Eight forms stupas in Bhutanese Buddhism.pptx

Provides an explanation of each of the 8 different forms of Stupas in Bhutanese Buddhism

1. Buddhist iconography mudras, symbols & stupas Dorji Wangchuk (PhD)

2. desheg chorten gye D esheg chorten gye ( བདེ་གཤེགས་མཆོད་རྟེན་བརྒྱད་) refer to the eight forms of stūpas dedicated to Gautama Buddha. The eight types of stupa commemorate eight main events in the life of Buddha from birth to his death.

3. desheg chorten gye

4. 1.    The Lotus Blossom Stupa Pe- pung (པད་སྤུངས་མཆོད་རྟེན་) chorten Commemorates the birth of Buddha. Buddha took seven steps in each of the four cardinal directions, and in each direction lotuses sprang up, symbolizing the Four Immeasurables ; of love, compassion, joy, and equanimity. The four steps of this stupa's basis are circular and decorated with lotus-petal designs.

5. 2.    The Enlightenment Stupa Jangchub Chorten (བྱང་ཆུབ་མཆོད་རྟེན་) This Stupa symbolizes the 35-year-old Buddha’s attaining enlightenment under the bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, where he conquered worldly temptations and attacks by Mara.

6. 3.    The Stupa of Many Doors Tashi G omang chorten (བཀྲིས་སྒོ་མང་མཆོད་རྟེན་) Represents the place where Buddha taught his first students in a deer park near Sarnath after gaining enlightenment. The series of doors on each side of the steps represent the first teachings: the Four Noble Truths, the Six Perfections, the Noble Eightfold Path, and the Twelve Links in the Chain of Dependent Origination.

7. 4.    The Stupa of Descent from the God Realm Lhabab Chorten (ལྷ་བབ་མཆོད་རྟེན་) C haracterized by a central projection at each side containing a triple ladder or steps – to commemorate Buddha’s descent from Tushita heaven. At 42 years old, Buddha spent a summer retreat in Tushita Heaven to spread Dharma to the 33 gods, where his mother had taken rebirth. To repay her kindness he taught the Dharma to her reincarnation.

8. 5.     The Stupa of Great Miracles Chothruel Chorten (ཆོ་འཕྲུལ་མཆོད་རྟེན་) Represents the various miracles performed by the Buddha when he was 50. Legend claims that he overpowered “maras” and heretics by engaging them in intellectual arguments and also by performing miracles.

9. 6.    The Stupa of Reconciliation Yundum Chorten ( དབྱེན་ཟླུམ་མཆོད་རྟེན་) C ommemorates the Buddha’s resolution of a dispute among the sangha. A stupa in this design was built in the kingdom of Magadha, where the reconciliation occurred. It has four octagonal steps with equal sides.

10. 7.    The Stupa of Complete Victory Namgyel Chorten (རྣམ་རྒྱལ་མཆོད་རྟེན་) This Stupa commemorates Buddha’s successful prolonging of his life by three months. It has only three steps, which are circular and unadorned

11. 8.     The Stupa of Nirvana Ngang dey Chorten (མྱང་འདས་མཆོད་རྟེན་) Represents the death of the Buddha when he was 81. It symbolizes the Buddha’s complete absorption into the highest state of mind. It is bell-shaped and usually not ornamented