By: Dorjé Lopön Dr. Lye
In Drikung Dharmakirti’s (First Kyabgon Chungtsang) “Ocean of Merit and Wisdom: Instructions for Filling Sacred Objects,” it is stated that among the five types of sacred relics necessary for filling a stupa or statue, the mantra script is the most important as they are the “dharmakaya relics” (chos.sku.ring.bsrel). The mantras are first printed on sheets of paper, cut to fitting-sized strips, painted over with a mixture of saffron and medicinal spice (such as the “six good ingredients” and camphor), rolled up into tight little rolls of mantras and in this case, put into the “bhumpa” (the vase-shaped) part of the stupa alongside with whatever of the other four types of sacred relics that might be available.
Stay tuned for more on this series as we fill and consecrate these Awakening Stupas!
Dorjé Lopön Dr. Lye grew up in a Buddhist home in Malaysia. From a young age, he studied and practiced Buddhism with teachers of various traditions. He met his first Tibetan teacher when he was an undergraduate student in the United States. After earning a doctorate degree in Buddhist Studies at University of Virginia and teaching for ten years in American academic institutions, Dr. Lye left academia to devote his energy fully to Dharma work. In 2013, he was appointed as a Dorjé Lopön (lit. “vajra-master”) of the Drikung Kagyü Lineage by His Holiness Drikung Kyabgön Chetsang Rinpoché (Head of the Lineage) and was formally enthroned in his home city, Penang, Malaysia. When not teaching, leading retreats or serving the Lineage in Asia and North and South America, Dr. Lye teaches at Urban Dharma North Carolina in Downtown Asheville where he is the founder and spiritual director.
