Tulku Sang-ngag Rinpoche, who conferred the Padgyal Lingpa and Tsa Sum Lingpa transmissions at Rigdzin Ling in 1993, is abbot of the late H.H. Khyentse Rinpoche's monastery in Nepal, Sechhen Dargyeling. He is currently visiting Rigdzin Ling at H. E.Chagdud Rinpoche's request to guide the construction and consecration of eight stupas with T'hondrup Ling's Lama Gyatso. The following article is taken from edited transcripts of a teaching by and an interview with Tulku Sang-ngag conducted at Rigdzin Ling and translated by Richard Barron.
In order to attain buddhahood so that all sentient beings, who have been our mothers, may attain buddhahood as well, it is necessary for us to gather the two accumulations of merit and pristine awareness and at the same time to purify ourselves of the two-fold obscurations–those of the afflictive emotions and those of ignorance concerning the nature of reality. Any kind of physical effort associated with creating or honoring are presentation of enlightened form, speech, or mind such as prostrations, circumambulations, or pilgrimage is a way of gathering the accumulations and purifying obscurations. Just as statues are representations of the enlightened form of Buddha and texts are representations of enlightened speech, stupas represent enlightened mind.
Since the Buddha's lifetime, the stupas that have been built by Buddhists all over the world are representations of his form or memorials of his deeds and are constructed according to guidelines established in his teachings.
Perhaps the most well-known designs of Tibetan stupas–those being used at Rigdzin Ling–are a series of eight that are often built together.These are based on designs of stupas built by students of the Buddha in eight Indian holy places that were associated with various miraculous deeds he performed. For example, there is a stupa design known as the "stupa of heaped lotuses" which is based on the accounts of the Buddha's birth in the Lumbini Grove. When the Buddha was born miraculously from the left side of his mother's body rather than through the birth canal, he immediately stood upright and walked seven steps in each of the four cardinal directions. Wherever his feet touched the ground, lotuses bloomed, forming heaps of lotuses. And so the design of this stupa suggests a heap of lotus blossoms. Similarly, a stupa with a design known as the "many doorways of auspiciousness," referring to the Buddha's many avenues of teaching, was erected as a memorial to the Buddha’s first turning of the wheel of the dharma in Varanasi, when he taught the four noble truths and the twelve links of interdependence, the beginning of the process that led to the 84,000 collections of his teachings. Of the other six stupa designs, the "enlightenment" stupa commemorates the Buddha's enlightenment, the "stupa of descent from the god realm" commemorates his descent at Sankhya from the Tushita Heaven after teaching his mother, the "stupa of miracles" commemorates the miracles he performed at Shravasti, the "stupa of reconciliation" commemorates his reconciling the quarreling factions of the sangha at the Bamboo Grove, the "stupa of nirvana" commemorates his death and passing beyond sorrow at Kusinagara, and the "stupa of complete victory " commemorates his voluntary prolongation of his life span at Vaisali. Each of these has a specific form. For example, the reconciliation stupa is spherical, representing the idea of wholeness, of bringing everything back into a single group.
One of the two cycles of teachings given by the Buddha Shakyamuni concerning stupa construction, the Odzer Drimed or "Stainless Light Rays" cycle, was conferred upon a Brahmin named Sergyi Dawa. This Brahmin, far from being a Buddhist, was a learned teacher of an extreme philosophical view that was at real variance with the Buddha's teachings, and he had thousands of students. Due to insight gained through meditation, he had a premonition that he would die within seven days, which frightened him very much. He wanted to save himself, but was powerless to do so. He had heard a great deal about the compassion and wisdom of the Buddha, and so he went to him for help. The Buddha's first response was, "You have every right to be concerned. You're facing not only an untimely death, but such a store of negative karma that your mindstream will be reborn again and again in lower and lower realms of existence until you are finally born in a hell realm." The Brahmin replied, "You are omniscient; please give me the means to offset this obstacle." The Buddha answered, "Under normal circumstances, you would experience this suffering, but there is no need for you to do so. There is a stupa in a certain location. All you have to do is repair, refurbish, and reconsecrate it and you will gain enough merit to offset your negative karma." So out of his compassion the Buddha transmitted teachings, mantras , dharani mantras, and the means of constructing and consecrating a stupa. Then he said, "Your life at present is similar to a lamp running out of oil. This will be like pouring oil into the lamp and sustaining your life force. It will also exhaust the negative karma that would have led to rebirth in lower states. When you finally pass from this life, like a snake shedding its skin you will leave the world behind and attain rebirth in a pure realm, a realm of bliss." So overjoyed was the Brahmin that he took what the Buddha said to heart. He used all of the means that had been placed at his disposal to restore and reconsecrate the stupa.
Through the power of the Buddha's words, the power of the mantras and the dharani mantras that the Buddha transmitted, and through his own efforts, the Brahmin experienced a miraculous transformation. His sick and dying body became a strong, majestic presence and he lived for a long time. The effects of this astonished Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. The bodhisattvas who were students of the Buddha were amazed that he had bestowed such powerful kriya tantra teachings. Recognizing their very special nature as a means of purification and spiritual development, the bodhisattvas codified them, thus providing the scriptural sources for this unbroken lineage of practical methods for building and consecrating stupas.
When the Buddha presented these teachings to Sergyi Dawa,there was a bodhisattva in the audience whose name was Dribpa Namsel, which means the "complete dispelling of all obscurations." At one point this bodhisattva arose and addressed the Buddha, requesting that he further elaborate the means by which stupas could be designed, erected, and consecrated for the benefit of sentient beings. Delighted by this request, the Buddha proceeded to explain in great detail how a stupa could be constructed using earth, rock, wood, and so forth. He said that whether the stupa was as large as Mount Meru or as small as a fingernail what was important for rendering it a sacred representation of enlightened mind was the proportions. He described the way the mandalas were constructed, the way the dharani mantras were prepared, the way the tsa tsas, or small clay images, were formed and consecrated. He emphasized the need for ritual purity, the strictures incumbent on people who prepared the tsa tsas, dharani mantras, and other offerings–the taking of ordination, a vegetarian diet, and so forth. He also explained how the formal consecrations were to be performed, as well as the benefits of building a stupa.
The benefits of involvement in the creation of stupas and tsa tsas are truly incalculable. When the Buddha gave these teachings, not only the human beings but also the gods, spirits, and other non humans present recognized their value and promised to honor, respect, and preserve them. Throughout the history of Buddhism careful attention has been paid to maintaining this tradition of stupa construction.
Participating in or sponsoring the creation of tsa tsas or stupas, as well as honoring them after they are built through prostrations, circumambulations, and offerings, provides a means for averting all that is inauspicious or counterproductive and of assuring all that is auspicious and supportive of spiritual development. Whatever the short-term goal–whether it be longevity, wealth and prosperity, the accomplishment of an undertaking, the alleviation of illness for oneself or others, the purification of even the most heinous act, the pacification of obstacles–this activity is a very powerful means for realizing that goal. As well, it plants the seeds of liberation in one's mindstream, so that one gains higher states of rebirth in the shorter term and ultimately is brought to enlightenment. This is particularly dependent upon one's bodhicitta. If one participates in a stupa' s construction and ritual activities, or honors the completed stupa with an altruistic resolve to benefit all beings, then the blessings are such that the Buddha himself could not describe them.
We should never underestimate the power of our aspirations.That power can be negative as well as positive. The Legend of the Great Stupa tells of the three brothers who constructed the stupa at the request of their aging mother, and took a vow to be reborn together under circumstances where they would benefit beings. They were reborn as the scholar and abbot Shantirakshita, the great master Padmasambhava, and the king T'hrisrong Detzan. It was during the time of these three figures in Tibetan history that the Buddhist tradition flourished in the Land of Snows. When they took their vow as the three brothers, another individual who was jealous of them formulated a very negative prayer: "May I be reborn in circumstances where I can destroy everything they build." Because it was formulated during the consecration of the stupa, the force of this aspiration led to the person's rebirth as the very powerful King Langdarma. But due to the negativity of his aspiration, as the king he committed a great deal of evil, virtually eradicating Buddhism in Central Tibet at one point.
