The Stupas of Crestone

The Stupas of Crestone are monumental wonders of Southern Colorado, an hour-plus drive from the nearest cities of Alamosa and Salida.

Marveling at neighboring Great Sand Dunes National Park, I wonder: is it worth it, the drive to that two-horse Crestone town: is it worth a two-night stay? 

Yes! Whether taking an adventurous turn onto County Road T, or planning a special pilgrimage: the Stupas of Crestone are meaningful and memorable places to visit—any time of year. 

The Stupas of Crestone are sublime, monumental shrines of Three Rare Supremes, Buddhist sources of refuge, precious jewels. Stupas are architectural renderings of the Buddha-body of Reality and completely symbolic of the Buddha Way in its entirety.

Reading all about the stupas of Crestone, you’ll learn more about Creastone and stupas in general, as well as receive some basic advice on how to perform devotions in the context of Buddhist pilgrimage.

What is a Stupa?

The Buddhist stupa is a monumental representation of the Body of Truth, and the stages of awakening, the Buddha Way. In Sanskṛt, stūpa refers to a heap or mound as in the burial mounds of ancient kings. The stupa is also known in Sanskṛt as caitya, a place of worship and similarly in Tibetan as chorten, a ceremonial support. 

The Buddhist stupa almost always contains a spire, or some kind of orientation to the heavens, so it is more than a mound or reliquary for earthly remains, it is a monument to the marriage of earth and heaven, of the world and of transcendence.

A Buddhist stupa is constructed for three main reasons: 1) to hold the relics of the Buddha's funeral pyre, or those relics of his lineage disciples 2) to commemorate an important event (such as Buddha's Enlightenment, or First Turning of the Dharma Wheel); or 3) as a votive built to bless the local environment by generating merit in dynamic places such as crossroads and public squares.

When a great being passes away, his body is no more. But to indicate that his mind is dwelling forever in an unchanging way in the dharmakaya, one will erect a stupa as a symbol of the mind of the buddhas. Within the stupa the teacher remains unchanging. The Buddha said that whoever sees the stupa will be liberated by the sight of it. Feeling the breeze around the stupa liberates by its touch. Having thus seen or experienced the stupa, by thinking of one’s experience of it, one is liberated through recollection. - H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

What About Crestone (& Baca Grande)?

Crestone/Baca Grande is a spiritually idyllic locale overlooking the San Luis Valley of Southern Colorado. All manner of extremes are encountered in daily life: extremes of weather, geography, seasonal pests, personae…we could name a few! Crestone itself is not only a living relic of the Wild West, but a place where pre-history and myth are also contemporaneous in the present. 

Nestled in the foothills of the Sangre de Christo Mountains, this high mountain valley has been known to the region as "The Bloodless Valley" since prehistoric time: a pacific place of prayer, vision quests, and transition between worlds. That “oceanic feeling.” In mythtime, Mount Blanca (the most prominent peak in the Valley) is sacred to Hopi as the place of our emergence into the world. It is also the eastern of four sacred mountains of Diné who refer to it as Sisnaajiní, or White Shell Mountain. 

The "Stupas of Crestone" are thus situated in a place long considered sacred, a place of hallowed grounds. In modern times, however, we have such jurisdictions as the Town of Crestone, Baca Grande Property Owners Association, water districts, fire districts, and vast unincorporated county lines. 

Crestone is literally a modern-day two-horse town: there are two pumps (gas and diesel), two tiny grocers, and up to two restaurants open at any given time. 

Neighboring Crestone is Baca Grande: an old, subdivided land grant from Spain, named Baca for the family who received the grant and tended cattle there. The Baca is most well known for its main, espiraled, pilgrimage route, Camino Baca Grande. The further it goes into retreat the more it is called “Dream Way,” the "High Road," or "Spiritual Highway." Most of the retreat lands were granted to spiritual lineages of the world by Hanne Strong's Manitou Foundation. 

