Great Stupa of Boudhnath, Kathmandu, Nepal
During my three months in retreat, the answer to some deeply held prayers was realized when a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity presented itself to place one of our ETVs inside the Great Stupa at Boudnath!!
The Great Stupa of Boudhnath, in Kathmandu, Nepal
The great Stupa is a powerful repository of blessings for the world and due to earthquake damage is currently “open” for reconstruction.
Carroll Dunham with Boudhnath ETV
For more on Carroll see: www.wildearthnepal.com and www.wildearthjourneys.com
On the full moon of April, my dharma sister, Carroll Dunham, who was visiting New Mexico from Kathmandu where she lives, joined me in retreat to practice together and make offerings into the Earth Treasure Vase which she had offered to take back to Nepal for the Great Stupa. I gathered sacred offerings from all the locations in the Global ETV Mandala, as well as numerous other sacred places around the world and with tears in my eyes, together we made prayers for our next little ETV whose job from inside the Great Stupa of Boudhnath – that great beacon of awakened compassion – is to hold a connection to all the other ETV locations and radiate blessings out to the whole Earth!! It was an emotional ceremony during a time of deep quiet in my “cave” but the process of collecting all the offerings for the Vase provided a powerful opportunity to review the path, reconnect with the beauty of this epic journey anew, and be inspired beyond my wildest dreams. I find it utterly amazing what a life of their own these little vases have!
There are many more offerings being made into the Stupa than it can hold, but most people want recognition for their offerings whereas we just wanted to get the ETV in. So through Carroll’s friend, Mani Lama, a photographer who is documenting the reconstruction process and whose family lineage has been to care for the stupa over many generations, it was done!! Mani knew the workers well, so Carroll gently handed him the ETV, called a “bumpa” in Tibetan, wrapped in a white kata which he placed in his backpack and as she circumambulated the stupa from below, he climbed up the scaffolding to the open top with bamboo spires sticking out where about 20 men were working.
The Nyingma Lama placing the ETV next to the statue of Thangtong Gyalpo in front of the Tsok Shing
“It couldn’t have worked better!” Mani told Carroll. “There was a Nyingmapa lama up at the top overseeing the construction. We chatted and he pulled out a statue of Thangtong Gyalpo he was consecrating and putting in. I told him I had a “bumpa” with Guru Rinpoche relics and blessings from all over the whole Earth for world peace and asked if he would consecrate and put it in with his statue?” He was most happy to. Prayers were recited, the vase was wrapped in plastic (all the offerings are) and nestled next to the statue, secure in a bed of brick powder mixed with lime.
Close up of ETV and Statue of Thangtong Gyalpo. Photos by Mani Lama
From Carroll: “The ETV was placed above the womb shape of the stupa, in the square part where the eyes are traditionally drawn before the 13 spires, on the western side next to the “tsok shing” which is the stupa’s spine – its central channel so to speak, where its life force resides and links earth and heaven. So it is very auspicious — the closer to the tsok shing, the closer to the central axis mundi of the stupa. And on May 9th, before noon, during the month of Wesak, the Earth Treasure Vase was firmly placed in the Great Stupa of Boudhnath. Emaho! Stealth compassion at its best.”
Tags: second-generation
