“A Peaceful Mind Sets Us Free”

The planet is in need of harmony. That is the ideal of Mahayana Buddhism, that wisdom and compassion always go hand in hand.

That is why one day the Bhutanese lama Tsewang Dorje sold all his assets and embarked on the project of building a great stupa for the benefit of all beings.

“A stupa is a blessing for everyone”

“Why did you choose Bhutan for a project like this?”
—Butan preserves a natural environment that has not been degraded and is a country where the most important is the Dharma (pious conduct).

From the king to the humblest peasant, all are united in the practice of Buddhism. The teachings of Buddhism have never been lost or deviated over the centuries.

-How did the idea come about?
“I was in France and I felt like I should build a stupa, but I was thinking of something simple.” When I returned to Bhutan, I told a friend who was a disciple of Polokhen Rinpoche.

This was a great yogi who had to leave Tibet after the Chinese invasion and was invited to Bhutan by the queen herself. This friend reminded me that his teacher had prophesied in “pure vision” that a great stupa would be built in southern Bhutan and that this would be very beneficial to the Dharma.

This gave the project more significance and led me to conceive it on a larger scale. Well, if a stupa the size of a mustard seed already has a beneficial effect, increasing its measurements also increases its power, as well as its duration over time.

“But what is a stupa?”
—It is the real and symbolic representation of Wisdom and Compassion of the enlightened mind of Buddha.

It arose at the time when he lived in India and he himself gave the guidelines of how they should be built. There are basically eight types of stupa. The one we are doing in Gelephu is called Dudul or “Demon Tamer”, which means that it stops negative influences while radiating peace (…)

It is also said that a stupa of these characteristics “liberates through sight”; that is to say, it exerts a spiritual influence on those who contemplate it. But it is also a blessing for everyone. It is the enlightened mind of the Buddha that radiates his deep peace.

“Buddhism seeks to give peace and happiness”

“Buddhism and peace often go together …
” “That’s right.” Buddhism seeks to bring peace and happiness, which is what we all seek, but often we do not know how and where to find them.

It all depends on the state of our mind, since both happiness and suffering are mental states. That is why we must observe our own mind and free ourselves from the chains that prevent us from being free.

We have emotions that cause suffering and control our lives, and whose collective consequence is the injustices and wars that exist. A peaceful mind is essential in this regard.

—This project seems to also want to have a social impact, as well as a spiritual one.
—A stupa of these characteristics benefits not only Buddhists but everyone. And especially to those who share this project, purifying the mental obscurations and negative karma.

The main stupa, 43 meters high and 21 meters wide, is the true heart of the project.

“What phase is it in?”
—The Bhutan government gave up the land and construction began in December 2009. But we need financial help or of any kind.

Like your magazine that kindly echoes it, encouraging other people to know it. Anyone can contribute to the project: bhutanworldpeace.org

Lama Tsewang Dorje was born in 1956 in Bhutan and from a very young age he devoted himself to Buddhism. He runs the European center Pema Yang dzong, in Blye (France) and is dedicated to the construction of a stupa for world peace.