A poem by Mary Oliver has me trying to remember more physical aspects of the pilgrimage, set aside in my mind the murder mystery I’m reading and recall at least the presence of the earth itself over the thousand miles and more. Driving, there were flashes of trees past the window, corn fields browned and dead by the roadside, grey strips of highway stretching ahead and some, although not many, hills. There was beauty, of course, but there were few chances to connect w/ground as it were, bare foot toes in grass kind of stuff. On the road in the U.S. almost literally means "on a road" and in a car w/tires connecting in their quick momentary touching of pavement. And the stupas themselves did not give a sense of grounding either, rather a sense of lifting one above the ground, levitating the spirit if not actual human feet. I remember the pavement, the hotels, the swimming pools walked by unused, laughter inside the car from the silliness of old friends, and the consistent continuous moving. The other day I called Iris who picked up the phone with, "How many miles do we have to drive today?"

I could ramble on but probably shouldn't in this post after so many days of being too busy to write, a few days of unexpected illness, and so much time with the animals. Ching Hu just had his nightly catnip and proceeded to tear around the house, climbing furniture, walls, bookcase and leaping over the dog. It took over 15 minutes for him to finally land on the bed where he has promptly fallen asleep in the same posture as Sengay on the floor. They've been mirroring each other in that way lately. So there is movement and stillness, travels and home, concepts and non-conceptuality.

It is good to be home, on our own impermanent, perishable plot where we do connect with the earth and, consecrating sections of it at a time, hand it over to its own sacred presence, then adorn it with structures that bless beings. There is nothing like Dharma activity. 

LKC

So much work has been going on at the Center that I haven't had time to post the past two days. Apologies to anyone who thought I could actually find the time daily to post anything! It doesn't look like I'll have enough free time to post more than every other day for a while now. 

One reason is that Kagyu Shedrup Choling has two major events coming up. The main event in October is a fundraiser that we hope will allow us to pay for the great event in December -- the visit of Lama Norlha Rinpoche who's coming to consecrate and seal the stupas. Six other Lamas from the monastery will join him and stay with us for 8 or 9 days. The fundraiser will be fun, of course, with music, silent auction, wine bar, etc. Two bands have confirmed so far, one Latin jazz and one Latin rock. We are in Miami, after all. 

When all aspects of both events are confirmed, I'll post the flyers here.

One of the great things about Rinpoche coming is that by the end of 2012, KSC's stupas will be another sacred site for Buddhist pilgrims to visit. There is much more information about our stupa garden on our stupa blog, southfloridakagyustupas.com. And, on this pilgrimage blog we will soon put a map of North America that points out all the stupas on the continent. 


To return to the pilgrimage itself, the last photo on the previous post was taken inside another beautiful stupa built by Lama Norlha Rinpoche, this one in Charlottesville, Virginia. It is 35 feet high and houses a small shrine room in the "throne" where Lama Chopal painted the 35 Buddhas on the wall with a large Shakyamuni Buddha in the center. Years ago I actually visited the site for a while (there used to be a Dharma Center there, too, where I stayed) and helped paint these Buddhas. Several other people also helped paint and I'm sorry I don't have their names. (Stupas always end up being community events with many people working on various aspects.)


Here is an outer view of the Charlottesville Stupa where you can see a window of the shrine room:

This beautiful stupa sits in the middle of a dry field this year as the temperatures up and down the East Coast were sweltering. The stupa is closed and locked but a student in Richmond had contacted me during our trip and kindly provided the code that opened the door. This is what we found inside:

The paintings are impressive and the shrine room, while small, was a lovely place to sit for a while, chant aspiration prayers, and meditate. Circumambulating in that afternoon's heat was a challenge as both Iris and I were pretty tired from walking in the heat in Maryland and circumambulating the stupas there. But I did 7 rounds while chanting Om Mani Peme Hung before we started out for North Carolina. 

We didn't quite make it, though, as we had only reached Danville, VA at 10:30 p.m. and neither one of us could go farther. It had been a very long day, so we stopped at a hotel where the bill was almost double what we usually paid because they only had suites available. At that point I understood exactly what it means when someone says they are too tired to care. I paid up, dedicated the day's merit and crashed.  

