Sedona

Stupas and the Enlightened Mind

by

Stupas

An excerpt from a teaching by H.E. Gochen Tulku Sang-ngag Rinpoche at Kunzang Palyul Choling in Sedona, Arizona on May 14, 2003.  Tulku Sang-ngag is a renowned Stupa Builder and Vajrayana master.   In addition to the many stupas he has helped to build and consecrate in the US,  Kunzang Palyul Choling was very fortunate to have Tulku Sang Nang guide the construction of the Amitabha Stupa, to consecrate it, and to teach on the meaning of a stupa to the Sangha.

The enlightened mind of the Buddha

Before offering this Dharma teaching on the meaning of the stupa, I would like first to offer homage to the Three Jewels –  the Supreme and Unsurpassed Guide, the Buddha;  the teachings that the Buddha taught, the Holy Dharma; and  the followers of the teaching, the Sangha.  I offer homage to those three.  And then to the Unsurpassed Guide, my personal teacher, who is the embodiment of all of those three in one single form.  I am offering this teaching on the meaning of a stupa in accord with Jetsunma’s wishes.

That which is known as a stupa is called a “chorten” in Tibetan.  A chorten means a receptacle of offerings.  A stupa actually represents an outward expression of the Buddha’s enlightened body, speech and mind.  First of all, we have the Buddha’s mind.  The Buddha’s mind is such that it is non-composite phenomena.  It has neither shape nor color, but it is all knowing.  It is cognizant and lucid and yet you cannot identify it as being anything whatsoever.  The Buddha’s mind is unelaborated cognizance.

In order to address the predicament that all sentient beings find themselves in, to tame those beings and bring them on the path to enlightenment, the Buddha has manifested in two specific forms in an effortless manner.  In a non-artificial and natural manner, he manifests in two types of bodies.  That state of the pure potentiality of enlightenment, that is the state of being a Buddha, is something, which is beyond any kind of representation.  It is beyond having color or a shape or a size or any kind of form.  That authentic state of enlightenment, which is yet to manifest, is the genuine stupa.  It is the genuine stupa of basic space, “cho kyi ying,” which means the sphere of Dharma, the sphere of pure potential.  That is what is known as the authentic stupa before the onset of manifestation.  It is the potentiality.  It is the actual state of enlightenment that we are talking about before it is actually manifest.

The state of basic space, the Dharmadhatu, manifests a display of appearances, which are spontaneously present, complete, and perfect.  Because that basic space is an unhindered display of dynamic energy, a variety of stupas manifest in the four directions in order to benefit beings.

The state of the Buddha’s mind is such that it has the 32 qualities of enlightenment.  They are the ten powers and the ten states of fearlessness and so on.  Those 32 qualities of the enlightened mind of the Buddha manifest outwardly as the 32 characteristics of a physical stupa.  They are actually a physical representation of those internal qualities of the Buddha’s mind.

Auspicious Signs at Sedona Stupa

by

The following was submitted by Wib Middleton, a member of the KPC sangha in Sedona:

Yesterday during a two-hour Shower of Blessings tsog at the Amitabha Stupa a gentle and very brief rain fell twice during the practice.
Then a wonderful thing happened at the end of the practice.

A visitor had come and was circumambulating the Stupa and as we were preparing to leave she had stopped and was looking intently to the East. Following her gaze we saw a rainbow. What was unusual was at the base of the rainbow it looked like the rain and the rainbow had mingled and rainbow light mixed with rain was being blown by the wind and had expanded beyond the boundaries of the rainbow above.

We took it as an auspicious sign!

The Merit of Stupa Building

by
Amitabha Stupa in Sedona

Amitabha Stupa in Sedona

An excerpt from the teaching, “Cosmology of a Stupa” given by Tulku Sang-ngag Rinpoche on the occasion of the consecration of the Amitabha Stupa in Sedona, Arizona

This tradition of building stupas was passed down in India and finally reached Tibet.  It was brought to Tibet by the very first Buddhist master to arrive there, Shantarakshita.  He was a very great abbot who was the first to teach the Dharma in Tibet.  At that time, all of the rituals and all the ceremonies related to building a stupa were translated and established by Shantarakshita.  This was prior to the arrival of Guru Rinpoche.

