The Memorial Shrine

QUICK LINKS:

Introduction

A Unique Opportunity!

Stupas to Benefit a Deceased Friend or Family Member

To Sponsor or Reserve a Stupa  

What is a Stupa?

Benefits of Making Holy Objects

Jang Wa Ceremony

More Information About the Memorial Shrine

Blessing

Mural Paintings

INTRODUCTION

“Placing the ashes of the deceased in a stupa can bring great benefits for both the deceased and the living.  I want this Memorial Shrine to be so beautiful that when people see it, they will spontaneously want to have their ashes placed in a stupa here.”    -Lama Zopa Rinpoche      

This is a specially designed building, a blessed place, where the ashes of beloved ones are preserved in individual beautiful small stupas. 

Situated in the grounds of Land of Medicine Buddha, surrounded by towering redwoods, it is a unique haven of rest in the Western world, providing a special and respectful location for the ashes of those who have died as well as an extraordinary opportunity for the deceased to be purified. 

Beautifully designed throughout, it is decorated with many detailed paintings and traditional designs by two master artists from India and Nepal.  The paintings include murals of the Twelve Deeds of the Buddhas, and above that,  the Seven Medicine Buddhas and the Founder of Tibetan Medicine, Chenresig and the Nyung Nay lineage gurus, Green Tara and the Twenty-one Taras and Thirty-five Buddhas of the Confession of Downfalls.  On the level just below these illustrations are many different dakinis, followed by mantras. The ceiling, when completed, will hold a Medicine Buddha Mandala - the Celestial Abode of the Medicine Buddhas and their entourage.

Relatives and friends are welcome to visit the Memorial Shrine anytime and also participate in practices that will benefit them and the departed.

A Unique Opportunity!

To Benefit a Deceased Friend or Family Member

a deceased loved one is to place their ashes within a stupa. The ashes are first consecrated by the skilful meditation of a qualified lama in a ceremony  which purifies any negativities and invoke the Buddha’s wisdom into the ashes.  The consecrated ashes are then placed in the stupa together with rolls of blessed mantras and other precious substances; they then become holy objects.  

Dedication of Merit:
The consecrated stupa can be placed in homes, but usually in a special Shrine such as the Memorial Shrine.  Relatives and friends can come to visit, circumambulate and make offerings.  Making offering to the stupa creates the cause for inconceivable benefits and happiness up to the highest, full enlightenment, the perfected peace of mind.  Dedicating the positive energy created can liberate the deceased from the suffering lower realms, create cause for them to receive a perfect human rebirth and quickly meet perfectly qualified spiritual teachers, and through these teachers, meet the unmistaken pure Dharma and thus quickly achieve full enlightenment.

In this way, enormous benefit will accrue to those who have passed away as well as those who have had the vision and generosity to care for them in this way.

Prayers :
Accomplished masters are invited to bless the Memorial Shrine, and the stupas contained therein, on a regular basis.  Besides the dedication prayers made during our daily Medicine Buddha Puja, a resident Sangha at Land of Medicine Buddha also makes special daily prayers for the deceased and the sponsors of the stupas.  

Stupas to Benefit a Deceased Friend or Family Member

To purchase or reserve a Stupa, please fill out the stupa form and return to Land of Medicine Buddha.

If you wish you may purchase a stupa on behalf of a family member or friend who has passed away.  We will send you a small container for some of the ashes of the deceased, seal these in the stupa and place the name of the individual on the stupa along with the years of birth and death.  Please bear in mind that you do not have to wait for someone to pass away to purchase a stupa in the Memorial Shrine.  Impermanence is absolute.  You can reserve a stupa for your own ashes or those of a family member.  Because there is a limit on the number of stupas that can be placed in the Memorial Shrine, we recommend that you do this without delay. The cost of each stupa, to be located in the Memorial Shrine in perpetuity, is US$1,000 (Plus tax for California residents). These funds will be used for the maintenance and upkeep of the Shrine as well as for the development and support of the Land of Medicine Buddha.

To Sponsor or Reserve a Stupa   

If you wish, you may sponsor a stupa on behalf of a family member or a friend who has passed away, to be placed in the Memorial Shrine in perpetuity. You may also sponsor to have a stupa put aside for yourself.