The next morning's photo of the Danville skyline from the 6th floor was taken before cappucino but after a pretty good night's sleep so it's probably in focus. My co-pilgrim and I took our time getting back on that road.

In Dharma,
LKC

Yesterday we celebrated the day the Buddha began teaching the Dharma, or to put it another way, the first time Buddha turned the Wheel of the Dharma. Here at KSC a few of us took sojong vows and worked on painting and rolling the zungs that go inside each tsatsa that will go inside each stupa. So what does all this mean? It means that -- in answer to a question sent in -- when you build a stupa, there is a lot more to it than just building the outer structure.

The stupas built after the Buddha passed into parinirvana were reliquaries to house the physical relics of his body, which makes these structures very powerful spiritually. In our four stupas here at KSC, the relics Lama Norlha Rinpoche has been kind enough to offer have been put inside what's called a tsok shing, or life force wood/tree. This in turn is put inside the spire part of the stupa (called chusam) and reaches down into the rounded part of the stupa (called the bumpa).

To return to what goes inside the stupas, the tsatsa look like this:

The ones we are making are about 3" high. The impressions around the top are of all eight different kinds of stupas and a mantra ring appears underneath. Each tsatsa holds one copy of the Zung Chen Dey Nga or the 5 great zungs which are mantras printed on paper. That paper is first painted yellow with saffron water, dried, then rolled into a little cylinder, covered with plastic wrap and inserted into the tsatsa before the cement is completely dry.

Still, the tsatsa are not ready to be placed inside the chambers of a stupa. First they will be consecrated with days of chanting, about 6 hours a day. The KSC stupas will each hold about 6,000 tsatsa so we have made almost 25,000 at this point and are in the process of painting them. For Florida stupas the tsatsa had to be made out of a special cement that wouldn't deteriorate after a few years in the tropical heat and humidity.

Lama Norlha Rinpoche has been instrumental in this process. He brought the statues of Shakyamuni Buddha from Asia and consecrated them; once we got cedar tree posts to the monastery he oversaw their cutting, carving and painting; and now, he is working on finding KSC the mandalas -- one for each stupa. This world is so blessed by his presence!

Tomorrow we'll get back to stories of the actual pilgrimage and soon I might be able to write about the next leg of this journey to find every stupa in North America.

In Dharma,
LKC

There are days, even during pilgrimages, when one simply can't move, think, write or function in any other way either. Yesterday was one of those days but by taking advantage of utter helplessness, I got much needed rest that allowed me to function again today. So it's back to the blog, then, and more stories and photos of the pilgrimage.

First off, of course, it was horrible to come home right after the Colorado shootings. My feeling about Americans as we encountered them all up and down the east coast was so positive and affirming that to have another of these shooting incidents happen was just inconceivable. Iris and I discussed our experiences of the people while we met them in the past two weeks because it was uniformly very very good. Everyone we approached or came into contact with was helpful, kind, thoughtful and responsive. Of course, there were one or two people who couldn't hold back their expressions when faced with a woman of a certain age who had a shaved head and wore odd clothing, but, still, even they were never even close to disrespectful or rude. Whether we needed help with directions or anything else, all the people we approached were at least friendly if not outright happy to take time for us. And suddenly within this same time, in the same country, one young man shoots 12 people he doesn't even know and injures many others. 

There is no reasoning with that and there is no sense in it, but there is karma -- action, cause and result. And that action and its results will keep playing out until it's exhausted. How long that will take and how much suffering will be created for all sentient beings while it continues is simply tragic. Because we are so interconnected, all of us, when we do something harmful to ourselves or others, we harm all sentient beings. Not one of us is left out of that horror. And, conversely, when we do something beneficial for self and for others, no one is left out and all sentient beings reap some level of happiness rather than suffering. It's just like that somehow, and because of that every positive action any of us can possibly do has importance far beyond what we will may even know in this lifetime. 

To have found so many many good solid caring people during this journey is extraordinarily affirming of what most of us in this country are about. And, to find Dharma practitioners who provide sacred sites for others to use for the accumulation of merit and wisdom is beyond any words I can muster. Here, then, are more photos of Kunzang Palyul Choling's Stupa Peace Park. May simply viewing of these sacred structures in these photos bring peace to any and all who suffer.

