Malik and I started scraping loose paint off while Norbu worked on rigging the spire... 

While I was scraping up there I found this...it's a crystal...someone must have thrown it up there!  

Here's a look at some of the rougher areas...Around the face of the gau the paint is broken up a lot, we'll have to see what's under there.... 

I'm not sure what this all is, but there's a brittle, clay like substance surrounding the lotus petals of the bumpa. I'm guessing it may be run off from the petals themselves, as there are areas where it seems like the material they're made out of is dissolving...It pops right up when scraped... 

Norbu spent a lot of time on the spire. He moved up very cautiously, using the webbing, harness and rope. His goal was to secure the orange webbing near the top of the spire, so when we strip tomorrow we can use a belay for the person on the spire. That way no one falls....the stripper makes the paint melt into goo, and the area becomes really slick and messy (not to mention smelly). But, it really works! Hopefully you'll see first hand tomorrow! 

The heat did start to get to everyone after a while...Malik took a break in the bed of Norbu's truck, while Ashby waited patiently for us to come down and eat lunch. Even the dogs stopped running around and hung out in the shade... 

Though we didn't do much "work" on the Stupa today, we were all pleased with the progress. It actually took quite a while to get the ladders and ropes secured. Norbu did all that, we just hung around to pass him what he needed. Thanks Norbu! He made sure we had secure access. Don't worry though, we take the large ladder down every day so no one could see this as a playground... 

The discussion at lunch centered around these guys...There are nests like this all over the Stupa (this one sits under the earth hugging layer, which is why there's bare concrete around them). They are tending some white blobs which I think are their babies. I took some time to ask them to leave, but I don't think they felt obliged to comply...I don't know if you can see it, but all five tiny faces were staring straight at me at this point, and my associates suggested I might be annoying them. I don't sting, but they do, so I backed off... 

Once we finished eating, Norbu got on a roll...he started telling stories...theories if you asked him! Malik questioned the facts, but we all enjoyed his explanations of wasp behavior... 

Here they sit...7 barrels of water...waiting for us to take the plunge! Norbu's truck has felt the wear of this project, thus Amber helped us by hauling this out last week. Tomorrow morning we'll dip into them! We'll be power washing first, to remove not only debris, but to knock loose the wasp nests...Norbu assures me he doesn't think it will kill them...Malik is worried about the babies...I am too. But we have to get them down to work, and there are lots of them. My plan is to start just with the spire, where I didn't see many (any actually), in hopes that the odor of our stripper will repel the insects as effectively as it does the operators! We wrapped up early. Norbu, doing prayer chart caretaking this week (we have a 24 hour prayer vigil, uninterrupted for over 20 years!), has a shift this afternoon. We're all melted besides...and we're all going to get cleaned up for the Mongolian Grill tonight! 

Believe it or not you're looking at the very spot where the Migyur Dorje Stupa now stands! This is a photo from before it was built, as they planned it's construction. I'm continuing my background info today, as I worked again.

I'm offering these glimpses into the construction of Migyur Dorje with great joy, as they were what inspired me several years ago to see that regular folks like me really could accomplish something amazing (not alone, but when committing to an effort such as you see on these pages). It is my hope that by sharing them you too might become inspired and realize that we are all capable of so much more than we realize.

Our teachers vow to return again, and again, until we ultimately realize we are capable of liberating every single being from suffering, until we actually accomplish that very task! For me, renovating a Stupa is a small step along that road, learning to give up my ordinary comforts (recognizing their inevitable impermanence, and the pervasive suffering of all around me) to engage in something that benefits all beings. I am not alone in this, all you see here on these pages share this quality. You too, could come out and give this a try! Don't worry, 10 minutes is a great contribution! That'd be 10 minutes devoted to ending suffering, not only for oneself, but for all beings suffering in the world...

Here's a pic from the groundbreaking out at the site...Pretty neat to see for those of us who weren't there (maybe for those who were too!). It really does boggle the mind....all those involved in it's construction were no different than those of us involved in it's repair, they were all volunteers, non-experts (yet, they did evolve into experts!), coming together not because they were paid contractors, but because they were devoted students...

The hold that is being dug is not only to provide a foundation for the huge structure, but as a receptacle for those things which are to be suppressed. Underneath a Stupa things are placed which are to be overcome, or suppressed by Enlightened Intention, such things as guns and weapons, skulls (wolf) which symbolize anger and death, and that sort of thing...

