Zuni Mountain Stupa Groundbreaking in New Mexico

For the benefit of all beings, the Vairotsana Foundation sangha, inspired and guided by the Venerable Bhakha Tulku Rinpoche, will construct a stupa at Khandro Duwi Ling (Gathering Place of the Dakinis) at the Vairotsana Foundation's retreat land in the Zuni Mountains near Grants, New Mexico. Groundbreaking is expected to take place in the first part of this summer. Volunteers are needed to help assist with all phases of the building of the stupa, during various work-retreats that will be held this summer.

Bhakha Tulku, an incarnation of the treasure revealer Terton Dorje Lingpa and an emanation of the eighth-century scholar, translator, and meditation master Vairotsana, has made the construction of the Zuni Mountain Stupa the focus of his activities in the United States at this time because of the urgency of this cycle of history, when we face many obstacles to peace and environmental harmony; to subdue the cycles of ignorance and violence; and to bring healing and favorable conditions for all beings, especially for the land and Native people of this part of the Southwest, whose culture and recent history have many parallels with those of Tibet.

The retreat land, accessible by an unpaved road in the Cibola National Forest, is at an altitude of 8000 feet, where the Ponderosa pines tower and a wide variety of wildflowers bloom through a fragile desert crust embedded with crystals. It is in an area that was a traditional inter-tribal hunting area for the various Native peoples who have inhabited this region. Nearby Mt. Taylor, known as Tsoodzil to the Navajo people, is one of the four sacred mountains between which they live.

Throughout the coming summer months, there will be various stupa work-retreat sessions scheduled with Bhakha Tulku Rinpoche and the Khenpo, Tulku Orgyen Phuntsok Rinpoche. Participants will camp in the pine forest on the retreat land, where there are solar shower facilities and a sangha kitchen. A prayer wheel containing over 90,000,000 Vajra Guru Mantras has been spinning continuously for more than eight years on the land.

Bhakha Tulku was recognized by H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche and H.H. the Sixteenth Karmapa; he is the tenth incarnation of the Bhaka Tulku line. After the Chinese occupation, Bhakha Tulku fled Tibet for refuge in Bhutan in 1959. He studied at Mindroling in Central Tibet and later at a school in Dalhousie, India. Rinpoche has studied under many great masters and served H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche for a number of years. Over the past ten years, he has shared his teachings and practice activities in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, Taiwan, and, beginning in 1999, the United States, where he is in residence at the Vairotsana Foundation in Santa Barbara, California. Tulku Orgyen Phuntsok, recognized at a young age by H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche as the reincarnation of Togden Kunzang Longdrol Rinpoche, a highly realized yogi, is the resident lama at the Santa Barbara Vairotsana Center. Both centers offer prayers, services, and meditation instruction to the community at no charge; the Vairotsana Foundation depends on donations for support. There is also a branch of the Variotsana Foundation in southern New Mexico.

Contact zunimountainstupa@starband.net if you are interested in attending the June 4-5 Nyung Nay retreat, or participating in any of the upcoming summer work-retreats at the retreat land, or to support the construction of the stupa. To learn more, visit www.vairotsana.org.

To make a financial contribution to support the construction of the Zuni Mountain Stupa, send a check to the Vairotsana Foundation, a nonprofit 501(C)3 organization:

The Vairotsana Foundation
10311 Kern Avenue
Garden Grove CA 92843