My dear students looking for liberation and enlightenment for sentient beings,

It is extremely important to have an image of this stupa with mantras because its benefit of giving protection come from Lama Atisha of Nalanda, where there were 300 great scholars and holy beings.

The purpose of keeping an image of this stupa in your house or in your room is to protect you from the mental pollution, not yet discovered in the West, from those who, in particular, have broken samaya with their guru, belittled their guru, given rise to heresy or anger toward their guru, or who, after making a Dharma connection through receiving a lung, commentary, initiation or vows, gave up their guru. This creates so much mental pollution, which is the heaviest negative karma.

If you meet that person, talk to or receive teachings from that person, or bring other people to a place where that person has been, your mind gets polluted. You lose your spiritual achievements, your mind becomes more negative, it becomes more difficult for you to achieve realizations, and you get reborn in the lower realms. It is very dangerous.

Also, the places where that person has been become polluted. The previous Kyabje Zong Rinpoche told us, during the First Dharma Celebration, that even the tap water in a place where that person has been becomes polluted. If you drink it, you get polluted, you lose any spiritual progression you have made, your mind degenerates and you go to the lower realms.

The external pollution from a car doesn’t cause you to be reborn in the lower realms, but this pollution does.

You can also wear the image of this stupa as a protection amulet so that wherever you go, you are protected from this pollution.

This is very important. It would be good for every FPMT center, service and project to have this image in its gompa, office or other public rooms, and on every level of its buildings.

If you are new to Buddhism and don’t understand this, it doesn’t matter; just keep it in your room for the benefit of other people.

Thank you,

Lama Zopa

[Note: Lama Atisha's Protection Stupa is available from FPMT Foundation Store. Read more about the history of the image and its benefits here.]