The Stupa - Part 01

 

The stupa

Can a mound of dirt represent the Buddha, the path to Enlightenment, a mountain and the universe all at the same time? It can if it is a stupa. The stupa is an important form of Buddhist architecture, though it predates Buddhism. It is generally considered to be a sepulchral monument—a place of burial or a receptacle for religious objects. At its simplest, a stupa is a dirt burial mound faced with stone. In Buddhism, the earliest stupas contained portions of the Buddha’s ashes, and as a result, the stupa began to be associated with the body of the Buddha. Adding the Buddha’s ashes to the mound of dirt activated it with the energy of the Buddha himself.

Early stupas

Before Buddhism, great teachers were buried in mounds. Some were cremated, but sometimes they were buried in a seated, meditative position. The mound of earth covered them up. Thus, the domed shape of the stupa came to represent a person seated in meditation much as the Buddha was when he achieved Enlightenment and knowledge of the Four Noble Truths. The base of the stupa represents his crossed legs as he sat in a meditative pose. The middle portion is the Buddha’s body and the top of the mound, where a pole rises from the apex surrounded by a small fence, represents his head. Before images of the human Buddha were created, reliefs often depicted practitioners demonstrating devotion to a stupa.

The ashes of the Buddha were buried in stupas built at locations associated with important events in the Buddha’s life including Lumbini (where he was born), Bodh Gaya (where he achieved Enlightenment), Deer Park at Sarnath (where he preached his first sermon sharing the Four Noble Truths (also called the dharma or the law), and Kushingara (where he died). The choice of these sites and others were based on both real and legendary events.

“Calm and glad"

According to legend, King Ashoka, who was the first king to embrace Buddhism (he ruled over most of the Indian subcontinent from c. 269 - 232 B.C.E.), created 84,000 stupas and divided the Buddha’s ashes among them all. While this is an exaggeration (and the stupas were built by Ashoka some 250 years after the Buddha’s death), it is clear that Ashoka was responsible for building many stupas all over northern India and the other territories under the Mauryan Dynasty in areas now known as Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.

One of Ashoka's goals was to provide new converts with the tools to help with their new faith. In this, Ashoka was following the directions of the Buddha who, prior to his death (parinirvana), directed that stupas should be erected in places other than those associated with key moments of his life so that “the hearts of many shall be made calm and glad.” Ashoka also built stupas in regions where the people might have difficulty reaching the stupas that contained the Buddha’s ashes.

 

On Happiness

 

“One who acts on truth is happy in this world and beyond.”

“Happiness will never come to those who fail to appreciate what they already have.”

“One who acts on truth is happy in this world and beyond.”

“Happiness will never come to those who fail to appreciate what they already have.”

On Your Self

 “No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.”

“Doubt everything. Find your own light.”

“Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.”

“If you truly loved yourself, you could never hurt another.”

“Do not look for a sanctuary in anyone except your self.”

“There is no fire like passion, there is no shark like hatred, there is no snare like folly, there is no torrent like greed.”

“Set your heart on doing good. Do it over and over again, and you will be filled with joy.”

“Most problems, if you give them enough time and space, will eventually wear themselves out”

“Irrigators channel waters; fletchers straighten arrows; carpenters bend wood; the wise master themselves.”

“Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good.”

“You yourself must strive. The Buddhas only point the way.”

“Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.”

“She who knows life flows, feels no wear or tear, needs no mending or repair.”

“I am the miracle.”

On Suffering

 

“Pain is certain, suffering is optional.”

“Have compassion for all beings, rich and poor alike; each has their suffering. Some suffer too much, others too little.”

“The root of suffering is attachment.”

On Your Ideas

“An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea.”

“Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.”

“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.”

“Just as the great ocean has one taste, the taste of salt, so also this teaching and discipline has one taste, the taste of liberation.”

“Long is the night to him who is awake; long is a mile to him who is tired; long is life to the foolish who do not know the true law.”

“Our theories of the eternal are as valuable as are those which a chick which has not broken its way through its shell might form of the outside world.”

 

On Your Words

“Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.”

“Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill.”

“The tongue like a sharp knife… Kills without drawing blood.”

“Better than a thousand hollow words is one word that brings peace.”

“If you propose to speak always ask yourself, is it true, is it necessary, is it kind.”

“Like a fine flower, beautiful to look at but without scent, fine words are fruitless in a man who does not act in accordance with them.”

“Speak only endearing speech, speech that is welcomed. Speech, when it brings no evil to others, is a pleasant thing.”

 

On Compassion

 

“If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.”

“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”

“Hatred does not cease through hatred at any time. Hatred ceases through love. This is an unalterable law.”

“As rain falls equally on the just and the unjust, do not burden your heart with judgement but rain your kindness equally on all.”

“A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.”

“If we fail to look after others when they need help, who will look after us?”

“Happiness comes when your work and words are of benefit to others.”

“Give, even if you only have a little.”

“Life is so very difficult. How can we be anything but kind?”

“We will develop and cultivate the liberation of mind by loving kindness, make it our vehicle, make it our basis, stabilize it, exercise ourselves in it, and fully perfect it.”

“As rain falls equally on the just and the unjust, do not burden your heart with judgments but rain your kindness equally on all.”

“Kindness should become the natural way of life, not the exception.”