The Benefits of Stupas

  The Benefits of Stupas

Stupas have been built for thousands of years in Buddhist countries across Asia.  The physical appearance of Buddhist stupas are more or less similiar, however in the Tibetan Buddhist system of building Stupas there are two different ways of consecrating the inner contents of Stupas. The Buddha himself taught of particularly special ways to consecrate Stupas in the Stainless Pinnacle Sutra and the Stainless Light Sutra. Briefly, the Stainless Pinnacle Sutra and the Stainless Light Sutra both teach of creating a Mandala, inserting all types of offerings substances (precious stones, grains, earth), many rolled scrolls of Mantras, Tsa Tsas, a Life Force Tree, relics, and many different types of Treasure Vases such Naga Vases, Ruler Vases and Auspicious Vases.  When everything is prepared, the Lamas and monks must then perform certain ritual practices that bless and consecrate the Stupas. All of these measures make Stupas powerful holy objects that can liberate beings by sight.

Building these types of Stupas has many benefits that the Buddha himself described in those Sutras:

“Regardless of who you are whether, a man, a woman, a monk, a nun, a novice monk, a novice nun, high class or low class, if someone is destined to have a short life or many illnesses but repairs an old stupa or builds a new Stupa and puts these Stainless Light Sutra mantras inside with a mandala and makes offerings to it, the result will be that even if the person’s life-span was coming to an end, their lifespan will be extended and they will have a long life. If the person is afflicted with illness and suffering, their illness will be overcome and they will be freed from it.  The person will never be reborn in the lower realms of existence such as hell, hungry ghost or animal.”

“…whether this is done personally by oneself or by requesting other people, it will cause the fulfillment of all wishes, a vast accumulation of merit will be accomplished and they will attain the accumulation of good qualities and excellence. Even if someone has the karma to have a short life, it will be extended and they will have a long life. When death comes, they will see the faces of ninety-nine thousand Buddhas. All of those Buddhas will guide the person to their next life where the person will be reborn in a Buddha Field. There the person will directly receive the prophecy of their own Buddhahood and they will have a lifespan of ten million years. They will remember their previous lives, will obtain divine sight and divine hearing, will know the minds of others and will know all of their deaths and rebirths. Their body will give off the smell of sandalwood and from their mouth will come the scent of a Lotus flower. They will enter the path to enlightenment and they will reach the irreversible stage on the path and move directly towards enlightenment.”

Those are the benefits as explained by the Buddha in the Stainless Light Sutra.

So the Buddha taught in the Stainless Light and the Stainless Pinnacle Sutras the benefits of building these Stupas. Therefore, in Tibet, there were many Stupas built according to these instructions.

If one has access to such a special Stupa, the Buddha taught of the benefits of making prostrations and making offerings to it.

“Whoever circumambulates such a Stupa, prostrates to it, puts their hands together in homage to it, offers flowers, perfume, incense, bells, banners or parasols to it, that will have the same merit as making offerings to ninety-nine thousand Stupas containing the relics of the Tathagatas. They will obtain a glorious accumulation of merit and power.”

In addition to those there are other immeasurable benefits.

The Buddha taught of the benefits in the Stainless Light Sutra of simply seeing such a Stupa, touching it, hearing about it or even just thinking about it:

“… all the people, birds, bees and even the ants who see, hear or touch the Stupa, or even if they are touched by earth, dust in the wind, wind or shadow that has touched the Stupa, they will be freed from all of the bad karma that brings rebirth in the lower realms, such as hell, hungry ghosts and animal. After their death, they will be reborn among the gods in the higher blissful realms. Their previous karmic obscurations will be completely purified so that they will gain the memory of their previous lifetimes and will reach the irreversible stage of the path.”

The Stainless Pinnacle Sutras teaches of similar benefits:

“Given that the beings near the Stupa such as animals will be liberated by only being touched by the shadow of the Stupa, if someone actually assists in building such a Stupa or making prostrations or offerings to it, the benefits are so profound as to be considered inexpressible. “

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