In Dharma,
LKC


 

Incredible to have arrived back at the Lama Residence in El Portal, Florida and to be met by Sengay, a really happy dog, and Ching Hu, my wonderful cat. Iris and I are both home, intact albeit a bit dizzy (on my part at least). Now it's essential that I take some days to tell the stories and show pictures of more aspects of the pilgrimage. 

We'll start where we left off, as we probably do lifetime after lifetime. 

Here is the lovely path we took through the woods at Kunzang Palyul Choling.

It led us to the Migyur Dorje Stupa.

Even though work was being done on this stupa, it did not detract at all from its beauty and effectiveness. Here are the snow lions holding up the throne on its 4 sides with jewels in between them. These details are found on many stupas and are beautifully done here. Shakyamuni Buddha is usually depicted seated on lion throne because, in his utter fearlessness, he was a lion among humans.

Right now, my lion (sengay means 'lion' in Tibetan) and my wise tiger (ching hu in Chinese) are demanding some attention and my body is demanding some rest, too. More to come tomorrow and every day for a while so that most of the elements of the trip (and maybe some suggestions for your own pilgrimage) can be covered. It's possible we will find some effective ways to add pilgrimage maps, too.

On the road in Dharma,
LKC

Yesterday seems very far away, as if we haven't just driven a thousand miles, but have traveled in time far away even from our elusive selves. My friend said today that it felt as if everything was clearer than ever and yet totally foggy. 

We left New York Monday morning and drove down west of Washington, DC where we finally found a Motel 6 that had rooms. Lucky us! The only hotel in town with vacancies and inexpensive, too, which became understandable when the first train passed by a few feet from our windows and blew its whistle -- not the forlorn sound of a train passing in the night with attendant metaphorical jazz, but a blast that made me believe this old body was finally going to levitate. Been trying for years. Just didn't know what was missing from that practice.

There was some sleeping, of course, as I realized every time another train woke me up. So we were happy (at least I was happy) to move on the next morning straight to Starbucks. That is one of the blessings of this American pilgrimage -- the essential cappucino every morning before starting out. Or two, as the case was this particular day. And the blessings kept coming this Tuesday morning because about 30 minutes after leaving Starbucks we arrived at Kunzang Palyul Choling, Center for Buddhism in the Vajrayana Tradition, where Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo and the sangha have built many stupas and built them in beautiful parks and grounds outside Poolesville, MD. There is one large stupa (over 20 feet high, I think) near the main house where we found shrines and a very nice store. Then you cross River Road, climb some wooden steps (being worked on by Ani Yeshe Dolma that day), follow a path through the woods, and find 10 more stupas. That's how many we saw that day and there could be more either already built or planned for the future. This was one very hot day, though, and after about an hour we were relieved to get back to the main house and some good air conditioning.

Here are some photos:

Stupa by the Main House

Just to prove we were actually there, this was taken while circumambulating the stupa.

This beautiful Guru Rinpoche statue looks out from the opening in the 'gau' of the stupa. 

These are only three of my photos and there are many more that I'll post in the next few days. Right now, though, we are in the last hotel of this leg of the pilgrimage and it's late at night (for me) so rest must be had before the last 7-8 hours of driving tomorrow. Maybe when home I'll be able to express how extraordinary this part of the American Buddhist Pilgrimage has been and how much I'm looking forward to continuing on in the next few months. 

On the road in Dharma,

LKC

 

Yesterday I drove from Kagyu Thubten Choling Monastery/Retreat in the rain, which matched my mood as it's always very difficult to leave Lama Rinpoche. It's probably not possible to explain in words how special the relationship is between Lama and student/disciple if you've never experienced it. Spiritual connections may come from many past lifetimes and at times are shocking in their intensity. Over time, too, they become more and more profound as the connection between the two deepens.

So, today we are in New York City, staying with a friend on the upper West Side, drinking our coffee and ready to look at maps to see the best way to drive to Poolesville, MD to visit the next stupa on our route. 

