Tsa Tsa (small clay images) for the stupa
Meeting Ven. Drubthob Rinpoche
Kathmandu 26 Feb. 2006
By Kirsten Tarab Losang
On the 29th day of the old Tibetan year my sister, Maria and I were lucky to have an audience with Venerable Drubthob Rinpoche in his monastery in Kathmandu. Luca was kindly translating this audience.
The purpose of this meeting was mainly to ask Drubthob Rinpoche, which kind of stupa (Tib. Chorten) would be appropriate to contain the holy ashes of the late Tarab Rinpoche. As you might know, after his cremation the ashes were divided into three parts. One part will be placed in a stupa for Tarab Ling, Dehra Dun India (which is almost finished), one part will eventually go into a stupa at Tashi Rabten Monastery (Rinpoche's monastery in Tibet) in Kongpo in Tibet, and the third part in a stupa at "Store Söhöj", Denmark - the home of Tarab Rinpoche for the last 30 years of his life. The purpose of our visit was to find out which type of stupa would be the best in Rinpoche's home in Denmark.
In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition there are eight types of stupas:
The "Stupa of Birth", the "Stupa of Enligthenment", the "Stupa of Turning the Wheel", the "Stupa of Reconciliation of the Sangha", the "Stupa of Victory" and the "Stupa of Parinirvana".
I therefore went to seek advice with Venerable Drubthob Rinpoche, who knew the late Tarab Rinpoche and whom we had visited several times in Nepal. I know that Tarab Rinpoche had much respect for Drubthob Rinpoche and it was therefore natural for me to ask his advice.
The following is the answer that Drubthob Rinpoche gave to my question.
At first he suggested a Parinirvana stupa, because that is normally the type of stupa chosen for Lama's ashes, but he then suggested a Victory stupa (Tib. rNam-rGyal-Ma) and he especially emphasized this, when he heard that Tarab Rinpoche actually wanted such a stupa, when he was alive.
Drubthob Rinpoche says: as Tarab Rinpoche was a Lama, it is good that the relics or ashes are put into a rNam-rGyal-Ma stupa, because rNam-rGyal-Ma is special and blessed by the Buddha himself.
Any stupa you make would be beneficial, but this particular one would be special, because rNam-rGyal-Ma was the teaching that Buddha gave in the heaven of the 33.
Another beneficial aspect is that a rNam-rGyal-Ma stupa would prolong the life of the future incarnation of the Tarab Rinpoche as well as the life of his followers.
I then asked Rinpoche how to find rinzel (Tib. Ring-bSril) in the ashes.
Drubthob Rinpoche thus said:
You will find some white pills, but you have to look for them with a magnifying glass. Drubthob Rinpoche continues, someone previously asked him the same question. They had burned the body of a Lama and they were going to grind it. Rinpoche then says, do not do that, look with a magnifying glass and you will see some smaller particles, like pearls of different colours. He suggested using a toothbrush with a touch of honey on. Just gently touch the residue and they will stick on the tips.
You can place the rinsel inside the stupa and also you use them when you fill up a statue. They should be put into the head of the statue.
Once some Tibetans had to make a stupa for the Phari Dorje Chang and they had to look through the ashes. They used a pin, put a little honey on the head of it and used this to pick up the rinsel. Then they put them all in a cloth. The actual ashes they mixed into dough and into little pills, which were put into the stupa. The reason to put the ashes into dough is that it is somewhat safer in the future.
For example what happened later on, is that the Chinese forced the Tibetans break the stupa and throw everything out, but because the ashes were in little pills, the Tibetans could find them again when they sneaked back in the night and shared the pills and the relic that were kept between a sun and moon disc of paper attached with honey.
Later on when it was allowed to go to the temples, they asked permission to make the stupa again. All those people who had taken the pills came and returned them. They even found the relics, because those little relics were stuck to the sun and moon discs. So these were again put inside the stupa.
So if you can find someone with some experience, because it has to be done properly, that is the best thing.
Actually, to tell you the truth, as the body of the Buddha is precious, it does not matter, whether it is done properly or not, but in order to increase the faith of the students, everything should be done in the proper way. Rinpoche gives the example of the emperor Ashoka, who built 100.000 stupas in a day, so they were not all made very carefully. You can still see some of those in Nepal, like mounts of earth and some holes on the side etc. Yet, because they represent the enlightened mind, they are considered so precious. In a way it is OK, because the meaning is still there, but then to increase the devotion of the students, it is better if it is done properly.
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Geshe Tarab Tulku
The golden Stupa with the remains of Ven. Tarab Tulku
The golden Stupa
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