The Padmasambhava Stupa

by Anne Silver

The Crestone Eagle - May 2002

    Are you aware that one of the best gifts we can give the earth is a stupa? Our community is blessed with two of them: The Tashi Gomang Stupa rises forty feet high south of Cottonwood Creek. Pre- dating that is what is known as the Padmasambhava Stupa which was the first stupa ever built in Colorado! You can find it on Carefree Way next to what was then the home of Canadian Diplomat, James George. The eminent Nyingma lama Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche selected the site. Sogyal Rinpoche and Lama Urgyen, dedicated it on September 10-11, 1984.

    Enlightened beings know that the greatest gift one can give another is the means to attain a higher state of consciousness. The Rinpoche Stupa is a gift that can inspire the qualities of mind that are needed to heal the planet.

    In his description of what he called then "The Positive Energy Project", Jim George wrote: There is nothing sectarian about this endeavor. Two of the highest lamas from Tibet, their Holinesses Dudjom Rinpoche and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche have requested us to undertake this pro- ject with their blessings as a service to the entire community, not only for Crestone and the San Luis Valley but in a much wider sense. . . . In every tradition, a holy monument, properly located and correctly con- structed, filled with the power of prayers, the relics of saints and sacred objects is recognized by expe- rience to have beneficial healing action on the whole environment.

    The Dundul Stupa is dedicated to Padmasambhava, or Guru Rinpoche, the enlightened teacher who took Buddhism to Tibet in the ninth century. Tibetan Buddhists, recite Padmasambhava's mantra as they circumambulate in a clock- wise direction. There are eight types of Stupa’s, and their common characteristic is to remind us of the possibility of our own mind's remembering its enlightened state.

    James George wrote a book published in 1995 entitled Asking for the Earth, Waking Up to the Spiritual/Ecological Crisis. In its forward, His Holiness the Dalai Lama says, "My old friend James George has written a book in which he shows that the global environ- mental crisis is actually an expres- sion of inner confusion. . . . Healing the world has to start on an individual level." James George illustrates with his own experience his thesis that we must ask for illumination in order to be of help to the planet. Only receptivity to spiritual forces can induce us to the drastic change necessary to resolve the environ- mental crisis.

    In a preface to this same book, Maurice Strong asserts: "We literally have responsibility for our own evolution. What we do, or fail to do, in this generation will determine, perhaps decisively, the future of our species, and of other forms of life on earth."

    In his fundraising letter for the Padmasambhava Stupa Jim George asserts: As each new crisis--eco- logical, economic, political, social, military-compacts more threaten- ingly into the last one, we begin to understand the magnitude of the negativity now acting on our world and in each one of us. In the pure air and the beauty of the Baca, where the plains meet the sacred mountains. . . an unusual project is being undertaken cooperatively to counter these negative forces in a profound spiritual sense.

    Indeed, it takes quite a community to build a stupa for the task requires countless hours of human effort. In 1984, Jim George enlisted the aid of local artisans and community members. Many residents and visitors contributed time. Bertha Gotterup threw a massive amount of clay on her pot- tery wheel for the Stupa's spire. After the stupa was built using the original concrete forms they creat- ed, Paul Kloppenburg applied the orig- inal gold leaf and Michael Baron and Robert Troutman made the orginal forms to cast the Stupa into concrete and completed the stucco.

    The Padmasambhava Stupa restoration eighteen years later, the posi- tive energy continues to grow. A relief clay Padmasambhava statue, completed in Nepal, will be cast in brass before installation in the traditional “Stupa East” direction. Paul Kloppenburg and Jim Bowie with others are dedicating many hours to the restoration project. Visionary activist James George built this Padmasambhava stupa to benefit the entire planet. You are welcome to visit the Padmasambhava stupa. Sit or circumam- bulate, enjoy the flowers, the clear air, the stunning setting. Absorb the stupa's energies of enlightened awareness. Asking for illumina- tion, you "ask for the Earth."

    In Tibetan tradition, it is said that to build or maintain a stupa generates great beneficial merit for all beings that work on contribute to or are connected with in any way the completion of a stupa.

    Should you feel inspired to join with those who care for the Padmasambhava Stupa, please contact Paul Kloppenburg at 719-256-4677. Much-needed dona- tions are being collected at a box near the cash register at the Desert Sage. Tax-deductible dona- tions may also be mailed to the Soaring Eagle Foundation, P.O. Box 243, Crestone CO 81131.

Contact: pablo@amigo.net

TASHI DELEK!