The Thousand Stars Foundation invites all interested parties to contribute to the building of the "The Tara Great Stupa for Peace and Harmony" at the Tara Khadiravana of the Auspicious Aeon, Hua Hin - Pala-u Road, Nongplub, Hua Hin District, Prachuab Khiri Khan
คำถามคำตอบเกี่ยวกับพระศานติตารามหาสถูป
Details about the Stupa
The stupa will be based on a 30-meter wide base, and will be around 60 meters in total height. Its outstanding feature is that it contains a temple housing four images of Buddha in Sambhogakaya forms, as well as three shrines which will include 13 other images of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Dharmapalas and Dakinis. These will be lined along the cardinal points. At the base of the Stupa will be a temple of five Buddha families and will be accessible to people who can walk into it. There will be a staircase from the base to the main temple to pay homage to the Buddha figures. Inside the Stupa will be filled with relics, scriptures, clay stupas and other auspicious objects.
Budget
The total estimated budget for the entire Stupa project is 108 million baht (approximately 3.17 million US dollars). This amount includes the construction of the Stupa structure, the cast bronze images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas inside the Stupa, decorations according to Tibetan artistic style, as well as expenses related to filling up the Stupa with auspicious objects and of the Tibetan artisans who will be working on the cast bronze images on site.
Plan
Above is the plan of the entire Tara Khadiravana complex. The Tara Great Stupa is located behind a reflecting pond on a small hill not too far from the main entrance. For more details about the plan of the Tara Great Stupa and the Khadiravana complex, please click the following link.
The following picture is a blue print of the Stupa:
Importance of the Stupa
According to Buddhism, to be born as a human being is a very rare event. Life is short, a normal life span of a person being no more than 120 years. Constantly practicing the Dharma and performing good deeds thus mean that we do not waste this rare opportunity. All the wholesome action that we perform with good intention will result in good life and happiness not only in this life, but also many future lives.
The Buddha has shown various
benefits of building a stupa. These include happiness,
prosperity, and joy. The stupa will be a symbol of faith.
Seeing and worshipping the stupa and thus becoming faithful
in the Triple Gems, the minds of the faithful will enter
the stream of Dharma.
Furthermore, the stupa also symbolizes the strength of
Buddhism. This can be seen in the creation of Pra Pathom
Chedi, the Great Stupa in Nakorn Pathom more than a
thousand years ago, which still stands today. In the
future, those who have the opportunity to see Pra Pathom
Chedi and worship there will be proud in the fact that
Thailand has been blessed by Buddhism for a long time.
Hence, the stupa will create blessings and auspiciousness
in the land where it is built. This is so because the stupa
is a representation of the Buddha. The land where a stupa
is built thus becomes a Buddha field presided by a Buddha.
Everything within the Buddha field will be fully blessed by
the Buddhas and filled with love and compassion.
In today's world which is full of conflicts, wars and
natural disasters, many are still intent on praying and
giving out loving-kindness and compassion incessantly.
Tibetans put up colorful prayer flags so that the wind will
carry the mantras and the blessings of the Buddhas to every
corner of the world. Thus the mantras and the blessings
will thus pervade everything in the universe, creating
love, compassion and peace everywhere. We can see that the
mere act of putting up small prayer flags can carry this
much benefit, so it is no wonder how much more benefit
would be incurred through building a stupa.
Being aware of the importance of building a stupa, which
will bring peace and harmony to the land as well as the
liberation from suffering of countless sentience beings,
the Thousand Stars Foundation has thus resolved to build
the Tara Great Stupa of Peace and Harmony, which will full
with finest Buddhist arts derived from the wisdom of the
Tibetan culture. The stupa will be located at the Tara
Khadiravana of the Auspicious Aeon in Hua Hin, Prachuab
Khiri Khan, Thailand.
Immeasurable Benefit of building a Great Stupa
Building a stupa is a way to emanate loving-kindness and compassion. It is a way to protect sentience beings so that they are free from sufferings, diseases, and harm. The stupa will create auspiciousness and prosperity to the land it belongs and its people. This will result in people being united with one another and becoming faithful in their practices of the Dharma, qualities which are necessary for their eventual release from the grip of suffering. Thus building a stupa not only carried immense benefit in this life, but also in countless future lives. The benefit in contributing to building a stupa thus will play a highly significant role in the individual's attainment of Buddhahood for the good of all sentient beings in the future.
