Post by Neo on Nov 24, 2020 9:54:49 GMT -5
Turning the Wheel of the Dharma
The Immeasurable Benefits of Stupas
The Immeasurable Benefits of Stupas
A teaching given by the Venerable Thupten Rinpoche at the Dhargyey Buddhist Centre, 5 May 1996.
Excerpt:
Another incident concerning the origin of stupas happened when the Buddha was at Rajgir. At this time he was addressing about five-hundred bhikkshus and seven thousand two hundred Bodhisattvas. At that congregation the Bodhisattva Maitreya put a question to the Buddha. Maitreya asked, "In the distant future there will come a time when it will be very hard for people to practise Dharma. Due to the enormous number of negative forces and many types of interference they will not be able to practise as they would like. What conducive factors will be needed to ward-off and pacify all these negative forces?"
The Buddha explained that five factors would be needed. If these five factors were present, people would be free of interference from negative forces and they would live long. As well, these five factors would gradually contribute to the practitioners' attainment of enlightenment.
The first factor is to give Dharma constantly with the intention of helping others.
The second factor is constantly to give sentient beings a sense of security, or freedom from fear. This means to constantly save beings whose lives are at risk, and provide them with security and peace of mind.
The third factor is constantly to reflect on the four types of immeasurables.
The fourth factor is constantly to repair old stupas or to commission or construct new stupas.
The fifth factor is constantly to maintain the mind of enlightenment, Bodhicitta, the universal altruism to want to achieve the state of enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. One needs to maintain this in one's mind all the time.
Of the five factors the Buddha spelt out, one is repairing old stupas and making new ones. If one is able to do that it will bring a lot of benefit to oneself and others in the future. ~ Venerable Thupten Rinpoche
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