It is good, if you are able, to make a generous contribution for the stupa which will  contain the ashes of the deceased.  These funds will be used for the Jang Wa ceremony, the support of the Sangha making prayers for the deceased, the maintenance and upkeep of the Shrine as well as for the development and support of Land of Medicine Buddha.

If you wish to sponsor or reserve a stupa, to be placed in the Memorial Shrine, please fill out the registration form and send it back to us. Please click here for the registration form.

What is a Stupa?

A stupa is a traditional Buddhist reliquary monument, often containing the remains of highly realised spiritual practitioners, as well as many blessed mantras and precious substances.  The precise shape and dimensions of the stupa represent the enlightened qualities of the Buddha’s holy body, speech and mind.   In Tibet and Nepal, they often stand 6 - 10 feet high, and some - such as the 2,000 year old Boudhanath Stupa in Nepal - stand 75 - 100 feet high. Circumambulating stupas or making offerings to them is regarded as a very powerful method of purification and healing.  Prayers may be made in front of the stupa for the benefit of yourself and other beings, both living and dead.

Benefits of Making Holy Objects

There are many benefits of making holy objects. In the Sutra King Salgyal, some benefits are listed as:

1. The number of atoms in the statue or stupa equals the number of lives one will take birth as a Wheel Turning King, benefitting hundreds of thousands of people and bringing them to Dharma.

2. The number of atoms equals the number of causes created to achieve perfect concentration.

3. The number of atoms equals the number of causes created to achieve perfect enlightenment, for both oneself and members of one’s family.

Whoever sees holy objects receives the seeds for achieving enlightenment just by looking at them.

More Information About the Memorial Shrine

The Memorial Shrine provides a special and respectful location for the ashes of those who have died as well as an extraordinary opportunity for those ashes to be purified.  Family and relatives can visit the Memorial Shrine and also participate in practices that will benefit them and the departed.

This Memorial Shrine was conceived and built under the personal direction of Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Beautifully designed throughout, inside it is decorated with many detailed paintings and traditional designs by two master artists from India and Nepal.  It is probably one of the most extensive representations of traditional Tibetan artwork existing in the western world, and a valuable source of reference for Buddhist students.

Having these powerful images inside the Shrine transforms it into a sacred space as merely seeing these images has a powerful positive effect on the mind.   It is a unique haven of rest in this busy world.

The traditional paintings already completed inside, include the following illustrations:

·        Paintings of the Jakarta Tales, depicting the Twelve Actions of the Buddha.

·        Seven Medicine Buddhas and the Founder of Tibetan Medicine

·        Thirty-five Buddhas

·        Nyung Na lineage gurus (Chenrezig, deity of Compassion depicted in the center, surrounded by the lineage gurus)

·        The Twenty-one Taras

Jang Wa Ceremony

Each year a Medicine Buddha Jang.wa is performed in the Shrine by a qualified master.  It is a purification for both the living and deceased. It can be done for both recently deceased or those who had passed away some time ago.

When performed for the deceased, the ceremony purifies the negative karma and transfers their consciousness to a pure land.  It can liberate beings from the lower realms and also benefit those who have died recently and are still in the intermediate state on their way to a lower rebirth, by changing their rebirth to the human realm or a pure land, so that they have a chance once again to meet the Dharma and meet a fully qualified virtuous friend. 

“This skilful practice that benefits the dead originated with Guru Shakyamuni Buddha. One deva’s son died and was reborn in a lower realm. The devas perceived this and requested Shakyamuni Buddha to help him. The Buddha manifested in the form of a deity named Kun.Rig and then all of the practices of this deity, including the Jang Wa practice, were given. The practice of this deity is to liberate sentient beings from the lower realms. Later, the Jang Wa or Purification practice was combined with the practices of other deities sunch as Amitabha.”

Lama Zopa Rinpoche Singapore, Nov 13, 1993.

If you would like to register a deceased person’s name for the Jang Wa, please fill out the form and send it back to us with a passport size photo of the deceased (non-returnable). 

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Blessing

The Memorial Shrine was blessed and officially inaugurated by Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche in February 1999. Accomplished masters will be invited to bless the Memorial Shrine and the stupas it contains on a regular basis.  In this way enormous benefit will accrue to those who have passed away as well as those who have had the vision and generosity to care for them in this way. 

Land of Medicine Buddha is a California 501 C3 non-profit retreat Center committed to teaching about and supporting the healing of the mind and body through methods drawn from ancient wisdom and modern scientific knowledge.

