Tuesday
An Austrian Offspring of the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya
By Peter Nowak
It is said that a stupa would have unseen impact on our world and inspire future generations of practitioners. This story, coming from as far as Austria, is a little example of the radiation of “The Great Stupa of Dharmakaya Which Liberates Upon Seeing” in Drala Mountain Centre.
Last May, the Board of Shambhala Global held a retreat at Drala Mountain Centre. During this retreat, we had a magical visit to the Stupa with Dale Asrael giving teachings and the Board together with the Stupa team breaking ground for the construction of the new Stupa Visitors Centre. At this occasion, I was reminded of this little story when my second daughter requested me to build a stupa in the Austrian/Italian mountains.
We, my three small kids and my first wife, had been at Rocky Mountain Dharma Centre for a month-long Vajrayana program in 1999. We all were very impressed by the Stupa still under construction. At that time, the “life pole” of the Stupa was finalized. So, two years later I went there again, together with my six-year-old son, to take part in the consecration ceremony for the Stupa.
When we came back to Austria touched by the magic of the Stupa, my eight-year-old daughter urged us to also build a Stupa near our beloved mountain hut at the Austrian-Italian border high in the mountains. Of course, we followed the command of my daughter and constructed this little Stupa with the stones from the surrounding mountain slope. We tried to follow the basic form, put an Ashe in the foundation, a “life pole” wrapped with the Vajrasattva-Mantra, and a white quartz stone as the top. With a little imagination, it looked like Mount Kailash. We consecrated it with a Lhasang and offered incense in a circumambulation at the beginning of September 2001. See a little documentation below.
It was expected that our little stupa would not remain for a thousand years or longer like The Great Stupa of Dharmakaya Which Liberates Upon Seeing. But last fall, 23 years later, I was there again. It was still standing! It needed a little bit of renovation, the quartz stones were gone, but it was still there. Of course, I had to document this as well.
May the Great Stupa in Colorado and the little stupa in the Alps bring liberation and happiness to future generations!
Peter Nowak first met Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche in 1985 and attended the last three-month seminar Trungpa taught in 1986. He has three adult children, worked for 35 years in health system reform and was teaching at several universities in Austria. By developing strategic initiatives in close collaboration with the Austrian Ministry of Health, he had a rich training ground for creating an enlightened society – with and without success. He had many roles in his home Shambhala Center in Vienna, has been a meditation teacher since 1986, was on the Board of Shambhala Global from 2020 to 2024 and during this time also part of the Shambhala Europe Advisory Board. Only in recent years has he started to teach more in Shambhala.
Entries filed under Community Articles
Checking In From the Mukpo Institute @ Karme Choling – HIGHLIGHT
by Lawrence Jordan, Mukpo Institute student at Karme Choling This note originally went out to the mailing list of my home Sangha. I would like to extend it out to the entire Shambhala community. I’m sorry I haven’t had the opportunity to write sooner, but my days ... continuePosted April 17, 2012 by
Celebrating Warriors in the World – HIGHLIGHT
When we as Shambhalians highlight and celebrate warriors in the world, we are reminded that the tradition of warriorship is timeless. In this article by Shastri Charlene Leung, Chairperson of the Shambhala Diversity Working Group, we look through a window at Shambhala community events that are ... continuePosted April 16, 2012 by
Reflection on Warriorship and Enlightened Society
by Susmita Barua The goal of warriorship is to express basic goodness in its most complete, fresh and brilliant form. As warriors, we train ourselves to rest in basic goodness, in a state of complete simplicity. What the warrior renounces is anything that is a barrier between ... continuePosted April 12, 2012 by mita
Reflections from the United Nations Headquarters