“The Baca" is famous, or infamous to locals, for its sprawling plats of Chalets and Grants, Casita Park and Camper Village that comprise Baca Grande Property Owners Association, "the POA." Most of the local population of Crestone actually lives here, spread out across quite an expanse of foothills and flats. 

A single cell tower far, far away offers spotty reception at best. So be prepared! Pack all kinds of extra layers and fuel. Water is essential. Ascend with the view while practicing patience with the mosquitos, wind and dust. 

Finally, don't be surprised by bold, bareface conversations in public. Rather, lean into such notions that rock perceptions of cosmic design, the universe and its inhabitants, spacetime and the all.

The Major Public & Private Stupas of Crestone

After visiting these stupas many times over the course of several years and reading what I could of their details and history, I interviewed two local residents—Paul C. Kloppenburg and Ani Chonyi Zangmo—for the purpose of completing this article. Mr. Kloppenburg, himself, had some part in designing and building many of the major stupas of New Mexico and Colorado, including Venerable Chonyi Zangmo's Five Elements Stupa (featured below). They are both elders who—over the course of decades—have seen and participated in creating the dynamic, local Sangha that we see today. I look forward to sharing some of their insights which are displayed in the symbolic outer and inner designs from the void, tending toward elegance each in their own iconoclastic scholastic.

The major public stupas of Crestone are all built according to the Tibetan tradition. They are stunning white gold-leafed monuments featuring an icon in the gau, or alcove, of their cone-shaped iteration of the ancient tumulus. These stupas are blessed to be always open, albeit only officially open from dawn to dusk. 

Practically all of the major stupas of Crestone contain undiluted relics such as ringsel, the remains of masters who have, through gnosis, transmuted their gross elements into crystalline bits of blessings. Thus the stupas are like living dynamos that grant blessings directly in relation to the minds and activities of the ones who attend them. The more wisdom and knowledge cultivated in their presence, the more effect they will have. But one may simply “do and connect,” without expectation, and integrate their blessings on an intuitive level too.

• Jangchub Chorten, "The Enlightenment Stupa"
• Padmasambhava Stupa
• Tashi Gomang Stupa, "Auspice Many Doors"

The private stupas of Crestone are of varying Near and Far East designs. Some are to be found at monastic dwellings and retreat centers, while others are quietly nestled in the woods, and even within the homes of many local Buddhist practitioners. 

• Five Elements Peace Park (by invitation only)
• Vajra Vidya Retreat Center
• Various Home Shrines of Buddhist Laity (by invitation only)

The following are in-depth details and descriptions of contents of all the major public and private stupas, along with a few glimpses of private stupas one may encounter by invitation (or luck).

The Enlightenment Stupa

The Enlightenment Stupa, or Jangchup Chorten in Tibetan, is the first and most apparent stupa in Baca Grande. It's directly visible from the main, paved thoroughfare, Camino Baca Grande. Thus it is a stupa of the crossroads situated squarely in the public consciousness. The rainbow glint from its crowning crystal really catches the eye!

Tsoknyi Rinpoche founded this stupa at the Yeshe Rangsal Retreat Land within its mother organization, the Pundarika Foundation. It was built to commemorate his father and teacher, the renowned Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, and was consecrated in 2005 among several high lamas and hundreds of devotees.

Sacred relics include:

• Ringsel of Buddha Shakyamuni and other relics offered by Tenga Rinpoche
• Blessing pills from Tashi Jong, seat of the Drukpa Kagyu lineage of Tibet; and relics of its founder Khamtrul Rinpoche VIII (as well as those of his predecessor, Khamtrul Rinpoche I)
• Relics of Tilopa and Milarepa, famed mahasiddhas of India and Tibet
• Relics of Jigme Lingpa and Choggyur Lingpa, great revelators of Tibet
• Relics of Karmapa XVI, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, and Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, all modern lineage masters
• Relics from Adeu Rinpoche's treasure collection, the condensed essence of all available blessings from Tibet