Thailand: The Diamond of Buddhist Teaching
"The blessings of the Buddha are like a ring, and the faithful mind is like a hook. Thailand is really a land blessed by the Buddhas. If the mind is full with faith in Buddhism, all action and all intention for the sake of all sentient beings will be successful." -- Kuntrol Drakpa Mangyal Lhasras Rinpoche
Kuntrol Drakpa Mangyal Lhasras Rinpoche is a highly revered Tibetan lama who inspired the Thousand Stars Foundation to build the Tara Great Stupa for Peace and Harmony. He came to Thailand for the first time toward the end of 2006 and was deeply impressed by the many Buddhist temples and shrines that dot almost every corner in the Kingdom. He also sees how deeply devout Thais are, which cannot be found in many other countries in the world. Even the lands where there are ancient Buddhism temples and important Buddha images do not imply that the people there will be as faithful as the Thais.
Rinpoche continued that the world today contains only two Buddhist kingdoms, Thailand and Bhutan. What is similar in these two lands is that Buddhism has penetrated deeply into the psyche and the cultures and ways of life of the people in both countries. The two countries are also blessed by a Dharma King who selflessly devotes himself for the benefit of his people. He specifically believes that Thailand is the land that the Buddha has actually gave blessings. Building the Stupa in Thailand is thus very appropriate and auspicious.
And since the year 2007 is an auspicious year in which His Majesty the King, the Great Dharmajara, will turn 80 years old. It is thus fitting that Thai people join hands to built the Great Stupa, which will engender immense benefit both to the land and to the people and all sentience beings.
"Thailand is like another home for me. I have a strong desire to build a stupa here. And when everything is completed and I am dead, the noble blessings will remain and will continue to pour down benefits and more faith for a long time to come." -- Kuntrol Drakpa Mangyal Lhasras Rinpoche
Concerning the Name "Shanti Tara Maha Stupa"
"The world today is burning with fire of anger and hatred. This brings about wars, terrorism, and exploitation both in economic and social terms. For sentient beings swimming in the ocean of suffering, what other power could help them better than to dedicate the happiness to them as well as taking in their sufferings with compassion. This is the Dharma of the Bodhisattva Tara, who is the mother of Buddhahood. This teaching will heal the world and take ig back from disaster." -- Lodi Gyari Rinpoche
Peace
Shanti is a Sanskrit word meaning 'peace'. There are two levels of peace. Outer peace occurs when all the beings live together in harmony, which is what the world needs today. However, the greater peace is inner peace, which means the pacification and tranquillity of the body, speech and mind of a person. More than that, innermost peace is the attainment of Enlightenment, in which all the defilements and unwholesome action are totally eliminated.
Tara
Tara is a female Bodhisattva of compassion and love. She has made a vow very long time ago to release all beings in the life cycle from all suffering. Her love to all sentient beings is the same as that of a mother toward her only child. It is unconditional, boundless, has no regard for race or nationality. This stems from her vow to remain within the life cycle, or samsara, and will not attain the supreme Enlightenment until the last sentient being is liberated from the samsara. She is a refuge from fear, pride, delusion, anger, jealousy, wrong views, attachment, miserliness and doubt.
Shanti Tara Maha Stupa thus means the Great Stupa of Mother Tara who bestows peace, happiness and elimination of all evils.
Objectives
The Shanti Tara Maha Stupa is going to be constructed
- To honor His Majesty the King's 80 anniversary as the world's greatest Buddhist Dharmaraja.
- To house a number of images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas who are in the aspects of Form Body, Enjoyment Body and Emanation Body of the Buddha.
- To bring about peace and happiness in Thailand and the world.
- To contribute to the continued flourishing of Buddhism
Information about the Shanti Tara Maha Stupa and the Consecrator
Shanti Tara Maha Stupa will be constructed according to the ancient plan for Tibetan stupas. The base will be 30 meters wide and the total height will be 36 meters (108 feet). An outstanding feature of the Stupa is that there will be a temple housing 16 statues of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas on top of the base where worshippers can walk inside. The Stupa will be constructed on top of a hill and worshippers can walk up a stairway to the Stupa and to the temple. Inside the Stupa will be kept the relics of the Buddha and other venerated monks, Buddhist scriptures, small molded stupas and other auspicious objects. In all, the Stupa will be built strictly according to the ancient Tibetan plan.
