Medicine Buddha Marble Stupa Project

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The Medicine Buddha Marble Stupa Project is an audacious and ambitious Project to create a pilgrimage destination for people to focus on bringing healing and peace to themselves, their relationships, and the world through ancient wisdom.

This project involves leaders in resource-conserving architecture and encompasses taking marble from the neighboring marble quarry and creating seven unique and magnificent stupas that each honor the Medicine Buddhas.  There are several “Medicine Buddhas”—seven plus one, in fact. The eighth is Shakyamuni Buddha, the historical Buddha of our era—who taught us the Dharma. These Stupas will be connected by a pilgrimage path all the way up McCullough peak!

Our vision is to build this series of marble stupas, culminating with a Marble Temple dedicated to the Medicine Buddha at the top of McCullough Peak in Bear Valley.  Underneath the Medicine Buddha temple, there will be an environmentally controlled scriptorium to protect the ancient texts of our lineage. This is the holy core which creates the spiritual power of the Temple, drawing pilgrims from all over the world.

 

 

Be a Pilgrim

A pilgrimage is a sacred journey, undertaken for a spiritual purpose. Pilgrimages frequently involve a journey or search of moral or spiritual significance. It is a search for meaning, purpose, values, or truth (and in this sense, like life). One of the most important reasons for going on pilgrimages and seeing the places of spiritual importance is to meet other saintly people who follow a spiritual path and see how they live.

Pilgrimage usually entails some separation (alone or in a group) from the everyday world of home. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person’s beliefs and faith. Pilgrims are different from tourists: they travel for spiritual reasons, not just to relax or for fun. 

We fully believe in the potential of every person to transform his or her life through the practices of compassion, wisdom, and meditation. The Medicine Buddha pilgrimage is an unparalleled opportunity to do this!

 

 

What is a Stupa?

The stupa (“stupa” is Sanskrit for heap) is an important form of Buddhist architecture, though it predates Buddhism. … It is generally considered to be a sepulchral monument—a place of burial or a receptacle for religious objects. At its simplest, a stupa is a dirt burial mound faced with stone. It usually houses sacred relics associated with the Buddha or other saintly persons and comes in many shapes and forms.

There are five types of stupas: Relic stupas, Object stupas, Commemorative stupas, Symbolic stupas, and Votive stupas. A stupa is thought to bring enlightenment to the one who builds and owns it!  

 

 

Elements of a Stupa

  1. Bodhicitta, Prajna, and Enlightenment
  2. Compassion
  3. The Thirteen Bhumis
  4. The Eight Fold Path
  5. The Seven Elements of Enlightenment
  6. The Four Immeasurable
  7. The Three Jewels

 

Eighteen benefits of creating an offering shrine of the Buddha

  • You will be born into an influential family
  • You will have a beautiful body
  • You will appear attractive to other people
  • You will be renowned for your great power
  • You will have a big group of friends and helpers
  • There will be no splits or divisions amongst your friends
  • You will have great material wealth
  • A large number of friends and followers will gather around you
  • You will be a cornerstone for the whole world
  • People will talk about you, and write songs and poems about you
  • You will be worthy of offerings made by gods and men
  • You will have much wealth and power
  • You will attain the kingdom of Chakravartan, a world emperor.
  • You will have long life
  • Your body will be as tough as a diamond
  • You will possess the marks and signs of enlightened ones
  • You will be born into the higher realms
  • You will reach total nirvana quickly

  • You will be born into an influential family.
    You will be born into an influential family.
  • You will have a beautiful body.
    You will have a beautiful body.
  • You will appear attractive to other people.
    You will appear attractive to other people.
  • You will be renowned for your great power.
    You will be renowned for your great power.
  • You will have a big group of friends and helpers.
    You will have a big group of friends and helpers.
  • There will be no splits or divisions amongst your friends.
    There will be no splits or divisions amongst your friends.
  • You will have great material wealth
    You will have great material wealth
  • A large number of friends and followers will gather around you
    A large number of friends and followers will gather around you
  • You will be a cornerstone for the whole world
  • People will talk about you, and write songs and poems about you