The Stupa

Buddhism in Symbolic Form

Jay G. Williams

Gwenfrewi Santes Press

“Wherever the head rolls”

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ii
The Stupa: Buddhism in Symbolic
Form

Jay G. Williams

Gwenfrewi Santes Press

“Wherever the head rolls”

ISBN 0-9629662-6-6

iii
 Copyright © 2010
By Jay G. Williams
Hamilton College

For permission to reprint from copyright materials in excess of fair use,

acknowledgement is made to the following: Crown Publishers, Temple University Press,
Collier Books, Praeger Publications, Cornell University Press.
I would also like to express my thanks to Dharma Publishing Co., the Lama Govinda
Trust, The Macmillan Company, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Shambala
Mountain Organization for permission to use various illustrations and to Wikipedia for
their free use policy.

It should also be noted that readers are free to copy and use any of the photographs
taken by me or collected on Wikipedia.

All rights reserved

Printed
In
The United States of America

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 Foreword

This work has been a long time in the making. It was, at first, part of a
much larger study on religious symbolism around the world. I traveled that world
looking for examples, for deeper insights. Many pictures were taken and many
words were written, but nothing quite came right. The manuscript lay in the file,
unfinished.

Then, more recently, as I sorted through my slides and prints, it all came
clear. Concentrate just on the one great Buddhist symbol and forget the rest. That
is enough. So I rewrote and rearranged and rethought. The result is this small
volume.

My first idea was to place the photographs in the text so that the reader
would not have to flip back and forth. The more I studied the problem, however,
the more complicated that way of organizing the book became and so, finally, I
decided on the format now used. The first part of the book contains some figures,
but none of my photographs. These are arranged by country in Part II along with
very short identifications and discussions. References to them will be found in
Part I, but the reader---and I apologize for this--- will have to flip back and forth
to see what I am talking about.

Most of the photographs I took myself, though I have had to glean from
elsewhere pictures and plans of Borobudur and a few other places. Pictures that
are not mine are starred. The fact that the photographs are almost all mine means,
of course, that many important stupas are not pictured in the book. I simply could
not travel everywhere. I do believe, however, that I was able to photograph many
of the most important sites---enough at least to give the reader a clear picture of
the variety of forms and styles.

It has been a great joy for me to return to a subject I have always found so
intriguing and inspiring. I have tried to keep the book from being too technical or
erudite. It is meant, not for the specialist, but for the general reader. I hope you
enjoy it as much as I have in writing it.

Jay G. Williams
Professor of Religious Studies
Hamilton College

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 Table of Contents

Foreword

Table of Contents

Part I: The Stupa 1

The Stupa and its Symbolism 15

The Pilgrimage 25
The Cosmic Man 29
The Chorten 31

Part II: Illustrations 35

I. Nepal 37
II. India 44
III. Myanmar and Thailand 61
IV. Sri Lanka 72
V. Borobudur 81
VI. China 86
VII. Korea and Japan 98

Epilogue 103

Bibliography

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 THE STUPA

There is no doubt but that the stupa (Pali: thupa; Sinalese; dagoba) is the most
distinctive and suggestive symbol to have emerged from the Buddhist tradition.1
Wherever the disciples of the Enlightened One have gone, they have built stupas as the
very signature of their presence. To be sure, different peoples have interpreted the stupa
in very different ways. To the uninformed, in fact, it would hardly seem that the
Sinhalese dagoba and the Japanese pagoda are the same symbol at all. Nevertheless,
there is a sure, though invisible line linking the earthbound, simple mound of the Asokan
tradition (See I.B.) to both the soaring golden monuments of Yagon (Rangoon) (II.B.)
and the many roofed towers of Kyoto (VII. E.).

According to the Digha Nikaya, the stupa idea was first set forth by the Buddha,
himself, just before his death.

10. 'What are we to do, lord, with the remains of the

Tathagata?'
'Hinder not yourselves, Ananda, by honouring the
remains of the Tathagata. Be zealous, I beseech you, Ananda,
in your own behalf! Devote yourselves to your own good! Be
earnest, be zealous, be intent on your own good! There are
wise men, Ananda, among the nobles, among the Brahmins,
among the heads of houses, who are firm believers in the
Tathagata; and they will do due honour to the remains of the
Tathagata.'
11. 'But what should be done, lord, with the remains of the
Tathagata?'
'As men treat the remains of the king of kings so
Ananda, should they treat the remains of a Tathagata.'
'And how, lord, do they treat the remains of a king of
kings?'
'They wrap the body of a king of kings, Ananda, in a
new cloth. When that is done they wrap it in carded cotton
wool. When that is done they wrap it in a new cloth, and so on
till they have wrapped the body in five hundred successive
layers of both kinds. Then they place the body in an oil vessel
of iron, and cover that close up with another oil vessel of iron.
They then build a funeral pyre of all kinds of perfume, and
burn the body of the king of kings. And then at the four cross
roads they erect a cairn to the king of kings. This, Ananda, is
the way in which they treat the remains of a king of kings.

1
Perhaps the most elaborate and extensive study of the stupa is Adrian Snodgrass, The
Symbolism of the Stupa (Ithaca, N.Y.: SEAP, 1985).

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 'And as they treat the remains of a king of kings, so,
Ananda, should they treat the remains of the Tathagata. At the
four cross roads a cairn should be erected to the Tathagata. And
whosoever shall there place garlands or perfumes or paint, or
make salutation there, or become in its presence calm in
heart—that shall long be to them for a profit and a joy.’2

The idea of the stupa, then, is overtly derived within the tradition itself from the
notion of the cairn, barrow, or tumulus, that rounded mound of earth which served, from
East Asia to the far reaches of the Celtic world, as a burial place for the mighty. In some
non-Buddhist areas the cairn was elongated and became less circular and more serpentine
in structure. In other areas, the mound of earth was faced by stone and/or plaster and
became pyramidal in shape with sharp, well-hewn edges. The stupa, then, is related to a
whole host of familiar Neolithic and Bronze Age burial mounds ranging from the
pyramid of Cheops to the great tumulus of New Grange. It is a continuation of a tradition
which seems to know no beginning or particular area of origin. The stupa is a variation
upon a primordial symbolic theme.

It is ironic that of all the tumuli once built in India very few non-Buddhist stupas
remain. Gautama patterned his own symbol after the tumuli of the great kings. Indeed, he
even lists the king of kings as among those whose remains a stupa might contain.

12. 'The men, Ananda, worthy of a cairn, are four in number.

Which are the four?’
'A Tathagata, an Able Awakened One, is worthy of a
cairn. One awakened for himself alone is worthy of a cairn.
A true hearer of the Tathagata is worthy of a cairn. A king
of kings is worthy of a cairn.’3

The royal tumuli, for the most part, have all been destroyed or eroded away. So
too have the Jain stupas which were apparently patterned after the Buddhist. What
remains of the thousands of non-Buddhist and Buddhist stupas that once dotted the
landscape of India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal are a few Buddhist structures scattered across
the land. They stand in mute testimony to the ascendance of Buddhism in India, to its
victory among the non-Indian neighbors, and to its slow but steady decay in its
motherland.
With the possible exception of an early example at Vaisali,4 the oldest extant stupas
derive from the age of Asoka (ca. 274-232 B.C.E.), that Mauryan emperor who, in the

2
T.W. and C. A. F. Rhys Davids, trans., Dialogues of the Buddha, 2 vols., (London:
Oxford U. P.: 1910), 11,154-56. The Tibetan translation of the Vinaya-Irsudraka Vastu of the
Mula sarvastivadins contains further "dialogues with the Buddha" pertaining to the construction
of stupas. See Pema Doyce, Stupa and Its Technology: A Tibeto-Buddhist Perspective (New
Delhi: India Gandhi National Centre for the Arts and Motilal Banarsidass, 1996), pp. 1-21.
3
Dialogues of the Buddha II, 156.
4
Debala Mitra, Buddhist Monuments (Calcutta: Sahitya Samsad, 1971), 75.

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face of the bloody slaughter of the people of Kalinga (Orissa) by his troops, repented of
the carnage and converted, it would seem, to Buddhism. Asoka, like Constantine in the
West, made his own personal faith that of his empire. Clearly, his motives were more
than political. He adopted Buddhist ideals concerning the organization of the state and the
nature of justice and reordered his kingdom accordingly. He publicly promulgated
Buddhist morality, as his many Rock and Pillar Edicts show.5 He organized Buddhist
councils and settled disputes within the Sangha (the monastic community).

And he built stupas, more than 84,000 of them according to one ancient source.
Doubtless the number is both symbolic and exaggerated, but it must be remembered that
many stupas were probably small, just mounds of earth, really. Quickly they eroded
away, leaving behind the better-made stupas for us to see. Several of the Asoka stupas,
like Stupa #1 at Sanchi (II.D.), have been preserved only as the core of a now much
larger and elaborated edifice. The original core of the Dharmarajika stupa at Sarnath
(II.R) is also ascribed to him as are stupas in Taxila, Pakistan and Patan, Nepal.

India is a land of great antiquity as its own Vedas and Epics indicate. Until the
time of Asoka, however, buildings were apparently made of wood and thatch and hence
have long since disintegrated. Therefore, despite the fact that Buddhism only arose in the
6th Century B.C.E. and did not leave tangible remains until the reign of Asoka in the 3rd
Century, these remains, except for the dramatic finds at Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, are
about the oldest structures left from ancient India for us to inspect. The history of Indian
art and architecture, for all intents and purposes, begins with the stupa.

Those few stupas in India, Nepal, and Pakistan that represent the Asokan age are
the soul of simplicity. The great stupa of Patan, Nepal (I. B.) sits simply on an unadorned
base, a mound anda with a squarish platform (called an harmika) on top. There are no
fancy gateways or pradaksina (circumambulation) paths. Many of the symbolic meanings
bestowed upon the stupa by later ages cannot be applied to the Asokan stupas because, in
fact, the features interpreted so lavishly are not yet visible. The stupa, as a monumental
Buddhist tradition, is just coming into existence.