The blessings of stupas are such that they benefit all beings, regardless of their connection or motivation. The fact that there are stupas and other sacred embodiments of enlightened body, speech, and mind at Rigdzin Ling may be something that people who live just a few miles down the road have no idea about. This doesn't mean they won't benefit in some way. The world benefits from the fact that Rigdzin Ling is here. The state benefits. The local area benefits. There is benefit on all levels. But that benefit is increased by one's participation and one's bodhicitta. A stupa is most especially beneficial to those who sponsor or build it and to those who see it or hear the wind that blows by it, touch or remember it.
There is an account in the Jataka Tales of seven insects living on a leaf of a tree next to a lake. When winter came the tree shed its leaves. The wind carried the bugs' leaf seven times around the lake, and then it fell in the water and the bugs drowned. Following the Buddha Shakyamuni, there were seven generations, known as the first seven generations of buddhas, who were incarnations of these seven insects. Now that's benefit! The bugs had no idea the stupa was there. They didn't know what was going on. They were just carried by the wind around a lake at the bottom of which was a stupa.
In Tibetan Buddhism, the making of tsa tsas is said to be an extremely powerful means of developing one's merit in preparation for any major undertaking. Retreat manuals often say that before a long retreat you should gather merit by activities such as making tsa tsas. It is also a powerful means of purifying the effects of harmful actions, obscurations, and broken vows or commitments.
There is an interesting story in this regard about Atisha, the great Indian Buddhist master, who was the disciplinarian of Nalanda University, and Naropa, a fully ordained monk at Nalanda. At a certain point in his Vajrayana practice it became appropriate for Naropa to take a consort. It was brought to the disciplinarian's attention that Naropa was consorting with a woman. So Atisha felt bound to expel him from the university. He went to Naropa's chambers and explained the situation. Naropa replied, "Well, if that's how you feel, fine." He took his robes off, put them down, walked through the wall, and left the university–at which point Atisha realized he had made a mistake! The residents of the monastic university were upset with him for having failed to recognize a great siddha living among them. Atisha was so distraught that he decided he had to leave too.
Now Atisha was a great practitioner of Tara, and his relationship with his chosen deity was such that he had visions of Tara constantly and he could speak to her whenever he wished. But for seven days after this incident, she was nowhere to be found. Finally, one morning at dawn she appeared to Atisha and said, "You have committed a very great fault. If you do not confess and purify your actions toward this great yogi, your mindstream will be reborn in hell." And then she vanished.
And so Atisha set off to find Naropa. He finally came upon him walking across the Ganges River. Since Atisha was not quite up to that, he wasn't able to offer Naropa his personal apology. But Tara again appeared to him and said, "One of the ways in which you can offset this negative karma is to make five tsa tsas every day for the rest of your life." So this became a part of Atisha' s practice. When he came to Tibet, his students were astonished to see this great master from India sitting on the floor every day with his clay and mold making tsa tsas. It embarrassed them and so they said, "A great lama such as you shouldn't have to do this kind of menial work.We will do it for you." But Atisha simply replied, "Are you going to eat my food for me too?"
When we were creating the stupa in Bhutan commemorating H.H. Khyentse Rinpoche, there was never any need to exhort people to work. Not only were the great lamas there day and night making tsa tsas, rolling mantras, and so forth, but people were flocking to help. They understood the value of what was going on and wanted to be part of it. There was no need to encourage people. If anything, it would have been necessary to turn people away because there were just too many. Because it was wintertime and really cold, building the sides of the stupa was extremely hard work. Yet lamas and tulkus were practically racing each other for the honor of being able to get up the scaffolding and start plastering.
The oldest of His Holiness' students were getting on in years and had arthritis in their fingers. Yet they couldn't wait to get to the work site. They'd run out there and help in any way they could, scooping up concrete with their bare hands and plastering it on because they were so happy to take part in the work.
One of the interesting features of stupas is that it's hard to feel possessive of them. They don't exist for any other reason except to benefit. With other projects, there may be some vested interest. But a stupa is just a stupa. It's a representation of enlightened mind, sitting there, in a place for beings to see, touch, or remember it. In Tibet a lot of the stupas were built at crossroads on high mountain passes, places where nobody would ever go except on their way somewhere else. Tibetans knew that no matter what stupas looked like on the outside, they contained incredible blessings. Just to see them was a blessing. To touch them was a blessing. To hear the sound of the wind blowing around them was a blessing. And that was why they built them–for the blessings, just the blessings.
The full text of this teaching and interview will be available in the forthcoming Mirror of Freedom. If you would like to help sponsor the construction of the stupas on behalf of the living or the deceased, call or write Rigdzin Ling.
Tulku Sang-ngag Rinpoche, who conferred the Padgyal Lingpa and Tsa Sum Lingpa transmissions at Rigdzin Ling in 1993, is abbot of the late H.H. Khyentse Rinpoche's monastery in Nepal, Sechhen Dargyeling. He is currently visiting Rigdzin Ling at H. E.Chagdud Rinpoche's request to guide the construction and consecration of eight stupas with T'hondrup Ling's Lama Gyatso. The following article is taken from edited transcripts of a teaching by and an interview with Tulku Sang-ngag conducted at Rigdzin Ling and translated by Richard Barron.
In order to attain buddhahood so that all sentient beings, who have been our mothers, may attain buddhahood as well, it is necessary for us to gather the two accumulations of merit and pristine awareness and at the same time to purify ourselves of the two-fold obscurations–those of the afflictive emotions and those of ignorance concerning the nature of reality. Any kind of physical effort associated with creating or honoring are presentation of enlightened form, speech, or mind such as prostrations, circumambulations, or pilgrimage is a way of gathering the accumulations and purifying obscurations. Just as statues are representations of the enlightened form of Buddha and texts are representations of enlightened speech, stupas represent enlightened mind.
Since the Buddha's lifetime, the stupas that have been built by Buddhists all over the world are representations of his form or memorials of his deeds and are constructed according to guidelines established in his teachings.
Perhaps the most well-known designs of Tibetan stupas–those being used at Rigdzin Ling–are a series of eight that are often built together.These are based on designs of stupas built by students of the Buddha in eight Indian holy places that were associated with various miraculous deeds he performed. For example, there is a stupa design known as the "stupa of heaped lotuses" which is based on the accounts of the Buddha's birth in the Lumbini Grove. When the Buddha was born miraculously from the left side of his mother's body rather than through the birth canal, he immediately stood upright and walked seven steps in each of the four cardinal directions. Wherever his feet touched the ground, lotuses bloomed, forming heaps of lotuses. And so the design of this stupa suggests a heap of lotus blossoms. Similarly, a stupa with a design known as the "many doorways of auspiciousness," referring to the Buddha's many avenues of teaching, was erected as a memorial to the Buddha’s first turning of the wheel of the dharma in Varanasi, when he taught the four noble truths and the twelve links of interdependence, the beginning of the process that led to the 84,000 collections of his teachings. Of the other six stupa designs, the "enlightenment" stupa commemorates the Buddha's enlightenment, the "stupa of descent from the god realm" commemorates his descent at Sankhya from the Tushita Heaven after teaching his mother, the "stupa of miracles" commemorates the miracles he performed at Shravasti, the "stupa of reconciliation" commemorates his reconciling the quarreling factions of the sangha at the Bamboo Grove, the "stupa of nirvana" commemorates his death and passing beyond sorrow at Kusinagara, and the "stupa of complete victory " commemorates his voluntary prolongation of his life span at Vaisali. Each of these has a specific form. For example, the reconciliation stupa is spherical, representing the idea of wholeness, of bringing everything back into a single group.
