Stupa Construction News and Update

The Foundation 2/2008

Construction began at the end of February 2008 with digging the footings for the foundation of the stupa, which were over two feet deep into the ground.  Rebar was emplaced and a concrete form built for the foundation slab, which is an octagon twelve feet in diameter, over the next two weeks.  A building inspector from Ventura County visited the site, gave us his approval, and we pushed ahead with the first concrete pour on March 14.  Many lay people came to assist the monks that day, and made relatively quick work of the job of pouring eight cubic yards of concrete.

Our neighbor, Bo Forsell (second from left), a construction foreman in his working life, lent his expertise and was a great help during the concrete pour.

April 2008

The next phase of construction was to mortar in place the stones that were shipped from Indonesia, tier by tier.  Rev. Master Phoebe moved the bottom tier into place, and she and Rev. Master Seikai mortared them in place during the early part of April 2008.  Good progress was made during the month on the painstaking job of stone laying.

June 2008

Preparing the Buddha's Plinth

July 2008

Setting Him in place.

September 2008

The upper part of the stupa is supported by square steel tubing set in the concrete of the base.

Stupa Finished! 11/08

The Golden Buddha inside shows through the diamond shaped openings as you circumambulate the stupa; we have put a small solar-powered light inside the dome for evening meditation joy.

Many helping hands have made possible all the steps--from ordering and shipping to unpacking the blocks, pouring the concrete foundation, filling in the lower portion of the stupa, building and then taking down the scaffolding to build the dome, and finally, scrubbing the chalk marks off the stones. 

Rev. Leon welded in place the metal ceiling and then on November 17 both he and Rev. Master Seikai together lifted the spire and completed this phase of the stupa construction, which we started last spring. 

Meanwhile, a generous donation in cash made it possible for us to hire a stone mason (Tim Grant, Superior Masonry, Ojai CA.) to put in place the final sections of the Stupa, which even for the professionals was “tricky”.

Paving a space around the Stupa for walking and sitting, which will be in the shape of a Mandala, is the next phase of construction. We have purchased the paving stones and wall blocks needed for building the surround, and are awaiting the arrival of spring to return to work on the project. We will be hiring stone masons to do the laying and fitting of the surround pavers—an exacting job requiring special equipment. It is our hope to be able to construct the retaining wall around the paved area during 2009.

Our stupa is a duplicate of those built around 600 AD in the Borobodur, Indonesia Stupa Complex, which was unearthed by British archaeologists in the 19th Century. The surround will be in the shape of a traditional Southeast Asian Mandala, i.e. roughly square in shape, but with each side having a stepped-out feature which includes an entrance into the surround. Thus, there will be four entrances and four corners, each corner containing a Buddha statue.

The stupa itself already has a statue of Vairocana Buddha and together with the four corner Buddhas—Amogasiddhi, Ratnasambhava, Akshobhya and Amitabha—represent the Five Dhyani Buddhas. In traditional Buddhist iconography the Five Dhyani Buddhas all have their own unique qualities, attributes, and cardinal direction. We already have in the temple suitable statues for Amitabha and Akshobhya Buddha, and are in need of the final two, Amogasiddhi and Ratnasambhava, which are distinguishable by their hand gestures, or mudras: Amogasiddhi’s right hand is raised in the fearlessness mudra; Ratnasambhava’s right hand is lowered, with the palm upwards, in the giving mudra. The left hands of both are in the lap in meditation, often shown holding a jewel of enlightenment, the Cintamani.

Donations to complete the Stupa Surround will be very gratefully received. All donations to Pine Mountain Buddhist Temple are tax deductible; we provide a receipt for tax purposes for donations of $200 or greater.

In September of 2009, Tim Grant of Superior Masonry returned to construct the Stupa Surround. We had obtained paving stones and split-face concrete blocks for the perimeter wall the previous January, and were awaiting a time when we had the resources to complete the surround. Tim and his employee worked a full month on the project, and the final result is beautiful and compelling. A courtyard has been created by paving the area around the Stupa using commercially available pavers, and then building a two-foot high perimeter wall into which there are four entrances. The entrances face the half-cardinal directions; thus, the four corners of the surround point in the actual four cardinal directions. Each corner is home to one of the Four Buddhas: Akshobhya, Amitabha, Amogasiddhi, and Ratnasambhava. Vairocana Buddha, the central Buddha of the Five Dhyani Buddhas, occupies the center of the Stupa. Each entrance has two raised pillars topped with a solar powered lantern which comes on in the evening. The perimeter wall doubles as a continuous seating bench around the Stupa Surround.

In the first four months of 2010, we will work on some final landscaping details, in preparation for the Stupa Dedication on May 2.