The Thousand Stars Foundation has invited His Eminence Kuntrol Mangyal Lhasras Rinpoche from Mangyal Monastery in eastern Tibet to design the plan of the Stupa and to put the important religious objects there. He himself, and a number of attendant monks, will also come to Thailand to consecrate when it is completed.
His Eminence Kuntrol Mangyal Lhasras Rinpoche is an internationally recognized Dzogchen master from the Bon and Nyingma traditions. He is the son of His Eminence Kuntrol Drakpa Hungchen Drotu Lingpa, a terton (one who discovers hidden treasures) and an accomplished yogi, or Mahasiddha, who was transmitted the unbroken lineage of teaching from the First Kuntrol Drakpa, who himself was descended from the Buddha Tempa Sherab Miwoche.
Once in his life he was imprisoned for as long as 21 years after the political change in Tibet. However, Lhasras Rinpoche successfully turned his prison into his meditating cell and practiced loving-kindness and compassion to all sentient beings while staying there.
His Eminence has the philosophy of promoting the non-sectarian tradition (ris med) of practicing the Buddhadharma according to the beautiful example provided by his late father. He has a lot of interest in both the Theravada and Mahayana traditions of Buddhism and intends to promote the mutual understanding and mutual respect of the two traditions. He has made a vow to propagate the teaching of the Buddha to all corners, and in order to make good of the vow, he has case a large number of Buddha images, built temples, prayer wheels and countless other religious objects, as well as edited the entire corpus of the Buddha's teaching in the Tipitaka and many other scriptures in Tibet.
His Eminence is now 70 years old, and his loving-kindness and compassion has not diminished. Though he has a lot of other commitments, he has a strong intention to complete the construction of the Shanti Tara Maha Stupa in Thailand for the sake of all sentient beings until each and everyone of them is finally released from the ocean of suffering in samsara.
"An Aspiration Prayer and An Enumeration of Merit
in Building
The Shanti Tara Maha Stupa"
To teachers, gods
who belong to the lineage of teaching from the three kayas
of the Buddha,
Enlightened Ones, both peaceful and wrathful deities,
in the outer, inner and secret aspects,
Dharma protectors who vow to guard
the Sutras, Termas and the Four Activities without fail,
I prostrate and pay homage
Through worshipping the Stupa until I attain Buddhahood.
At this time, in order for the wandering sentient beings in
the six realms to have the opportunity to collect vast
merit, an intention has been made to construct a great
stupa in the form of "Yungtrung Gelek Chorten," a stupa
which is beautifully and miraculously constructed. The
stupa has the following characteristics.
The Stupa, as the Dharma Body,
Representing the Buddha's mind,
The Scripture, as the Enjoyment Body,
Representing the Buddha's speech,
The Buddha image, as the Emanation Body,
Representing the Buddha's body,
Images of lamas, yidams, dakinis,
Representing the mantras,
Images of the Four Tathagatas,
Representing the one thousand Buddhas,
Image of the Tempa Namda, Tsewang Rinzin, Guru
Padmasambhava,
Representing the great gratitude to the Dharma and all
sentient beings,
Image of Kuntrol Drakpa,
Representing the propagation of Dharma to vast expanse,
Images of Palden Lhamo, Shinje who makes the vow,
Representing the protectors of all teachings,
The Stupa is a peaceful deity amidst vastness of space,
Illuminating figure in the air,
Through the power of the Buddhas
May all evil be dispelled!
May the wrathful deities defeat those who are difficult to
defeat without ceasing!
May the Yaksinis change their minds and come back to
wholesome action!
May the unwholesome deeds of countless Maras be
transformed!
May evil in the world disappear!
May peace happen in the world no matter where it is!
May there be a seeing that all phenomena and all things are
but vast nature of Emptiness!
May the Dharma stay permanent and pervade everywhere in the
universe!
May the Three Paths flourish without fail!
May the two kinds of merit be of benefit to self and
others!
Written by His Eminence Kuntrol Lhasras Tsokkyi Rinpoche
for the benefit of the Dharma and all sentient beings
during the activities leading to the construction of the
Shanti Tara Maha Stupa at the Tara Khadiravana of
Auspicious Aeon, the retreat center of the Thousand Stars
Foundation
Chengdu,
19 June 2007
May goodness prevail!