One of the two cycles of teachings given by the Buddha Shakyamuni concerning stupa construction, the Odzer Drimed or "Stainless Light Rays" cycle, was conferred upon a Brahmin named Sergyi Dawa. This Brahmin, far from being a Buddhist, was a learned teacher of an extreme philosophical view that was at real variance with the Buddha's teachings, and he had thousands of students. Due to insight gained through meditation, he had a premonition that he would die within seven days, which frightened him very much. He wanted to save himself, but was powerless to do so. He had heard a great deal about the compassion and wisdom of the Buddha, and so he went to him for help. The Buddha's first response was, "You have every right to be concerned. You're facing not only an untimely death, but such a store of negative karma that your mindstream will be reborn again and again in lower and lower realms of existence until you are finally born in a hell realm." The Brahmin replied, "You are omniscient; please give me the means to offset this obstacle." The Buddha answered, "Under normal circumstances, you would experience this suffering, but there is no need for you to do so. There is a stupa in a certain location. All you have to do is repair, refurbish, and reconsecrate it and you will gain enough merit to offset your negative karma." So out of his compassion the Buddha transmitted teachings, mantras , dharani mantras, and the means of constructing and consecrating a stupa. Then he said, "Your life at present is similar to a lamp running out of oil. This will be like pouring oil into the lamp and sustaining your life force. It will also exhaust the negative karma that would have led to rebirth in lower states. When you finally pass from this life, like a snake shedding its skin you will leave the world behind and attain rebirth in a pure realm, a realm of bliss." So overjoyed was the Brahmin that he took what the Buddha said to heart. He used all of the means that had been placed at his disposal to restore and reconsecrate the stupa.
Through the power of the Buddha's words, the power of the mantras and the dharani mantras that the Buddha transmitted, and through his own efforts, the Brahmin experienced a miraculous transformation. His sick and dying body became a strong, majestic presence and he lived for a long time. The effects of this astonished Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. The bodhisattvas who were students of the Buddha were amazed that he had bestowed such powerful kriya tantra teachings. Recognizing their very special nature as a means of purification and spiritual development, the bodhisattvas codified them, thus providing the scriptural sources for this unbroken lineage of practical methods for building and consecrating stupas.
When the Buddha presented these teachings to Sergyi Dawa,there was a bodhisattva in the audience whose name was Dribpa Namsel, which means the "complete dispelling of all obscurations." At one point this bodhisattva arose and addressed the Buddha, requesting that he further elaborate the means by which stupas could be designed, erected, and consecrated for the benefit of sentient beings. Delighted by this request, the Buddha proceeded to explain in great detail how a stupa could be constructed using earth, rock, wood, and so forth. He said that whether the stupa was as large as Mount Meru or as small as a fingernail what was important for rendering it a sacred representation of enlightened mind was the proportions. He described the way the mandalas were constructed, the way the dharani mantras were prepared, the way the tsa tsas, or small clay images, were formed and consecrated. He emphasized the need for ritual purity, the strictures incumbent on people who prepared the tsa tsas, dharani mantras, and other offerings–the taking of ordination, a vegetarian diet, and so forth. He also explained how the formal consecrations were to be performed, as well as the benefits of building a stupa.
The benefits of involvement in the creation of stupas and tsa tsas are truly incalculable. When the Buddha gave these teachings, not only the human beings but also the gods, spirits, and other non humans present recognized their value and promised to honor, respect, and preserve them. Throughout the history of Buddhism careful attention has been paid to maintaining this tradition of stupa construction.
Participating in or sponsoring the creation of tsa tsas or stupas, as well as honoring them after they are built through prostrations, circumambulations, and offerings, provides a means for averting all that is inauspicious or counterproductive and of assuring all that is auspicious and supportive of spiritual development. Whatever the short-term goal–whether it be longevity, wealth and prosperity, the accomplishment of an undertaking, the alleviation of illness for oneself or others, the purification of even the most heinous act, the pacification of obstacles–this activity is a very powerful means for realizing that goal. As well, it plants the seeds of liberation in one's mindstream, so that one gains higher states of rebirth in the shorter term and ultimately is brought to enlightenment. This is particularly dependent upon one's bodhicitta. If one participates in a stupa' s construction and ritual activities, or honors the completed stupa with an altruistic resolve to benefit all beings, then the blessings are such that the Buddha himself could not describe them.
We should never underestimate the power of our aspirations.That power can be negative as well as positive. The Legend of the Great Stupa tells of the three brothers who constructed the stupa at the request of their aging mother, and took a vow to be reborn together under circumstances where they would benefit beings. They were reborn as the scholar and abbot Shantirakshita, the great master Padmasambhava, and the king T'hrisrong Detzan. It was during the time of these three figures in Tibetan history that the Buddhist tradition flourished in the Land of Snows. When they took their vow as the three brothers, another individual who was jealous of them formulated a very negative prayer: "May I be reborn in circumstances where I can destroy everything they build." Because it was formulated during the consecration of the stupa, the force of this aspiration led to the person's rebirth as the very powerful King Langdarma. But due to the negativity of his aspiration, as the king he committed a great deal of evil, virtually eradicating Buddhism in Central Tibet at one point.
The blessings of stupas are such that they benefit all beings, regardless of their connection or motivation. The fact that there are stupas and other sacred embodiments of enlightened body, speech, and mind at Rigdzin Ling may be something that people who live just a few miles down the road have no idea about. This doesn't mean they won't benefit in some way. The world benefits from the fact that Rigdzin Ling is here. The state benefits. The local area benefits. There is benefit on all levels. But that benefit is increased by one's participation and one's bodhicitta. A stupa is most especially beneficial to those who sponsor or build it and to those who see it or hear the wind that blows by it, touch or remember it.
There is an account in the Jataka Tales of seven insects living on a leaf of a tree next to a lake. When winter came the tree shed its leaves. The wind carried the bugs' leaf seven times around the lake, and then it fell in the water and the bugs drowned. Following the Buddha Shakyamuni, there were seven generations, known as the first seven generations of buddhas, who were incarnations of these seven insects. Now that's benefit! The bugs had no idea the stupa was there. They didn't know what was going on. They were just carried by the wind around a lake at the bottom of which was a stupa.
In Tibetan Buddhism, the making of tsa tsas is said to be an extremely powerful means of developing one's merit in preparation for any major undertaking. Retreat manuals often say that before a long retreat you should gather merit by activities such as making tsa tsas. It is also a powerful means of purifying the effects of harmful actions, obscurations, and broken vows or commitments.
There is an interesting story in this regard about Atisha, the great Indian Buddhist master, who was the disciplinarian of Nalanda University, and Naropa, a fully ordained monk at Nalanda. At a certain point in his Vajrayana practice it became appropriate for Naropa to take a consort. It was brought to the disciplinarian's attention that Naropa was consorting with a woman. So Atisha felt bound to expel him from the university. He went to Naropa's chambers and explained the situation. Naropa replied, "Well, if that's how you feel, fine." He took his robes off, put them down, walked through the wall, and left the university–at which point Atisha realized he had made a mistake! The residents of the monastic university were upset with him for having failed to recognize a great siddha living among them. Atisha was so distraught that he decided he had to leave too.
Now Atisha was a great practitioner of Tara, and his relationship with his chosen deity was such that he had visions of Tara constantly and he could speak to her whenever he wished. But for seven days after this incident, she was nowhere to be found. Finally, one morning at dawn she appeared to Atisha and said, "You have committed a very great fault. If you do not confess and purify your actions toward this great yogi, your mindstream will be reborn in hell." And then she vanished.
And so Atisha set off to find Naropa. He finally came upon him walking across the Ganges River. Since Atisha was not quite up to that, he wasn't able to offer Naropa his personal apology. But Tara again appeared to him and said, "One of the ways in which you can offset this negative karma is to make five tsa tsas every day for the rest of your life." So this became a part of Atisha' s practice. When he came to Tibet, his students were astonished to see this great master from India sitting on the floor every day with his clay and mold making tsa tsas. It embarrassed them and so they said, "A great lama such as you shouldn't have to do this kind of menial work.We will do it for you." But Atisha simply replied, "Are you going to eat my food for me too?"
