The Dharma Sanctuary

Tibetan Peace Park

Dedication

To stupa builders everywhere, past,

present and future; consumed by the
purity of the vision, happy in the
perfection of accomplishment, bringing
forth the mind of enlightenment. Thank
you. Thank you.
The Mission
The Dharma Sanctuary is a 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation formed in 2004 in Kauai, Hawaii. Its mission is to
promote the raising of Tibetan stupas in the West, and where appropriate, to own and manage the real property that
they are built upon, helping to create permanent access to these places of refuge and reflection in the Tibetan
Buddhist tradition.
Kauai Peace Park
The Goal
Building on the successful completion of the foundation’s rural Kauai Peace Park, the foundation is now developing
an urban model for what is being called the ‘Tibetan Peace Park’. It is currently seeking individuals and
organizations wishing to partner and join the foundation in its goal of building a series of these installations in the
West.

The building of a Peace Park is a collaborative effort. A professional team of builders is needed for the overall
project, while participation of a spiritual community and a lama is necessary for completing a stupa. As it unfolds, it
naturally attracts those individuals from the nearby area who empathize with the project, just as happened on Kauai.
The Kauai Peace Park continues to draw people on a daily basis and is a place of inspiration for residents and
tourists alike.

A stupa is of great benefit to those who see it. It is a reflection of the enlightened mind, and the path to
enlightenment. It brings a welcoming sense of peace in being near it. A stupa also has the effect of healing the
surrounding environment. For those that contribute to the building of a stupa, it is a life changing event, creating
much merit as part of one's spiritual path.
Kauai Peace Park pavilion
The Vision for the Tibetan Peace Park
‘Tibetan Peace Park’ has been chosen as a name that resonates with a wide audience. Rather than calling the
installation a temple or other religious title, Peace Park is universally accepted and has very positive associations.

The primary presentation of the park is religious iconography in the form of stupas and prayer wheels. It is not a
museum, but is meant to be a living, breathing zone of peace for both individual and societal uplift. For many
people it will also be an in introduction to an environmental experience of Tibetan Buddhism.

A public space full of sacred architecture and rich with symbolic meaning is a great refuge from worldly distractions.
It invites meditation and reflection, something much needed in our material culture. Such places will become
increasingly important in the future as our world faces more and more challenges.
The City Peace Park
Many different environmental installations are possible. The outcome would naturally be guided by the actual site
and overall budget. The Kauai Peace Park shows what can be done in a rural area, with extensive use of landscaping.
The foundation would like to apply this experience to an installation designed for the urban core, a place where
many more people could experience it.

Ideally, the park would be an enclosed site. This could be a vacant lot located between existing buildings, a type of
pocket park. The impression desired is that of a secret garden with a latticed iron gate as entry along a wall of brick
or other solid construction. Once inside, stone or brickwork is the dominant theme on walls and ledges, areas of
crushed gravel alternating with stone paving – this is a place of quietude; to rest, to read, to meditate, to walk
around the stupa, to spin prayer wheels, and to reflect on the geometric, harmonious sacred space within the four
walls.
The Central Marble Stupa
As part of its mission, The Dharma Sanctuary has funded an engineering project to create the Tibetan stupa in
sculpted marble. This unique construction is a groundbreaking effort and makes the raising of a stupa much easier
to accomplish than in the past. In this approach, nine separately carved marble sections are nestled together by
crane. A stupa made of crystalline marble needs little maintenance and is a desirable alternative to the more difficult
construction of block or formed concrete with a synthetic plaster skin that needs continual resurfacing over time. A
stone stupa also has a longevity far beyond one built of concrete.

The foundation has placed one of these stupas in the center of the Kauai Peace Park. It has also successfully
donated and installed one large and eight small marble stupas adjoining the Lerab Ling temple complex in
Languedoc, France in 2006 to benefit Sogyal Rinpoche and the Rigpa sangha.

The lotus stupa shown in the following pictures being assembled in Kauai has a 7’ x 7’ base and is 15’ tall, with all
parts fitting into a 20’ x 8’ x 8’ shipping container. Set on a limestone clad foundation, the total height reaches
approximately 17'.

Stupas can be made proportionally smaller or larger, depending on the dimensions of the Peace Park. They can
also be made in any of the eight traditional types of Tibetan stupas.
Reinforced concrete foundation with limestone cap and sides, slate walkway
First three blocks; base, trunk and plinth
Lotus steps and bumpa
Square harmika and thirteen ring spire
Placing the crown pedestal on the spire, fitting the gilded crown
Sealing the chamber with the final gawo block
The finished marble stupa
Filling the Hollow Stupa
Photos shown are from the Kauai stupa installation. Making tsa tsa in the form of miniature stupas containing
prayers is a group effort, as is filling the stupa with these and other items. This is the part of the process that can be
accomplished by lay practitioners or by monks. It is an important component of any stupa project, and is a source
of community empowerment.
Making plaster tsa tsa with rubber molds
Filling the lower chamber with tsa tsa
Preparing the bumpa for relics and precious objects
Final arrangement with tsokshing and mandala tables
Stupa dedicated to Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche and the Shangpa Kagyu lineage. Consecration day on Kauai, February 19, 2009.
The Prayer Wheel Wall
A prayer wheel (mani) wall is an integral aspect of the overall design, bringing activity to the park by the traditional
circumambulation around the stupa while spinning the wheels. This is an attractive way to engage the visitor in
something other than the passive act of sitting. The construction method of wooden posts, supports and roof has
been demonstrated at the Kauai Peace Park. This semi-circle design creates an outer ring or kora, set back from the
central stupa and does not crowd it.

Westerners love the kinetic energy of these spinning wheels stuffed with prayers sending out their blessings, similar
to the ruffling of prayer flags in the wind. Spinning the wheels is a way to be participatory in a physical way while at
the same time aligning oneself mentally with altruistic thoughts.
Prayer wheel wall at the Kauai Peace Park
Tara shrine
Newar granite stupas and statuary
Small marble stupa on pedestal
Acknowledgement

I owe my deepest gratitude to Lama

Karma Rinchen, my teacher and spiritual
friend who helped effortlessly
throughout all stages of the Kauai stupa
project. From harvesting juniper trees for
tsokshing in New Mexico, making tsa tsa
with the Kauai sangha, to performing
ceremonies at the Kauai stupa site, Lama
has been my unfailing guiding star.
Lama has helped with many other stupa
projects over the years and is now
installing a marble stupa in Truth or
Consequences, New Mexico.

Lama also brought Jeremy Morrelli and I

together as stupa partners, forging a
team that made the creation of the
marble stupa possible. Jeremy, a superb
craftsman and designer, masterminded
the engineering project of dividing the
traditional stupa into nine separate
blocks. Without Jeremy this project
would never have gotten off the ground.

Andrew Fitts
PO Box 74 Kilauea, Hi 96754
andy@dharmasanctuary.org
808-651-3402
The Dharma Sanctuary

Dharmasanctuary.org
2010 v. 1.1