Even so, the Asokan stupas are more than mounds of earth. On top of the
hemispheric mound invariably sits a quadrilateral platform (the harmika), reminiscent of
a place of sacrifice. This originally was probably surmounted by a several-tiered
umbrella, simple versions of which are found at Sanchi (II.M.). Whether this was also a
feature of the pre-Buddhist burial mound or whether it is a specifically Buddhist
innovation is a matter of debate. Some would argue that in earliest times, what "grew"
out of the harmika was a real tree. In any event, even the earliest of the stupas are a
combination of a base, a mound, a surmounting platform, and, probably, an honorific
umbrella. Beneath the platform was placed the raison d'etre for the whole structure: the
bija or seed, a relic of the Buddha himself or of one of his disciples or, in some cases, the
Buddhist "creed" inscribed in some fashion. Asoka is said to have not only built stupas

5
N. A. Nikam and Richard McKeon, The Edicts of Asoka (Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1959).

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but to have bestowed upon them valuable relics which, until his day, were stored
elsewhere.

Some stupas, of course, have yielded no such relics at all to the modern
investigator. Perhaps ancient treasure hunters made off with them centuries ago. In some
instances, the stupa may have been built for a relic that it never, finally, received. It may
also be that the relic still remains hidden away in the stupa in some unpredictable
location. Given the ingenuity of ancient grave robbers around the world, in fact, it is
surprising that any treasures at all have been found in modern times. The probable reason
is that, unlike the pyramids, the stupas contained largely spiritual treasures of very little
earthly value.

One of the more interesting relic discoveries was made at Sanchi, a site in north
central India where some of the most characteristic early stupas are to be found. Stupa
#1, the most famous of this group because of its wonderful gateways or toranas, (II.D-L,
O) yielded nothing to the explorer, but Stupa #2 (II.P) nearby produced a great surprise:
two stone boxes containing fragments of bones and few precious stones, remains
attributed to Sariputra and Maudgalyayana, two of Gautama's most famous disciples.
Obviously, when Asoka chose to lavish his attention upon Sanchi, these relics, originally
housed elsewhere, were brought to grace this favored community.

Down the hill, on the western slope of Sanchi, is another modest-sized stupa
labeled in modern times #3 (II.Q.). Here also relics were found, this time of a number of
important Buddhist teacher-saints from the third and second centuries B.C.E. In this
stupa, the reliquary was not placed directly beneath the harmika but to one side,
presumably to fool the perennial grave robbers. Overall, finds in stupas have been of only
modest worldly value. Rather than vast royal treasure troves, they contain a few bits of
bone and ash, reminders of the spiritual splendor of those halcyon days of the faith.

The Mauryan Empire declined until, by 200 B.C.E., India had again split up into a
myriad of political units. This era of social change, from 200 B.C.E. to 200 C.E., led
eventually to the renaissance of Hinduism but it did not impede the development of the
stupa. At Sanchi, for instance, the old Asokan stupa was greatly enlarged. Around it was
built an enclosure with magnificent gateways that have never been matched in the history
of Indian architecture. (II.E.) A lower and an upper pradaksinapatha were built for
circumambulation by pilgrims. Although Bharhut, Amaravati, and the other stupas
erected around this time are not as well preserved as those of Sanchi, their remains are
also impressive. Indian craftsmen developed to a high degree their techniques of stone
carving as they began to decorate with pedagogical pictures the various features of the
stupa.

During this era stone workers were also active in the creation of monumental
Buddhist caves. (II. U-Y) Out of solid rock were cut not only caves for monastic
dwellings but bas reliefs and freestanding sculpture. Most scholars agree that until the 2nd
Century C.E., there was a general practice of not portraying the Buddha in ordinary
human form. Instead, in the caves and on the stupas, he was represented by a tree, an

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empty throne, footprints, the wheel of doctrine, a pillar surrounded with flame, or a stupa.
The last was to indicate the Buddha as having entered nirvana.

Figure 1 The shape of Stupa #1 at Sanchi

What was once taken by Western scholars as, for instance, tree worship was not
that at all. Depicted are disciples bowing before the empty space where once their
spiritual master sat under the Bodhi tree. Like that empty space, the stupa is also a
symbol for nothingness, for where he was but is no more. Disciples are seen bowing
before the container of his ashes, all that is left of the one who has successfully entered
nothingness.

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 We shall return to a more systematic analysis of the symbolism of the stupa later
in this discussion. It is enough at this point to remind ourselves that early Buddhists were
as opposed to idolatry as Isaiah and the prophets. The stupa is an attempt to reveal the
outlines of nothingness, for it is No Thing rather than something that lies at the heart of
the tradition. The stupa is a symbol for the symbol-less.

In the caves at places like Karli, Kanheri, Ajanta, and Ellora (see Fig. 2) there are
not only bas reliefs of stupas but also chaitya halls which feature imposing stone stupas
as the centerpieces for veneration. The stupa is no longer a burial mound and reliquary; it
is a solid stone object serving as a focus for adoration and meditation. Many such halls
are round. The stupa in the center is surrounded by a circle of columns and pradaksina
path. In Ajanta (II X,Y) and Ellora we find the chaitya hall now elongated, the circle-
having become an apse for a meditation hall.

At Karli we find another most imposing chaitya hall housing a great stone stupa
(II.W.). The hemisphere of the stupa is raised up, supported by two rather high terraces
decorated with geometrical designs. On top of the hemisphere is the harmika that, in turn,
bears an inverted, truncated step pyramid. That is then topped by a traditional honorific
umbrella, a sign of supreme saintliness. Similar stupas, both freestanding and in bas relief
are found in the Kanheri Caves near Bombay, though here the hemisphere sometimes sits
atop a square base and is surmounted by a three-tiered umbrella as well as an inverted
pyramid. In any event, we find throughout the caves of this era a considerable amount of
experimentation with regard to the form of stupas. The basic ingredients of the stupa
remain but are treated in a variety of imaginative ways.

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Figure 2: Ellora: rock-cut apsidal chaitya-griha plan

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 Buddhism, according to tradition at least, was carried to Sri Lanka during the time
of Asoka by the Emperor's own son, Molinda. King Devanampiyatessa, the ruler at
Anuradhapurna was converted and, as a result, built monasteries and stupas (dagobas) at
his capital. The account of the conversion of the king and his island may be legendary,
but conversion of many Sri Lankans did take place at an early date. The Thuparama
dagoba, built in the 3rd Century B.C.E., demonstrates the presence of Buddhism at that
time in the capital city and exhibits the development of the stupa there. (See Figure 4 and
IV. K,L.) The hemisphere now sits upon a several-tiered base and is surmounted by a
square harmika with flaring top. Absent is the inverted pyramid. Instead we find a very
stylized seven-tiered umbrella-cone. On top of this cone is a golden ball with its own
miniature cone above. This form of stupa, with minor variations, is still being constructed
in suburban Colombo (IV.B.).

Figure 3 The Thuparama Stupa

There is one apparent variation, however, which has not been followed. Around
the Thuparama stupa are circles of standing pillars that some scholars believe supported a
roof covering the pradaksinapatha. If they are correct, the stupa must have looked like a
pavilion surmounted by a dome, a little like the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. It may
be, however, that the pillars were freestanding votive columns and did not support a roof
at all. Since such columns were popular during the Mauryan Age, this theory is also quite
possible.

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 Anuradhapura, the ancient Lankan capital, also reveals another tendency that is
quite striking. Although the Thuparama dagoba is fairly small, the Abhayagiri is
immense (IV.H.). Sir Emerson Tennant once calculated that it contains enough bricks to
build a wall ten feet high and a foot thick from London to Edinburgh. Although I have
neither expertise nor inclination to check his figures, anyone who has seen this edifice
can testify that it is monumental in size. Somewhat smaller, but still imposing, are the
Ruwanvelis (IV.E.) and the Jetavanaramaya (IV.M.) Dagobas. One senses in all these an
attempt—and a successful one it was—to infuse Buddhist simplicity with royal grandeur.
Curiously, the great symbol for Nothingness has become imperial.

Although Buddhism eventually succumbed to a renascent Hinduism in India, it

triumphed in Sri Lanka and became India's most successful export around the Bay of
Bengal and Indian Ocean and northward around and through the Himalayas. Hinduism
was, for the most part, too Indian to take root forever among non-Indians, but Buddhism,
having no Vedic ritual or caste system, was far more successful. As it spread, it carried to
much of Asia its most sacred symbol, the stupa.

In Nepal, wonderfully simple stupa design from the Mauryan Age is still in
evidence, but we also find at Swayambhu and Bhadgaon a Nepalese version of the
ancient idea. (See Figure 4 and I. C.-F.) Essentially, the form remains; the hemisphere is
preserved; as at Sanchi there is a pradaksinapatha both around the base and on an
elevated walk partway up the anda. A large, square harmika supports a cone shaped
chatra that reaches skyward. At Swayambhu the cone is twelve-tiered and bears an
honorific umbrella above.

Figure 4 The Nepali Swayambhu stupa

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 The Nepalis have also added their own special touches that, though invented
elsewhere, have become their hallmarks. The lower pradaksinapatha is graced by a circle
of large prayer wheels, one of the foremost Himalayan contributions to spiritual
technology (I. E.). As the pilgrims circumambulate they spin the prayer wheels, sending
out innumerable prayers to the divine powers. On each side of the harmika is also painted
a pair of eyes, reminding the viewer that the stupa is, among other things, a representation
of the Cosmic Man (I. F.). Those eyes give to the stupa a wholly new cast, for suddenly
what was essentially a geometric shape receives life. The circumambulator senses the
great paradox that the burial tumulus itself is very much alive.

