July 3rd...First brush strokes!!

Lisa reported today that they did not strip Ngagpa Yeshe Dorje Stupa yesterday. They did take off the plexiglas to examine the throne, but were nervous about it.

Stupas are considered the Enlightened Mind in form, a manifestation of the Buddha himself. They are constructed in a manner that was laid out by Buddha Shakyamuni, and every aspect is undertaken according to strict vows, with elaborate ceremonies and prayers. Ultimately, when it is completed, it is then officially consecrated, where a qualified Lama awakens the Mind of Enlightenment in the form of the Stupa (symbolized by the opening of the Buddha statue's eyes, and the unveiling of the eyes at the level of the harmika (not shown in form) every Stupa has a Buddha image in the gau). That profound transformation is possible because of the billions of prayers, offerings and ritual objects placed inside the Stupa. All of this is a quick overview, and possibly not accurate (as I'm doing it from memory), but I wanted to provide context for Lisa's concern. Once it is consecrated, the Stupa is considered inseparable from the Buddha himself. So you don't take it apart (scraping the surface is one thing, like giving a facial or something, removing parts is more like surgery), and you especially don't remove the statue, or Buddha image, unless a Lama is holding that awareness while it is moved. So Lisa didn't want to take any chances.

In any case, she said Ardys, Linda and Philip joined her in the effort. Philip said he couldn't determine what needed to be done (if anything) with the throne in there until he could get it out. That will be another day. Ardys suggested using peppermint to repel the ants, and someone else suggested bay leaves. So there is some mint and bay leaves sitting in the gau of the NYD Stupa now, in an attempt to persuade the ants to relocate. Any suggestions along these lines are welcome! They must, of course, be harmless to the ants. Inconvenient is okay.

So, that made two days in a row Lisa was ready to roll on the Stupas and then found herself stuck. Oh, yeah, the stripping didn't happen because she said the Stupa was covered with spiders and sacs full of their babies. She didn't feel comfortable removing the sacs of babies, fearing they might be killed in the process. Thus, we'll be back to NYD later...hopefully a few less sentient beings in residence on it at that time! : )

We turned our attention back to the Enlightenment Stupa today.....