Retreat Center and Stupa

Through the more than 25 years of development of spiritual retreat centers in Crestone, Colorado’s Baca Grande, many religious organizations have provided group and individual retreats and teachings for thousands of spiritual seekers.  Yet there still remain needs for traditional cremation services in a stupa, for a facility for conscious dying, and for traditional monastic training.

Our Cremation Stupa Mandala will have a very low emission propane furnace within its sacred architecture; areas for prayers, religious dance, making and placing of tsa tsas from the ashes; and a circumambulation wall with prayer wheels and statues around the outside.  Most important, through our Western and Tibetan monastic communities, complete prayers and ceremonies will be provided to practitioners throughout North America.

In his first visit to Crestone in 2001, Adzom Rinpoche envisioned a grand mandala where people would come to die in a conscious fashion.  “We are all together in the fact that we all shall die. To have a center here in Crestone that engages the death process with the compassion and wisdom learned from the traditional Tibetan methods would be of great benefit to many.”

White Jewel Mountain, the Sangha of Adzom Rinpoche’s students in Crestone, seeks to build and maintain a center that will address these needs by providing:

• A year-round seat in the West for Adzom Rinpoche and his Dharma activity
• Traditional full cremation services appropriate for Buddhist practitioners and available to all
• A permanent facility for our weekly programs and periodic retreats
• Highly accomplished monastics from Tibet as resident teachers and retreat masters
• A facility for monastic training and retreat in the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism
• Hospice care for conscious dying available to those of all faiths, in collaboration with other retreat centers

The Manitou Foundation has graciously and generously granted us a 48 acre parcel of wooded slope at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Southern Colorado.  Many students of Adzom Rinpoche are moving here and participating in the realization of this vision.  With Rinpoche’s guidance, we propose to develop all of these facilities in phases, with each building or service increasing the number of people we serve as well as providing infrastructure to develop the next facility. 

The speed at which these steps are manifested will depend upon the funds that are raised.

Phase I

• Construction of a multi-function Temple building to house a 1,000 square foot practice and shrine room, as well as office, Lama quarters and several residential rooms for monastics and retreatants. This building will enable us to begin resident Lama and Shedra (monastic college) curricula for the entire community. Tibetan artists from Adzom Rinpoche’s monastery in Tibet will do the interior sacred art.
• Construction of three year-round, secluded hermitages, especially for Western nuns and monks
• Site planning and permits
• Installation of water and sewer, electricity, and an access road with parking
• Renovation of an existing geodesic dome for monastic practice and retreat

Phase II

• Addition of 3 more hermitages
• Construction of a cremation ground and stupa

The Cremation Ground

According to the wishes of Adzom Rinpoche the following description is offered of a cremation ground.  Here a circular wall about 8' high surrounds an enclosed area with a diameter of about 150'.  One enters the area through a main gate from the west. This gate has three doors, the three doors to enlightenment.  The largest is in the middle and is flanked by two smaller doors. The one on the north side has a hanging gong by it and the one of the south side has a prayer wheel by it.  In the gate there is a pavilion with a shrine and a throne from which teachings can be given. 
Inside the cremation ground is a platform that is one step above the ground.  It is constructed of two triangles.  One points to the west and the other points to the east.   It is large enough for 20 dancers to use at one time while doing the Chod dance.   

The Cremation Stupa

Designed by Adzom Rinpoche and in the center of the platform is the cremation stupa, bringing together the historic symbolism of the stupa and innovative western construction techniques This stupa’s form is that of the sacred architecture of the traditional stupas, 20' by 20' at its base and shaped to represent a lion throne. Its spire has a traditional Tibetan parasol atop it and a banner with the Buddha eyes.  Above the parasol are representations of the sun, moon, and a thigle. It is the focal point for Tibetan lamas, practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism, and westerners of all walks of life who want to participate in this unique understanding of conscious dying.  

We intend to modify this traditional layout so the wall will be in several sections with enough continuity to define the area and hold pole prayer flags, yet allow the free movement of wildlife. Synchronistic for this parcel of land, the traditional western entrance is the side closest to the road.

Our proposed cremation process is designed for the safe and harmonious burning of human corpses in two types of positions: either lying down or in the sitting position for lamas and practitioners who die in that way. There is a door at the bottom of the lion throne where the body is positioned for cremation.  If the body is in a sitting position it will be raised up by a pulley system to the appropriate area of the stupa. Then through the use of high temperature propane jets, the cremation can occur rapidly and safely, with practically zero emissions.  Thus the sacred geometry of the stupa will be the vehicle in which the cremation takes place. The body's essence, as it is cremated, will rise through this architectural rendering of enlightenment, meeting all the positive qualities represented by the stupa.  

We will work with the Fire Department to conform to fire safety procedures for both the stupa and propane storage tank.

Here is the centerpiece of our project, drawing together the most esoteric of Buddhist symbolism with the most physical of all acts, the disposing of the corpse. It brings to fruition the trainings in conscious dying; the teachings on the after death states; the family gathering together in the final act of rendering praise and comfort and best wishers to the departed one. This happens in a sacred space designed to accommodate, teach, train, console, and bring peace and harmony to all who participate. The traditional rituals of Tibetan Buddhist practices regarding death and dying meet with westerners in an environment designed to foster care and understanding.

Local, state, and federal requirements for death certificates and funerary procedures have been researched, and are quite feasible through our project.

Shrines, Offerings, and Prayer Wheels

On the eastern side of the wall there is a gazebo like shrine to Amitabha and to other deities. Openings in the northern, eastern, and southern sides of the area lead to additional tsa tsa placement areas in the shape of lotus petals, built when the cremation grounds need expanding.  

Around the inside of the sections of cremation ground wall are two or three different shelves. Here tsa tsas made from the ashes of the deceased are placed.  At about 3-4 feet above the ground there are niches in the wall about 2½ feet high for statues of various deities. The wall itself is wide enough so that on the top of it miniature stupas as well as pole prayer flags can be placed.  These areas provide opportunities for families and friends to make donations and offerings in memory of loved ones.  

The outside of the wall sections also have shelves for tsa tsas, and above them prayer wheels. A circumambulatory meditation path marks the outer boundary of the cremation ground.

Phase III

At this point we will consider how much more activity we can include without compromising the retreat atmosphere, vegetation or wildlife. Three functions originally included in the multi-function Temple building may need expanding:

• Monastery for ordained nuns and committed women practitioners with accomplished resident teaching nuns from Tibet. It could include a three-year retreat facility.
• Hospice services for those at the end of their lives: on our land, elsewhere in Crestone, and/or in collaboration with other Dharma organizations. These services will provide for conscious dying and leaving the body of a deceased person undisturbed for the traditional 72 hours, extremely difficult to implement elsewhere in the US.
• Construction of a full-scale Gompa will bring all of our retreats to the land. The upper floor will provide rooms and cooking facilities for additional visiting teachers or retreatants, as well as a library.

In 1980, His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa had a vision that the Crestone area would be an important place where the rich legacy of Tibetan Buddhism would be preserved and passed on to many future generations.  He foresaw the creation of a Tibetan monastery, a retreat center, and an entire lay community. 

We at White Jewel Mountain are honored and eager to be participating in that vast vision.  We invite you to join our effort in whatever way you wish, whether you move to Crestone and join our Sangha, or whether you take retreats we offer, visit occasionally, or make donations.  As our project progresses there will also be opportunities for donations of labor and in-kind gifts such as sacred art, furniture and office equipment.