Shakyamuni Buddha taught King Tsaldyor about the incredible benefits that one could derive from both erecting a stupa.  There is also a discussion by the Buddha on the benefits of circumambulating a stupa, going around a stupa in order to accumulate merit.

It is said that when building a stupa, if you simply offer a handful of sand and place it in the mortar, that handful of sand is equivalent to offering many thousands of ounces of gold to the enlightened ones.  It is equivalent in merit.  If you labor at making a stupa, whether for work or play even if you are just sitting there drawing a rendition of the stupa, you make a connection with it.  There is contact made and by virtue of having contact, you are connecting with enlightenment, so you receive a blessing.  You accumulate merit.

There is a story that illustrates this.  In one of the Buddha’s previous lifetimes there were these seven bugs that lived on a leaf of a tree that was beside a lake.  And in the middle of that lake there was a stupa. One day, that leaf just broke off the tree, floated down to the water and then was blown around the stupa a few times, and then finally the bugs drowned.  But because they went around the stupa a few times, they received a blessing.  Traditionally it is said that the seed of liberation was planted in their mind stream.  And because there was that seed present, it had to ripen and eventually after a few lifetimes, all those bugs awakened to enlightenment by virtue of the fact that they accumulated that merit.

By seeing a stupa or hearing about a stupa, remembering it, visualizing it, whatever the case may be, any kind of connection will imbue you with a blessing, will connect you to enlightenment.  Whether a bug, a human, or an animal without a body just floating through space, any being that comes in contact with a stupa will be blessed and gain merit.

A stupa can be considered an outward symbol that the Buddha’s teachings endure.  The stupa is a representation of the Buddha.  Even now, the original Buddha’s stupa is still there in Bodh Gaya in Behart, north central India.  And it is an object of homage for countless people.  Every year, hundreds of thousands, possibly millions of pilgrims visit there to pay respects and to offer prostrations.  A stupa, as a symbol that represents the Buddha, is treated as such.  Numerous monks and nuns go there to receive ordination, blessings and so on.  There are people from Thailand and Hong Kong and Japan, and from all over the world who go there to see that stupa and receive the blessings.

In the past, there have been many stories of relics appearing from these stupas.  As mentioned earlier, there is that phenomenon known as ringsel, the small relic pills, which would spontaneously be emitted from the stupa.  Sometimes it even rained from the sky in the vicinity of the stupas, such as the stupas in Boudnath and Svayambhu.  There are numerous stories.  But these days it is not happening as frequently as it used to in the past.  This might be because of the change in the times.  Due to corruption or degeneration, it is not as frequent as it used to be.

stupas2

I really enjoy working with stupas, creating them, helping in their construction.  So far, in the States, I have helped with 13 stupas, and all together more than 20 stupas.  The reason why is because stupas are really such great phenomena.  If you are building a temple or something like that, then it is kind of a mixed bag.  There is administration.  You have to manage things.  It is a great thing to do, but it can be complicated, because you are involved with people and all sorts of things can happen.  Whereas with a stupa, right from the word go, everything is very virtuous.  It is simple.  A stupa is expressly made for virtue, so that people can pay homage, so that they can accumulate merit and receive a blessing.

It is a very simple and very straightforward matter.  Right from the onset, it is all about virtue.  In the interim it is about virtue and at the end, it’s all about virtue.  With other things, you have to manage the money, the people, and the upkeep.  With a temple you never know where it is going, but with a stupa, it is straightforward and clear cut.

In their final testaments to the people of Tibet, Guru Rinpoche and Shantarakshita said that the problems of cyclic existence could be remedied through the medium of a stupa, because there are so many different types of stupas that address different problems.  For example, when things really degenerate, and we find ourselves now at the time known as the five types of degeneracy.  For times of conflict, there is a type of stupa that works as a counteragent to conflict by creating harmony.  There are stupas that remedy diseases, plagues, famines, and poverty.

