Mahabodhi Stupa with the row of Kadampa stupas, from the back. Photo courtesy of the 100,000 Stupa Project.

On the advice of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Land of Medicine Buddha (LMB) has been building a 39-foot-tall Mahabodhi Stupa in California. This stupa will be the main attraction of the 100,000 Stupa Project in a beautiful garden featuring an area to meditate, thousands of memorial stupas, places to perform prostrations, and areas with spots for reflection and contemplation. This is a project first conceived by Rinpoche in the late 90s, and breaking ground in 2014 to begin construction. We recently received some exciting updates from Project Manager Denice Macy on this incredible holy object project and we invite you to read the below report and rejoice!

Project Manager Denice Macy waves from the grounds of the Stupa Project.

What Was Accomplished from 2020 to Present

River of Nectar. Photo courtesy of the 100,000 Stupa Project.

Fulfilling two of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s pieces of advice:

• Garden/grounds: A River of Nectar flows! When Rinpoche came to inspect the Stupa Project in 2019, he discussed with the Project Manager, Denice Macy, ideas for beautifying the grounds. Before the 2019 visit, Rinpoche had mentioned that a Japanese style of garden would be pleasing. As Rinpoche and Denice discussed ideas for landscaping, Rinpoche expressed the wish for a river with mantras placed inside to bless any beings who drink or touch the water. With input from feng shui master Peter Lung, a River of Nectar arose. Water flows slowly down the hillside, over six mini waterfalls. At each waterfall is placed a stone carved with the OM MANI PADME HUM mantra. The mantra stones are carved in six languages: Tibetan, English, Chinese, Vietnamese, Hindi, and Mongolian. Statues, dragons, and other animals—from Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s house in Aptos—were placed along the banks of the river.
• Lighting the Stupa: Following Rinpoche’s advice, colored lights in the four directions were installed during Losar this year and offered every evening as well as blue lights inside the shrine. The five color lights correspond to the colors of the five tathagatas.

Work on the Stupa continues:

• Main Stupa: Gelek Sherpa continues to apply decorative panels to our Mahabodhi Stupa. All the scaffolding have been removed and he is currently working on the ground level preparing thirty-six niches where Buddhas and Taras will reside.
• Large Kadampa Stupas: This summer we completed the casting, filling, and mounting of the large Kadampa stupas on our first mandala wall – 146 stupas in. Of these, approximately fifty stupas remain available for sponsorship. This year we have opened opportunities for stupa reservation in advance. Several stupas have been reserved with two that include not only the blessed ashes of the stupa sponsor, but also of their dog!
• Small Kadampa Stupas: Our mandala wall was built to hold many stupas, with four horizontal niches running lengthwise to house five-inch stupas. We received the first batch of 1,200 five-inch Kadampa stupas in 2023. We held two mantra rolling parties to create mantra rolls of the Four Dharmakaya Relic Mantras and filled these stupas with mantras and incense. These small stupas have been mounted on the mandala wall. Sponsors names will be written on a sign at the stupa site. Of these +1,000 stupas we have found sponsors for 300 stupas. Rejoice! 

Shakyamuni Buddha and Green Tara statues which will be placed in all the niches on the ground floor of the Mahabodhi Stupa. Photo courtesy of the 100,000 Stupa Project.

What is Planned for 2025 and Beyond

• Main Stupa: Buddhas and Taras, oh my! Big News! This year we sought advice on the type of statues to place in the niches on the ground floor of our Mahabodhi Stupa. Thankfully, Venerable Roger was able to consult Khandro-la (Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drönme), who advised: “It is very good if you have in all the spaces (niches) Buddha Shakyamuni in one and next Green Tara, so alternate these two statues in all the ‘niches’ available. This is very good, especially for the success, quick success, of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Holy Wishes.” With the invaluable help of Kabir from Root Institute, we were able to enlist Ratnakar, a talented sculptor in Rajasthan, India, to create eighteen sculptures each of Shakyamuni Buddha and Green Tara. We anticipate the statues will be ready to ship to us in January 2025. The statues then will be mounted onto the niches with a verse placed beneath. We will be opening up sponsorship opportunities for these Buddhas and Taras in the coming year.
• Completion of the Main Stupa: We anticipate the main stupa will be completed in the fall of 2026.
• Enshrinement and Consecration: We are thrilled over the moon to hear that our Mahabodhi Stupa will be the home of the holy tooth relics of our most precious Lama Zopa Rinpoche in the America continent. Venerable Roger wishes that we have a grand consecration once the Mahabodhi Stupa is complete and we are ready to enshrine Rinpoche’s holy tooth relic. We will be inviting lamas, benefactors, and students from around the world for a day of blessings and rejoicing.

One of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions is to have 100,000 stupas around the world and we rejoice in being a part of fulfilling his holy wish.

With grateful thanks to Denice Macy for this inspiring report! 

Learn more about the 100,000 Stupa Project: https://landofmedicinebuddha/100000-stupa-project/

Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.