Supports for Buddha-Body, Speech, and Mind include:

• The life force pole at the top of the stupa, itself, includes representations of enlightened body, speech, mind, and activities
• The complete Buddha Word (110 volumes); Indian Treatise (300 volumes); Sacred Collections of the Ancient Nyingma School; Mipham Rinpoche's Collected Works; and the Drukpa Kagyu Dharma Collection (110 volumes)

The Stupa of Enlightenment is constructed in a similar fashion to many other stupas in that it rests on top of a cache of weapons (thereby subjugating warfare and aggression), contains a treasure container, an auspicious vase, and some mass multiplier of miniature clay stupas called tsa-tsas (in this case, 20,000!).

This sacred stupa features Buddha Śākyamuni in its central, gilded alcove. The jewel of enlightenment at its apex is a dazzlingly faceted silver Swarovski crystal that catches all the rays of the sun and transforms them to rainbows for visitors' inspiration and delight.

The Padmasambhava Stupa

The Padmasambhava Stupa is the first stupa constructed in Colorado, in 1982. Jim George, the landowner, wondered how his land might spiritually benefit the San Luis Valley. So the leader of the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, Dudjom Rinpoche, replied, "Build a stupa." Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche personally chose the location.

The stupa is at the end of South Carefree Way, easy to find and only moderately remote. Cottonwood Creek runs nearby. While the stupa is open every day, please respect boundaries as the house next to it is privately owned and occupied.

Hanne Strong, one of the most instrumental people in the spiritual development of Crestone/ Baca Grande, asked Lama Ugyen Shenphen and Paul Kloppenburg to initiate the project in 1982. The 11-foot tall stupa contains all the sacred blueprints and substances of traditional Tibetan stupas worldwide. For example, along with the life force pole, &c., some 10,000 tsa-tsas, or mini clay stupas, were placed within. 

While it may have been known as "The Little Stupa" for a time, in 2002 Paul Kloppenburg updated some of its deteriorating aspects to include a new and improved portico for a statue of Padmasambhava. Local artist, Barbara Falconer, assisted (on other stupas too by applying the gold leaf). With the addition of the beautiful bronze statue that has become its namesake, the stupa is now known as Padmasambhava Stupa.

The Padmasambhava Stupa is "empowered with precious relics of prominent Tibetan lamas and yogins, some hundreds of years old." 

The relics that we know of are contained in the portico’s Padmasambhava statue (the detailed list of the original contents of the stupa have eluded us). Nevertheless, the statue’s relics are accounted for, sourced from Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, Bardo Tulku Rinpoche, Rabjam Rinpoche, Lama Sarah Harding, Paul Kloppenburg, and several other members of the local community. Some of the most rare and undiluted relics include:

• Bone relic pieces of Yeshe Tsogyal, Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
• Hairs of Khenpo Gangshar, Dudjom Rinpoche, and Sanggye Chatral Rinpoche
• Cloth fragments of the garments of Tulku Urgyen Lingpa, Jigme Lingpa, Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, Choggyur Lingpa, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Karmapa XVI, and Togden Urgyen Tendzin
• Body salts of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Karmapa XVI 
• Many astonishing relic pills, precious pills, and blessed substances of lineage masters and holy sites of Himalaya

Padmasambhava Stupa bides at the end of South Carefree Way. This location was envisioned to be the entrance to a much larger complex (across the creek) though at this time it remains undeveloped. Nevertheless, Padmasambhava Stupa is a votive stupa of the crossroads, a monument for pilgrim and passerby alike to catch a glimpse and refresh their Buddha Mind.

(Note: the house next to Padmasambhava Stupa, and its close neighbor, is private property and unassociated with the stupa itself.)