Buddhism also spread eastward beyond the Bay of Bengal, among the Burmese.
Here too the stupa became popular as is evidenced by the medieval capital of Bagan
where literally thousands of stupas, big and small, are still in evidence (III. F.-I.). The
Burmese stupa retains the basic Indian form but pursues some tendencies already
developing in Buddhism's homeland. At Sarnath the old Mauryan stupa was enclosed in a
new form. Although today the facing and harmika are missing, it is clear that the
rebuilders of the Dharmarajika felt impelled to thrust the stupa upward (II.R.). The
hemisphere is still there but now surmounts a rather high base that lifts it far above
ground level.

This is true of many Burmese stupas too. The base has grown much higher and
the transition between base (medhi) and hemisphere (anda) cone (chatra) is smoothed
out to create, for all intents and purposes, one great, cone-shaped form. The contrast
between anda and harmika, so important for some symbolic interpretations, is virtually
erased.

Most stupas, including the aforementioned Dharmarajika at Sarnath, are solid

structures or, at least, are not enterable. Architects did experiment with various ways of
constructing the stupa which included building supporting walls of dharma-wheel or
swastika shape within the stupa, but the stupa remained an object to be viewed and
venerated from without. At Bagan, however, some of the large stupas actually have a
pradaksinapatha within them. Certain modern stupas in Yagon (Rangoon) follow this
pattern, containing inside as well a display of valuable offerings—Buddha images, etc.—
that have been made to the controlling monastery.

Perhaps the most famous of all the variations upon the stupa theme is found not in
India or even Burma but on the island of Java in Indonesia. Borobudur, with its many
levels and subsidiary stupas is stupa building carried to its ultimate symbolic extreme.
(V.B.-F.) This structure is composed of eight terraces, six square and three circular,
which together with the central stupa form a great symbolic mountain. The lower levels
are surrounded by corridor-like ambulatories with high walls. These walls are lavishly
decorated with reliefs and Buddha figures.

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 With level seven one enters the open air again. On the last three circular levels
one finds small, open stupas, some 72 in number. There are 32 on level seven, 24 on level
eight, and 16 on level nine. In the center, atop the terraces rises the main stupa in
traditional form. We shall return to this great monument later in our discussion. It suffices
to say here that Borobudur indicates clearly the symbolic intent of the stupa in general. In
circumambulating it, one both traverses the levels of the Buddhist cosmos, ascending
gradually toward heaven, and acts out the spiritual journey from the outer darkness
(where the unenlightened live) to the center.

Because the stupa so dominates Buddhist architecture and religious expression in

south and southeast Asia, developments in China and Japan come as something of a
shock. It is true, as we have seen, that there are many variations upon the basic stupa
theme. The medhi (base) is sometimes very simple, sometimes many-leveled. The anda
(hemisphere) at times becomes almost cylindrical, at times cone-shaped. The harmika
takes a variety of forms; the chatra varies from a simple umbrella to a complex, many-
tiered cone. Nevertheless, whether in India or Sri Lanka or Indonesia, these elements are
almost invariably present in one form or another.

In China, Korea, and Japan, however, this is not the case. Although there are
examples of the Indian and Tibetan stupa in China, the great hemisphere which
dominates the Mauryan stupa, for the most part, disappears, leaving only the harmika and
chatra to form the essentials of what is called the pagoda.6 (VI.B.) Why this should be
the case is difficult to determine. It is not as though the standard form was imported and
then gradually altered to suit local needs. As early as the Six Dynasty period (222-589
C.E.), we find the pagoda already in existence in China. The anda is simply missing.
Indian caves are full of stupa images and bas reliefs, but we look in vain for such
emphasis in the caves of Dunhuang and Mai Chi Shan. It is as though the Chinese found
the Indian image distasteful and replaced it with a radically altered version of their own.

Since it is the tumulus that is missing and since Chinese cemeteries are full of
tumuli, one might speculate that somehow the thought of making a grave the central
image of the faith was offensive to the Chinese mind. Therefore, the earth itself became
the anda and the chatra, now sometimes made of wood, sometimes of stone, became the
whole image. (See Figure 5)

The chatra, on the Indian stupa, is a long pole plunged deeply into the anda. On it
are suspended the levels of the cone and/or the honorific umbrella (VII D., E.). The
Japanese wooden pagoda is made precisely the same way. Dietrich Seckel says,

The most important single feature of the Japanese wooden pagoda

is the central or 'heart' pillar ... This pillar resembles a huge mast,
resting upon a foundation stone sunk deep into the earth. Its chief
6
Pagoda is related etymologically to dagoba that in turn comes from gharba meaning womb.

11
 function is to support the very high ... and very heavy bronze
finial, to take the weight off the finely articulated wooden
structure, and to insure that it is borne by the foundation stone.7

The various levels of the pagoda, then, encircle this central pillar but are not
actually connected to it.

Figure 5: Pagoda at Ling Yen Si

Chinese pagodas also sometimes have this central pole. Instead of simply
circumambulating the base, however, the Chinese worshipper can often climb the steps
from story to story until the very top is reached (VI. B., C.). As at Borobudur, the pagoda
7
Dietrich Seckel, The Art of Buddhism (New York: Crown Publishers, 1964), 122.

12
in this form symbolizes the ascent to heaven in both a cosmic and a spiritual sense. The
climb is an acting out of the whole Buddhist life.

In some cases, the pole is missing on the lower levels but is replaced by a Buddha
image set within an empty shaft. That is, the Buddha image itself serves as the axis
mundi, that link between heaven and earth so universally found in human religion. On
the top of the pagoda one still finds the pole, usually displaying stylized, honorific
umbrellas.

In China and, to a lesser extent, Japan, pagodas come in a great variety of styles.
Some are of wood; some, of masonry; some, of stone. Some have central poles, some do
not. Some have as few as three tiers of roofs; some have more than thirteen stories.
Nevertheless, despite the variety, the pagoda is as consistent a form in China, Korea, and
Japan as the stupa is in India. Behind the diversity there is great uniformity of design and
function. Somehow, no Buddhist monastery or sacred compound would be quite
complete without one. The pagoda is the signature of Buddhist presence.

Before turning to the meaning of such symbols in South and East Asia, there is
still one more variant on the stupa form that appears in such separated areas as Tibet and
Japan. This is what the Tibetans call a chorten and the Japanese, a gorinto. The chorten is
found everywhere in Tibet, as a marker for the graves of lamas and other holy persons, as
a shrine for sacred Scripture, as a marker for a pilgrim route. As with many other things
Tibetan, the chorten is an Indian idea developed in a very schematized and philosophical
way. Later in this discussion we will deal with the Tibetan interpretation of the chorten.
It is enough simply to look at the basic structure at this point (see figure 6) and to
comment that the Tibetans, though following an Indian outline, emphasize much more
than the Indians the geometric variety (square, circle, triangle, etc.) and how these forms
correlate with the basic elements, colors, and levels of the cosmos.

The Japanese gorinto is of very much the same form and undoubtedly is derived
from a common source. In Japan the gorinto is used primarily as a reliquary and is
seldom, if ever, found in architectural form.8 In Tibet it is almost impossible to miss
seeing the chorten in some form or other. In Japan the gorinto is not unfamiliar but is
much less commonly seen, though variations of it are found as sepulchral monuments,
etc.

8
Seckel, op cit., p. 126.

13
Figure 6 Cross section of the Tibetan stupa or chorten

14
 Two variations on the chorten form:

The Stupa and its Symbolism

A symbol is not invented; it is discovered. It does not bear a specific meaning but
evokes interpretation so that human beings find meaning in it. As they do so, the symbol
is often revised and embellished to express better the meaning that they see. In the
process, the symbol can be virtually destroyed, for when a symbol is taken to mean one
thing and one thing alone, it becomes but a religious or philosophical cipher. It can then
be discarded in favor of the cognitive meaning it supposedly bears.

Nevertheless, genuine symbols know the way of resurrection. Just when they
appear moribund, they cast off the meaning imposed upon them and appear anew, to
elicit a different meaning for a new age. In the 20th Century, one of the great, perennial
symbols, the swastika, was virtually destroyed for the Western world by the meaning
imposed upon it by the Nazis. Even now it lies buried under the weight of guilt. We may
expect, however, that as those memories fade the old symbol will reemerge, not as a sign
of the "superior race," but with a call for new interpretation.

When we speak about the symbolism of the stupa, we must be careful to avoid the
implication that the stupa in and of itself means anything in particular. It is salutary to
remember that the Buddha himself, in the Digha Nikaya, said only that the stupa would
produce a sense of calmness and happiness in the observer.9 The stupa, however, has
evoked a variety of interpretations and systems of interpretation and these we must look

9
Davids, Dialogues with the Buddha, II, 156.

15
at, with the full understanding that in this age or the next it may yet again call forth new
responses.

As we have already said, the Buddhist stupa began its career as a burial mound, as
a great tumulus to honor the Buddha or one of his followers. Tradition, however,
distinguishes four types of stupa:

1. A shariraka. An actual sepulcher to house the remains of the Buddha or other

holy person.
2. A paribhogika. A stupa erected over an implement, e.g. the begging bowl, of
the Buddha.
3. A uddesika. A stupa which commemorates a sacred place, usually associated
with the life of the Buddha.
4. Votive stupas. Usually small in size, erected by pious believers in order to
express their faith and obtain holy merit."10

In a sense, then, the stupa can be understood simply as a sign to indicate where
something historical happened and to honor that event. Here the Buddha was born; here
is a bit of his ashes; here, his begging bowl is ensconced.