This is the spire being assembled, way back in 1995. I'm posting for my associates as well as for all visitors. : ) We're going to be working on Migyur Dorje backwards.

Stupas are built from the ground up, with the spire and ultimately the sun, moon and tigle being placed last. This rising from the earth foundation up to the pinnacle of Enlightenment is reflective of the nature of the path to Enlightenment (as is every detail and aspect of a Stupa, it is a three dimensional road map as it were). One must start on the ground, where you are, dig deep and unearth the things that must be suppressed, and then build virtue, level after level, until you refine it to the point where you are free of all misconceptions or doubt, liberated into the state of unending compassion and omniscient awareness.

On a practical level, I'm posting so we have some idea what we are dealing with. As I said, we're going at the renovation backwards, starting with the spire and working down (because paint, and chemical strippers all flow downward). We're planning to climb up the spire to strip the paint off, and that's going to be challenging. Especially if we start tomorrow...

This is a screen capture from News Channel 8's weather advisory. I'm a nurse as well as a nun, and though I am eager to get to work on Migyur Dorje, and we've assembled a crew, I'm giving serious thought to post-poning our launch out there until Thursday. Thursday the temps are going to be back down into the 80's, a much safer zone for working outdoors on a concrete structure that reflects the sun. I'll gauge my comrades feelings in the morning, but I'm thinking we might just make it a Mongolian Day!

The temple is having a fund raising event at BD's Mongolian barbecue, a local Mongolian Restaurant (see the link to KPC Maryland's webpage for more details). Evidently there are going to be come celebrities there, though we're all going in order to support our initiative to help bring Tibetan Buddhism back to Mongolia! FPMT is already there helping establish the Gelugpa, and we're hoping to help re-establish the Nyingma School. This is a huge undertaking (can you see we have that habit?), and of course, not an inexpensive one. : ) I'm not going to write a lot about it, as I'm Stupa focused and thus not able to speak to it in a manner that does it justice. I refer you to Konchog's entertaining and informative blog on the actual efforts underway (link on this page) and to our website for more information. And of course, if you like Mongolian barbecue, you can just come out and see the sights and eat good food!

Whether you venture out to BD's Mongolian barbecue in Bethesda tomorrow (it's an all day thing!) or not, please do consider offering your prayers of support for this noble undertaking! And of course, the Stupas are always here for you (no food, but plenty of blessings!), offering healing, prosperity and blessings to all they encounter. The Stupas are here 24 hours a day, every day, as is this blog (well, servers do go down, so the concrete one's are more reliable, but for some harder to access...). It is all offered to you, and all beings seeking relief from the cycle of suffering....

I worked at the hospital today, so no chance to get out and work on the Stupas...but we're heading out to Migyur Dorje on Wednesday!

So I decided to start giving you some background on this amazing Stupa. This is a photo from last year, a good representation of what it looks like now (not for long! We'll be stripping and repainting this month!). Over the next few weeks, intermingled with photos from the restoration, I'll include photos from the building of this Stupa. The photos were taken with a film camera and scanned years ago into digital, so not all of them are in great condition, but the message remains profound...

When you want to build a Stupa, you don't just gather up some concrete and go to town. If you're goal is to build a Stupa that has all the powers described on these pages (and in the links you can follow), it is a very sacred process. Not just anyone can do it. You need to have a qualified master, not only a realized master, but one trained specifically in the building of Stupas. This is a photo of Tulku Rigzen Pema, one of the foremost Stupa Lamas of our tradition. He set aside all his other commitments to come build this Stupa when he heard about it! His Holiness Penor Rinpoche had offered Jetsunma extremely precious relics to place in it, a profoundly rare occurrence. This is no ordinary Stupa, and no Stupa is ordinary! Here you see Tulku Rigzen Pema doing practice at the land where the Stupa is to be built. By the way, these photos of the building are all old, from 1995, when the Stupa was built.... 

The first kind of relic I've posted is known as "ringsel". These are tiny jewels produced by the body of a Buddha. They can actually multiply on their own (there are some from Buddha Shakyamuni traveling the country right now which have done this apparently). These are from Kasyapa, the Buddha that preceeded our current Buddha Shakyamuni! Shakyamuni is actually the fourth Buddha of this light aeon. So here in Poolesville, Maryland, enshrined in the Migyur Dorje Stupa, is a relic from the third Buddha of this light aeon! How astounding is that! All these relics were offered to Jetsunma for the Stupa by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche. They are authentic, coming directly from this ancient Lineage to we ignorant Americans so that we too might light the lamp of Dharma, guiding beings out of the confusion of suffering towards ultimate liberation... 

