Sacred Stupa for
World Peace - Golok, Tibet
Towards the end of the millennium, Orgyen Kusum Lingpa, his son Hungkar Dorje Rinpoche,
and the monastic and lay communities of Thupten Chokor Ling monastery in Golok,
as well as numerous people from all over the world and all walks of life, participated
in the construction of the great stupa for world peace.

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The
stupa was completed in 1999 and dedicated during the year 2000. Inside the stupa
are more than 1,000 sets of the Kanjur, the sacred scriptures of the Buddha. Each
set of Kanjur contains 108 volumes, so there are a total of over 108,000 volumes
of the words of the Buddha, the Sutras. In addition many other sacred texts such
as the Rinchen Terzod, collections of the treasure teachings or termas, were also
placed inside.
Gracing the inside of the stupa in the dome are thousands of sacred images, statues
of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Many precious jewels as well as gold and silver have
been placed in huge vats of melted butter which is then solidified. Over twenty
such huge vats with this powdered gold, silver, and jewelry and tons of rice, barley
and tea are inside in the center of the stupa. Some of the sacred statues are extremely rare dating from the time of the Buddha. Many remarkable relics from the time of
the historic Buddha, as well as the previous Buddha before Shakyamuni or the third
Buddha of this eon, have been carefully placed inside. Hair from Guru Rinpoche,
pieces of the clothes of Yeshe Tsogyal, parts of the robes of two of the Buddha’s
principle disciples, Shariputra and Maudgalyayana, and relics from many great mahasiddhas and lamas of Tibet and India are also part of
the remarkable sacred relics that are in the dome. Robes from the 14th Dalai Lama
and the Panchen Lama are also part of the holy relics.
The base of the structure is about seventy meters long on
each side and the spire
stands at about fifty meters from the ground. The top spire section required more
than twenty people to put in place, as there were no cranes available in the region.
Under the stupa were placed knives, swords, guns and other weapons to pacify violence
and war. The weapons have been placed pointing in the four directions with jewelry
and precious jewels in the center. The entire structure is enormous in size and
is astounding to see as one approaches the valley leading up to the monastery. It
appears almost as large as a mountain and is akin to one of the great pyramids of
Egypt. The stupa is probably easily visible by satellite hovering high above the
earth’s surface and would certainly be one of the largest man-made objects in the
entire region.
The great stupa for world peace is a miraculous structure which will generate far
reaching benefits to humanity and the entire world. The entire region in which the
stupa and monastery are located was inhabited only by nomads about thirty years
ago. It is even more remarkable to consider that the stupa represents the sacred
vision of Orgyen Kusum Lingpa who
brought this vision through to completion in the
midst of major obstacles. In this lifetime His Holiness has overcome many extreme
hardships. Having been a beggar in extreme poverty, a nomad and suffering in prison
for many years during the cultural revolution, he is one of only a handful of lamas
who survived the radical upheaval experienced by Tibet and the near destruction
of the thousand year old tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. The last hundred years of
this millennium have been extreme and tumultuous in many ways. The great stupa for
world peace is certainly one of the major positive forces for world peace of our
time and is an auspicious indication of the future evolution of the enlightenment
of humanity, now and far into the future.