It would appear, nevertheless, that almost from the beginning Buddhists invested
the stupa with more imaginative meaning than that, for the hemisphere soon came to be
called the anda or egg. Alternatively, it was named the gharba or womb. The latter term
is the source for the Lankan dagoba and, from that, the East Asian pagoda.

To call the great hemisphere the egg or the womb is, of course, to elicit a whole
range of symbolic meanings, for both terms are connected biologically and heuristically
with the reality of birth and new life. A fertilized egg is the source from which life
emerges. The name "anda" transforms the past, dead world into a symbol for present and
future hope.

This is particularly true since the relic buried within this egg-womb is called bija
or seed. The imagery to the outsider, at least, seems obviously sexual. This mound is no
dreary, unfertilized egg destined for some cosmic omelet. The egg has been fertilized by
the potent seed of the Buddha. Or rather, the egg has been penetrated by that final proof
that the ego of the Enlightened One has been destroyed, that the self has been conquered,
that the Buddha-to-be has crossed over. The hope that is to be born is formed from the
union of Something and No Thing and illustrates the teaching that samsara (i.e. the world
of change and illusion) and nirvana (sometimes known as the Buddha mind) are one.

Thus, the stupa, like the Hindu lingam and the Christian cross is a symbol
expressing the union of opposites. Here life and death, samsara and nirvana, Being and
No Thingness become one. As one circumambulates the stupa, keeping it always on the
right, one honors both the Buddha’s presence and his absence, both this life and nirvana.

10
Mitra, op. cit., 21-22.

16
 The historical is not denied. In fact, the stupa, in one sense, glorifies the historical.
This is the place, the ash, the implement. But the historical is transformed by the infusion
of the seed of nothingness into the womb of the world. The historical pales before the
conquest of the self, before the realization that the Enlightened One has conquered and
overcome. The seamless robe of this earthly life has been ripped asunder by one who has
crossed over and who beckons for others to try.

The sexual imagery is heightened even more by that great pole which penetrates
the anda and which forms the support for the chatra cone. Here, quite visibly before us,
is the union of opposites, the fusion of the circle and the eternally straight, of earth and
heaven, of the physical and the spiritual. Within the precincts of the monastic
community, dedicated to the celibate Middle Path, stands a revelation of that inner world
where sperm fertilizes egg and where new life bursts into being.

The monks relinquish that life of sexuality that perpetuates the endless round of
birth and death to find a higher species of fertilization. The union they seek is not that of
ordinary seed penetrating ordinary egg but is a union on a transcendent spiritual plane. In
meditation and in the whole spiritual life, the aim is to promote the union of something
and no thing through following the Middle Path. It is the unspeakable which makes the
speakable possible.

The symbol of the anda or egg also, of course, elicits cosmogonic connotations,
for all over the world, the egg has been taken to be a symbol for the cosmos as an
organized whole. In the book of Genesis, for instance, the world is conceived as a great
egg floating in the midst of the primal waters. Outside is chaos; within is to be found
organized life.

God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water, that
it may separate water from water." God made the firmament and it
separated the water which was below the firmament from the
water which was above the firmament. And it was so. (Gen. 1:6-8)

The whole human drama, for the Bible, takes place within this bubble of space,
protected by the firmament from the chaos without. Below is a diagram of the
Babylonian view of the cosmos from which the Bible drew so much.

17
 Figure 7: The traditional cosmos

Here we see the egg and its interior. Above are the realms of heaven, below, the
palaces of hell. Humans, however, live in between on an island surrounded by water in
the center of the egg. That island is a graduated mountain with its peak touching the
lower heavens,. It is enough to say at this point that we find in this picture the essence of
much traditional cosmology. In virtually every corner of the globe we find the three
storied universe with its sacred mountain ringed in by an ocean. It is intimated on the
back of Chinese mirrors from the Han dynasty, danced out by Amerindians, struggled
with by early scientists, symbolized by the Indian brahmananda.
Just why human beings have been so consistent in their traditional cosmologizing
is an interesting psychological and philosophical question. One could argue that the egg
shape is natural because we see a blue hemisphere called sky over our heads. This
obviously is the firmament of old, the inside of the Cosmic Egg. Optical illusion,
however, does not account for either the view that the earth is surrounded by water or
that we live on land that rises to a mountain peak in the very center of the earth. Few
people (excluding those who inhabit volcanic islands) experience the world in this way.
In fact, human societies have often had to reconstruct reality, building a central mountain
in the form of a pyramid or ziggurat, to make the world conform to the cosmic picture
myths provide.

Carl Jung and his followers would say that this is because the human unconscious
contains an archetypal landscape which we know through dreams and visions and which
has shaped our conscious understanding of the world. Ancient humans did not fully know

18
that sturdy barrier between this world of sight and that world of dream that so defines our
existence. For them, reality was not just sense experience as opposed to hallucination. In
fact, they were likely to interpret their sense experience according to the world of
archetypes rather than vice versa.

Although I am in no position to make a judgment about Jung's psychological

formulation, his basic argument is, at least, suggestive and does deal with problems of
religious epistemology that others gloss over. The rather consistent view of the cosmos as
an egg that has dominated traditional cultures demands some sort of explanation that
transcends an appeal to sense experience.

An interesting variation on the Cosmic Egg theme appears in the Hindu Vamana
Saramahatmya.

Long ago when all things animate and inanimate were lost in one
dreadful ocean there appeared a large egg, source of the seed of all
creatures. Lying in this egg, Brahma went to sleep. At the end of a
thousand ages he awoke.

Awake and knowing creation to be lost in this flood, the lord broke
open the egg. From it OM was born; then arose Bhuh, matchless
Bhuvah and third, the sound Svah. Together they are known as
Bhur-Bhuvah-Svah. From this arose tejas (which is tat savitur
varenyam). Tejas, escaping from the egg, evaporated the water.
When the residue had been dried up by tejas it became an embryo.
The embryo, called a bubble, became solid. It is known as dharani
because of its hardness and because it is the sustainer of all
creatures. The place where the egg rested is lake Samnihita. That
which first came forth from tejas they call Aditya. Brahma,
Grandfather of the world, arose in the middle of the egg. The
placenta is known as Mt. Meru, the afterbirth is the mountains, and
the waters of the womb are the oceans and the thousand rivers. The
water which surrounds the navel of Brahma is Mahat, and by this
choice pure water is the great lake filled. In the middle of it, O
great-minded one, a banyan tree stood like a pillar. From it sprang
the classes: brahmins, ksatriyas, vaisyas and sudras, who thus arose
to do reverence to the twice-born.11

In this myth the egg is broken open, but in fact the themes are the same. The yolk
now becomes the sphere with Brahma as the focal point; the placenta becomes Mt. Meru,
the great peak in the center of the world; the waters of the womb, the surrounding oceans.
Also in the center is another familiar symbol, the great tree that is found everywhere in
human mythology and to which we will return shortly. Characteristically, this Indian

11
Cornelia Dimmitt and J. A. B. van Buitessen, Classical Hindu Mythology (Philadelphia:
Temple University Press, 1978), 32.

19
myth finds the tree of life to be the source, not of immortality or illumination, but of the
caste system, i.e. the “perfect” ordering of human society.

A myriad of other examples of the Cosmic Egg could be given, but two will have
to suffice. The first comes from the Hellenic world and is a product of Orphism:

The Orphic Creation Myth

In the beginning time created the silver egg of the cosmos. Out of
this egg burst Phanes-Dionysus. For them (the Orphics) he was
the first god to appear, the firstborn, whence he early became
known as Protogonos. He was bisexual and bore within him the
seeds of all gods and men. He was also the creator of heaven and
earth, of the sun, the stars, and the dwelling of the gods. The sixth
Orphic hymn, dated to be sure in the Christian era but preserving
old elements, represented him in epic hexameters:
O mighty first-begotten, hear my prayer,
Twofold, egg-born, and wandering through the air;
Bull-roarer, glorying in thy golden wings,
From whom the race of Gods and mortals springs.
Ericapaeus, celebrated power,
Ineffable, occult, all-shining flower.
'Tis thine from darkness mists to purge the sight,
All-spreading splendor, pure and holy light;
Hence, Phanes, called the glory of the sky,
On waving pinions through the world you fly.

Phanes first created his daughter Nyx, the Night; in his bisexual
quality, he was her father and mother at once. With Nyx, who
alone was privileged to behold him, Phanes at vast intervals of
time begat Gaea, Uranus, and Cronus, who after Uranus became
lord of the world.12

Here the themes of mountain and tree are missing but we do find the egg-born
bisexual God whom we will meet in different form in the person of Siva.

The second, somewhat longer myth comes from the Shinto traditions of Japan.

12
Charles H. Long, Alpha (New York: Collier Books, 1963), 127-29.

20
 A Japanese Creation Narrative

Of old, Heaven and Earth were not yet separated, and the In and
Yo not yet divided. They formed a chaotic mass like an egg, which
was of obscurely defined limits, and contained germs. The purer
and clearer part was thinly diffused and formed Heaven, while the
heavier and grosser element settled down and became Earth. The
finer element easily became a united body, but the consolidation of
the heavy and gross element was accomplished with difficulty.
Heaven was therefore formed first, and Earth established
subsequently. Thereafter divine beings were produced between
them.

The seventh generation consisted of two deities, Izanagi and

Izanami. It is with them that Japanese myth really begins, all that
precedes being merely introductory and for the most part of
comparatively recent origin.

Izanagi and Izanami stood on the floating bridge of Heaven, and

held counsel together, saying "Is there not a country beneath?"
Thereupon they thrust down the "Jewel-Spear of Heaven" (Ame no
tama-boko) and groping about with it, found the ocean. The brine
which dripped from the point of the spear coagulated and formed
an island which received the name of Onogoro-jima or the "Self
Coagulating Island." The two deities thereupon descended and
dwelt there. Accordingly they wished to be united as husband and
wife, and to produce countries. So they made Omogoro-jima the
pillar of the center of the land.

