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The Buddharelics - Dec 2004From December 25th-30th the relics of Lord Buddha shall be displayed at our gompa
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What are the Buddha relics?
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The Buddha relics are the relics of Buddha Shakyamuni and consists of a teeth and some bone parts (if we remember well). The Mahabodhi Society of India, a more than 100 year old Buddhist association, of which Chhimed Rigdzin was a vice-president, is a kind of caretaker for these relics which are kept in Sarnath, the place where the Buddha preached his first teachings and are only shown to the public once a year for half an hour. Ven. Tulku Thondup Rinpoche explained to us last December that these relics are the only ones accepted by all the Buddhists worldwide as authentic. For the faithful Buddhist (and maybe not only Buddhists) these relics are a great source of spiritual blessing. Because that Ugen and his associates expect more than 100 000 visitors.
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In order to organize this quite big event Ugen and Sashi, as acting representatives of the Chhimed Rigdzin Society, together with representatives of many other Buddhist associations from the area around (like Sallugara, Mirik, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Gangtok,) have formed the Buddha Relic Exposition Committee 2004 which is divided into 8 other committees which again form diverse committees. (That is the Indian way.) The costs for this event will be covered by donations and for that reason 3000 donation books have been printed and spread. Unfortunately the C.R. Society is still not able to receive foreign donations in a legal way, but Indian donations are now tax free. Also Ugen is making sure that the C.R. Society is not the only responsible for the financial matters. That means in case of a financial loss all the partaking organizations have to cover it by collecting more donations etc. We mention this here because we think it is a very important step as the C.R. Society means our Khordong Gompa. About the event itself, it is planned that Ugen will travel on December 24th to Sarnath and together with two or three members of the Maha Bodhi Society, he will the relics here on the 25th. As we said the relics will be received at the airport of Bagdogra by Ven. Choesang Rinpoche and brought to gompaland. During that time many eminent local personalities like the Chief Minister of Sikkim will be present. Once at gompaland the relics will be placed for a short while inside Rinpoches stupa. A small puja will be performed and the relics will be displayed to the public in our gompa for 8-12 hours a day till December 30th. During those 6 days of exhibition about 30 lamas (10 from Tashiding, 10 from Deorali, 10 Gonjang Gompa) will be permanently present and do the pujas and ritual service. About the pujas that time, it was planned before that all kinds of Buddhist groups especially the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism, should have the possibility to do their own traditional ceremonies. But due to many different reasons this is not possible and so now it is left to the nyingmapa and kagyupa. From the 25th till 27th the Drub Khor Nam Sum ceremonies (Drow Khundrol, Rigdzin Nam Sum and Thug Drub) will be performed, and from the 28th-30th the Kagyu led by Ven. Lama Pemba Tsering and his monks from Darjeeling will perform their puja and ceremonies. On December 31st Ugen will bring the relics back to Sarnath and Khordong gompa will return to its daily life, hopefully. That is it for the relics.
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Stupa ProjectStupa Project dedicated to C.R. Lama, emanation of Dorje Drollo.
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Padmasambhava manifested himself in different forms according to the needs of sentient beings. The eighth aspect is Dorje Drollo, the ultimate and absolute aspect of crazy wisdom. Dorje Drollo takes the irony of the world very serious just like Chhimed Rigdzin Rinpoche (also known as C.R. Lama) who embodies this activity. Chhimed Rigdzin is the reincarnation of the great 18th century terton Nuden Dorje, who himself was the reincarnation of Khyechung Lotsawa, one of the 25 disciples of Padmasambhava. Rinpoche is the speech incarnation of Nanam Dorje Dudjom and the mind incarnation of Padmasambhava.
