Before looking at the Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna aspects of the stupa (and their forms of pilgrimage), it is worth considering how mythological cultural patterns are echoed in the design of stupa, bringing together two polarized aspects: tree of life and the reliquary. The tree of...
Anyone who has been to Nepal or Tibet is familiar with the vortex-like phenomenon of pilgrims circumambulating stupas. The countless stupas that dot the landscape of the Himalayas are common stops for passing pilgrims, and the greatest stupas, such as those in Boudhanath and Swayambhunath...
From the standpoint of the Vajrayāna, the stupa combines a view of correspondence between the inner and outer elements, the inner subtle body of the practitioner, the outer flow of the land, the center-periphery model of maṇḍala, the efficacy of mantra, and the blessing of...
This is one of the core principles of pilgrimage in the Vajrayāna context, the microcosm of the human body is reflected in and reflects the macrocosm. Through the purification of one’s own constituents, the inherent purity of the natural environment is revealed. As yogis and...
The perpetual exile of wanderers is always between the projected reminiscence of home and the reflected appearances of a foreign land. Bittersweet reminiscence remains forever divided between the idealized past and the uncertain hopes and fears of the future. This fractured perspective projects its ideals,...
This year’s journey will also cross the path of a full solar eclipse. In the context of the symbolism of the Vajrayāna, the eclipse is the expression of Rāhula, the mythical figure who devours the sun and moon, symbolizing the dissolution of all the elements...