The two deities having descended on Onogoro-jima erected there

an eight fathom house with an august central pillar. Then Izanagi
addressed Izanami, saying: "How is thy body formed?" Izanami
replied, "My body is completely formed except one part which is
incomplete." Then Izanagi said, "My body is completely formed
and there is one part which is superfluous. Suppose that we
supplement that which is incomplete in thee with that which is
superfluous in me, and thereby procreate lands." Izanami replied,
"It is well." Then Izanagi said, "Let me and thee go round the
heavenly august pillar, and having met at the other side, let us
become united in wedlock." This being agreed to, he said, "Do
thou go round from the left, and I will go round from the right."
When they had gone round, Izanami spoke first and exclaimed,
"How delightful! I have met a lovely youth." Afterwards he said,
"It was unlucky for the woman to speak first." The child which
was the first offspring of their union was the Hiruko (leech-child),

21
 which at the age of three was still unable to stand upright, and was
therefore placed in a reed-boat and sent adrift.13

This time all does go on within the Cosmic Egg. No mention is made here of the
mountain, though that figures prominently in other Japanese mythology. Reference is
made, however, to the great pillar that obviously serves an axis mundi. It is through the
circumambulation of the pillar that the god and goddess unite and produce offspring.
Typically Japanese is the notion that evil entered the world through a breach of etiquette.

All of these variations on this theme add to our appreciation of the wealth of
meaning to be derived from the stupa as anda. The stupa, in this respect, is the cosmos of
miniature and, at the same time, the egg from which divine power springs. Indeed, the
chatra which transcends the anda reveals the springing power. On the one hand, the
levels of the chatra are the levels of heaven, the spiritual realms from which the buddhas
come and to which the holy ones go. The chatra reveals that earth is not simply a self-
contained, mechanistic whole but points beyond itself to the spiritual realms. We have in
the stupa a visual symbol of Heaven transcending Earth. The chatra also reveals the steps
and stages humans must pass through on their way to enlightenment. The whole is both
cosmological and "spiritological." The chatra is the image of the cosmic egg cracking
open, releasing new life into a heavenly realm.

The meeting point of the chatra and the anda is the harmika, usually a square
platform resembling, particularly in early versions, an altar where sacrifices are offered.
This, too, is important, for Buddhism emphasizes, not bloody sacrifice, but the sacrifice
of ego. Or rather, the recognition that the ego or self is an illusion that must be dispensed
with before enlightenment is possible. The harmika is that altar upon which the human
lays aside his or her egotism and, thereby, ascends out of this world, the self-contained
egg. The harmika is the link between earth and heaven, the physical and the spiritual,
samsara and nirvana. It is a sign that in Buddhist thought the doctrine of anatta (no self)
is absolutely central.

Another image that the stupa calls to mind is, of course, the great mountain in the
center of the world. Like the image of the Cosmic Egg, the image of the great mountain is
virtually universal. Sometimes it is a real mountain like Mt. Olympus or Mt. Fuji that
serves as a visible illustration of the mythic peak. Sometimes, hope is expressed that what
is now but a low hill will become, "in the latter days," that mountain in the center of the
world.
It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be raised above the hills;
and all nations shall flow to it,
and many peoples shall come, and say:
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord.”
Isaiah 2:2-3
13
Long, op. cit., 147-48.

22
 In these times Mt. Zion is but a low hill to the naked eye, nestled among hills that
are even higher. But in those days, the truth shall be revealed. Mt. Zion will be seen for
what it is: the great mountain in the center of the world.

So important is this mountain for human civilization that there are cases in which
people have felt compelled to build the sacred mountain where there was none. In
Mexico, nine miles up the Tonala River on a tiny, swamp-surrounded islet, we find a
pyramid of adobe around 150 meters across, built by the Olmecs in about 800 B.C.E.
There are mountains within fifty miles of the site, but, for reasons unknown, the Olmecs
went to great pains and labor to build their own holy mountain where special rites were
held.14

Even more stylized mountains were built by the Mesopotamians in the form of
ziggurats with stairways reaching to the heavens. Just as their cosmology described the
great mountain in the center, so their cities revealed it, nestled as they were about the
base of its eminence. The ziggurat was more than a pile of earth. It was a temple, a city
hall, a center for public gatherings. Nevertheless, it was, as well, the great seven-storied
mountain. On top was an altar where humanity, represented by the king, could become at
one with the divine powers. Here too, each spring the king and queen engaged in ritual
copulation to stimulate fertility for the whole land.

The stupa was and is much simpler than the ziggurat. Usually, there are no inner
rooms. It is a monument, not a building. As such, it conforms particularly well to the
image of the great mountain that rises heavenward. Its very simplicity calls to mind that
archetypal image which humans seem to share. It is somehow so satisfying, so "right."
There is the mountain and the altar and the tree of life.

The chatra, as we have already seen, went through considerable metamorphosis

during the history of the stupa. Some believe it began as an actual tree, an offspring of the
Buddha tree. Soon, however, it became an honorific umbrella with one to three levels.
Stupa #2 at Sanchi reveals the simplest pattern: a single pole with one honorific umbrella
above (II.N.). In later stupas the tiers became many, sometimes forming together a cone
that is overtly designated a tree. Then, on top of this tree, we find once more the umbrella
in somewhat smaller form.

Those who have read widely in world mythology will be immediately struck by
the predictability and aptness of the development of the tree imagery, for like the Cosmic
Egg and the Great Mountain, the Tree of Life is a virtually universal image. In tribal
cultures it often is or is next to the central pole of the communal but which the shaman
climbs to achieve entry into heaven.

Of the living quarters of the Makiritare of Venezuela Wilbert writes:

14
Joseph Campbell, The Mythic Image (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1974), 104ff.

23
 The communal house represents a miniature of the Makiritare
macrocosmos. The roof is the heavenly vault supported by a major
cross-beam—the Milky Way. The central pole is the axis mundi,
the axis of rotation for the celestial dome. The shaman sits at the
foot of the center pole, the center of the universe. From this point,
he "ascends" the world axis through eight successive heavens
(each of which is marked off with onoto on the central pole) to
reach the world of Wanadi above. The Sacred Monkey made a
similar ascent when he went to acquire the first bitter yucca for the
Makiritare. In reality, the communal house is the cosmic center of
the universe for the Makiritare. Here they dwell under the
protection of Wanadi, in the shadow of the (yucca) world tree,
which grows next to the central pole at the point where the heavens
touch the earth.15

In the Bible, the fruit from the tree of life is the potential source for immortality.

And out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that
is pleasant to the sight and good for good, the tree of life also in the
midst of the garden. Genesis 2:9

Then the Lord God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of
us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand and
take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"—therefore
the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the
ground from which he was taken. Genesis 3:22-23

The symbolism here is slightly different from that of the Makiritare, but the
meaning is the same. The tree is that axis mundi which connects heaven and earth. Had
Adam eaten of the tree of life he would have become "like god," for he would have
become immortal. Because he ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil instead,
immortality is denied him and he is driven from the garden where the tree of life is
located. As the New Testament makes clear, in the Christian myth that lost possibility is
made available once more when Jesus hangs upon the tree of life and, through his death,
opens the gates to Paradise. This he does in Jerusalem, "on" the holy mount, in the center
of the world.

The list of trees in world mythology and religion that offer a way to "heaven" is
enormous. We could discuss that Peach Tree of immortality which Chinese stories say
grows upon the mountain of Hsi Wang Mu in Western China. Here the immortals live,
eating the sacred peaches that extend life indefinitely. We could also mention the great
Ash, Yggdrasil, which Nordic myth describes as having its roots in hell and its branches
in heaven. This tree is, in fact, the universe; it is the whole. Its life binds all together. Its

15
Johannes Wilbert, Survivors of Eldorado (New York: Praeger Pub., 1972), 138.

24
death will signal the end of all. There is also the great palm of the Caribs that their hero
climbed with all the animals when the great flood came upon the earth. This is the tree
which originally provided humanity with all its food and sustenance.

Atop the stupa grows the tree of life, calibrated with the levels through which
humans ascend to reach ultimate spiritual fulfillment. At its base are the burned out
remains that once were an ego-illusion. At its top an honorific umbrella signifies the
monumental achievement that that relic represents. The tree, itself, is the way, the
dharma path to enlightenment.

Seen in this way, it is no wonder that the Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese have
regarded the chatra turned pagoda as a symbol sufficient to their needs. To climb the
Chinese pagoda to the top is to act out the spiritual quest; it is to circumambulate in spiral
fashion the axis mundi itself. The Buddhist life is not just a cyclical process. It is an
ascent to spiritual attainment, to enlightenment.

Most stupas, of course, do not particularly emphasize the ascent. At Sanchi the
great stupa has upper and lower pradaksinapatha but no spiral effect. Nevertheless, the
circumambulation of Sanchi also is the acting out of the Middle Way. At Sanchi there are
four lavishly decorated gates or toranas oriented toward the four points of the compass.
The worshipper can enter through any one of them to enter the way, though the main
entrance originally was in the south where Asoka's great pillar was positioned. Each of
the gates awakens in the pilgrim memories of the ancient tales, not only of Gautama
Siddhartha, but of preceding Buddhas as well. They call the visitor to enter through them
into that other world where enlightened ones and their disciples live. Around the stupa
we walk upon another landscape.

Inside each of the gates is a statue of the Buddha with a specific mudra or hand-
gesture. The four Buddhas together present the essential aspects of the Buddha's life and
thought and call forth reverence from those who enter. The worshipper then proceeds
around the stupa, following the path of the sun with the stupa always on the right. The
true devotee will proceed several times around the lower course and then mount the steps
to circumambulate several times on a higher level.