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Chhimed Rigdzin Rinpoche passed away in India the 14th of June 2002 amid many miraculous signs like earthquakes, rainbows, unexplainable sounds and many other amazing portents. Rinpoche was an emanation of Dorje Drollo -the eighth manifestation of Padmasambhava- the ultimate and absolute aspect of crazy wisdom. The following quotes from Chogyam Trungpa about crazy wisdom perfectly describe Chhimed Rigdzin Rinpoche:
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The dimension of Padmasambhava's crazy wisdom as Dorje Drollo is the one of a guru who does not want to make any compromise. If you block his way, you certainly create your own destruction. If you have doubt about him, he will take advantage of your doubts. If you show too much devotion and submission with blind faith, you will be very strongly shaken. He takes the ironic aspect of the world with great seriousness and he makes jokes on a vast scale, irresistible jokes. He who receives the transmission of crazy wisdom -the ideal student- should feel threatened and exposed to the greatest danger. In this way he creates half of the crazy wisdom and the guru is in charge of creating the other half until the student's mind has nothing left to hang on to.
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It is a tradition to keep the relics of such realized masters in a Jang Chub Stupa which itself is a symbol of the enlightened mind of all the Buddhas. As written in many sutras and tantras the benefit of building a Stupa brings immeasurable merit to sentient beings:
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Walls are built from bricks and a Stupa of the Jina is made likewise. Therefore, even if it is built from heaps of dust; Whoever builds a Stupa for the sake of the Jina, in a remote place of suffering; Even if it is made of a heap of sand, by children playing games; (The builder) will reach enlightenment.
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As planned so far the Chhimed Rigdzin Society intends to build Rinpoche's Stupa with a prayer wheel inside just as shown above. Forty trucks of earth have already been brought next to the cremation Stupa to make the platform on which Rinpoche's Stupa will be built as you can see below. The foundation work is planned to start beginning of April 2004.
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In building a Stupa the most time consuming part is to make the tsa tsas, which are small representations of Stupas. These clay images are of great importance and the process of making them is very long and requires physical labor: a Dharma practice on its own teaching diligence, patience and mindfulness. Many steps need to be taken from softening the clay to the final filling of the tsa tsas with mantras known as Zung, including molding, drying, baking and painting them according to ritual prescriptions. The tsa tsas workshop started in February 2004 and baked so far 2000 pieces. The work will continue during the year expecting to reach 50.000 by December 2004. Anyone of you who is interested to join the team is most welcome at Byangter Khordong Gompa in India.
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Together with Rinpoche's relics the Stupa will be filled with many other precious objects such as a set of the Kangyur and Tengyur, 50.000 tsa tsas (clay images), 100.000 Zung Chen Der-nga mantras, various dharani mantras, statues of the Buddhas and of Khordong Terchen lineage, ornaments, gems, medicinal herbs, precious vase, agricultural tools, sharp knives and weapons and so on
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On the 14th of June 2002 Chhimed Rigdzin Rinpoche passed away and many miraculous signs manifested like rainbows, earthquakes, unexplainable sounds,Â… Now we want to construct a Jang Chub Stupa, which itself is the symbol of the enlightened mind of all the Buddhas, and which will contain the relics of this enlightened master as well as 50000 tsa tsas (clay images), gems, dharma texts, statues,Â… As mentioned in many scriptures, the benefit of building a Stupa is immeasurable: Whoever joins their palms before a Stupa, whether with their two hands or just one; Whoever just one time bow their body, or even briefly bends their head; Whoever prostrates or merely says "Buddha" with a distracted mind, whether once or several times before places where relics are kept; That one will attain supreme enlightenment. (from Saddharma Pundarika Sutra)
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The Stupa will be built next to the place where Rinpoche was cremated in front of his gompa located near Siliguri (India). It is our wish that this Stupa will become a pilgrimage place for all Buddhists and that it will be of great benefit for those who will see it, and through that make a connection with a realized yogi like Chhimed Rigdzin Rinpoche. How can you help? Due to the small size of Chhimed Rigdzin Rinpoche's sangha we come to you seeking support to build the Stupa of this enlightened master and realize his vision. Sarwa Mangalam.
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