When we were creating the stupa in Bhutan commemorating H.H. Khyentse Rinpoche, there was never any need to exhort people to work. Not only were the great lamas there day and night making tsa tsas, rolling mantras, and so forth, but people were flocking to help. They understood the value of what was going on and wanted to be part of it. There was no need to encourage people. If anything, it would have been necessary to turn people away because there were just too many. Because it was wintertime and really cold, building the sides of the stupa was extremely hard work. Yet lamas and tulkus were practically racing each other for the honor of being able to get up the scaffolding and start plastering.
The oldest of His Holiness' students were getting on in years and had arthritis in their fingers. Yet they couldn't wait to get to the work site. They'd run out there and help in any way they could, scooping up concrete with their bare hands and plastering it on because they were so happy to take part in the work.
One of the interesting features of stupas is that it's hard to feel possessive of them. They don't exist for any other reason except to benefit. With other projects, there may be some vested interest. But a stupa is just a stupa. It's a representation of enlightened mind, sitting there, in a place for beings to see, touch, or remember it. In Tibet a lot of the stupas were built at crossroads on high mountain passes, places where nobody would ever go except on their way somewhere else. Tibetans knew that no matter what stupas looked like on the outside, they contained incredible blessings. Just to see them was a blessing. To touch them was a blessing. To hear the sound of the wind blowing around them was a blessing. And that was why they built them–for the blessings, just the blessings.
The full text of this teaching and interview will be available in the forthcoming Mirror of Freedom. If you would like to help sponsor the construction of the stupas on behalf of the living or the deceased, call or write Rigdzin Ling.
Tulku Sang-ngag Rinpoche, who conferred the Padgyal Lingpa and Tsa Sum Lingpa transmissions at Rigdzin Ling in 1993, is abbot of the late H.H. Khyentse Rinpoche's monastery in Nepal, Sechhen Dargyeling. He is currently visiting Rigdzin Ling at H. E.Chagdud Rinpoche's request to guide the construction and consecration of eight stupas with T'hondrup Ling's Lama Gyatso. The following article is taken from edited transcripts of a teaching by and an interview with Tulku Sang-ngag conducted at Rigdzin Ling and translated by Richard Barron.
In order to attain buddhahood so that all sentient beings, who have been our mothers, may attain buddhahood as well, it is necessary for us to gather the two accumulations of merit and pristine awareness and at the same time to purify ourselves of the two-fold obscurations–those of the afflictive emotions and those of ignorance concerning the nature of reality. Any kind of physical effort associated with creating or honoring are presentation of enlightened form, speech, or mind such as prostrations, circumambulations, or pilgrimage is a way of gathering the accumulations and purifying obscurations. Just as statues are representations of the enlightened form of Buddha and texts are representations of enlightened speech, stupas represent enlightened mind.
Since the Buddha's lifetime, the stupas that have been built by Buddhists all over the world are representations of his form or memorials of his deeds and are constructed according to guidelines established in his teachings.
Perhaps the most well-known designs of Tibetan stupas–those being used at Rigdzin Ling–are a series of eight that are often built together.These are based on designs of stupas built by students of the Buddha in eight Indian holy places that were associated with various miraculous deeds he performed. For example, there is a stupa design known as the "stupa of heaped lotuses" which is based on the accounts of the Buddha's birth in the Lumbini Grove. When the Buddha was born miraculously from the left side of his mother's body rather than through the birth canal, he immediately stood upright and walked seven steps in each of the four cardinal directions. Wherever his feet touched the ground, lotuses bloomed, forming heaps of lotuses. And so the design of this stupa suggests a heap of lotus blossoms. Similarly, a stupa with a design known as the "many doorways of auspiciousness," referring to the Buddha's many avenues of teaching, was erected as a memorial to the Buddha’s first turning of the wheel of the dharma in Varanasi, when he taught the four noble truths and the twelve links of interdependence, the beginning of the process that led to the 84,000 collections of his teachings. Of the other six stupa designs, the "enlightenment" stupa commemorates the Buddha's enlightenment, the "stupa of descent from the god realm" commemorates his descent at Sankhya from the Tushita Heaven after teaching his mother, the "stupa of miracles" commemorates the miracles he performed at Shravasti, the "stupa of reconciliation" commemorates his reconciling the quarreling factions of the sangha at the Bamboo Grove, the "stupa of nirvana" commemorates his death and passing beyond sorrow at Kusinagara, and the "stupa of complete victory " commemorates his voluntary prolongation of his life span at Vaisali. Each of these has a specific form. For example, the reconciliation stupa is spherical, representing the idea of wholeness, of bringing everything back into a single group.
One of the two cycles of teachings given by the Buddha Shakyamuni concerning stupa construction, the Odzer Drimed or "Stainless Light Rays" cycle, was conferred upon a Brahmin named Sergyi Dawa. This Brahmin, far from being a Buddhist, was a learned teacher of an extreme philosophical view that was at real variance with the Buddha's teachings, and he had thousands of students. Due to insight gained through meditation, he had a premonition that he would die within seven days, which frightened him very much. He wanted to save himself, but was powerless to do so. He had heard a great deal about the compassion and wisdom of the Buddha, and so he went to him for help. The Buddha's first response was, "You have every right to be concerned. You're facing not only an untimely death, but such a store of negative karma that your mindstream will be reborn again and again in lower and lower realms of existence until you are finally born in a hell realm." The Brahmin replied, "You are omniscient; please give me the means to offset this obstacle." The Buddha answered, "Under normal circumstances, you would experience this suffering, but there is no need for you to do so. There is a stupa in a certain location. All you have to do is repair, refurbish, and reconsecrate it and you will gain enough merit to offset your negative karma." So out of his compassion the Buddha transmitted teachings, mantras , dharani mantras, and the means of constructing and consecrating a stupa. Then he said, "Your life at present is similar to a lamp running out of oil. This will be like pouring oil into the lamp and sustaining your life force. It will also exhaust the negative karma that would have led to rebirth in lower states. When you finally pass from this life, like a snake shedding its skin you will leave the world behind and attain rebirth in a pure realm, a realm of bliss." So overjoyed was the Brahmin that he took what the Buddha said to heart. He used all of the means that had been placed at his disposal to restore and reconsecrate the stupa.
Through the power of the Buddha's words, the power of the mantras and the dharani mantras that the Buddha transmitted, and through his own efforts, the Brahmin experienced a miraculous transformation. His sick and dying body became a strong, majestic presence and he lived for a long time. The effects of this astonished Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. The bodhisattvas who were students of the Buddha were amazed that he had bestowed such powerful kriya tantra teachings. Recognizing their very special nature as a means of purification and spiritual development, the bodhisattvas codified them, thus providing the scriptural sources for this unbroken lineage of practical methods for building and consecrating stupas.
When the Buddha presented these teachings to Sergyi Dawa,there was a bodhisattva in the audience whose name was Dribpa Namsel, which means the "complete dispelling of all obscurations." At one point this bodhisattva arose and addressed the Buddha, requesting that he further elaborate the means by which stupas could be designed, erected, and consecrated for the benefit of sentient beings. Delighted by this request, the Buddha proceeded to explain in great detail how a stupa could be constructed using earth, rock, wood, and so forth. He said that whether the stupa was as large as Mount Meru or as small as a fingernail what was important for rendering it a sacred representation of enlightened mind was the proportions. He described the way the mandalas were constructed, the way the dharani mantras were prepared, the way the tsa tsas, or small clay images, were formed and consecrated. He emphasized the need for ritual purity, the strictures incumbent on people who prepared the tsa tsas, dharani mantras, and other offerings–the taking of ordination, a vegetarian diet, and so forth. He also explained how the formal consecrations were to be performed, as well as the benefits of building a stupa.
The benefits of involvement in the creation of stupas and tsa tsas are truly incalculable. When the Buddha gave these teachings, not only the human beings but also the gods, spirits, and other non humans present recognized their value and promised to honor, respect, and preserve them. Throughout the history of Buddhism careful attention has been paid to maintaining this tradition of stupa construction.