There are a wide variety of stupas to address all the different problems that we have in this world.  For example, if a country is suffering from intense poverty, then you would erect a Dzambala palace stupa, which is similar to the palace of Dzambala itself; and because of the law of interdependence, we have created the auspicious interdependent coincidence for poverty to be alleviated and to create wealth.  This is how these stupas actually function – through the law of interdependence.

There are all kinds of stupas that work with different situations.  There is the stupa that represents the enlightened body, speech and mind.  For beings who wish to achieve complete awakening, who aim for realization of absolute truth and liberation, then one of those types of stupas would be created and homage paid to it.

It is in light of the fact that there are so many virtues, so many great qualities connected with the stupas that when I heard that the sangha here had made so many stupas before and wished to make some more, that I was completely overjoyed.  I really rejoice in this kind of activity.  It is my favorite thing to do.  It is the thing I feel the most enthusiasm towards.  Out of all the different things that I can do, I love creating stupas and helping with their construction.

Actually, last year, I thought that I would change the way I do things and concentrate on my work in Montana, and not go around too much.  But when I heard that there was a stupa to be made, I couldn’t help myself.  I feel that whenever it is related to a stupa, I am always available.  I want to commit myself to helping develop this stupa.  I feel very strongly about it.  I am full of enthusiasm.  I have made this commitment now.

All of you who are engaged in the work of erecting the stupa, please remain in your commitment to that.  Don’t deviate from your commitment.  And also, all of your work should be imbued with love and compassion for all beings.  It should be motivated by that precious bodhicitta.  That is really of primary importance.  Then the merit and wisdom will be beyond measure.

Whether you are working to build the stupa or made an offering or whether you simply rejoice in such good activity and the presence of a stupa like that, if you are motivated by compassion and love, and if compassion completely infuses your whole being and you make aspiration prayers that all beings benefit by the presence of having a stupa there, then the merit and the blessing can’t be measured.  That is very important.  Our lives are very short.   We could pass away at any time.  But the stupa is something that really endures.  So, it is incredibly meaningful to relate to the stupa.  It is something that remains present in this world.  It could be hundreds of years, thousands of years; it could be a very long time.  All during that time, beings are receiving blessings, and merit is accumulated.  One’s aspiration prayers are constantly being fulfilled.  It is enduring, ongoing phenomena.  The effect of it is immense and the implications are incredible.

If you want to multiply your virtue endlessly, connect with a stupa.  I am completely rejoicing and thank everybody who is involved with that.

Blessings for All

by

The following is from a series of tweets by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo:

As you know KPC held a fabulous Web-A-Thon in Sedona for the Palyul Stupa and it was a great success, we have money for the Stupa land. And we’re still going. Sedona wants the Stupa kept as well and has helped us a lot. The value of the Stupa is becoming familiar to all. Really, something so precious yet exotic in this land is something special! Like a wish fulfilling gem it heals all.

When a Stupa is present the power is enormous and benefits all who do pilgrimage there. Please do visit!

Also we are steadily working on the Migyur Dorje Stupa to do cosmetic repair. We hope you will also do pilgrimage here. They are powerful and enormous!

On temple grounds we also have an Enlightenment Stupa for all to make progress on our path. Blessings for all.

Bring the sick, the needy and they will be blessed. Just get here! Even my doggie Rickey is getting better! There was no hope and here he is!

Copyright © Jetsunma Ahkon Norbu Lhamo.  All rights reserved

People Coming Forth

by

We received the following in an email from the Caretakers of the Sedona Stupa and wanted to share the great news:

Wow! What a night!! We had our art auction fundraiser and it was a smashing success. On many levels. We raised $8846. In 3 hours!

People coming forth

Last night was perfectly exemplified up by a woman we had never met before. She showed up in the morning to help hang the art. She was part of a team of four people who came to help. In a record-breaking 2 hours these pros hung 60 plus pieces of art—beautifully. The space looked stunning!