Please check out the comments coming in as we are receiving more information about stupas on the East Coast. While we might not visit them this trip, we definitely will before this pilgrimage is over. And, as I've been hoping, this blog is becoming a Pilgrim's Map, so to speak, so that finally it can be useful to pilgrims anywhere in North America and we can all keep it updated as more and more sacred sites manifest. 

Emaho!

On the road in Dharma,
LKC

A photo taken by Robert Gaston before the 6:30 a.m. meditation at the KTC stupa.

Today I did not travel anywhere in body. However, Lama Norlha Rinpoche gave some teachings this afternoon that metaphorically took all of the attendees out for a good ride. He was as amazing a teacher today as he ever has been. It felt as if the shrine room was in a Dharma airplane or something, headed for enlightenment.  I'm sorry more of the world -- and everyone reading this post -- wasn't there in his presence. It was just so very special.

Earlier, though, I had a few minutes with Rinpoche to ask some questions and, especially, to get a short teaching from him on the importance of Buddhist pilgrimage. The questions were: Why do Buddhists go on pilgrimage? What is the meaning of pilgrimage?  Here's his answer:

The Buddha recommended different methods for practitioners to purify their karmic obscurations and so there are purification practices for body, speech and mind, and merit accumulating practices of body, speech and mind. For the body we do things like make prostrations, circumambulate and go on pilgrimage.

The most important thing when going on pilgrimage is one's intention, one's attitude and intention, or motivation. So when we go on pilgrimage our initial motivation should be, "I'm undertaking this pilgrimage, this visit to sacred sites, so that I may attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings." That should be one's general motivation and it's also good to do a lot of the taking and sending practice, tong len, while on pilgrimage. One reason it's important to do tong len is because when we go on pilgrimage it involves a lot of effort and usually it involves some amount of hardship and getting tired. So this is good because it becomes a purification practice if we carry that on the path by thinking and rejoicing in this way: "Whatever difficulty I undergo, may it purify my obscurations of body, speech, and mind." One can also do any kind of taking and sending for any suffering or problems you may have on the road.

In addition to physically visiting sacred sites, we also purify our speech as much as possible by chanting prayers. Making aspiration prayers while on the pilgrimage, chanting mantras -- especially the MANI mantra -- this purifies speech. Especially, resting the mind in whatever we understand of the nature of mind, whether it be Mahamudra or Shinay or Lhaktong, and then also visualizing ourselves as Chenrezig or doing the practice of Chenrezig is very good while on pilgrimage.

It's really important to make a lot of aspiration prayers while on pilgrimage, so you can do that by thinking, "By virtue of this pilgrimage, may it inspire myself and all sentient beings and may I be able to contribute to the flourishing of the Buddha's teachings for the benefit of all sentient beings."

(Rinpoche talks now about how to make every day into a complete practice during pilgrimage with three essential aspects of practice.) When you wake up every morning, take refuge; pray to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha; generate faith; and also pray that the day will be without obstacles to whatever practice of virtue that you do, whatever pilgrimage you do. Then the day is your day of actually practicing virtue, going to the places you planned to visit, or whatever it is you're doing. You can fit in some practice of Tara or Chenrezig, whatever is appropriate. Your main practice is your whole day and then in the end, in the evening, you dedicate the merit. So you have these three main things to do: the taking of refuge, the main practice, and the dedication at the end, when you dedicate whatever merit was accumulated that day to the enlightenment of all beings.

Those were the words of Lama Norlha Rinpoche, one of the great masters of the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. It's an honor to share them with you.

On the road in Dharma,

LKC

Lama Norlha Rinpoche on the right at Palpung Sherabling Monastery in India, 2011.

Comment from Kim:

Hello Lama Karma Chotso, Thank You for taking all of us on this journey with you. How exciting to be learning about these auspicious symbols, where, when and how they were built. May you and Iris travel with health and strength and be protected as you journey on this pilgrimage. Ah La La Ho!

Yesterday we drove from KTC up past Albany, New York to a small town named Grafton. In the country outside the town is the Grafton Peace Pagoda, built by a Japanese Buddhist Nun from the Nipponzan Myohoji order named Jun Yasuda. It took her 8 years to complete it, beginning in 1985 and dedicated in 1993. I was sorry to miss Jun Yasuda yesterday as I admire her work for peace.

