The Stupa of Enlightenment

in Elista

Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche and the Stupa of Enlightenment
Stupas are monuments symbolizing the mind of the Enlightened Buddha. They have been constructed from time immemorial in all Buddhists countries, bringing with them salutary energy and helping to maintain peace and well-being. There are stupas in Nepal and India, in Tibet and Burma, Thailand and Sri Lanka. They are different in form and purpose, but all express the enlightened qualities of Buddha's mind. Many stupas have already been built in Europe too. A stupa is not just a monument, it is a structure that works all the time bringing incalculable benefit to people, to all living beings coming to it, to those who pass by, those who live nearby, those who are praying at the stupa.

In 1995, during Shamar Rinpoche's visit to Russia, it was decided to construct the Stupa of Enlightenment in the Kalmuck capital city.

Many of our readers know that since the fall of Communism, Buddhism is being introduced into Russia just as it has been introduced into the West since the 1960s, sometimes by the same teachers, such as Lama Ole Nydahl. How many of you know that historically while the United States was expanding from East to West, Russia was expanding from West to East and absorbing some peoples whose traditional religion was Tibetan Buddhism?

One such people is the Kalmucks, a western branch of the Mongols who like other Mongols have followed Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhism for centuries. They settled in Kalmuckia, near the Caspian Sea on the Don steppe, in the 17th century where they successfully maintained their traditions, culture and religion until the 1917 Communist Revolution. They followed all four of the main schools of Tibetan Buddhism, having received Karma Kagyu transmissions from the 2nd Karmapa Karma Pakshi himself. As part of the attempt by the Communists to build their utopia, they destroyed all the temples and monasteries of Kalmuckia and killed or sent to slave labor camps (Gulag) practically all the lamas and monks.

In 1943, the entire Kalmuck nation itself was exiled to Siberia as part of the nationalities policies of the former Soviet Union. They only returned to Kalmuckia in 1956 after Stalin had died. Thus, until the collapse of the Soviet Union, there were almost no lamas or living Buddhist transmission in Kalmuckia.

Still, when various Buddhist teachers spread the Dharma in Kalmuckia in recent years, they had a historical foundation to work with. H.H. the Dalai Lama visited this small republic within the Russian Federation in 1993. That was the same year in which Lama Ole visited the town of Elista in Kalmuckia for the first time, so that year can be considered the beginning of the revival of Karma Kagyu in Kalmuckia.

But, as often happens in traditional Buddhist countries, the people treat the teachings as beliefs rather than a practice. They are more ready to pray to Buddha and to worship lamas than to meditate. On the other hand, such blind openness and faith allows many things to occur that are not possible in the rest of Russia and Europe. For example, throughout the former Soviet Union, in both ethnically Russian and ethnically non-Russian areas, governments are willing to help revive traditions that were suppressed by Communism.

So, during a visit of the Venerable Shamar Rinpoche to Russia in 1995, when it was decided to construct the Stupa of Enlightenment in the capital city of Kalmuckia, the government of the Kalmuckian Republic readily volunteered to provide an urban site for the project. Later, during the construction process, as the leaders of the enterprise, we ran into many ordinary Kalmucks who worked for us free of charge when they found out that we were building a Buddhist structure.

The Kalmucks know very well what "merit" means and are ready to accumulate it as much as they can. One Kalmuck woman brought her brother to the construction place and told us that he "sinned a lot" and that now he needed to stop and asked us to let him work "to purify himself". This man worked whole day together with us, even though none of us were free of "sin" either....

This was the first time since the revival of the Karma Kagyu school in Kalmuckia that its followers were going to build such a high and significant stupa. It was more difficult to decide the height than the significance, which was given already by Shamar Rinpoche, the highest master of the Karma Kagyu school, who decided to build this stupa. Everybody wanted this stupa to be as high as possible. The stupa was planned to be about 52 feet high so that it would be taller than the surrounding buildings. Obviously, the higher the stupa, the more building material is required and the greater the expense. Such material problems can prevent the embodiment of the best wishes.