Then this gal comes back to the art auction, stays to the end, buys some art and says: “Thank you for taking such good care of our Stupa.” Turns out she visits the Stupa frequently and depends on it as a spiritual resource. This has become typical… people owning the Stupa!

We have shifted the conversation here from a financial problem the Buddhists are having to the Amitabha Stupa as a Sedona treasure that must be saved and we all want it to stay intact and available.

So here is how the evening came together and who made it happen:

The owner of Rene Restaurant in Tlaquepaque, Deborah Leatherwood, sponsored all the delicious food and wine, stayed through the event and loved it. Thank you Sam for introducing us to her 3 months ago!

Owner of Tlaquepaque gave us the ballroom free. Thank you Wendy Lippman!

65 artists, many well-known and many emerging artists donated every piece. And happily. Some even called up when they heard about the event and asked if they could still donate!

Linen company donated. There was a lot of linen! Wine distributers donated all the wine. Tara sang on the adjacent terrace and wowed people.

We had close to 100 people show up on a Sunday night, paying $30 and having a great time bidding on the art. It was a terrific community gathering.

Mayor Rob Adams and his wife were there. His wife Christie said that they don’t go out all that much unless it’s an event related to city business… but they wanted to support us and the Stupa.

Please, please get inspired to help make the webathon a huge success. Many of you have been to the Amitabah Stupa! You know how magnificent and powerful it is.


Jetsunma is extraordinary how she has so skillfully given us these hugely merit-generating projects. Last night every person who came made a connection to the Dharma. Their karmic fabric changed forever, their trajectory towards awakening now lined up.

That’s what’s going on and that’s the news for Sedona! 

Let’s rock the webathon!! E Ma Ho and may all beings make a connection to the Amitabha Stupa.

 

The Sedona Amitabha Stupa and Peace Park caretakers

Incalculable Benefit of Stupas: Excerpt from Lama Zopa

by

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.

Even if the holy object is destroyed, still for days, months, years, hundreds of thousands of years, so many sentient beings continue to receive so much benefit from the positive imprints [they received from having seen that holy object]. These positive imprints cause them to meet the guru, to actualize the path, etc., until they achieve enlightenment. The positive imprints are still working in them. Even if the holy object does not exist anymore, the effect is still working in that being. That person will then help to bring other sentient beings to enlightenment.

 

 

CHOTRUL DUCHEN – MIRACLES OF THE BUDDHA

by

Post submitted by Thubten Rinchen Palzang from Sedona, Arizona:

ChotrulDuchen, the major Buddhist holiday which commemorates the 15 days of miracles performed by the Buddha to arouse devotion in his followers, dawned sunny with bright blue skies in Sedona.  At the Amitabha Stupa, members of the Sedona sangha gathered to begin their day-long practice.  It is said that all virtue (and non-virtue) is multiplied 10 million times on such a day.  It is a good day to practice.

As the practice began, a hawk swooped low past the stupa.  Later, as practitioners circumambulated the stupa, an eagle soared high overhead, making clockwise loops around the stupa.  These were considered by those present to be auspicious signs.

As the day progressed, the sky clouded over, the wind picked up, the temperature dropped, and more and more people kept showing up at the stupa.  At 3:00 pm those who gathered began the Shower of Blessings, a devotional practice dedicated to Guru Rinpoche.  Some forty people were present, many of whom had read about the event in the local paper, The Red Rock News.  Most had never done a Buddhist practice before, but they were drawn by the opportunity to say prayers for Japan as well as their own spiritual yearning.

In the dedications that preceded the practice, a number of people revealed that they had some close connection with Japan and the Japanese people and had come to pray for them especially.  Special prayers from Chatral Rinpoche, one of the Nyingma school’s most highly respected lamas, were done, prayers which were especially chosen for the situation in Japan and the imminent nuclear danger there.  The tsog food offering was abundant, and the mood serious.  Many circumambulations of the stupa were completed.  Following the practice, the mood shifted to one of celebration as the food offering was enjoyed.

May devotion arise in all sentient beings, and may all come to know the blessings of Lord Buddha!

Let the Circle Be Unbroken

by

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 27th, 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

WP2Social Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com