The Four Walls at the Top of the Shrine:
The four walls at the top level of the Shrine are depictions of the Eight Medicine Buddhas, the 21 Taras, the Chenrezig Nyung Nay Lineage, and the 35 Buddhas for the Confession of Moral Downfalls.

The 12 sections of the Four Walls at the bottom of the Shrine:
The 12 sections of the Four Walls at the bottom of the Shrine include the Life story of the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, Siddhartha. In particular these 12 sections are beautiful graphic details of the 12 deeds of the Buddha. 

The Ceiling of the Shrine: 
The Ceiling of the Shrine is adorned with a beautiful thangka style painting of the Medicine Buddha Mandala.

The Eight Medicine Buddhas

The twenty-one forms of Tara According to the Tradition of Lord Atisha 
(Explained by Ven. Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche)

Tara has 21 primary emanations which perform different activities such as pacification, increase and so forth. The different colors of these 21 Taras correspond to the 4 different types of enlightened activity:

Tara is the female Buddha of Enlightened Activity of which there are 4 types: pacifying, increasing, overpowering and wrathful. Each of these is represented by a different color:

White represents the Enlightened activity of pacifying, for example overcoming sickness, causes of untimely death and obstacles to success in one’s life or one’s practice.

Yellow represents the Enlightened activity of increasing the positive qualities conducive to a long life, peace happiness and success in ones Dharma practice.

Red represents  the Enlightened activity of power, or overpowering external forces that cannot be tamed through the first two activities, for example, removing obstacles to sickness, untimely death, ect., And forcefully accumulating conducive conditions for one’s Dharma practice.

Black represents the Enlightened activity of wrath, which involves using forceful methods for accomplishing activities for Enlightened purposes that cannot be accomplished through other means.

All 21 Taras have one face and two hands: in there right hands, upon the palm of their girt-bestowing gestures, the hold the flasks that accomplish their various active functions, and with their left hands they hold a lotus flower. They are seated with their right feet extended and their left drawn up, on thrones of lotus and moon, adorned with silks and all precious ornaments, radiating forth measureless light, and surrounded on all sides by countless hosts of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, high patron deities, dakinis and protectors of the Law.

For more information about Tara click HERE

Chenrezig and the Nyung Nay Lineage

Chenrezig (Avalokiteshvara in Sanskrit) is the embodiment of the compassion of all the Buddhas. The Chenrezig Nyung Nay Fasting Retreat is a very special purification practice with a special quality for developing compassion.

"Doing Nyung Na is not just purifying many eons of negative karma, it is especially for developing compassion, bodhicitta. Each nyung nay makes us closer to enlightenment, that means closer to enlighten all sentient beings, which is our ultimate goal of life. And this is also making yourself closer to the Guru-compassion Buddha."  - Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche, LMB  July 2002

The painting is a depiction of the lamas of the Nyung Nay Lineage. For more information about Chenrezig click HERE

The 35 Buddhas for confession of moral downfalls

The thirty five Buddhas for confession of moral downfalls, when they were bodhisattvas, made very strong prayers that those beings who recited their names after the bodhisattvas became enlightened would accumulate vast merits and purify lifetimes of negative karma, planting the seed for their own enlightenment as well. the blessing comes from saying these Buddhas' name's while performing full body length prostrations to them. The verses repeated (in English) are as follows:

