The Padmasambhava Stupa has a new home!
This remarkable film of the stupa’s journey to its new site, filmed by Treyton Luby (Luby Logic LLC) and edited by Doug Beechwood (Terra Media HD).
On the last day of October 2024, the Padmasambhava Stupa, one of the oldest stupas in North America, made the short trip to its new location – in the middle of 60 acres of open land under the peaks of the Sangre de Cristo Range in southern Colorado.
The Padmasambhava Stupa was originally built in !981 after an initial inspiration from HH Dudjom Rinpoche. The actual site was determined by Dilgo Kyentse Rinpoche and constructed by an expert team of Western builders. The stupa was then consecrated by Sogyal Rinpoche.
Over the years the stupa, increasingly surrounded by houses and other structures, began to take on a forlorn air. Few traveled to the site. After several years of consultations with senior lamas and khenpos from Colorado, New Mexico, New York and Tibet, the KTTG Executive Committee made the momentous decision to move the stupa to a new and auspicious location nearby.
In a delicate and daring operation, the stupa was moved to where it now stands – in the middle of an open meadow, with views of the surrounding mountains. It’s a peaceful place for contemplation on the crucial role of Padmasambhava in bringing Vajrayana Buddhism to Tibet, and now to a new land.
During the next months, we’ll be repairing and improving the stupa as well as the immediate surrounding area.
The stupa is easily accessed by driving south in the Baca Grande down to the end of Cordial Way, or by driving northeast along Staghorn Road near the Crestone Ziggurat. Please feel free to come and experience the Padmasambhava Stupa in its vast new home!