Participating in or sponsoring the creation of tsa tsas or stupas, as well as honoring them after they are built through prostrations, circumambulations, and offerings, provides a means for averting all that is inauspicious or counterproductive and of assuring all that is auspicious and supportive of spiritual development. Whatever the short-term goal–whether it be longevity, wealth and prosperity, the accomplishment of an undertaking, the alleviation of illness for oneself or others, the purification of even the most heinous act, the pacification of obstacles–this activity is a very powerful means for realizing that goal. As well, it plants the seeds of liberation in one's mindstream, so that one gains higher states of rebirth in the shorter term and ultimately is brought to enlightenment. This is particularly dependent upon one's bodhicitta. If one participates in a stupa' s construction and ritual activities, or honors the completed stupa with an altruistic resolve to benefit all beings, then the blessings are such that the Buddha himself could not describe them.
We should never underestimate the power of our aspirations.That power can be negative as well as positive. The Legend of the Great Stupa tells of the three brothers who constructed the stupa at the request of their aging mother, and took a vow to be reborn together under circumstances where they would benefit beings. They were reborn as the scholar and abbot Shantirakshita, the great master Padmasambhava, and the king T'hrisrong Detzan. It was during the time of these three figures in Tibetan history that the Buddhist tradition flourished in the Land of Snows. When they took their vow as the three brothers, another individual who was jealous of them formulated a very negative prayer: "May I be reborn in circumstances where I can destroy everything they build." Because it was formulated during the consecration of the stupa, the force of this aspiration led to the person's rebirth as the very powerful King Langdarma. But due to the negativity of his aspiration, as the king he committed a great deal of evil, virtually eradicating Buddhism in Central Tibet at one point.
The blessings of stupas are such that they benefit all beings, regardless of their connection or motivation. The fact that there are stupas and other sacred embodiments of enlightened body, speech, and mind at Rigdzin Ling may be something that people who live just a few miles down the road have no idea about. This doesn't mean they won't benefit in some way. The world benefits from the fact that Rigdzin Ling is here. The state benefits. The local area benefits. There is benefit on all levels. But that benefit is increased by one's participation and one's bodhicitta. A stupa is most especially beneficial to those who sponsor or build it and to those who see it or hear the wind that blows by it, touch or remember it.
There is an account in the Jataka Tales of seven insects living on a leaf of a tree next to a lake. When winter came the tree shed its leaves. The wind carried the bugs' leaf seven times around the lake, and then it fell in the water and the bugs drowned. Following the Buddha Shakyamuni, there were seven generations, known as the first seven generations of buddhas, who were incarnations of these seven insects. Now that's benefit! The bugs had no idea the stupa was there. They didn't know what was going on. They were just carried by the wind around a lake at the bottom of which was a stupa.
In Tibetan Buddhism, the making of tsa tsas is said to be an extremely powerful means of developing one's merit in preparation for any major undertaking. Retreat manuals often say that before a long retreat you should gather merit by activities such as making tsa tsas. It is also a powerful means of purifying the effects of harmful actions, obscurations, and broken vows or commitments.
There is an interesting story in this regard about Atisha, the great Indian Buddhist master, who was the disciplinarian of Nalanda University, and Naropa, a fully ordained monk at Nalanda. At a certain point in his Vajrayana practice it became appropriate for Naropa to take a consort. It was brought to the disciplinarian's attention that Naropa was consorting with a woman. So Atisha felt bound to expel him from the university. He went to Naropa's chambers and explained the situation. Naropa replied, "Well, if that's how you feel, fine." He took his robes off, put them down, walked through the wall, and left the university–at which point Atisha realized he had made a mistake! The residents of the monastic university were upset with him for having failed to recognize a great siddha living among them. Atisha was so distraught that he decided he had to leave too.
Now Atisha was a great practitioner of Tara, and his relationship with his chosen deity was such that he had visions of Tara constantly and he could speak to her whenever he wished. But for seven days after this incident, she was nowhere to be found. Finally, one morning at dawn she appeared to Atisha and said, "You have committed a very great fault. If you do not confess and purify your actions toward this great yogi, your mindstream will be reborn in hell." And then she vanished.
And so Atisha set off to find Naropa. He finally came upon him walking across the Ganges River. Since Atisha was not quite up to that, he wasn't able to offer Naropa his personal apology. But Tara again appeared to him and said, "One of the ways in which you can offset this negative karma is to make five tsa tsas every day for the rest of your life." So this became a part of Atisha' s practice. When he came to Tibet, his students were astonished to see this great master from India sitting on the floor every day with his clay and mold making tsa tsas. It embarrassed them and so they said, "A great lama such as you shouldn't have to do this kind of menial work.We will do it for you." But Atisha simply replied, "Are you going to eat my food for me too?"
When we were creating the stupa in Bhutan commemorating H.H. Khyentse Rinpoche, there was never any need to exhort people to work. Not only were the great lamas there day and night making tsa tsas, rolling mantras, and so forth, but people were flocking to help. They understood the value of what was going on and wanted to be part of it. There was no need to encourage people. If anything, it would have been necessary to turn people away because there were just too many. Because it was wintertime and really cold, building the sides of the stupa was extremely hard work. Yet lamas and tulkus were practically racing each other for the honor of being able to get up the scaffolding and start plastering.
The oldest of His Holiness' students were getting on in years and had arthritis in their fingers. Yet they couldn't wait to get to the work site. They'd run out there and help in any way they could, scooping up concrete with their bare hands and plastering it on because they were so happy to take part in the work.
One of the interesting features of stupas is that it's hard to feel possessive of them. They don't exist for any other reason except to benefit. With other projects, there may be some vested interest. But a stupa is just a stupa. It's a representation of enlightened mind, sitting there, in a place for beings to see, touch, or remember it. In Tibet a lot of the stupas were built at crossroads on high mountain passes, places where nobody would ever go except on their way somewhere else. Tibetans knew that no matter what stupas looked like on the outside, they contained incredible blessings. Just to see them was a blessing. To touch them was a blessing. To hear the sound of the wind blowing around them was a blessing. And that was why they built them–for the blessings, just the blessings.
The full text of this teaching and interview will be available in the forthcoming Mirror of Freedom. If you would like to help sponsor the construction of the stupas on behalf of the living or the deceased, call or write Rigdzin Ling.
Tulku Sang-ngag Rinpoche, who conferred the Padgyal Lingpa and Tsa Sum Lingpa transmissions at Rigdzin Ling in 1993, is abbot of the late H.H. Khyentse Rinpoche's monastery in Nepal, Sechhen Dargyeling. He is currently visiting Rigdzin Ling at H. E.Chagdud Rinpoche's request to guide the construction and consecration of eight stupas with T'hondrup Ling's Lama Gyatso. The following article is taken from edited transcripts of a teaching by and an interview with Tulku Sang-ngag conducted at Rigdzin Ling and translated by Richard Barron.
In order to attain buddhahood so that all sentient beings, who have been our mothers, may attain buddhahood as well, it is necessary for us to gather the two accumulations of merit and pristine awareness and at the same time to purify ourselves of the two-fold obscurations–those of the afflictive emotions and those of ignorance concerning the nature of reality. Any kind of physical effort associated with creating or honoring are presentation of enlightened form, speech, or mind such as prostrations, circumambulations, or pilgrimage is a way of gathering the accumulations and purifying obscurations. Just as statues are representations of the enlightened form of Buddha and texts are representations of enlightened speech, stupas represent enlightened mind.
Since the Buddha's lifetime, the stupas that have been built by Buddhists all over the world are representations of his form or memorials of his deeds and are constructed according to guidelines established in his teachings.