The Pilgrimage

This whole process is an acting out in physical terms of the spiritual quest.
Buddhism takes one to the very center of the world, to the holy mountain and the holy
tree where the Enlightened One dwells in No Thingness. What the monk does in deep
meditation the pilgrim does externally, in the flesh. The spiritual life is a life of quest.

Nowhere does the symbolism of the quest become more apparent than at
Borobudur in central Java. Borobudur, as V.D. makes plain, is constructed like a three-
dimensional mandala. The classical Buddhist mandala, as is represented in the Tibetan

25
mandala below usually involves a square or squares circumscribed in and circumscribing
a circle. The squares, which represent the earthly, are, in Tibet at least, constructed like
the floor plan of a temple. There are four porches and gateways through which one can
enter. Inside the outer doors guarded by guardian deities there is a square
pradaksinapatha. After traversing that in meditation, the meditator enters on the circular
path through one of the inner doors. There, in the center of the mandala, is the Vairocana
Buddha surrounded by four other Dhyani Buddhas and their consorts. This picture is
meant to be a roadmap into the inner self. By following the pradaksinapatha with the
"mind's eye" through meditation upon the picture, one can arrive at the very center of the
self, the Buddha, from whom all springs.

Figure 8. Mandala of Vairocana

26
 At Borobudur, this process is acted out in space and time. The lower levels are
square and one moves around them through highly decorated aisles. Claire Holt says,

The architectural plan of the Barabudur, the Buddha images in niches

above the galleries, and the themes of the reliefs are all symbolic of the
monument's meaning, as is the absence of reliefs on the upper round
terraces. "The ten stages of the Bodhisattva," the phases in the Buddhist
Way of Salvation, are symbolized by the successively rising terraces, six
square and three round, with the crowning stupa as the last phase.
Stutterheim has divided these terraces into three spheres (dhatu). They
represent the sphere of desire (kamadhatu) at the base, the sphere of form
(rupadhatu) on the middle level, and the sphere of formlessness (absence
of form, arupadhatu) at the top.

The lowest sphere, the kamadhatu, is symbolized by the so-called "buried

foot" of the monument, the base terrace. Its outer walls have been carved
with reliefs depicting the earthly existence (karma) of human beings in the
power of desire, their good and evil deeds, and their corresponding
rewards and punishments. For reasons not yet fully established, whether
physical (sagging of the monument), didactic (removal of this sphere from
the eyes of the meditating monks), or symbolic (closing off this sphere as
unnecessary for the royal candidate to Buddhahood) this series of reliefs
has been hidden from sight by a heavy mantel of stones laid around the
base terrace, incidentally widening the floor for the processional path.

The "sphere of form" (rupadhatu), symbolized by the four galleries above

the base, contains all the visible reliefs. Their content, identified in part by
Krom, basically follows certain Sanskrit texts. From these and from the
identification of certain figures or their contexts where texts could not be
ascertained, especially on the third and fourth galleries, it is clear that as
one climbs to the higher levels, the more exalted the themes become. One
rises, in fact, from the lower depths of earthly existence (karma) depicted
on the "buried base" to the highest heavens of future Buddhas.

On the first gallery of the rupadhatu, the upper series of panels on the
main wall depicts episodes from the life of Prince Siddharta Gautama,
who as a sage became known as Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha.
Below this series are scenes rendering the story of Prince Sudhana who
became a Bodhisattva, and his beloved kinnari (a mythical celestial being,
half-woman, half-bird), Manohara. On the balustrade side scenes from
Jataka stories contain incidents from the previous incarnations of the
Buddha. On the main wall of the second gallery the story of Bodhisattva
Sudhana continues, as he visits ascetics, sages, monks, and high
Bodhisattvas, worshiping at sacred places in quest of the highest wisdom.
Jataka tales again appear on the balustrade side. Still higher, on the third
and fourth galleries, there are scenes of Bodhisattvas and of ever higher

27
 heavens with Buddha figures enthroned in serene majesty. Then all
representations end and with them, the "sphere of form" is left behind."16

At last, one emerges from the square levels of form to the circular levels of
formlessness. The circular terraces feature some seventy-two latticed stupas containing a
Buddha image within. The lattice effect allows the pilgrim to know that the Buddha is
inside, but does not afford a clear view of the image.

Finally, in the center, on the very top of the Mountain is the bell-shaped stupa that
represents the very essence of the faith, a symbol for the whole. Some speculate that this
stupa also contained a Buddha image, but is now missing. In any event, the stupa
functions like the Buddha in the very center of the mandala, as a symbol for the object of
the spiritual quest, the ultimate fulfillment of the Middle Path. The way has been one of
discipline and control, but the end is freedom. This moksha finds its expression in the
architecture itself.

No visitor to the Barabudur can help feeling a sense of release upon

entering this upper sphere of the monument, where it is no longer
hemmed in between the walls of the lower galleries with their
profusion of representational forms. Pure space, the marvelous
expanse under the dome of the sky which melts into the mountain
ranges in the distance and the palm groves and rice fields below,
creates a sense of extraordinary peace, the flow of infinity. He need
not be a Buddhist, monk, or mystic to experience the grandeur of
silence that reigns in this superb "void.”17

The symbolic pilgrimage is, of course, hardly Buddhist in origin. Indeed, virtually
every religion from the simplest to the most complex, knows of holy places to which
believers are called to go. One thinks of Jerusalem and Varanasi, Wu Tai Shan and the
Black Hills, Mecca and Canterbury. Although no two pilgrimages are exactly alike, it
would seem that virtually all emphasize the journey as a return to the center. There, on
the sacred mountain in the center of the earth grows the holy tree around which one walks
and up which one symbolically climbs to enlightenment and freedom.

There is, as scholars such as Joseph Campbell and Mircea Eliade have pointed
out, an isomorphism that pervades religious life and action. The themes of the tribal
initiation rite—separation from ordinary society, trial and suffering, return to the center,
death and rebirth—pervade also human mythology, particularly about the hero.18 In The
Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell argues quite persuasively that all heroes reenact

16
Claire Holt, Art in Indonesia: Continuities and Change (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press,
1967); 45-47.
17
Holt, op. cit., 147.
18
Mircea Eliade, Rites and Symbols of Initiation, trans. W. Trask (New York: Harper and Row,
1958).

28
all or a part of this sequence which leads from ordinary existence to rebirth with divine
power and freedom. 19

By the same token, the pilgrim acts out in his journey the stages that both the
initiate and the hero go through. The stupa offers to those who come to it a vision of that
path which leads from death to rebirth—not in this world but in no thingness. In
circumambulation one encircles both the ashes of the past, the symbol of the "Well
Gone", and the tree of life that grows from this soil of death. The tree remains above,
there is no easy path to the top itself, but the recognition is there. The goal is to climb the
tree to the very top.

There is an old adage, "As above, so below" that once shaped human
cosmological thinking. We could also add to it another motto, "As within, so without," as
a saying more acceptable to our age. Everything we have mentioned so far about the
stupa is only an intimation of what to the Buddhist is the central and more important
reality, i.e. the inner quest. The story of the Buddha and the pilgrimage to the stupa are
only ways of expressing in the world what must become an internal truth.

The Cosmic Human

The eyes of the Nepali stupas which we have already mentioned (I.F.) are a
reminder that the stupa is HUMAN, born from the Cosmic Egg.20 This is the Buddha, the
enlightened, perfect human being who sits before us. It is a vision of what all men and
women can become. It is probably not misleading to make an equation with the
traditional Western understanding of humanity. That is, the anda in this equation
represents the body; the harmika, the mind; the chatra, the spirit. The chatra, then, is like
the flaming topknot often seen on images of the Buddha. It is a symbol of those stages of
spiritual development that lead to enlightenment. A stupa without the chatra is only an
image of death and human sacrifice. It is the chatra that reveals that beyond ordinary
human existence, inevitably bounded by suffering and death, is new life in the spirit. The
soaring chatra is the sign of hope and new life pointing upward toward freedom.

19
Joseph Campbell, The Hero With a Thousand Faces (New York: Meridian Books, 1956).
20
I am keenly aware that Cosmic Man sounds sexist, but the term is so widely used it is hard to
avoid. Know that I use "Man" in the proper generic sense.

29
 Scholastic Interpretation
Scholastic Buddhists who have always loved enumeration and categorization have
also had a field day interpreting the stupa as a symbol for the various ingredients of the
life of enlightenment. The Tibetan Tanjur, taking the traditional Abhidharmic view of
human nature, makes the following complicated set of equations.21

The base (socle or medhi) of the stupa in this formulation has four square terraces
and one circular one which symbolize the basis for the spiritual life. Step one is cattari
satipatthanam or mindfulness of body, sensation, mind, and phenomena. Step two is
cattari sammappadhanani or effort—to destroy evil that has arisen and will arise and to
cultivate goodness which has arisen and will arise. Step three is cattaro eddipada or
psychic power. This can be further broken down into (1) the desire to act, (2) energy, (3)
thought, 4) investigation. Step four is called pancindriyani and symbolizes the five
faculties of faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, and reason. In step five, the circular
base of the hemisphere called panca balani, these same latent forces are transformed into
active ones. Thus the fifth, circular terrace is the transition stage between the basis of the
Middle path and the path itself.

Figure 9: The symbolic stupa

21
Lama Anagarika Govinda, The Psycho-cosmic Symbolism of the Buddhist Stupa (Emeryville,
Ca.: Dharma Publishing, 1976), 54ff.