To the founder, bhagavan, tathagata, arhat, perfectly completed Buddha, glorious conqueror Shakyamuni Buddha, I prostrate.
To Tathagata Thoroughly Destroying with Vajra Essence, I prostrate.
To Tathagata Radiant Jewel, I prostrate.
To Tathagata King, Lord of the Nagas, I prostrate.
To Tathagata Army of Heroes, I prostrate.
To Tathagata Delighted Hero, I prostrate.
To Tathagata Jewel Fire, I prostrate.
To Tathagata Jewel Moonlight, I prostrate.
To Tathagata Meaningful to See, I prostrate.
To Tathagata Jewel Moon, I prostrate.
To Tathagata Stainless One, I prostrate.
To Tathagata Bestowed with Courage, I prostrate.
To Tathagata Pure One, I prostrate.
To Tathagata Bestowed with Purity, I prostrate.
To Tathagata Water God, I prostrate.
To Tathagata Deity of the Water God, I prostrate.
To Tathagata Glorious Goodness, I prostrate.
To Tathagata Glorious Sandalwood, I prostrate.
To Tathagata Infinite Splendor, I prostrate.
To Tathagata Glorious Light, I prostrate.
To Tathagata Sorrowless Glory, I prostrate.
To Tathagata Son of Non-craving, I prostrate.
To Tathagata Glorious Flower, I prostrate.
To Tathagata Pure Light Rays Clearly Knowing by Play, I prostrate.
To Tathagata Lotus Light Rays Clearly Knowing by Play, I prostrate.
To Tathagata Glorious Wealth, I prostrate.
To Tathagata Glorious Mindfulness, I prostrate.
To Tathagata Glorious Name Widely Renowned, I prostrate.
To Tathagata King Holding the Victory Banner of Foremost Power, I prostrate.
To Tathagata Glorious One Totally Subduing, I prostrate.
To Tathagata Utterly Victorious in Battle, I prostrate.
To Tathagata Glorious Transcendence Through Subduing, I prostrate.
To Tathagata Glorious Manifestations Illuminating All, I prostrate.
To Tathagata All-Subduing Jewel Lotus, I prostrate.
To Tathagata, arhat, perfectly completed buddha, King of the Lord of Mountains Firmly Seated on Jewel and Lotus, I prostrate. (3x)

The 12 sections of the Four Walls at the bottom of the Shrine:
The 12 sections of the Four Walls at the bottom of the Shrine include the Life story of the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, Siddhartha. In particular these 12 sections are beautiful graphic details of the 12 deeds of the Buddha. 

Twelve Deeds of Shakyamuni Buddha

Over 2,500 years ago, the devas prophesied, "In twelve years a great bodhisattva will be born who will become either a universal ruler or a Buddha, and will be known as Shakyamuni." The Bodhisattva Mahasattva who resided in Tushita Pure Land heard this and, moved by compassion, resolved to take rebirth in India, on the Jambudvipa continent, as the son of King Shuddhodana and Queen Mayadevi of the Shakya clan. Buddha Shakyamuni manifested the 12 deeds, as do all Buddhas, as implicit teachings for the beings of our world system, in addition to the explicit teachings he gave during his life. Ven. George Churinoff said, ‘Through the various deeds he showed us that we too, born from a mother's womb as the Buddha seemed to be, can attain enlightenment. The Buddha's deeds of leaving his family and palace and his passing away into parinirvana are obvious teachings to his disciples about renunciation and impermanence.” There are different authentic versions of these 12, which usually mean that two deeds which are presented separately according to one list are combined into one according to another. The deeds depicted in the Memorial Shrine follow the order presented in His Holiness the Dalai Lama's Opening the Eye of New Awareness (published by Wisdom Publications). 

The Bodhisattva Mahasattva gave his last teaching to the countless bodhisattvas in Tushita Pure Land, before placing his crown on the head of Maitreya, the coming Buddha, and descending to Jambudvipa in the form of a white elephant with six tusks.  

Two
Entry Into His Mother’s Womb

This “elephant” entered the womb of his mother Queen Mayadevi, while she slept in the city of Kapilavastu, northern India.It was the night of the full moon on the fifteenth day of the month of Vesak (fourth month of the lunar calendar).  

Three
Birth in Lumbini

Queen Mayadevi, heavy with child, entered Lumbini Park in southern Nepal. The bodhisattva emerged from her right side as she held onto a branch of a fig tree. He took seven steps in each of the four directions and declared: “Thus have I come for the well-being of the world”.  

Four
Becoming Skilled in the Arts and Playing the Sports of Youth

In the city of Shakya, Prince Siddhartha studied and mastered many arts. He also excelled in kingly sports.  

Five
Taking Charge of the Kingdom and Keeping a Harem

In the town of Serkya at age twenty-nine, Prince Siddhartha married Princess Yasodhara and led a life of love and pleasure with her and many others.

During a drive outside the palace walls one day, the Prince saw an old man, a sick man and the body of a dead man – sights which sparked his renunciation. He left his father’s kingdom, cut off his hair, donned monks’ robes and sought instruction from sages Arada and Udraka.  

Seven
Practicing Austerities for Six Years

At the Nairanjana River, Siddhartha sought wisdom by practicing austerities with five noble companions for six years.He then realized that it was not possible to attain the highest wisdom through asceticism alone.  