Perhaps the most well-known designs of Tibetan stupas–those being used at Rigdzin Ling–are a series of eight that are often built together.These are based on designs of stupas built by students of the Buddha in eight Indian holy places that were associated with various miraculous deeds he performed. For example, there is a stupa design known as the "stupa of heaped lotuses" which is based on the accounts of the Buddha's birth in the Lumbini Grove. When the Buddha was born miraculously from the left side of his mother's body rather than through the birth canal, he immediately stood upright and walked seven steps in each of the four cardinal directions. Wherever his feet touched the ground, lotuses bloomed, forming heaps of lotuses. And so the design of this stupa suggests a heap of lotus blossoms. Similarly, a stupa with a design known as the "many doorways of auspiciousness," referring to the Buddha's many avenues of teaching, was erected as a memorial to the Buddha’s first turning of the wheel of the dharma in Varanasi, when he taught the four noble truths and the twelve links of interdependence, the beginning of the process that led to the 84,000 collections of his teachings. Of the other six stupa designs, the "enlightenment" stupa commemorates the Buddha's enlightenment, the "stupa of descent from the god realm" commemorates his descent at Sankhya from the Tushita Heaven after teaching his mother, the "stupa of miracles" commemorates the miracles he performed at Shravasti, the "stupa of reconciliation" commemorates his reconciling the quarreling factions of the sangha at the Bamboo Grove, the "stupa of nirvana" commemorates his death and passing beyond sorrow at Kusinagara, and the "stupa of complete victory " commemorates his voluntary prolongation of his life span at Vaisali. Each of these has a specific form. For example, the reconciliation stupa is spherical, representing the idea of wholeness, of bringing everything back into a single group.
One of the two cycles of teachings given by the Buddha Shakyamuni concerning stupa construction, the Odzer Drimed or "Stainless Light Rays" cycle, was conferred upon a Brahmin named Sergyi Dawa. This Brahmin, far from being a Buddhist, was a learned teacher of an extreme philosophical view that was at real variance with the Buddha's teachings, and he had thousands of students. Due to insight gained through meditation, he had a premonition that he would die within seven days, which frightened him very much. He wanted to save himself, but was powerless to do so. He had heard a great deal about the compassion and wisdom of the Buddha, and so he went to him for help. The Buddha's first response was, "You have every right to be concerned. You're facing not only an untimely death, but such a store of negative karma that your mindstream will be reborn again and again in lower and lower realms of existence until you are finally born in a hell realm." The Brahmin replied, "You are omniscient; please give me the means to offset this obstacle." The Buddha answered, "Under normal circumstances, you would experience this suffering, but there is no need for you to do so. There is a stupa in a certain location. All you have to do is repair, refurbish, and reconsecrate it and you will gain enough merit to offset your negative karma." So out of his compassion the Buddha transmitted teachings, mantras , dharani mantras, and the means of constructing and consecrating a stupa. Then he said, "Your life at present is similar to a lamp running out of oil. This will be like pouring oil into the lamp and sustaining your life force. It will also exhaust the negative karma that would have led to rebirth in lower states. When you finally pass from this life, like a snake shedding its skin you will leave the world behind and attain rebirth in a pure realm, a realm of bliss." So overjoyed was the Brahmin that he took what the Buddha said to heart. He used all of the means that had been placed at his disposal to restore and reconsecrate the stupa.
Through the power of the Buddha's words, the power of the mantras and the dharani mantras that the Buddha transmitted, and through his own efforts, the Brahmin experienced a miraculous transformation. His sick and dying body became a strong, majestic presence and he lived for a long time. The effects of this astonished Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. The bodhisattvas who were students of the Buddha were amazed that he had bestowed such powerful kriya tantra teachings. Recognizing their very special nature as a means of purification and spiritual development, the bodhisattvas codified them, thus providing the scriptural sources for this unbroken lineage of practical methods for building and consecrating stupas.
When the Buddha presented these teachings to Sergyi Dawa,there was a bodhisattva in the audience whose name was Dribpa Namsel, which means the "complete dispelling of all obscurations." At one point this bodhisattva arose and addressed the Buddha, requesting that he further elaborate the means by which stupas could be designed, erected, and consecrated for the benefit of sentient beings. Delighted by this request, the Buddha proceeded to explain in great detail how a stupa could be constructed using earth, rock, wood, and so forth. He said that whether the stupa was as large as Mount Meru or as small as a fingernail what was important for rendering it a sacred representation of enlightened mind was the proportions. He described the way the mandalas were constructed, the way the dharani mantras were prepared, the way the tsa tsas, or small clay images, were formed and consecrated. He emphasized the need for ritual purity, the strictures incumbent on people who prepared the tsa tsas, dharani mantras, and other offerings–the taking of ordination, a vegetarian diet, and so forth. He also explained how the formal consecrations were to be performed, as well as the benefits of building a stupa.
The benefits of involvement in the creation of stupas and tsa tsas are truly incalculable. When the Buddha gave these teachings, not only the human beings but also the gods, spirits, and other non humans present recognized their value and promised to honor, respect, and preserve them. Throughout the history of Buddhism careful attention has been paid to maintaining this tradition of stupa construction.
Participating in or sponsoring the creation of tsa tsas or stupas, as well as honoring them after they are built through prostrations, circumambulations, and offerings, provides a means for averting all that is inauspicious or counterproductive and of assuring all that is auspicious and supportive of spiritual development. Whatever the short-term goal–whether it be longevity, wealth and prosperity, the accomplishment of an undertaking, the alleviation of illness for oneself or others, the purification of even the most heinous act, the pacification of obstacles–this activity is a very powerful means for realizing that goal. As well, it plants the seeds of liberation in one's mindstream, so that one gains higher states of rebirth in the shorter term and ultimately is brought to enlightenment. This is particularly dependent upon one's bodhicitta. If one participates in a stupa' s construction and ritual activities, or honors the completed stupa with an altruistic resolve to benefit all beings, then the blessings are such that the Buddha himself could not describe them.
We should never underestimate the power of our aspirations.That power can be negative as well as positive. The Legend of the Great Stupa tells of the three brothers who constructed the stupa at the request of their aging mother, and took a vow to be reborn together under circumstances where they would benefit beings. They were reborn as the scholar and abbot Shantirakshita, the great master Padmasambhava, and the king T'hrisrong Detzan. It was during the time of these three figures in Tibetan history that the Buddhist tradition flourished in the Land of Snows. When they took their vow as the three brothers, another individual who was jealous of them formulated a very negative prayer: "May I be reborn in circumstances where I can destroy everything they build." Because it was formulated during the consecration of the stupa, the force of this aspiration led to the person's rebirth as the very powerful King Langdarma. But due to the negativity of his aspiration, as the king he committed a great deal of evil, virtually eradicating Buddhism in Central Tibet at one point.
The blessings of stupas are such that they benefit all beings, regardless of their connection or motivation. The fact that there are stupas and other sacred embodiments of enlightened body, speech, and mind at Rigdzin Ling may be something that people who live just a few miles down the road have no idea about. This doesn't mean they won't benefit in some way. The world benefits from the fact that Rigdzin Ling is here. The state benefits. The local area benefits. There is benefit on all levels. But that benefit is increased by one's participation and one's bodhicitta. A stupa is most especially beneficial to those who sponsor or build it and to those who see it or hear the wind that blows by it, touch or remember it.
There is an account in the Jataka Tales of seven insects living on a leaf of a tree next to a lake. When winter came the tree shed its leaves. The wind carried the bugs' leaf seven times around the lake, and then it fell in the water and the bugs drowned. Following the Buddha Shakyamuni, there were seven generations, known as the first seven generations of buddhas, who were incarnations of these seven insects. Now that's benefit! The bugs had no idea the stupa was there. They didn't know what was going on. They were just carried by the wind around a lake at the bottom of which was a stupa.
In Tibetan Buddhism, the making of tsa tsas is said to be an extremely powerful means of developing one's merit in preparation for any major undertaking. Retreat manuals often say that before a long retreat you should gather merit by activities such as making tsa tsas. It is also a powerful means of purifying the effects of harmful actions, obscurations, and broken vows or commitments.
