Stupas

My dear friends, brother and sisters,
By building a stupa, without words we are continually liberating so many sentient beings. Every day, the stupa plants the seed of enlightenment and purifies anybody who sees, touches, remembers, talks or dreams about the stupa. This includes insects that touch the stupa. The stupa is meaningful to behold, and it liberates many sentient beings, insects and humans, every day.

When the wind touches a stupa—especially if it has the four dharmakaya relics inside—the wind becomes blessed. Then, wherever the wind goes and whoever it touches, it liberates them from the lower realms, by purifying their negative karma. When rain falls on the stupa, that water liberates any being it touches—all the worms in the ground etc, are liberated from the lower realms. It is similar with dust.

We can build stupas to inspire people without even teaching Dharma. However many hundreds and billions of years the holy object lasts, it continues to liberate many sentient beings every day, freeing them from the lower realms, causing them to actualize the path, liberating them from samsara and bringing them to enlightenment. After we die, even if we are in another universe, in the hell realms or a pure land, wherever we are, the stupa that we built or helped to build, is continually benefiting sentient beings. It is incredible how we can continually benefit sentient beings by building a stupa.

From the Flower Garland Sutra:

Whatever one offers [to a stupa], whether it is tiny or big, it causes happiness from beginningless rebirth up to now.

This refers to temporary happiness and on top of that the cause of ultimate happiness—liberation from suffering and causes of suffering, and full enlightenment, for the sake of all sentient beings. Then we are able to liberate numberless sentient beings from suffering and bring them to enlightenment, so of course this includes achieving worldly people's small happiness; it is all contained here.

These are some of the benefits we get by helping to build this stupa.

With much love and prayers ...

Especially important is the benefit to others from these holy objects. Because we can't see the Buddha now directly, this is something substantial that we can see, a manifestation of Buddha's holy mind. It becomes so easy for us to purify and create merit with such holy objects. Even insects are able to purify negative karma and collect merit and create the cause to achieve enlightenment.

The dust, rain, anything that touches the stupa and then touches others is the cause of purification, and helps us achieve a higher rebirth. Anyone who sees, touches, dreams of, or thinks of this stupa plants the seed of enlightenment and becomes meaningful to behold.

In the Buddha’s teachings, it says that the benefits of making holy objects are like the limitless sky. The very essence of this is the benefits that Buddha explained to King Indrabodhi, which is: however many atoms there are inside the stupa or statue of Buddha, that many lifetimes will you be reborn as a king, human, or in the deva realms. You also create that many causes of perfect concentration, including shamatha and different levels of meditative states of the form and formless realms, as there are atoms in the statue or stupa. Also, you create that many causes to achieve the Aryan path and that many causes to achieve enlightenment.

Building statues is like creating Buddha’s holy body, and building stupas is like creating Buddha’s holy mind. In one spoon of earth, there are so many atoms, so you can imagine how many atoms there are in a stupa. That is how many causes you create to achieve enlightenment.

Every day, those sentient beings who see the stupas and statues plant the seed of enlightenment. It is said that even if you dream of a stupa, it plants the seed of enlightenment. This is mainly due to the power of the holy object. It is said in the King of the Concentration Sutra that even if one sees a drawing of a stupa (even out of anger), it causes you to see ten million buddhas in the future. That means it is purifying the mind and causing you to see numberless buddhas and create numberless causes to actualize the path, become enlightened, and lead all sentient beings to enlightenment. Of course, those who prostrate, bow down, and pay respect, even with one hand, to a holy object are brought to enlightenment (and have many future good rebirths), because each of those actions creates inconceivable merit, as much as they are performed. Because one has created inconceivable merit, it takes care even of this life, without clinging to it.

It is said even a person who remembers a stupa is purified. These are such amazing things. When you come to know these benefits, then you know how this stupa makes it so easy to liberate sentient beings, to bring them to enlightenment, and save them from the lower realms of samsara. It is the best thing for healing cancer and sicknesses, for healing in general.

Holy objects, in complete silence, not involving talking, liberate 100,000 sentient beings every day from samsara, saving them from the lower realms. Holy objects purify karma just by seeing them. They purify the mind and plant the seed of the path to liberation. That’s how stupas liberate beings each day. Every day, holy objects bring sentient beings to enlightenment. Enlightenment doesn’t happen like a click of the fingers, but by seeing holy objects, it plants the imprint to actualize the path and achieve enlightenment. Every day they bring sentient beings to enlightenment. They work for sentient beings naturally, all the time, including animals and insects who touch the stupa with the mantras inside; even touching its shadow purifies killing your father or mother.

When water (rain) touches the stupa it becomes holy water. It is the same with the wind that touches the stupa and then touches sentient beings; it purifies the karma of the ten non-virtuous actions. It is the same with dust, even without the being it touches having a virtuous thought.

Even if the holy object is destroyed, during the days, months, years, or 100,000 years of its existence, so many sentient beings get so much benefit from that positive imprint. These positive imprints, still working on them, cause them to meet the guru, actualize the path, etc, until they achieve enlightenment. Even if the holy object doesn’t exist any more, the effect is still working on the being. Then, that being helps bring other sentient beings to enlightenment.

Holy objects make it so easy for sentient beings to achieve realizations and enlightenment, no matter how much negative karma they collect, and how many negative deeds they do. They give hope in life. We can see very clearly what an incredible opportunity and hope we have in our life. Through holy objects, the resulting benefit of every single action is inconceivable and immeasurable, creating the cause of happiness, because the object has inconceivable qualities, like the limitless sky. Because of that, everything you do regarding a holy object, such as prostrations, has benefits as vast as the sky.

My very dear one,
Thank you for your kind letter and photos of the stupas. I rejoice in your being able to build the stupas. You are very fortunate, because this is something that is able to help sentient beings purify negative karma and collect extensive merits. This is such an easy way for so many beings to receive benefit. I rejoice in all your works, all the merits, also all the benefactors’ merits. This is something that you should feel so happy about, and be so unbelievably excited about. Even when death comes, this is something to remember, and what has made your life so worthwhile.

Regarding the eighteen arhants, this project has actually already been done, by one student. He based the arhants on the Sera Je arhants. They look very good, with very good detail. The artist who made them is extremely good, but it takes a little time. I guess you can’t have everything in samsara, right? It’s better to just accept the karma.

Actually, this is an antidote for lung (wind disease). In case you don’t know about lung yet, you will find out soon that people learn this term, lung or wind disease, first, even before other words in Tibetan, even before thug je che (thank you). If you get lung you should be very skillful, otherwise it can increase more and more and it becomes difficult to meditate or even do prayers. Sorry, I am just chatting with you, sharing with you about lung, but not to give you lung, so don’t worry.

Anyway I just wanted to say that you are so fortunate to have been able to participate in building the stupas.

With much love and prayers,

Lama Zopa