Siddhartha went to Bodhgaya in Magadha to attain enlightenment, as all the previous Buddhas had done.At the Bodhi Tree he sat on his pile of grasses, legs crossed, and vowed not to rise before attaining enlightenment.

Nine
Overcoming the Hosts of Demons

Mara sent many kinds of hosts, both wrathful and sensual, to waylay the prince – yet he sat in single-pointed concentration and did not move. Asserting that the seat used by all Buddhas on the day of their enlightenment belonged to him, he touched the earth with his right hand calling the Earth Goddess as his witness. She said, “O greatest of beings, you will achieve the highest accomplishment”, whereupon Mara and his hosts fled.  

Siddhartha sat in solitude under the Bodhi Tree. During the second watch of the night he saw his countless past lives and the passing of endless living forms in the constant round of rebirths. During the third watch, he attained full enlightenment. The Buddhas of the ten directions paid homage to him.  

For seven weeks the Buddha sat in silent contemplation under the Bodhi Tree. He was implored by the gods Brahma and Indra to teach. “Please do not pass into nirvana”, they said. “Fulfill your vow and share this precious attainment with the living beings of this world.” He journeyed to Varanasi to turn the wheel of the doctrine. He ordained the five ascetics as his first disciples, and taught the Four Noble Truths. In the second turning of the wheel he taught the Perfection of Wisdom to innumerable bodhisattvas in Rajgir. In the third turning, the Buddha clarified the relationship between the teachings of the first and second turnings especially with regard to emptiness and taught Buddha nature.  

Twelve
Passing from Sorrow in the City of Kushinagar

During his eightieth year, the Buddha explained to his disciple Venerable Ananda that he had reached the end of his days. He went to Kushinagar and on the day of the full moon, lay down on his right side, with his back to the north. After giving his last precepts to his disciples, he passed into parinirvana – going beyond the opposites of samsara and nirvana. He manifested relics that were divided into eight parts and placed in eight great stupas.

Ceiling of the Shrine - Medicine Buddha Mandala:

A mandala is the purified environment of a buddha. Medicine Buddha is one of many buddhas who have attained the state of perfect enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings. The enlightened mind has eliminated all negativity and perfected all positive qualities. 

Medicine Buddha's blue sky-colored holy body signifies omniscient wisdom and compassion as vast as limitless space and is particularly associated with healing both mental and physical suffering. Making a connection with him, practicing meditation, reciting his mantra or even just saying his name helps us achieve our potential for ultimate healing. 
Medicine Buddha Mantra: TADYATA OM BHEKHANDZYE BHEKHANDZYE MAHA BHEKHANDZYE (BHEKHANDZYE) RAJA SAMUDGATE SVAHA

Our Residential Artists

Gelek - Ajiba Sherpa

36 years old, is a Sherpa from Nepal. He became a monk when he was six, at Lawudo Monastery, which is in the Himalaya Mountains near the base camp for Mt Everest. He lived there in very basic conditions until 1970 when the continued education of the monks shifted to Kopan Monastery, just outside of Kathmandu. Gelek stayed there for 15 years, mostly studying painting. In 1986 he moved to Tushita Meditation Centre, Dharamsala in Northern India, where His Holiness the Dalai Lama lives. He helped repaint Lama Yeshe’s Memorial Stupa. In late 1989 he worked with many artists painting the Kalachakra Shrine, which is part of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Monastery in Dharamsala. Gelek returned to Kopan Monastery in 1996 and remained there until he was invited to the Land of Medicine Buddha in 1999.  

Ngawang Kunkhen

29 year old Tibetan, was born in Sikkim. He became a monk in South India at the age of eight and remained a monk until he was twenty-three years old. It was during this time he studied thanka painting. After leaving the monastery, he went to live in Nepal, learning from a master painter there. This master had many students and took them travelling to paint monasteries all over Nepal. Upon meeting Lama Lhundrup, the Abbot of Kopan Monastery, Kunkhen was invited to live at Kopan and he began working with Gelek. They worked together until Gelek left to come to work at Land of Medicine Buddha. Kunkhen was then also invited to join him to work on the Memorial Shrine.  

Both these artists are supported by donations. Your assistance to help them & the Memorial Shrine artwork to be completed is greatly appreciated. If you are interested in making a donation to them please contact Sally (831) 476-0865 or Sally@medicinebuddha.org