It was only in the autumn of 1998 that all the necessary conditions came together and it was possible to begin the construction. During the time that had passed since Shamarpa's visit, much had changed, both in the surroundings and in the construction plans. The place originally blessed for the construction was occupied and another site was found, in many respects better. The height of the stupa has been cut more than half. In order to raise the stupa higher but stay within the budget, Lama Ole Nydahl found the perfect solution, suggesting to construct the stupa on top of a room, so that the 11-foot height of the room would boost the top of the 22-foot tall stupa to nearly 35 feet.

Although such stupas are not so typical, they were constructed in Ladakh, in Northern India. In the room under the stupa, it was decided to place an altar and prayer wheel so that everyone entering can receive blessings both from the stupa and from rotating the wheel filled with 50 million of Om Mani Peme Hung mantras.

The head of the construction project is our good friend Sanal Batyrev, one of the first Kalmuck students of Lama Ole and the president of the Karma Kagyu center in Elista. Thanks to him, the project has moved from being just a good wish into being a concrete thing. During the three years from the first decision to build the stupa in 1995 until the start of construction in 1998, Sanal worked persistently to prepare the ground. Wojtek Kossowski, a well-known Buddhist architect who has developed many stupas, took on this stupa project. Local architects in Elista also donated their services to draw up the engineering specifications.

Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche has been the main sponsor of the construction. The second main sponsor has been Lama Ole Nydahl, regularly visiting Kalmuckia during his annual Russian tours. It so happened that the author of this article has actively participated in the organization of construction. The basic problem faced was rather mundane: how to construct a stupa 35 feet high with a rather small sum of money?

In the autumn of 1998, when we were thinking with Lama Ole how to construct the stupa faster and cheaper, we decided to use the volunteer labor of Buddhists from all over Russia, both those with qualifications as builders and those whose only qualification was their desire to accumulate merit. There are more than 50 Kama Kagyu centers and meditation groups in Russia incorporated together in the Association of the Karma Kagyu Buddhist School. It would be wrong not to utilize such a useful force!

Now the stupa has been built and I would like to tell you about those who have given this idea real life. They are idealists from Elista, Kalmuckia, from all over Russia and Ukraine, volunteer-builders from the Karma Kagyu centers, Russian and Ukrainian followers of Buddhism and many Kalmucks who consider it their duty and honor to put their energy into a project of such benefit to all.

All worked for free because they understood that the stupa would bring benefit to the Kalmuck Republic, the entire Russian Federation, and the whole planet, because the influence of a stupa is limited by neither space nor time. This devotion was especially surprising and pleasant. It is not everyday that one can meet people with internal psychological surplus, who have enough time and energy to create something important not only for themselves, but also for others, for both present and future generations.

Stupas are monuments symbolizing the mind of the Enlightened Buddha. They have been constructed from time immemorial in all Buddhists countries, bringing with them salutary energy and helping to maintain peace and well-being. There are stupas in Nepal and India, in Tibet and Burma, Thailand and Sri Lanka. They are different in form and purpose, but all express the enlightened qualities of Buddha's mind. Many stupas have already been built in Europe too. A stupa is not just a monument, it is a structure that works all the time bringing incalculable benefit to people, to all living beings coming to it, to those who pass by, those who live nearby, those who are praying at the stupa.

Therefore, construction of a stupa is different from ordinary construction. It includes much religious ritual, special celebrations of divine service. Two lamas, Lama Sangye and Lama Ngedrup, came especially from Lopen Tsechu Rinpoche's monastery in Katmandu just to perform the rituals in Kalmuckia. They stayed right by the stupa site so they could constantly watch the process of the work. Both of them trained for long time in monasteries in Nepal, studying classical Buddhists texts, the Prajnaparamita and Kanjur.

