Why Do We Need a Great Stupa?

Lhasray Rinpoche said although this year we couldn't start the construction, that's all right, as we needed a lot of time in drawing the Stupa picture and drafting plans. He said thinking of the Stupa, he felt like staying many more years to complete the work.

Then he explained why we needed such a great stupa. He talked about Dzogchen, the practice of realizing "great perfection". Understanding this noble teaching, one has a chance to attain Buddhahood. Without an understanding but coming into contact with this teaching, one won't be born in a lower realm. But in order to realize this great perfection, we need to accumulate great merit. Simply meditating on the nature of mind, we won't go anywhere. Awakened mind or rigpa may be experienced but it is just only a glimpse. This is why we need to do good deeds and accumulate merit, which will constitute the base for this noble practice. A wish-fulfilling jewel can't be wish-fulfilling if there are no wishes. Building a great stupa like this one is a very difficult task. But when we think about accumulating merit so that we can realize Buddhahood we can be relaxed. Building the Great Stupa is a preliminary practice (ngondro) for Dzogchen.