Recording from Ani Sara at Kopan Monastery’s November course 2024.
Transcript
So the story of Boddha starts with Chenrezig.
You know who Chenrezig is? Buddha of Compassion.
So Chenrezig, Buddha of Compassion, so he made this vow
in front of Amitabha Buddha that he was going to
liberate all beings from suffering, all the beings from the lower realms.
And then he said about, you know, doing it basically,
and he liberated all these countless beings,
and then he thought, well I must be finished by now, you know.
So he went up to the batala and he looked down,
and he saw there was as many, if not more, than when he started.
And at that point he thought, I just can’t do this, it’s impossible.
And you know the story about his head breaking into pieces?
You don’t? So one story says his head broke into pieces,
and then Amitabha, you know, put all the pieces back,
so he had 13 heads and 1,000 arms. You heard that?
So the heads look in all directions, and then you have the 1,000 arms,
which means limitless arms, and in the palm of each hand is an eye.
So he’s able to see all beings, he’s able to understand their suffering,
and he’s able to help. You know that, right?
So he just thought, I just can’t do this. And then at that point, you know,
his head split into pieces, and then, you know, Buddha Amitabha said,
look, it’s completely understandable, but you have to keep going.
And then put him back together again, and two tears came from his eyes.
And he flicked those two tears into the sky, and he said,
may even these two tears be of benefit to sentient beings.
And then it said that these two tears fell into the deva realms,
into the heavenly realms, and became two goddesses.
And then one of the goddesses was very naughty, so she stole a flower from the garden of the gods,
and because of that, she was banished to earth, and she had to take birth down in the,
you know, in this world, and she was born as a daughter of a poultry keeper.
So poultry is chickens, yeah? It’s not a common word.
poultry is chickens, yeah? It’s not a common word, poultry.
Chickens, you know, someone who kept chickens. Is poultry just chickens?
Hens and geese, probably two.
Okay, anyway, you got the idea. So she was born in this poor family that kept this poultry.
Anyways, the story goes that when she grew up, she had four sons, four different fathers.
One was, first one kept horses, second one kept pigs, third one kept dogs,
fourth one kept chickens. So she had these four sons.
And then she worked hard with her chickens, and she was able to make a lot of money.
So remember, this was a goddess before, right? So she’s got a lot of merit.
So she was able to make a lot of money, and then she set her sons up.
So that’s what a mother has to do, right? You know, in those days, you have to set up your children.
So all the sons were taken care of. They all had enough money. They were all okay.
And she still had more money left over. So she’s in this unusual situation.
She thought to herself, well, I’ve been able to take care of my sons. They’re all okay.
I’ve got this extra money. I’d like to build a big stupa that will benefit beings.
So she went to the king, and she asked the king, please, you know, will you give me a piece of land
to build a stupa? Because I’ve made a lot of money somehow. You know, I worked very hard.
My sons are all okay. I have this extra money, and I’d really like to build
a stupa that’s going to benefit people. And the king thought about it, and he thought,
that’s really incredible. I mean, she’s like, she keeps chickens, and she’s got all this money.
That’s crazy. And she wants to build. And he said, yes. Okay, you can do it.
Yes, you can do it. And so there’s another there’s another kind of side story to this,
which they often tell, that he said, you know, you can build a stupa the size of your robe, right?
So she went off and she pulled out all the threads, and she put all the threads,
so she got this huge area. And then she said, well, that’s the size of my road,
and then she started building. So she and her four sons started building.
So three after a couple of years, you know, this thing was obviously huge. And all the people start
looking at this, you know, the king’s ministers and these the noble people looking at this thinking,
oh my god, you know, what’s she building? It’s huge. I mean, she just keeps chickens,
and she’s building this huge stupa. I mean, this is crazy. You know, what are we going to have to
build? So they went to the king and complained. Politics. Politics. Don’t you love it? They went
to the king and complained. They said, look, you know, you’re gonna have to be careful. I mean,
this chicken woman, she’s building a huge stupa, everyone’s going to expect us to build something
even bigger. You’ve got to tell her to stop right now. Put a stop to this. And the king said,
permission came out my mouth. That’s it. The king grants his permission. That’s it. I can’t take my
word back. So that’s one name for the stupa is Janankasha. Permission came out. Janankasha.
And so they were all kind of, oh, can’t do anything. So she carries on building with her sons.
And then it said that after how many years? Let me get my facts.
Four years. Four years building to get to the dome. So you know, it has these layers, right?
After four years to get to the dome, and then the mother, she felt like her time was coming to an
end. And she called the sons together and she said, look, I won’t be around much longer,
but I want you to finish this. And when you finish it, then you invite all the
Buddhas to come and consecrate it. And then you make prayers. Okay. And then she passed away.
And it said that, you know, she was a goddess. Remember, remember she came from the tier of
Chenrezig. It said that she became enlightened through virtue of what she building the stupa.