30
 The anda, according to this formulation symbolizes the seven factors of
enlightenment itself:

1. mindfulness 5. serenity
2. discerning the truth 6. concentration
3. energy 7. equanimity
4. rapture

The harmika, in its turn, corresponds to the eight-fold path, i.e.:

1. right views 5. right livelihood

2. right aspirations 6. right effort
3. right speech 7. right mindfulness
4. right action 8. right concentration

The stem of the tree of life corresponds to the tenfold knowledge (of the law, of
other person's thoughts, of relations, of empirical knowledge, of suffering, of things
connected with despair, of the non-production of things). On the stem of the chatra are
also thirteen layers corresponding to thirteen mystical powers.

In a sense, in this very complicated academic formulation, one proceeds from the
base of mindfulness, effort and psychic power upward until the mystical powers are
developed. One can, however, make too much of this upward ascent because, in fact,
each part (as in the human body) depends upon all the rest. An equally good case,
therefore, could be made for moving from the top down, for everything, in a sense,
depends upon that knowledge that comes from above. It is better, however, to avoid an
easy sense of progression in either direction, for all parts depend upon all others.

Knowledge, morality, and will are interdependent. To ask which comes first is to
become involved in a fruitless chicken and egg conundrum. This formulation presents the
whole complex system of the enlightened life. It is no more appropriate to think that
mindfulness must be developed first than it is to think that one makes an automobile by
first creating the tires and setting them up.

The Chorten

Still another, rather elaborate interpretation, is to be found in the Tibetan

understanding of the chorten, a version of the stupa which has apparently been reshaped
spatially so that the message which the interpretation offers comes clearer. In other
words, in this instance, the symbol is virtually transformed into a cryptogram with a
secret message.

31
The chorten in its most abstract form looks like this:

Figure 10: The Chorten

The fundamental relation to the stupa form is visually clear enough, but the
transformation is also apparent. The anda becomes a sphere; the harmika disappears; the
top of the cone becomes geometrically stylized.

In the interpretation of this image equations are made which relate geometrical
form, color, element and what are called chakras. The last items, derived from kundalini
yoga, represent circles of power located between the base of the spine and the top of the
head. Laya yoga, is designed to draw kundalini power up from below the lowest chakra
where it sleeps, through the various circles of power until, when it reaches the highest
level, it produces ecstasy and enlightenment.

Thus, in the chorten are coordinated and equated visible form and color,
cosmological elements, and stages of enlightenment. In effect, enlightenment is not so
much leaving or negating the world as it is fulfilling the natural order of it. Science
(cosmology) and religion are one: there is no conflict. The astronaut in his flight acts out
the pilgrimage of the solitary meditator.

The fact that the cosmology used is no longer regarded as science negates, of
course, the validity of the equation. Indeed, it makes the chorten appear particularly
occult and superstitious and does exactly what the chorten is designed not to do. At the
same time, it reveals the path which modern Buddhism—indeed, all religion—must take.
It could be argued, at least, that the stupa must again be reshaped and reinterpreted so that
it reveals that coordination between the spiritual life and the presently accepted
cosmology. In our age, the stupa ought to be correlated, not with the five elements but
with the Laws of General and Special Relativity, the Indeterminacy Principle, and
Quantum Mechanics.

32
 Such a correlation, though necessary for psychic wholeness, is also dangerous.
Eventually Einstein and Heisenberg and all the other proponents of modern physics will
be supplanted and yet another cosmology will come to birth. When that happens, all
religious attempts to relate to physics will seem dated and, perhaps, even occult. Too
close a coordination between symbol and contemporary theory can destroy, at least
momentarily, the symbol.

If anything has been clear from our analysis of the stupa, however, it is that the
symbol can transcend any special interpretation of it. The stupa is not the captive of any
particular age or any school of Buddhism. Indeed, it transcends Buddhism itself. There is,
to be sure, a sense in which the stupa is exactly the right symbol for the Buddhist
tradition and vice versa. It is Buddhist in a way that it could not be either Hindu or
Christian. Be that as it may, at this point, we must also observe that the stupa transcends
the tradition that has used it. Buddhism, in its historical form, may some day die. Since
nothing in the world is permanent, we can predict with great assurance, in fact, that
Buddhism, along with all other human institutions will either die or be transformed
beyond recognition. But the stupa, the symbol, in some form will live on, for it has been,
is, and will be an ineffable source of power.

33
34
Part II: Photographs

Here are photographs of stupas and pagodas from a variety of Asian countries. Most of
them were taken by the author; another origin is indicated by a star:*

A stupa near Wu Tai Shan, China.

35
I. Nepal

I. A

Since Gautama Siddhartha (the Buddha) was born in southern Nepal in a garden called
Lumbini, let us begin with some pictures from that country. The first (I.A.) is a very
simple, classical stupa from the time of the Emperor Ashoka (304-232 B.C.E.). Ashoka
also built a temple on the hill where the Swayambhunath (Monkey Temple) now
stands.(B. C. D. E.) The final picture is a modern stupa built by the Burmese at the
pilgrimage site at Lumbini where the Buddha is said to have been born. Lumbini is
located very near Bhairahawa (see above) on the border with India.

36
I. B. Ashokan Stupa in Patan, Nepal. The shape and features are of classic design.

37
I.C. The hill not far from Katmandu where the Swayambhu stupa stands

38
I.D.. The Swayambhunath surrounded by many votive stupas

39
I.E. The Pradaksinapatha with numerous prayer wheels. When you spin one it sends off
prayers in every direction.

40
I.F. The eyes of the Buddha suggest that the whole stupa is his image.

41
I.G. The Lokamani Stupa at Lumbini, a modern building built by the Burmese at the birth
place of the Buddha.* (wikipedia)

42
II.A.India

India, of course, is the place where the Buddha achieved enlightenment and taught.
Perhaps the most impressive ancient stupas in India are found at Sanchi, an early
Buddhist center.(II. A-M) Here the early stupas have been covered with stone, and
embellished with beautiful carved stone archways. In all there are three stupas as well as
the remains of an ancient vihara where Buddhist bhikkhus lived.

43
II. B. The hill of Sanchi

II. C. Approaching the ancient stupas of Sanchi

44
II.D. Stupa # 1, Sanchi

45
II.E. One of the great stone gateways of Stupa # 1, Sanchi

The next seven pictures are all details of the stonework. Whether the artisans were
actually Buddhist is an interesting question. Often those who create religious art are not
of the faith being depicted.

46
 II. F.

II. G. II. H.

Sanchi stone-work

47
II. I In very ancient times, the Buddha was not depicted in art but was signified by empty
sandals or perhaps a tree. Here we see the tree of enlightenment rather than the Buddha
himself, though elsewhere at Sanchi he is depicted.

II.J. Another bodhi tree

48
II. K Given the Buddhist concern for controlling desire, it is a little
surprising to see a nude female figure (a yaksha) on a holy Buddhist
site. There are various theories about this, but none of them seems to
me to be wholely satisfactory.

II. L

49
 II. M At Sanchi, unlike many latter sites, the harmika and chatra,
even on the largest of the stupas is very simple.

II. N. The pradaksinapatha , Stupa #1. II. O. View from the upper patha.

50
II. P. This is stupa #2, Sanchi It is smaller and simpler than # 1, having only one gate
and no wall around it. The chatra has only one “umbrella”, though the stupa has both an
upper and lower pradaksinapatha.

In pictures Q and R we see stupa # 3 and the vihara where bhikkhus once lived and
worked.

51
II. Q Stupa #3

II. R The vihara

52
II.S. This is Sarnath where, according to tradition, the now enlightened Buddha taught his
first five disciples and turned the Wheel of the Law for the first time. It is traditionally
known as “Deer Park.” Although this stupa has undoubtedly been radically rebuilt since
Ashokan times and no longer has the simple lines of the stupa at Patan, it is regarded by
many as the oldest stupa still extant in India. Sarnath is very close to the great Hindu
center of Varanasi.

53
II. T. Although the Buddha was enlightened under a bodhi tree at Bodhgaya, Sarnath
also displays a so-called bodhi tree, perhaps a descendant of the original tree.

54
II. U. From very early times, Buddhists were intrigued by and greatly adorned caves.
The Kanheri caves, not far south of Mumbai (once Bombay), are full of beautiful stone
carvings and stupas. Needless to say, there is nothing contained in these stupas. They
are solid stone.

55
II. V. Sometimes at Kanheri, stupas appear in various forms as simply
decorations carved in the walls.

56
II. W At the Karla Caves, also not far from Mumbai is a chaitya hall with this large, free-
standing stupa.* (Wikipedia)

57
II. X. To the east of Mumbai (Bombay) are the caves at Ajanta and Ellora. This stupa is
to be found in Cave # 10 at Ajanta. There are, in all, thirty caves at Ajanta, but only a few
are chaitya halls. When Buddhism moved north to China, the cave tradition was
continued at places like Dunhuang at the Magao caves.

58
 I
II. Y. Here is another great stupa found in cave #19 at Ajanta.

59
III. A. Myanmar and Thailand

III. A While Buddhism eventually lost its power in India, it blossomed in nearby
Myanmar and Thailand.

60
III. B. Yagon (Rangoon) is the capital of Myanmar and features the great Shwedagon
Pagoda. In fact, there is a whole forest of stupas that surround the great central dagoba.
Here is the pradaksinapatha that is used daily by many worshippers. The next several
pictures (C,D,E) show other scenes on the path.

61
III. C.

III. D

62
III. E.

63
III. F. North of Yagon, along the Ayerarwady (Irrawaddy) River, is the site of Medieval
Bagan (once Pagan). Today it is a veritable forest of stupas of all sizes. Many of them
are fairly small votive stupas, as in the foreground, but in the distance are stupas of
monumental size. The next three pictures (G, H, I) are of two of the most famous. Most
stupas cannot be entered, but III. I has an entry door. Inside one can see many treasures
from medieval times.

