called the auspicious many-gated stupa.  The Tashi Gomang stupa celebrates the fact that the Buddha descended back down from Tushita Pure Land, where he was teaching his mother.

In the Vajrayana tradition, the tantric vehicle, there are specific stupas that accomplish particular purposes.  For example, there are the four main types of stupas for pacification.  Some are to magnetize.  Some are to increase, increase prosperity and merit, and others are for more wrathful activities. There are different shapes that the stupa can adopt, but the fundamental meaning is the same – stupas represent the enlightened body, speech and mind of the Buddha.  The stupa primarily represents the enlightened mind of the Buddha.

At the invitation of Jetsunma Ahkön Lhamo, Khenpo Tenzin Norgay was in Sedona the weekend of February 25-27 for several events, including an Amitabha empowerment at KPC’s Amitabha Stupa, several talks on the significance of the stupa and the sacred land upon which it is built, and even a guest appearance at the Sedona [...]]]>

At the invitation of Jetsunma Ahkön Lhamo, Khenpo Tenzin Norgay was in Sedona the weekend of February 25-27 for several events, including an Amitabha empowerment at KPC’s Amitabha Stupa, several talks on the significance of the stupa and the sacred land upon which it is built, and even a guest appearance at the Sedona International Film Festival to answer questions at the screening of a documentary movie called Journey from Zanskar: A Monk’s Vow to Children.  The weekend’s events were a great success, drawing large audiences despite the chilly February weather and the competition of the film festival.  But the event at the stupa on Sunday, February 27^th, provided a special treat to those who braved the elements.

Sunday – Dakini Day – dawned to a world of white with fluffy fresh snow blanketing the town and the red rocks.  Such a snow is considered a blessing by Tibetans, but it seemed an inauspicious start to a day that was planned to feature a talk by Khenpo at the stupa and a song offering by Hopi Indians.  It appeared that the Hopi would not be able to make it to Sedona as all roads leading from the Flagstaff area were closed.  In addition, the wet, rapidly melting snow had turned the dirt road leading up to the stupa into a quagmire.  This meant that no vehicles would be able to drive to the stupa to carry heavy equipment like a PA system or a generator to power the planned webcast.  In view of the situation, it was decided to change the schedule and replace the planned talk with a Shower of Blessings practice, which is the heart practice at KPC, and including a sang (smoke) offering to purify negativity.

By 2:00 the warm sun had melted much of the snow, and the clouds had long since abandoned the sky to the brilliant Arizona sun.  A group of about thirty people had assembled, many of whom had never participated in any kind of Tibetan Buddhist practice.  Partway through the practice, to everyone’s surprise, word arrived that the Hopis were indeed on their way and were expected shortly.  The practice was speeded to finish by the time they arrived.  As people were enjoying the food offering that is a part of the practice, Ruben Saufkie Sr. came walking up the hill with his two young sons.  They were seated on the stage next to Khenpo, and Ruben and Khenpo talked for several minutes.  People were invited to come and sit close to the stage, and Ruben then repeated what he had shared with Khenpo.

Ruben said that he personally had been out of balance for many years, caught up in the throes of alcoholism, disrespectful to everyone, out of control.  But then he looked into the eyes of his children and recognized the same look of fear and hopelessness that he had experienced as a child, for both his father and grandfather had also been alcoholics.  This realization caused him to reexamine his life as a father and as a Hopi.  His Hopi elders gave him the teachings to help him overcome his addictions and to return to balance.  As he emerged from his addictions, he also began to see how the Hopis as a tribe were also out of balance and that this was destroying them.  The population has shrunk to a mere 13,000, and out of over a hundred clans, only less than thirty survive.  Disagreements between individual Hopis and Hopi villages abound on how the Hopi nation should cope with the modern world.  What Ruben came to realize was that Hopis should return to their original teachings of how to live life in balance, that they needed to move out of their egos and return to their hearts as this was the seat of power and balance.

Ruben’s mission now, as he explained, was to do everything he could to restore this balance, both in the Hopi nation and the world.  He said he began with his own life and family, and that he was now reaching out to his fellow Hopi and to those beyond the reservation.  This has often resulted in attacks by other Hopis, accusing him of just pursuing money, consorting with non-Hopis, and not caring about his people.  Ruben said that this has been very painful for him and there have been times when he has felt like abandoning his mission.  When he received the invitation to come to Sedona to participate in the events with Khenpo, however, he felt like a new door had been opened, and his enthusiasm to continue was renewed.  On Sunday morning he saw the snow and heard the traffic reports, but he felt certain that this meeting was meant to happen, so he set out.  As he and his sons approached Flagstaff, a pure white hawk flew directly over his car, so he felt certain that everything would be auspicious.  And indeed, I-17 was reopened by the time he got to Flagstaff, and he was able to safely drive down the mountain to Sedona.

Ruben then talked about the location of the stupa and explained how this area had been known to his people long ago.  They thought it was extraordinarily beautiful, but they chose not to live there because they knew that someday someone would take the land from them for its beauty.  After a short stay, they proceeded on their way to their permanent home on the Hopi Mesas, which are shaped like a hand.  He said that building a stupa in this place is a wonderful way to honor its sacredness.

Then Ruben and his sons donned their traditional Hopi dress and prepared to sing.  First Ruben blessed the stupa, Khenpo, and the audience with condor and eagle feathers, representing the 500 year-old prophecy of the coming together of the ancient teachings of the North (eagle) with those of the South (condor) – in other words, the joining of the ancient wisdom of the Indian tribes of the North, such as the Hopi, with those of the South, the Incas, Aztecs, Mayas.  Then he and his sons formally introduced themselves, first in Hopi, then in English.  They proceeded to sing several traditional Hopi songs dedicated to bear, deer and other native animals, accompanied by drum and rattle.  The songs evinced the beauty of the high windswept mesas where the Hopi found their permanent home, evoking a feeling of ancient wisdom and a connection to the earth that has been largely lost in our modern, hyperactive world.

Several photographs taken at the time of the songs reveal miraculous images of rainbow light and bindus – small orbs of energy which, according to Khenpo (who took the picture seen here), are signs of the auspiciousness of the two traditions coming together.  Jetsunma, who followed the day’s events closely via texting and photographs,  added, “Here are two Ancient Tribes returning.”  She went on to say, “This is so auspicious!!!  I cannot tell you!”

The ancient prophecies are coming true before our eyes.  EH MA HO!

This article was written by Thubten Palzang

“The visual impact of the stupa on the observer brings a direct experience of inherent wakefulness and dignity. Stupas continue to be built because of their ability to liberate one simply upon seeing their structure” - Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

To find out more about Stupas and see other stupas in the United [...]]]>

Jetsunma's Stupa

“The visual impact of the stupa on the observer brings a direct experience of inherent wakefulness and dignity. Stupas continue to be built because of their ability to liberate one simply upon seeing their structure” - Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

To find out more about Stupas and see other stupas in the United States, visit:

www.stupas.org

http://www.odiyan.org/stupa.html

http://www.shambhalamountain.org/stupa.html