And the sons, they thought, okay, well, we’ll carry on. Four more years. And they finished the
stupa. And then they invited this huge consecration. They invited all the Buddhas to come and they
threw flowers in the air. And they said, there are all these miraculous signs for three days.
And the Buddhas all appeared around the stupa. And they said, you’ve created so much virtue by
building this stupa with a pure motivation. Now make prayers and whatever you wish for will be
fulfilled. So that’s important because it said that when you first see the stupa,
or in this case, when you first go to stupa, whatever prayer you make will come true.
So tomorrow when we go to Boda, if you haven’t been before, or even if you’ve been, but you
haven’t really cognized it, you must make strong prayers. And don’t make wishy-washy prayers.
Don’t waste it. Make good prayers, you know. I mean, make really good prayers tomorrow,
because Swayambhu and Boda are very powerful. So then it said that these four sons, they all made
prayers. And the first son, he prayed, he said, well, you know, beyond those mountains over there
is Tibet. And that’s a dark land. They have no Dharma. So in the future, may I become a Dharma
king? And may I be able to nourish the Dharma and Buddhist teachings in Tibet?
And then the second son made prayers and he said, in the future, when my brother becomes a Dharma
king, may, you know, they’re going to need Sangha and monasteries, monastics. May I become a great,
a pure monk holding all the vows and a preceptor so that we can establish the Sangha in Tibet?
And then the third one said, well, in the future, when my brother becomes king and my second brother
becomes, you know, this great preceptor, may I become, there will definitely be obstacles,
so may I become a great tantric practitioner who dispels all the obstacles to the spread of the
Dharma. And then the fourth son prayed to become a minister to help. And then that is, that is the
story. In the future, the first son became King Chisundetsan, who was this great Dharma king. He
was regarded as the nomination of Manjushri and he, he, he helped to spread the Dharma through
Tibet. He invited the second son, who was then an Indian abbot called Shantarakshita. They
established the first monastery, they ordained the first monks, they translated the Buddhist teachings
and the Dharma spread through Tibet. But there were many obstacles and the third son became
Padmasambhava, Guru Rinpoche, born on a lotus in Udhyana, who came, this great tantric master,
and dispelled all the obstacles and bound all the local spirits as protectors for Tibet.
Some not able to, but, but generally. And then the fourth one, the minister.
So, when you go to Bodha tomorrow, you’ll see there’s one big temple inside, you’ll see huge
statues of these three, the king, the, the abbot, and the master, they call it, these three, they
call them the king, the abbot, and the master. So because of these three, Buddhism was able to
become established in Tibet. And then from Tibet, it came to all the other countries, it kept now
coming to so many other countries. So the Tibetans believe that this stupa is responsible for the
Buddha Dharma coming to Tibet. And that’s why when the Tibetans came out in 59, so many of them
settled around the stupa. And Bodha has now become like a huge Tibetan enclave. Or if not
Tibetans, so much now, but those who are practicing within Tibetan Buddhism, the Sherpas, the Tamang,
there are so many monasteries here, so many. In Bodha, you just look out and you see all the
tops, huge monasteries, so many lamas who are holding the teachings, here and in this valley.
When Buddhism came to Tibet, it came from India, it came through Nepal, it came to Tibet. When the
Tibetans came down to India to learn from Indian teachers, they came from Tibet, down to Nepal,
and then to India. So this valley has been extremely powerful, kind of crucible. So that’s the
So that’s the importance of Bodhisattva stupa, right? Sri Rinpoche used to say that because of
Bodhisattva stupa, you are now able to do this course. The Dalai Lama is existing, you know,
there’s centers all over the world where you can study and practice Dharma.
Because remember, Buddhism was wiped out in India. So the Nalanda tradition,
all these great monasteries that developed after the Buddha passed away over centuries,
all came to Tibet and then was preserved in Tibet. And if it hadn’t come to Tibet,
it would have gone, it would have been gone. Does that make sense?
Yeah, okay. So that’s the story. And then it said that after they made these prayers, it said that
all the Buddhas absorbed into the stupa. So the Tibetans call this stupa, the all-encompassing,
because all the Buddhas absorbed into it, wish-granting, stupa wish-granting, because
whatever prayers you make, get fulfilled. The all-encompassing wish-granting stupa,
which is extremely powerful. And now, you know, Rinpoche would also say more recently,
remember where this stupa came from. It came from the tier of Chenrezig,
right? That poultry woman came from the tier of Chenrezig, the Buddha of the world,
came from the tier of Chenrezig, the Buddha of compassion. And then Rinpoche would say,
you see, look at the stupa. Day and night, thousands of people are walking around,
you know, making offerings, practicing. Day and night, people are involved with the stupa. Day
and night, it’s liberating so many beings. And that is all down to Chenrezig’s compassion,
compassion of Chenrezig. We have that opportunity.