September 4th...Hauling water...

The temple has been busy with additional practices, prayers and planning in response to the amazing tragedy in the Gulf Coast. As a focal point of our spiritual community (one totally open to all, no affiliations required!) the Stupas remain a priority through this difficult time. They are an offering to the world, and they are power houses of spiritual power, bringing benefit and healing to all those they come into contact with, but those benefits can be extended to all those suffering, when that compassionate intention forms the root of one's motivation. Thus, they are especially useful during such difficult times....So we kept up the momentum on the Stupa Restoration today.

Here it is, Gabriels' truck. It's brand new, and he courageously offered its services to the Stupas! If you think it looks huge, it is! He did call ahead to make sure we needed it, as gas prices are outrageous, and it has an appetite. Faithfully he brought it though, and we put it to work...

First thing we had to do was pick up the empty barrels... 

Gabriel felt confident we could fit all the barrels full of water in his truck at once! That would save us making the usual several trips...so we went for it. He waited at the truck with me a while, but when it was clear it would take a loooong time for the barrels to fill he went inside to sit in on a teaching while I manned the barrels. He's a new student, so he's eager to learn every chance he can... 

At first it was Gabriel, Keleigh and myself transferring the water...Keleigh was certainly not dressed for the job (though willing to jump in!). A group of Tibetans visiting the temple came up to the Stupa while we were working and offered to help, so us ladies stood out of the way... 

There was an enthusiasm factor going, so not all the water made it into the barrels, but every one had fun! The Tibetans had come to the temple expecting a Lama from Bhutan would be teaching (had been scheduled waaay in advance, and he canceled last month...too late to remove it from Snow Lion's newsletter). Gabriel's eager to come back and do more next week! 

Thus, thanks to Gabriels' huge truck, it was a short effort today. I toured the NYD Stupa with Keleigh, who may be interested in helping out with it. Her schedule is tight though, so we'll see...What was determined from looking at it now is that there will be a landscaping need after we finish. Like the small Stupas in the Stupa Park, the mound is sunken down.

I ended my time at the temple with a few moments to contemplate the amazing nature of these sacred structures. It never ceases to inspire me, the way they draw folks into their benevolent influence. Folks come from everywhere to help out on them.

Of course, you don't have to help out to visit them! All the work we're doing is so they will remain in the world for generations to come, so any and all beings can have access to their immense blessings! The Stupas exist in the open air, outdoors unfenced because they are open to all without restraint. No need to be Buddhist, or even spiritual, to benefit from them. So come on out and see them for yourself...you won't regret it!

The Stupas are always beneficial, but as a place where prayers for the benefit of others is magnified, they're role during this time of great suffering and uncertainty in the Gulf Coast is even more essential. They are a place where you can come, circumambulate and say prayers (whatever faith you are, it's the compassionate intention that counts!) for those suffering in the chaos left in Katrina's wake, and you can be sure those prayers will make a difference! In addition, if you come out to the temple you'll be surrounded by others motivated by compassion for the victims of that tragic storm. We're doing extra group practices every day for those suffering down south, and you're welcome to sit in if you like (don't worry, we won't brand you!), or just come spend some time quietly in this place of refuge. And for all who just can't get out to Poolesville, this blog will keep them close to you...

September 3rd...Purification...

Today Lisa joined me to work on the stripping, so it was just us gals. Norbu was working, but did have time to haul the gear over in his truck before heading out. Lisa's been working hard lately with her family and job, so hasn't had a chance to get out for a few weeks, so she was eager to get back into it...

Much to our dismay, shortly after turning it on, our sprayer started acting up again! It just wasn't drawing any chemical into it! Norbu is working today, but fortunately we do have other resources... 

Chuck was at the temple today to do the Vajrasattva Practice, which was going on all day. He was in the prayer room practicing, but when we called asking for tools and advice he came right up...We went straight back to the location of the problem as we worked it out yesterday and couldn't see anything wrong...but after some tinkering it did start to work again! Chuck thinks there is debris being drawn in through the filter, and clogging the piston...in any case, it worked!' 

After two days, and hours of tinkering with the sprayer, it finally worked. It took all of 30 minutes to finally get the stripper applied. We noticed it was beginning to do it's stuff quickly, so we abandoned our previous plan to go assess the Stupa Park, and just made a quick run to get some cold beverages and visit the facilities before getting up there to remove... 

Finally!! We were able to start removing paint! You can see it was a gorgeous day...one of those very rare "low humidity" days here in Maryland... 

I tried to get the paint off that I'd sprayed yesterday (during the very brief period the sprayer actually worked yesterday...). But it had dried back on...so I'll have to go up there and hit it again on another day...We had plenty of wet stripper to get off today! 

You can see Lisa grabbed my camera while I was up there working... 

I had planned on doing all the power washing myself, knowing Lisa isn't fond of heights. I was having so much fun with it though, it felt plain greedy not to give her a turn. The practice today was Vajrasattva, and the water washing off the old dingy paint was such a cool visualization for the practice (it's a purification practice) that I wanted her to give it a try, pretty certain she'd get hooked...As always, she was game... 

She never asked me to take over.... 

We ended up working much later than we planned...not that we were surprised. : ) Lisa hung in there all the way through... 

We finished around 7pm. As fortune would have it, when I called the temple in hopes of finding help to move the equipment back to the shed, Tashi Dorje answered! He's out from Arizona to help work on some construction on a building on site, and has a pick up truck. He came right up in his robes (he's a monk) as he was practicing today and helped us load everything into his truck. So we were indeed able to get a ride back for everything! : )

We are making a bit of a mess when we work right now, so I apologize to those who may be coming out to use the Stupa. We will, when you come, stop working while you circumambulate. And the White Garden is not far from Migyur Dorje at all, and a beautiful place to sit and take in the beauty of the end of summer. Trust that we're working diligently to get the Stupa free of paint, so we can apply a fresh new coat of gold!