For Lama Sangye, this stupa in Elista was his fourth, after three in Nepal. Lama Ngedrup has also participated in the construction of stupas before. Along with the lamas, Lopen Tsechu Rinpoche sent Buddhist relics of incalculable value to put into the stupa. A substance from the bones of the third Buddha, Kashyapa, a slice of a fabric in which Prajnaparamita texts brought by the legendary Nagarjuna from the nagas country had been wrapped, a seal with which the great Guru Rinpoche sealed the "termas" or secret teachings that he hid in different places to be revealed in later generations, a bead from a mala of the 14th Karmapa's mala, a hair of the 15th Karmapa, and a piece of the 16th Karmapa's clothes, soil from Lumbini, Buddha Shakyamuni's birthplace, particles from the Swayambhu stupa in Kathmandu and other relics were incorporate into the stupa together with many symbolic objects, mantras, prayers and jewelry.

In addition to the two lamas from Nepal, Denzong Norbu, a well-known master of Tibetan painting from Rumtek monastery, the main residence of H.H. the 16th Karmapa also arrived to work on the stupa. He has lived many years close to the 16th Karmapa and was his personal artist for a long time. Here in Elista, the master decided to paint the shrine room under the stupa. The Venerable Shamar Rinpoche asked him to paint the room in the Tibetan style and to depict the entire transmission line of the Karma Kagyu school, from Dorje Chang up to the 16th Karmapa and also the line of Shamarpas.

But, despite of the help of many students, the master of painting could not finish the work this year. "I do not want to rush. To make the best quality paintings takes time and I can not make things of second quality", he said. Therefore this year there only one wall was painted and he has promised to come again next year to paint the rest of the room.

The stupa construction in Elista began in October 1998. From the very beginning, we ere helped by Valery from the small settlement of Tsagan Nur 180 kilometers from Elista. He came after reading an article in the local newspaper about the beginning of the construction. He was so inspired by stupa building, that he decided to construct another stupa in his own village. The people there have supported the idea and in the summer of 1999, when Lama Sangye and Lama Ngedrup came to Elista, they consecrated the place for this second stupa too. This stupa, about 16 feet high, was erected by the inhabitants of Tsagan Nur completely on their own in just one month! So unexpectedly two stupas have been built in Kalmuckia instead of one.

Tsechu Rinpoche stayed in Kalmuckia about one week. The solemn opening of the stupa in Elista took place on the 28th of July. Ceremonies inaugurating and consecrating the stupa were led by Lopen Tsechu Rinpoche, who is working non-stop for the development of the Dharma in many countries around the world. 2500 local Buddhists and 500 from out of town came to the ceremony.

The authorities of the Kalmuck Republic also helped: the local police protected Rinpoche from babushkas trying to force their way closer from all sides. During the inauguration of a local monastery, "khurul" in the Kalmuckian language, there was such a large crowd that even for the police it was difficult to hold back those pressing to get inside. In the evening of the day after the inauguration ceremony, the director of National Bank of Kalmuckia, a branch of the Russian Central Bank, invited involved in the stupa construction for dinner.

Together with the friends, families and those who simply had time, about two hundred people gathered. It was a pleasant surprise for all. There was a large supper with Kalymkian cuisine, dances and songs in a room of the National bank. How many of you have ever had the chance to go for supper and a disco in a bank? All expenses for the evening were paid by the bank. This is one more example of how much the people of Kalmuckia support everything connected with Buddhism. Rinpoche was met and seen off in a very nice way, with the Kalmuck authorities providing one of the two Lincoln limousines at their disposal. The other is used by the President of Kalmuckia. It was a little strange to go through the small and rather poor Elista in such a luxury car.

On the 1st of August, Rinpoche consecrated the second stupa in Tsagan Nur. Rinpoche went there with a special escort of police, who insisted on escorting him despite his diligent refusal of such special treatment. Following Rinpoche to Tsagan Nur were five buses full of people on their way from the Elista ceremonies to Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad) to catch their trains to go back home.

