Norbu did what he could today, but ran out of sand. Another order was placed, and we're expecting another 60 bags tomorrow! This, believe it or not, is really just a start. This time, fortunately, they'll be delivering it with a forklift, so we don't have to heft those bags off the truck. Whew!
He's been working hard, and contending with some car trouble, so he forgot his camera. We can forgive him! : ) So no photos from the site today. He said he didn't finish even the first entire wall, but we'll press on tomorrow not to worry! I'll be there tomorrow with camera in hand to document our progress.
As I wasn't there today, and thus have little to report, I decided to share some information on Stupas. If you've found this blog maybe you already know something about Stupas, or perhaps you're curious. So,
What's the Big Deal? What makes these things so special? The answers are as deep as one's mind can go, and I'm not very knowledgeable, but I'll do what I can. Thus, it is best to quote those with much more understanding than my own obscured mind. So here's a quote from Lama Zopa Rinpoche's fantastic reference on the subject: "Benefits and Practices of Statues and Stupas". I have kindly received permission to share quotes from the text on this blog, in the hopes it will bring benefit to those who see it. Here's a start:
"It is said that even a person who remembers a Stupa is purified. Amazing! Even dreaming of a stupa or remembering a stupa that one has seen plants the seed of everlasting freedom, total liberation, from all the suffering causes and of everlasting happiness, the highest enlightenment. 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 to save them from the lower realms of samsara.
A stupa is also the best thing for healing cancer or other sicknesses; it is the best thing to use for healing. For example, if I go around this stupa [referring to the stupa at Rinpoche's house in Aptos] a little bit faster for just twenty minutes, it lowers my diabetes blood sugar level. This has happened many times. One day I compared: I walked down the road, and my blood sugar level wasn't lowered that much, but walking around the stupa lowered it. You can advertise the stupa as being unbelievably powerful for healing."
Our teacher, Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo, had our largest Stupa built specifically for this purpose. You can see it in the PHOTO below. It is real, it is here, and it is for anyone suffering, whether from illness, or from a weariness with samsara. You can utilize them for your own benefit, or better yet, for your own benefit and all beings who are sick or suffering, for loved ones, pets, any being one wishes to benefit. Those of us you see on these pages are working to keep these precious objects of refuge in the world for the benefit of all, now and in the future. Please do come out and see them, walk clockwise around them. If you're not close, then visit here. I promise to post a picture of a Stupa every day, so you too can gain the benefits of seeing them, remembering them, maybe even dreaming of them...
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