64
III.G. The Dhammayazika Pagoda built in 1196 C.E. in Bagan, Myanmar.

65
III. H. The Dhammayazika Pagoda surrounded by votive stupas.

66
III.I. The great Ananda Pagoda built in 1105 C.E. in Bagan. One can go inside this
pagoda to view many treasures, including golden Buddhas.

67
III. J. Bangkok in Thailand is also the home of many, many stupas of varying sizes and
shapes.

68
II.K. A view amidst the stupas small and large. Perhaps the most visible stupa in
Bangkok is the fairly modern “Temple of the Dawn” that is next to the river and hence is
visible from many directions. The next two pictures are of that pagoda.

69
III. L. Temple of the Dawn, Bangkok.

III.M.

70
IV.A Sri Lanka

71
IV. B. This modern stupa is found in Colombo, Sri Lanka and represents how modern
Buddhism is practiced. There is a small pradaksinapatha with Buddha images on all four
sides of the stupa (see IV. C.) Opposite these images, on the outside, are altars on which
to leave offerings (see VI. D) One circumambulates as one would the Buddha, keeping
the stupa on your right.

72
IV. C. A small Buddha image on the stupa.

IV. D. A small altar. Note the swastika, a primary Buddhist symbol.

73
IV. E. Anuradhapura was already in existence as the capital when the son of Ashoka
brought Buddhism to Sri Lanka. This is one of the many rebuilt stupas of that ancient
city. The Ruwaneveli stupa is guarded by rows of elephants, now restored (see IV. F.)
and is surmounted by a classic harmika and chatra (see IV. G.)

74
IV.F.

IV.G.

75
IV.H. The Abhayagiri Dagoba, though in ruins, is one of the largest in the world.

76
IV.I. Another ancient stupa under repair at Anaradhapura.

77
IV. J. A small stupa from the other ancient capital, Polonnaruwa.

IV. K.

78
IV. L. K and L are both pictures of the Thuparama stupa, probably the oldest in Sri
Lanka. There is great debate about the function of the many polls that surround the stupa.
Did they support a roof or were they used for some other purpose?* (Wikipedia)

IV. M. The Jetavanaramaya Stupa, also at Anuradhapura.* (Wikipedia)

V. Borobodur, Java

79
V. A, Java
Indonesia is now largely Muslim, but before the coming of Islam both Hinduism and
Buddhism took root there. It was in Java that Buddhists built perhaps the most complex
and beautiful of all stupas at Borobudur in the 9th century C.E. For centuries, however, it
was virtually forgotten and has only fairly recently been renewed, now as a tourist
attraction.

V. B. The stupa at Borobudur. As one can see from the diagrams that follow the
pradaksinapatha is very long, rising eventually to the top that is itself the site of many
smaller stupas.* (Wikipedia)

80
V.C. Here is a view of the many levels of Borobudur. The first levels are covered and
hence quite dark. They concentrate on imagess of karma and its effects. Then the life of
the Buddha is portrayed in the next levels. Only on the seventh level does the pilgrim see
the full light of day again.*

81
V.D. Here is a diagrammatic view from the top revealing the stupa’s complex, many
layered, mandala-like form.*

82
V.E. Finally, on the top level, the pilgrims find themselves in a forest of stupas and
Buddha images. There are in all 72 Buddha images, for the most part hidden within the
stupas.(Wikipedia)

83
V. F Another view of the top of Borobudur.* (Wikipedia)

84
VI. China

VI. A. North Central China

Note the city of Datong, almost directly west of Beijing. Directly below it one can see
Wu Tai Shan, a famous ancient Buddhist site.

We begin with Datong, for just outside that city we find an ancient example of how
Buddhism’s central image radically changed in China. The dagoba, for reasons not fully
understood, was transformed into a pagoda, a tower, usually with several roofs. The form
is radically different, though on the highest roof, one can often see the remnants of the
stupa form.

85
VI. B. The great pagoda at Datong. The pilgrimage now goes not only around but
up in this early pagoda.

86
VI. C. As one climbs, one circumambulates statues
of the Buddha and his disciples on every level.

87
VI. D. The Little Goose Pagoda in Xian was built from 707-709 C.E. to house
manuscripts brought back from India.

88
VI. E. The Big Goose Pagoda in Xian, built in 652 C.E. This
pagoda was actually used as a place where Buddhist manuscripts
were translated into Chinese.

89
VI. F. Near Hangzhou around West Lake in east China there was a major Buddhist
center, with many, now solid, pagoda towers.

90
VI. G. In Ling Yan Si, not far from Beijing, we find this wonderful example of
the pagoda.

91
VI. H. Nearby Beijing, at Ling Yan Si, is also a veritable forest of votive stupas.

92
VI. I. At Shao Lin, in central China where Bodhidharma, the founder of Chan Buddhism,
is supposed to have settled, we find another forest of pagodas.

93
VI. J. and K. In Wu Tai Shan, however, we find a more typical stupa of the Tibetan
(chorten) type.

94
 VI. L.

VI. M. More stupa forms from Wu Tai Shan.

95
VI. N. Even in Beijing, one can also see a huge example of the Tibetan form of the
stupa, for just outside the Forbidden City is a large stupa built in earlier times by the
Tibetans. It is called the white Dagoba and was built to commemorate a visit to Beijing
by the Dalai Lama in 1651.

96
VII Korea and Japan

VII. A. A map of Korea and Japan. Both Korea and Japan were profoundly influenced by
Chinese Buddhism and have tended to use primarily the pagoda rather than the original
stupa image.

97
VII. A. A stone pagoda in Pulguksa, Korea

98
VII. C. Another stone pagoda in Korea

99
VII. D. Kofuku-ji, one of the most famous pagodas in Nara, Japan* (Wikipedia)

100
VIII. E. The great Toji pagoda in Kyoto* (Wikipedia)

Epilogue

101
The age of stupa building is, of course, not yet over. Indeed, the Great Stupa of
Dharmakaya, containing the skull of Vidyadhara Chogyam Trungpa who died in 1987,
has been constructed and consecrated in Colorado at the Shambala Mountain Center.

The Great Stupa, Shambala Mountain Center, Colorado*

Since Buddhism is alive and well in America we can expect that stupa building will
continue, eventually incorporating American ideas and style. Just as the stupa changed as
it moved around Asia, we should anticipate that it will also take on an American cast as
well. Perhaps it already has.

The stupa, among other things, contains and/or expresses what people who believe in it
value most. Thus the earliest stupas contained the remains of the Buddha and some of his
well-known followers. As I look around the American landscape, I do see stupa-like
structures and they do contain, for good or for ill, what many of us think is most valuable.

There are, for instance, a few domed churches, using as a prototype St. Peter’s in Rome,
but there are also plenty of gold-domed banks, looking strangely stupa-like, to keep our
money safe and to enliven the landscape with the promise of wealth.

102
And then, of course, there is the great dome structure that dominates all else.

(Wikipedia)

This is, after all, the symbol of what Americans hold most sacred: democracy, freedom,
and the American way. In a very real sense, this dome has replaced for many the
authority once portrayed by the Christian dome. Whether these American values
themselves will ever be replaced by Buddhist anatta, no self, and compassion is an open
question. What is clear is that the domed structure, surmounted by a vertical image, is a
common and very potent symbol. Religions and particular values may come and go, but
the dome, in one form or another, will never die.

103
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Cook, Elizabeth. Stupa: Sacred Symbol of Enlightenment. Berkeley, CA: Dharma, Pub., 1997.

Cummings, Joe and Bill Wasserman. Buddhist Stupas in Asia: the shape of perfection. Oakland,
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Dallipiccola, Anna Libera, ed. The Stupa: Its religious, historical, and architectural significance.
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Davids, T.W. and C. A. F. Rhys, trans., Dialogues of the Buddha, 2 vols. London: Oxford U. P.:
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Dimmitt, Cornelia and J. A. B. van Buitessen, Classical Hindu Mythology. Philadelphia: Temple
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Dorjee, Pema. The Stupa and its Technology.. New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the
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Doyce, Pema. Stupa and Its Technology: A Tibeto-Buddhist Perspective. New Delhi: India
Gandhi National Centre for the Arts and Motilal Banarsidass, 1996.

Eliade, Mircea. Rites and Symbols of Initiation. Trans. By W. Trask. New York: Harper and Row,
1958.

Gomez, Luis and Hiram W. Woodward, jr. Barabudur: History and Significance of a Buddhist
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Govinda, Lama Anagarika. The Psycho-cosmic Symbolism of the Buddhist Stupa. Emeryville,
Ca.: Dharma Publishing, 1976.

Holt, Claire. Art in Indonesia: Continuities and Change. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press,
1967.

Long, Charles H. Alpha. New York: Collier Books, 1963.

Mitra, Debala. Buddhist Monuments. Calcutta: Sahitya Samsad, 1971.

Nikam, N. A. and Richard McKeon. The Edicts of Asoka. Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
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Seckel, Dietrich. The Art of Buddhism. New York: Crown Publishers,1964.

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104
Snodgrass, Adrian. The Symbolism of the Stupa. Ithaca, South East Asian Program at Cornell
University Press, 1985.

Soni, Sujata. Evolution of Stupas in Burma: Pagan Period: 11th to 13th centuries A.D. Delhi:
Motilal Banarsidass, 1991.

Srivastara, K.M. Buddha’s Relics from Kapilavastu. Delhi: Agam Kala Prakashan, 1986.

Strong, John S. The Relics of the Buddha. Princeton, N.J.:Princeton University Press, 2004.

Tucci, Guiseppe. Stupa: Art, Architectonics and Symbolism. Trans. By Uma Marina Vesci. New
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Wilbert, Johannes. Survivors of Eldorado. New York: Praeger Publishers,1972.

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1
The Pagoda at Bai ma si, where Buddhism first began in China
The Bai Ma (white horse) seems most appropriate.

ISBN 0-9629662-6-6

2
3