The entire population of the settlement (about 1000 people) came to the stupa, constructed on the site of a former "khurul" or Kalmuck Buddhist temple. Hundreds more arrived from nearby villages. Thus, the population of Tsagan Nur doubled for the ceremony. After the dedication, a dancing ensemble performed for Rinpoche and the visitors. Rinpoche said that he had seen similar dances in Mongolia. The Kalmucks have really held onto their culture despite being in a completely Slavic and Tatar environment far from the Mongolian steppes for over 350 years.

We can think of a stupa before consecration as a watch that has not yet been started. Until the watch is wound up, it is no more than a beautiful mechanism. It only begins to function after we start it. Now the stupa has been consecrated and will bring peace, well being and blessing to Kalmuckia and the rest of Russia, Ukraine and the whole world. It will protect and preserve, answer prayers and carry out requests. Most important, it will help everyone who addresses it reach liberation and enlightenment quickly.

After the solemn stupa inauguration, Rinpoche gave three days of initiations into several important Buddha-aspects - Dorje Chang, Diamond Holder; Khorlo Demchok, the expression of highest joy of all Buddhas; and Tsepame, the Buddha of Long Life - and the initiation into the 15th Karmapa. In Tsagan Nur after the stupa inauguration there, Rinpoche gave the initiation into White Tara, the female aspect of the long-life Buddha.

There was funny happening in Tsagan Nur. During the construction at the beginning of the summer, the residents of Tsagan Nur offered a live sheep to the stupa builders. Being good Buddhists, we did not kill this woolen being and gave it a good home with a nice babushka who had her own private house. First, the babushka was delighted, but after two months she realized how difficult it is for her to collect to cut grass every day for her alumnus.

When Tsechu Rinpoche arrived to Elista, the sheep keeper offered the sheep to him. It was impossible for him to refuse, but of course it was also impossible for him to take the sheep back to Nepal. Therefore, Rinpoche made a wise decision - to give the animal back to Tsagan Nur, to bless it, and to mark it with a special tape. So it happened that in addition to 1500 people at the stupa consecration in Tsagan Nur, there was also one sheep present. Lopen Tsechu Rinpoche also ordered that only its wool and milk be used, but not its meat, and the same for its offspring as well. So now the village of Tsagan Nur will be known not only for the second-largest stupa in Russia, but also for its holy sheep.

What is nice about stupas is that they start to work as soon as they are inaugurated. It is believed that those who circumambulate a stupa accumulate many positive impressions in the mind, internal richness or "merit". Activity around the stupa in Elista began by the first evening after the opening. Both visitors and local inhabitants came, rotated the Om Mani Peme Hung wheel, and walked around the stupa. The first wedding was held two days after the opening, on Saturday. The groom and bride came to receive blessings and to take some photos before entering their new life. Every town in Russia has noteworthy places to which young couples come before their weddings to take commemorative photos. Earlier in Elista, it was the Lenin monument in the center of town, then the Buddha statue also in the center of town, now the stupa of Enlightenment. A new tradition has been born very quickly.

This stupa is only the beginning of the large project of the reviving and developing Buddhism in Kalmuckia. A home for Mahakala, the protector of the Karma Kagyu lineage, is already under construction nearby. A colorful Mahakala statue more than three feet tall is being cast in metal and filled with mantras. It will stand in a special building facing the south and the Caucasus region, where extremist Moslem movements are gearing up. In the future, a permanent home is to be built nearby for the Karmapa International Buddhist Institute, which has already been running in Elista for four years teaching dozens of students Tibetan language, Buddhist philosophy and Buddhist epistemology.

So now two stupas have appeared in Russia, the only ones in the European part of Russia. Let us hope that they are not the last that soon not only in Kalmuckia, but elsewhere in Russia these monuments to the Enlightened mind will appear.

P.S. Mahakala house was opened and inaugurated by Lama Ole Nydahl first of September 99, when this article was already written.

Tolek Sokolov
Edited by Kevin Rooney (Boulder)