This is the second kind of relic you need. It is a special pill, meaning it is a mixture of substances, created by realized masters in special ceremonies. It contains remains of past Masters, but is not a defined piece, not like hair or fingernail...This is a Longchenpa Brain Pill! 

This is the relic that started it all...A finger bone of Migyur Dorje, Treasure Revealer of the Nam Cho Cycle. This cycle of teachings is central to the Palyul Tradition, and by His Holiness granting Jetsunma's request to build a Stupa here in Maryland with an actual relic from Migyur Dorje himself, that tradition now has ancient roots right here in Poolesville!

This is a relic from the body of the past Master, third of the four kinds of relics needed to build a Stupa. The fourth are the mantras, but I'll save photos of those for another day.

For now, I hope this adventure into the interior of a Stupa helps inspire your confidence and faith. The Stupas neither need nor require this from you, but it helps us ordinary beings to realize there may actually be something extraordinary out here! Remember, all these things you see are real, and they are actually here in Poolesville, Maryland! Of course, they're now safely sealed inside the Stupa, but the Stupa is always here for you. This Stupa in particular was built specifically to bring healing from illness, but will bring all the blessings of a fully consecrated Stupa to all who encounter it, from the vandals who periodically make a mess out there, to those who come with deep devotion and faith. So come on out and catch a glimpse of history...Buddhism is taking root in the west...And of course, if you can't get out to us, we'll bring it here to you, right here on this blog...

It's been a long time since I first posted this. I'm going to spend the next few days just giving a glimpse of the complexity of a Stupa. On the surface, it can look like an ornate concrete structure, but that is only the beginning.

As you can see from this diagram, and this is just one way to look at the various elements involved in a Stupa, there is much, much more going on than meets the eye! I'm no teacher, and no expert. I'm just sharing some of what I've picked up from reading and being around the Stupas, and having the good fortune to be around some of the folks who have built them.

This image shows the different elements and how they correspond to the body of the Buddha, as is represented by the shape of the Stupa. I'll take some time to create a composite over the next few days to give a better idea of what that means, but this image is a good place to start, as it also shows a little of what goes INSIDE the Stupa. (You can click on the image for a larger view of it by the way) Here the most clear element is the central axis, or pole. This is also called the "life tree". It's hard to see from the size of the image, but at the bottom is a vajra, and at the top is a small Stupa. I'd go into the symbolism of this, but I'd be guessing, so I won't for now. : )

Attached to this central channel are many prayers, or mantras. These mantras are considered the very essence of Enlightenment, through them awakening is able to arise in our own minds. They are considered a relic, just as surely as any bone or strand of hair. This channel also has those kinds of relics placed on it as well. Over the next day or two I'll show you some photos taken back when Migyur Dorje was built, of relics present in the very Stupa we'll be working on this week! I guarantee if you know anything about Tibetan Buddhism and its masters you'll be amazed at what we have sitting out here in Poolesville!

But for now, I'm content to just give you an image to think about. It is my hope that by giving you some of this background information, that it may enhance your appreciation of how the Stupas have such amazing power. They are not ordinary objects, whether you regard them as beautiful or fascinating or not.

Of course, none of this knowledge is necessary to derive benefit from the Stupas! That is offered to beings by them continuously, without judgment or requirement. So if all this technical talk makes your eyes glaze over, it's okay to just come out and take a stroll in the woods and enjoy the scenery! And trust I will post photos here as well, for those who don't care to read! The images are how your mind connects with the Enlightened Mind embodied by the Stupa, so that's what really counts...Remember, the Stupas are always here for you, in Poolesville, Maryland, and online!

In case you're wondering what's going on with our project, the answer is "rain". It hasn't happened yet, but the threat remains real, so we decided against painting today and went to tsog instead. : )

Rain or not we'll be out on Wednesday though! The stripper needs to be applied in a dry environment, but it can get wet after! We've gotten some guys to commit to coming out to help, so we'll be climbing the spire that day. We welcome your prayers for our safe completion of this project!