Please don't let our work deter you...The Stupa exists only for the sake of benefiting beings, we're just giving them a little TLC to keep them in the world for as long as possible. And remember, there are many Stupas here at KPC, including our recently completed Enlightenment Stupa! That one is right next to the parking lot, and since we're finished with it, you won't have to dodge water spray or paint remover as you enjoy it. In this time of difficulty and great suffering for so many, please do come and take advantage of these precious structures! They are here for you, and all beings suffering in the world...

September 2nd...Here we go!

Here's a shot of the front of Gabriel's truck! It's huge! He had no problems driving it up to the Stupa, and was eager to get to work....Alas...his introduction to the Stupa Project wasn't going to be that smooth...

So there we were, geared up and ready to go! Gabriel was eager and willing. We hooked everything up, I climbed up to the bumpa and clipped in, started spraying and after a brief moment of joy the pump failed. The motor kept turning but no pressure building, no spray.

We tinkered with all the settings, we couldn't get a good solid stream of spray no matter what we did. We'd get a tease every now and then, where it would build up pressure and go for a minute, but then no pressure...I knew what we needed. Norbu. He can fix anything.

As fortune would have it, he called out of work today (saw the news and was so saddened by what he saw he knew he had to work on Stupas and practice today). So just as Gabriel and I were about to break for lunch and look for the manual, Norbu drove up. We tinkered on site for a while, Norbu going through the same motions we did with the same result...not working...

While I went to get lunch, Gabriel and Norbu brought the pump back to the shed, to work on it somewhere closer to tools. This was a great day for Gabriel, he got to experience the essence of working on the Stupas...NEVER give up, just keep at it until you figure it out...He was great!

It turns out I misunderstood him the first time we met, when he said he took refuge at a Thai temple I thought he was practicing in that tradition. In reality, he took refuge at the only temple he could find, having been so moved by his reading on Tibetan Buddhism that he was desperate to take refuge. He's actually in the army! He wasn't in this area, so he took refuge where he could. He's been studying on his own from books, and found KPC on the internet. It turns out, he also loves Stupas! So when he saw our Stupas on the KPC Website he knew he was heading our way. How fortunate for us!

Norbu, utilizing his trusty "take it apart until you find the problem" method, started working on the pump. Gabriel was a little worried about taking pieces off without a manual. Norbu's response was "there's no manual to life, but we live it anyway!"

When we first got to this point, we thought we might have found our problem. It is a wire mesh filter inline with the hose. We rinsed it completely, and tried again...still no go... 

Having ruled out hoses, a filter and the motor, Norbu keeps taking pieces off until we find the source of the problem. Our manual has been misplaced...? In any case, David Anderson (foreground) lent us some of his tools (he's doing work on a house on the property) and watched the process for a while. Eventually, Norbu did remove that large metal piece on the bottom, which connects to the intake hose. Sure enough, it was clogged. Gabriel cleaned it out with water, and we put it all back together. Despite Gabriel's initial doubts, it worked! The Titan is back up and running! 

The final step we performed after getting the pump working again, was to thoroughly clean it and oil it, making sure it was ready for action. The day ended early, as we couldn't spray at this point. As we've stated before, once you spray on, you have to remove.

Thus, Gabriel will be joining us again on Sunday, for another attempt! Tomorrow is up in the air at this point, but if Lisa Banana is available, we may just give it a go! In any case, our obstacle today was finally overcome, and Gabriel got a great introduction to working on the Stupas!

While we were at it today we saw many folks come by to utilize the Stupas, to circumambulate and make offerings. Many we've never seen before. It is our sincerest hope that if you have even a slight interest or curiosity, you'll take the time to make the trip to Poolesville! The Stupas are here for all, Buddhist or not, whatever you believe or don't believe. They offer their blessings without restraint or demand, continuously benefiting beings. If you can't get to Poolesville, we'll keep them close to you here. Blessings are transmitted even through images...even memories! So please do come visit, in person or online. Every effort you see on these pages, from the labor and planning, budgeting and troubleshooting, to the photos and cobbled together words, all of it is done in order that every suffering being may find relief. No questions asked, it's for you!

September 1st...

This will be a short post. Having worked the past two days I have been out of touch with most news. The temple has been organizing how to coordinate efforts most effectively with other organizations, ranging from the Humane Society to the Red Cross.

These are times when it can be difficult to know what to do, when there seems to be nothing to do that can help. The Stupas exist to bring benefit to beings and relieve suffering. Though they aren't helicopters or national guardsman, they have immense spiritual power. Prayer does matter, it does make a difference. I have patients all the time who swear by this. And they are just those that know of the prayers, many of us may never know how we've been benefited by the prayers of others. We may never know how our prayers help others. But trust that it does!

You don't have to know any fancy words or foreign language, you don't have to be Buddhist or even religious, the Stupas are here for ALL who wish to see the suffering cease! If you want to be guided in how to use them we'd love to help you, if you prefer to do your own thing, that's cool too. This Stupa, the Enlightenment Stupa, is right next to the parking lot at the temple and well lit 24 hours a day, every day. So any time you wish there is a place to go and pray. If you prefer to sit a while inside the temple, it too is open 24 hours a day, every day (with someone praying in the prayer room for the end of suffering 24 hours a day, every day). Again, no need to be Buddhist, religious or spiritual. This is a place open to all.