Reflections on the “High Level Meeting on Wellbeing and Happiness: Defining a New Economic Paradigm” at the United Nations Headquarters, April 2, 2012 by Bob Gailey I walked down First Avenue on a sunny spring morning and saw the line forming to enter the visitors gate on the ... continuePosted April 12, 2012 by
Acharya Dale Asrael Reviews the New Book – HIGHLIGHT
Letter to the Shambhala community from Acharya Dale Asrael, in anticipation of the forthcoming book by the Sakyong I have just finished reading an advance copy of the Sakyong’s new book, Running with the Mind of Meditation, and I feel excited about the potential it holds. This ... continuePosted April 8, 2012 by
On Aging: Let Things Flow – HIGHLIGHT
The wisdom of Ann Cason article by David Whitehorn This is the third in an ongoing series of articles on Aging in Shambhala. The first consisted of remarks by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche on aging (click here), the second examined a Shambhala ‘Statement on Aging’ (click here). This ... continuePosted March 14, 2012 by
Rigdens at an Exhibition | Shambhala Times Community News Magazine
Rigdens at an Exhibition | Shambhala Times Community News Magazine. From: Pioneer Valley Shambhala News continuePosted March 13, 2012 by
Rigdens at an Exhibition – HIGHLIGHT
by Dan Glenn, Director of the Shambhala Meditation Center of Boston The Boston Museum of Fine Arts opened its exhibit, Seeking Shambhala early last Monday morning. The exhibition features a set of newly-conserved 17th century thangka paintings of the Rigden (or Kalki) Kings of Shambhala and is ... continuePosted March 12, 2012 by
Celebrating the Lineage of Milarepa – HIGHLIGHT
Today is Milarepa Day! On the first full moon of the New Year we celebrate the enlightenment and life example of Milarepa by reading the songs of the lineage fathers in The Rain of Wisdom. This text consists of stories of the great meditators of the ... continuePosted March 7, 2012 by
Shambhala 2011 The Year in Review movie closed captioned in eight languages
The wonderful Shambhala 2011 Year in Review movie was captioned and translated into eight languages thanks to the valiant efforts of many translators who worked tirelessly to have the translations ready for Shambhala Day. Thanks to their efforts may more Shambhalians were able to see the ... continuePosted February 28, 2012 by Hamish_MacLaren
Working with Obstacles – Dön Season – HIGHLIGHT
article by Pablo Coddou, Kado Rusung at Karme Choling If you have been around the Shambhala community in the earlier part of any year, you likely have heard talk about Dön Season (pronounce the ‘ö,’ like ‘could’). This is the period of time that leads up to the ... continuePosted February 18, 2012 by
Heart Advice for Creating Enlightened Society
photos and article by Sean Raggett The reality is that we can’t handle our anger, we can’t develop our patience and we can’t cultivate our wisdom without working with others. ~ Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche During the weekend of 14-15 January, the President of Shambhala, Richard Reoch, led ... continuePosted February 14, 2012 by
Valentine Flowers – Ikebana Style – HIGHLIGHT
by Karme Choling blogger, Anne-Marie Keppel Don’t order flowers for your loved one this Valentine’s Day. Instead, make your gift more intimate by creating an Ikebana arrangement! Ikebana, traditional Japanese flower arrangement, has its origins in the Shinto tradition where arrangements are a part of shrine ... continuePosted February 14, 2012 by
Appeasing the Mamos – HIGHLIGHT
by Shambhala Times Regional Correspondent Travis May Yesterday I sat down for an early dinner with my meditation instructor, the world-famous Shambhalian Will Ryken, after a nice two hour practice session at our center in St. Petersburg, Florida. As one of the original Dorje Kasung (and recently ... continuePosted February 13, 2012 by Travis_May
Fresh Baked Bread of Kindness – HIGHLIGHT
Senior practitioners and newer students from the Vermont sangha from St. Johnsbury, Montpelier, White River Junction, and Manchester Shambhala Centers assembled at the Burlington Center in early January to discuss what manifesting or being kindness means, and the role of practice and education mandalas in each ... continuePosted February 12, 2012 by
RSS feed for the Community Articles category
View all posts from authors in Community Articles: jillian_johnson