For example, the stupa’ s square base represents equanimity; the round dome, indestructibility; the triangular spire, compassion, the semicircular umbrella, all-accomplishing action; and at the very top, the jewel-shaped crystal drop( tigle) represents allpervading awareness.
On a more general note, the configuration of the entire universe as conceived in Buddhist cosmology is a gigantic stupa— as is the structure of a person’ s body. Thus a stupa is a gateway that merges a person’ s innate wisdom and compassion with the luminously pure, all-pervasive, primordial nature( Dharmakaya).
An empowered lineage
Modern stupas date back to the historic Buddha( Shakyamuni), who gave precise
Top: His Holiness Penor Rinpoche; instructions about how to
Jetsunma Ahkön build and maintain these sacred structures in the Drimed
Lhamo Rinpoche; Tulku Sang-ngag
Namnyiy or the“ Two Stainless
Rinpoche Cycles.” Stupa masters follow this text to this day.
All stupas have a precise internal symmetry and orientation in space even though their outer appearance may look dissimilar. A stupa’ s spiritual potency is amplified by the offerings in its chambers( such as relics and prayers) and by ceremonies that accompany the building process— from preparing the land to consecrating the stupa when it is built.
Image of Amitabha Buddha courtesy of Nick Dudka, www. thangka. ru.
A shimmering bronze image of Buddha Amitabha— the Buddha of Limitless Light— is set into the Amitabha Stupa. Amitabha’ s mantra,“ Om Ah Mi De Wa Hri,”( in Tibetan) is considered especially potent when recited with faith at the time of death.
Every stupa begins with the vision and inspiration of an authentic spiritual master. In the case of the Amitabha Stupa that vision came from Jetsunma Ahkön Lhamo, who was recognized by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche as a reincarnate bodhisattva( tulku) and Palyul lineage holder in the Nyingma tradition of Vajrayana Buddhism. Jetsunma is the founder and spiritual director of Kunzang Palyul Chöling( KPC), worldwide centers for compassionate practice, activ-