There is an interesting story in this regard about Atisha, the great Indian Buddhist master, who was the disciplinarian of Nalanda University, and Naropa, a fully ordained monk at Nalanda. At a certain point in his Vajrayana practice it became appropriate for Naropa to take a consort. It was brought to the disciplinarian's attention that Naropa was consorting with a woman. So Atisha felt bound to expel him from the university. He went to Naropa's chambers and explained the situation. Naropa replied, "Well, if that's how you feel, fine." He took his robes off, put them down, walked through the wall, and left the university–at which point Atisha realized he had made a mistake! The residents of the monastic university were upset with him for having failed to recognize a great siddha living among them. Atisha was so distraught that he decided he had to leave too.
Now Atisha was a great practitioner of Tara, and his relationship with his chosen deity was such that he had visions of Tara constantly and he could speak to her whenever he wished. But for seven days after this incident, she was nowhere to be found. Finally, one morning at dawn she appeared to Atisha and said, "You have committed a very great fault. If you do not confess and purify your actions toward this great yogi, your mindstream will be reborn in hell." And then she vanished.
And so Atisha set off to find Naropa. He finally came upon him walking across the Ganges River. Since Atisha was not quite up to that, he wasn't able to offer Naropa his personal apology. But Tara again appeared to him and said, "One of the ways in which you can offset this negative karma is to make five tsa tsas every day for the rest of your life." So this became a part of Atisha' s practice. When he came to Tibet, his students were astonished to see this great master from India sitting on the floor every day with his clay and mold making tsa tsas. It embarrassed them and so they said, "A great lama such as you shouldn't have to do this kind of menial work.We will do it for you." But Atisha simply replied, "Are you going to eat my food for me too?"
When we were creating the stupa in Bhutan commemorating H.H. Khyentse Rinpoche, there was never any need to exhort people to work. Not only were the great lamas there day and night making tsa tsas, rolling mantras, and so forth, but people were flocking to help. They understood the value of what was going on and wanted to be part of it. There was no need to encourage people. If anything, it would have been necessary to turn people away because there were just too many. Because it was wintertime and really cold, building the sides of the stupa was extremely hard work. Yet lamas and tulkus were practically racing each other for the honor of being able to get up the scaffolding and start plastering.
The oldest of His Holiness' students were getting on in years and had arthritis in their fingers. Yet they couldn't wait to get to the work site. They'd run out there and help in any way they could, scooping up concrete with their bare hands and plastering it on because they were so happy to take part in the work.
One of the interesting features of stupas is that it's hard to feel possessive of them. They don't exist for any other reason except to benefit. With other projects, there may be some vested interest. But a stupa is just a stupa. It's a representation of enlightened mind, sitting there, in a place for beings to see, touch, or remember it. In Tibet a lot of the stupas were built at crossroads on high mountain passes, places where nobody would ever go except on their way somewhere else. Tibetans knew that no matter what stupas looked like on the outside, they contained incredible blessings. Just to see them was a blessing. To touch them was a blessing. To hear the sound of the wind blowing around them was a blessing. And that was why they built them–for the blessings, just the blessings.
The full text of this teaching and interview will be available in the forthcoming Mirror of Freedom. If you would like to help sponsor the construction of the stupas on behalf of the living or the deceased, call or write Rigdzin Ling.
Tulku Sang-ngag Rinpoche, who conferred the Padgyal Lingpa and Tsa Sum Lingpa transmissions at Rigdzin Ling in 1993, is abbot of the late H.H. Khyentse Rinpoche's monastery in Nepal, Sechhen Dargyeling. He is currently visiting Rigdzin Ling at H. E.Chagdud Rinpoche's request to guide the construction and consecration of eight stupas with T'hondrup Ling's Lama Gyatso. The following article is taken from edited transcripts of a teaching by and an interview with Tulku Sang-ngag conducted at Rigdzin Ling and translated by Richard Barron.
In order to attain buddhahood so that all sentient beings, who have been our mothers, may attain buddhahood as well, it is necessary for us to gather the two accumulations of merit and pristine awareness and at the same time to purify ourselves of the two-fold obscurations–those of the afflictive emotions and those of ignorance concerning the nature of reality. Any kind of physical effort associated with creating or honoring are presentation of enlightened form, speech, or mind such as prostrations, circumambulations, or pilgrimage is a way of gathering the accumulations and purifying obscurations. Just as statues are representations of the enlightened form of Buddha and texts are representations of enlightened speech, stupas represent enlightened mind.
Since the Buddha's lifetime, the stupas that have been built by Buddhists all over the world are representations of his form or memorials of his deeds and are constructed according to guidelines established in his teachings.
Perhaps the most well-known designs of Tibetan stupas–those being used at Rigdzin Ling–are a series of eight that are often built together.These are based on designs of stupas built by students of the Buddha in eight Indian holy places that were associated with various miraculous deeds he performed. For example, there is a stupa design known as the "stupa of heaped lotuses" which is based on the accounts of the Buddha's birth in the Lumbini Grove. When the Buddha was born miraculously from the left side of his mother's body rather than through the birth canal, he immediately stood upright and walked seven steps in each of the four cardinal directions. Wherever his feet touched the ground, lotuses bloomed, forming heaps of lotuses. And so the design of this stupa suggests a heap of lotus blossoms. Similarly, a stupa with a design known as the "many doorways of auspiciousness," referring to the Buddha's many avenues of teaching, was erected as a memorial to the Buddha’s first turning of the wheel of the dharma in Varanasi, when he taught the four noble truths and the twelve links of interdependence, the beginning of the process that led to the 84,000 collections of his teachings. Of the other six stupa designs, the "enlightenment" stupa commemorates the Buddha's enlightenment, the "stupa of descent from the god realm" commemorates his descent at Sankhya from the Tushita Heaven after teaching his mother, the "stupa of miracles" commemorates the miracles he performed at Shravasti, the "stupa of reconciliation" commemorates his reconciling the quarreling factions of the sangha at the Bamboo Grove, the "stupa of nirvana" commemorates his death and passing beyond sorrow at Kusinagara, and the "stupa of complete victory " commemorates his voluntary prolongation of his life span at Vaisali. Each of these has a specific form. For example, the reconciliation stupa is spherical, representing the idea of wholeness, of bringing everything back into a single group.
One of the two cycles of teachings given by the Buddha Shakyamuni concerning stupa construction, the Odzer Drimed or "Stainless Light Rays" cycle, was conferred upon a Brahmin named Sergyi Dawa. This Brahmin, far from being a Buddhist, was a learned teacher of an extreme philosophical view that was at real variance with the Buddha's teachings, and he had thousands of students. Due to insight gained through meditation, he had a premonition that he would die within seven days, which frightened him very much. He wanted to save himself, but was powerless to do so. He had heard a great deal about the compassion and wisdom of the Buddha, and so he went to him for help. The Buddha's first response was, "You have every right to be concerned. You're facing not only an untimely death, but such a store of negative karma that your mindstream will be reborn again and again in lower and lower realms of existence until you are finally born in a hell realm." The Brahmin replied, "You are omniscient; please give me the means to offset this obstacle." The Buddha answered, "Under normal circumstances, you would experience this suffering, but there is no need for you to do so. There is a stupa in a certain location. All you have to do is repair, refurbish, and reconsecrate it and you will gain enough merit to offset your negative karma." So out of his compassion the Buddha transmitted teachings, mantras , dharani mantras, and the means of constructing and consecrating a stupa. Then he said, "Your life at present is similar to a lamp running out of oil. This will be like pouring oil into the lamp and sustaining your life force. It will also exhaust the negative karma that would have led to rebirth in lower states. When you finally pass from this life, like a snake shedding its skin you will leave the world behind and attain rebirth in a pure realm, a realm of bliss." So overjoyed was the Brahmin that he took what the Buddha said to heart. He used all of the means that had been placed at his disposal to restore and reconsecrate the stupa.