You can read more about her and the pagoda itself on www.graftonpeacepagoda.org and I hope you will. There are only two Peace Pagodas in the US, the other one in Massachusetts (where, unfortunately, I will not be able to go this trip.)

Here are some photos from yesterday.

The Peace Pagoda has beautiful grounds where I found the statue in this last shot. Around the pagoda there are 12 friezes depicting the 12 Deeds of the Buddha -- here you can see him teaching. There are also many reliefs around the lower level where you find what might be Native American animal symbols, each in the center of a lotus flower. A lovely temple is the first structure you see with the pagoda in the background.

The second Peace Pagoda is in Leverett, MA at 100 Cave Hill Road, 01054 413-367-2202, for anyone who's nearby and would like to circumambulate one of these beautiful and graceful expressions of the Buddha's enlightened mind. Daily devotional demonstrations include circumambulating 3 times while chanting, drumming and praying.

On the road in Dharma,
LKC

It felt just like home -- waking this morning to the sound of bells inside the women's retreat house, Niguling, and being awakened many times in the night as some sentient beings roamed around outside. It's always good to come back to Kagyu Thubten Choling, my 'home' monastery, and see everyone here. Later today I'll be able to talk with Lama Norlha Rinpoche who was kind enough to accept me as a student 30 years ago. 

Last night's sky was filled with colors and I had just enough energy left after the drive and everything else to take a couple of shots of this incredible stupa that overlooks the Hudson River. 

Today Iris and I will be visiting a nearby stupa -- only 2 hours away, thankfully -- and tomorrow the Dharma Path weekend retreat will begin. Look for another post when I get the photos and information on the next stupa!

On the road in Dharma,
LKC

OK! here we go...

Some information included in the Lost Blog was about pilgrimage itself being a practice in Buddhism, probably begun when disciples began to visit earthly places that figured prominently in the Buddha's life -- Lumbini, his birthplace; Bodhgaya, where he attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree; Deer Park in Sarnath, where he first taught the Dharma; and others. 

Some people might think that w/out going to Asia and finding these extraordinary places in India and Nepal, one can't do a legitimate Buddhist pilgrimage. Of course, it is very special to be in Bodhgaya and impossible to describe in words. However, when a Tibetan stupa is built anywhere on the planet, filled with relics and other sacred substances, consecrated and sealed, it also holds the blessings (the 'energy' if you will) of the Buddha's enlightened mind. Therefore, going on pilgrimage in America, where I'm discovering there are many stupas, is an authentic Buddhist practice. The goal is to find them all, visit them all, and blog them all so that other Buddhists can accomplish this special practice without leaving their country, and some may even find that they don't have to go far from home.

More later today when we arrive at the first stupa, built on the grounds of Kagyu Thubten Choling Monastery/Retreat Center in upstate New York.


On the road in Dharma,
Lama Karma Chotso

 

This morning, outside Washington, D.C., I discovered that yesterday's blog isn't showing up anywhere on my laptop, so am not sure it showed up anywhere else either. Just in case a day or two was lost, then, I'll try to rewrite a bit after publishing this to make sure it's going out. LKC

Packing. Endlessly packing.....

This American Buddhist Pilgrimage will begin with a short trip up the East Coast of the USA to find and visit a few traditional, consecrated Tibetan-style stupas (Tib: Choeten). The final goal is to visit every stupa built in North America over the next year or two. The pilgrimage begins at my home monastery, Kagyu Thubten Choling, in upstate New York where Lama Norlha Rinpoche and the Sangha of KTC has built one of the largest (around 65' high) stupas in the eastern half of the country -- and, I think, the most beautifully ornamented one. The way the rest of the pilgrimage will go is up to karma, other sentient beings, and, of course, time. But I'm happy to finally begin what I've wanted to do for years now, and partly because there are two times in life -- when on retreat or on pilgrimage -- when a Buddhist can say, "If I die during this retreat, or this pilgrimage, I will definitely be fine," because the activity is so auspicious and meritorious. Of course, a practicing Buddhist might just wake up every morning and say, with gratitude and total surrender, "It's a good day to die."

Awaiting Monday morning, then, with anticipation...
LKC