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| Boudhanath stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal |
The Boudhanath stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal is supposedly has been built a few centuries after the Par Nirvana of the Buddha. They say that there is a relic in there. Some say it’s Buddha Shakyamuni, some say it’s Buddha Kassapa. But, there is a relic in there.
The stupa itself
was built by a lady called Gajema and her three sons. Now, when they built it,
the stupa was supposedly the world's largest stupa. Gajema herself,
unfortunately, passed away before they completed the stupa. So, the stupa was
built by her three sons.
The three sons
upon completion of the stupa make the most amazing aspirations and we should
all pray that we can make aspirations like this.
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The oldest brother, he went to a stupa, and he
aspired to be reborn to take Buddha’s teachings to the land of snow- Tibet.
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The second brother, he went there and he said
when my brother is reborn to take the teachings of the Buddha to the land of
snow, let me be reborn as his patron to help him.
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Then, the youngest brother went forward and he
said, when my two older brothers are doing this, let me be reborn to dispel
their outer, inner, and secret obstacles.
Now, while all
this was going on, there was a small irritating mosquito that was buzzing
around and it is said that the mosquito landed on the neck of the second
brother, as he aspired to be reborn as a patron. He swept at it but he
accidentally killed the mosquito.
So, by the law
of cause and condition, the mosquito was forever wept together with the life of
the second brother. Let’s fast-forward a couple of centuries, through their
power of aspirations made at the Boudhanath stupa, three brothers were
reborn.
The eldest
brother was born as Khenpo Shanta Rishta, commonly known as (Khenpo
Bodhisattva) Nalanda Scholar and he was the one who took the Buddha Dharma to
Tibet.
The second
brother, who accidentally killed the mosquito was reborn as King Trisong Detsen
(The Great Dharma King of Tibet).
The youngest
brother, who aspired to be the dispeller of obstacles was reborn as the Lotus-born,
Guru Rinpoche and the three brothers once again came together and they built
another stupa. This time it was the great Samye Monastery in Lhoka,
Tibet.
Let’s not forget
about the mosquito…the mosquito forever tied within the life of the second brother
was also reborn. But, the mosquito was reborn as Princess Lha Chen Pema Sal
(Radiant Lotus), as the daughter of King Trisong Deutsen.
Excerpt from the Turquoise Heart: A Bhutanese Remembers a Bhutanese by Pawo Choyning Dorji1, Mountain Echos Festival, Bhutan.
~Sherab Lhoyang, MBA, 2020.