Through the power of the Buddha's words, the power of the mantras and the dharani mantras that the Buddha transmitted, and through his own efforts, the Brahmin experienced a miraculous transformation. His sick and dying body became a strong, majestic presence and he lived for a long time. The effects of this astonished Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. The bodhisattvas who were students of the Buddha were amazed that he had bestowed such powerful kriya tantra teachings. Recognizing their very special nature as a means of purification and spiritual development, the bodhisattvas codified them, thus providing the scriptural sources for this unbroken lineage of practical methods for building and consecrating stupas.
When the Buddha presented these teachings to Sergyi Dawa,there was a bodhisattva in the audience whose name was Dribpa Namsel, which means the "complete dispelling of all obscurations." At one point this bodhisattva arose and addressed the Buddha, requesting that he further elaborate the means by which stupas could be designed, erected, and consecrated for the benefit of sentient beings. Delighted by this request, the Buddha proceeded to explain in great detail how a stupa could be constructed using earth, rock, wood, and so forth. He said that whether the stupa was as large as Mount Meru or as small as a fingernail what was important for rendering it a sacred representation of enlightened mind was the proportions. He described the way the mandalas were constructed, the way the dharani mantras were prepared, the way the tsa tsas, or small clay images, were formed and consecrated. He emphasized the need for ritual purity, the strictures incumbent on people who prepared the tsa tsas, dharani mantras, and other offerings–the taking of ordination, a vegetarian diet, and so forth. He also explained how the formal consecrations were to be performed, as well as the benefits of building a stupa.
The benefits of involvement in the creation of stupas and tsa tsas are truly incalculable. When the Buddha gave these teachings, not only the human beings but also the gods, spirits, and other non humans present recognized their value and promised to honor, respect, and preserve them. Throughout the history of Buddhism careful attention has been paid to maintaining this tradition of stupa construction.
Participating in or sponsoring the creation of tsa tsas or stupas, as well as honoring them after they are built through prostrations, circumambulations, and offerings, provides a means for averting all that is inauspicious or counterproductive and of assuring all that is auspicious and supportive of spiritual development. Whatever the short-term goal–whether it be longevity, wealth and prosperity, the accomplishment of an undertaking, the alleviation of illness for oneself or others, the purification of even the most heinous act, the pacification of obstacles–this activity is a very powerful means for realizing that goal. As well, it plants the seeds of liberation in one's mindstream, so that one gains higher states of rebirth in the shorter term and ultimately is brought to enlightenment. This is particularly dependent upon one's bodhicitta. If one participates in a stupa' s construction and ritual activities, or honors the completed stupa with an altruistic resolve to benefit all beings, then the blessings are such that the Buddha himself could not describe them.
We should never underestimate the power of our aspirations.That power can be negative as well as positive. The Legend of the Great Stupa tells of the three brothers who constructed the stupa at the request of their aging mother, and took a vow to be reborn together under circumstances where they would benefit beings. They were reborn as the scholar and abbot Shantirakshita, the great master Padmasambhava, and the king T'hrisrong Detzan. It was during the time of these three figures in Tibetan history that the Buddhist tradition flourished in the Land of Snows. When they took their vow as the three brothers, another individual who was jealous of them formulated a very negative prayer: "May I be reborn in circumstances where I can destroy everything they build." Because it was formulated during the consecration of the stupa, the force of this aspiration led to the person's rebirth as the very powerful King Langdarma. But due to the negativity of his aspiration, as the king he committed a great deal of evil, virtually eradicating Buddhism in Central Tibet at one point.
The blessings of stupas are such that they benefit all beings, regardless of their connection or motivation. The fact that there are stupas and other sacred embodiments of enlightened body, speech, and mind at Rigdzin Ling may be something that people who live just a few miles down the road have no idea about. This doesn't mean they won't benefit in some way. The world benefits from the fact that Rigdzin Ling is here. The state benefits. The local area benefits. There is benefit on all levels. But that benefit is increased by one's participation and one's bodhicitta. A stupa is most especially beneficial to those who sponsor or build it and to those who see it or hear the wind that blows by it, touch or remember it.
There is an account in the Jataka Tales of seven insects living on a leaf of a tree next to a lake. When winter came the tree shed its leaves. The wind carried the bugs' leaf seven times around the lake, and then it fell in the water and the bugs drowned. Following the Buddha Shakyamuni, there were seven generations, known as the first seven generations of buddhas, who were incarnations of these seven insects. Now that's benefit! The bugs had no idea the stupa was there. They didn't know what was going on. They were just carried by the wind around a lake at the bottom of which was a stupa.
In Tibetan Buddhism, the making of tsa tsas is said to be an extremely powerful means of developing one's merit in preparation for any major undertaking. Retreat manuals often say that before a long retreat you should gather merit by activities such as making tsa tsas. It is also a powerful means of purifying the effects of harmful actions, obscurations, and broken vows or commitments.
There is an interesting story in this regard about Atisha, the great Indian Buddhist master, who was the disciplinarian of Nalanda University, and Naropa, a fully ordained monk at Nalanda. At a certain point in his Vajrayana practice it became appropriate for Naropa to take a consort. It was brought to the disciplinarian's attention that Naropa was consorting with a woman. So Atisha felt bound to expel him from the university. He went to Naropa's chambers and explained the situation. Naropa replied, "Well, if that's how you feel, fine." He took his robes off, put them down, walked through the wall, and left the university–at which point Atisha realized he had made a mistake! The residents of the monastic university were upset with him for having failed to recognize a great siddha living among them. Atisha was so distraught that he decided he had to leave too.
Now Atisha was a great practitioner of Tara, and his relationship with his chosen deity was such that he had visions of Tara constantly and he could speak to her whenever he wished. But for seven days after this incident, she was nowhere to be found. Finally, one morning at dawn she appeared to Atisha and said, "You have committed a very great fault. If you do not confess and purify your actions toward this great yogi, your mindstream will be reborn in hell." And then she vanished.
And so Atisha set off to find Naropa. He finally came upon him walking across the Ganges River. Since Atisha was not quite up to that, he wasn't able to offer Naropa his personal apology. But Tara again appeared to him and said, "One of the ways in which you can offset this negative karma is to make five tsa tsas every day for the rest of your life." So this became a part of Atisha' s practice. When he came to Tibet, his students were astonished to see this great master from India sitting on the floor every day with his clay and mold making tsa tsas. It embarrassed them and so they said, "A great lama such as you shouldn't have to do this kind of menial work.We will do it for you." But Atisha simply replied, "Are you going to eat my food for me too?"
When we were creating the stupa in Bhutan commemorating H.H. Khyentse Rinpoche, there was never any need to exhort people to work. Not only were the great lamas there day and night making tsa tsas, rolling mantras, and so forth, but people were flocking to help. They understood the value of what was going on and wanted to be part of it. There was no need to encourage people. If anything, it would have been necessary to turn people away because there were just too many. Because it was wintertime and really cold, building the sides of the stupa was extremely hard work. Yet lamas and tulkus were practically racing each other for the honor of being able to get up the scaffolding and start plastering.
The oldest of His Holiness' students were getting on in years and had arthritis in their fingers. Yet they couldn't wait to get to the work site. They'd run out there and help in any way they could, scooping up concrete with their bare hands and plastering it on because they were so happy to take part in the work.
One of the interesting features of stupas is that it's hard to feel possessive of them. They don't exist for any other reason except to benefit. With other projects, there may be some vested interest. But a stupa is just a stupa. It's a representation of enlightened mind, sitting there, in a place for beings to see, touch, or remember it. In Tibet a lot of the stupas were built at crossroads on high mountain passes, places where nobody would ever go except on their way somewhere else. Tibetans knew that no matter what stupas looked like on the outside, they contained incredible blessings. Just to see them was a blessing. To touch them was a blessing. To hear the sound of the wind blowing around them was a blessing. And that was why they built them–for the blessings, just the blessings.
The full text of this teaching and interview will be available in the forthcoming Mirror of Freedom. If you would like to help sponsor the construction of the stupas on behalf of the living or the deceased, call or write Rigdzin Ling.