Tashi Gomang Stupa

The Tashi Gomang Stupa is the ultimate pilgrimage site of the Spiritual Highway, Camino Baca Grande, as it continues onto Dream Way and then Tranquil Way to the 42-foot stupa. Karma Theksum Tashi Gomang (KTTG) manages 200 acres there including Tashi Gomang Stupa (since 1995), Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche Stupa (under construction), and four rustic retreat cabins. The land is stunningly set over the San Luis Valley, and directly overlooks Liberty Trailhead, the northern gate to Great Sand Dunes National Park. 

As is the case in such devotedly constructed stupas worldwide, no detail was spared in the construction of this sacred monument. It's an architectural endeavor that, like the dharma itself,  is both vast and profound: vast in that the details are as many as its 100,000 hand-crafted mini clay tsa-tsas; and profound in its living embodiment of the Buddha and his lineage.

Amazing and blessed relics represent, in reality:

• ALL SIXTEEN Karmapas in the life-force pole of Karmapa XVI's holy statue
• Shakyamuni Buddha and Padmasambhava ("The Second Buddha")
• Forefathers of the "Practice Lineage": Tilopa, Marpa, Milarepa, and Rechungpa
• Longchenpa and Jamgon Kongtrul, Luminaires of Tibet
• Chogyam Trungpa, Tulku Urgyen, Dilgo Khyentse, and Kalu Rinpoches

The sheer amount of blessing materials and dedications in this monument are truly stupendous. There are an astonishing number of details—far too many to list here. If interested, watch the documentary “The Eye of the Land” for the full story.

This stupa is the most remote of all the stupas of Crestone/Baca Grande and also the most grand. Since it's at the end of a long, bumpy dirt road (2WD ok in most conditions) we would be remiss in neglecting to admit that some little bit of hardship is required simply to arrive. 

We recommend making the most of the pilgrimage by preparing for a picnic ahead of time: snacks, sweets, flowers for offering; hot tea in the thermos. Accumulate vast merit by enacting  devotions, and making many prayers. Enjoy a picnic overlooking the valley to refuel along the way. As builder of stupas Paul Kloppenburg likes to say, "Get out of your head, and into the elements." 

Make the trip worthwhile—it's not just another roadside attraction. Tashi Gomang Stupa is a sublime memorial of Karmapa XVI, a monk of regal stature in the authentic Buddha line.

Five Elements Stupa

Five Elements Stupa is a private stupa in Baca Grande's Casita Park, the POA’s trailer park on the valley floor and the first major development to be encountered upon entrance to Crestone/Baca Grande from County Road T. 

Five Elements Stupa and Peace Park is currently open by invitation only!

Five Elements Stupa is the central, monumental masterpiece of Five Elements Peace Park founded by Ani Chonyi Zangmo, a Western nun of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. The Peace Park is a multicultural, contemplative healing arts center. 

Cultures represented in Ani Chonyi’s Peace Park include: the Tibetan/Southwestern-style gompa (a mini meditation hall); the Japanese gorinto or "Five Elements Stupa"; a Native American hogan; multiple statues of Kyan Yin of the Orient; and the nunnery, an exquisite American trailer (its very hollow floor reminiscent of the resounding bottom of our socioeconomic totem pole).

The Five Elements Stupa is modeled according to the Japanese gorinto: "Five-Ring Tower," "Five-Ring Stupa," or "Five Elements Enlightened" are just a few translation/interpretations of the term. 

The gorinto is most commonly found in Japan as a memorial shrine in cemeteries, presumably constructed there as a blessing for the deceased. In the inner sense of its meaning, the gorinto traces its lineage to the pure and enlightened elements of Indian Buddhist cosmology. Master Kukai, founder of Shingon (Japanese Esoteric Buddhism), brought the inner meaning of Buddhism to a native Japanese aesthetic in the early Heian period.

While it looks like a gorinto on the outside, Five Elements Stupa might have more in common with the "Many Doors" stupa of Tibetan provenance. How so? The Peace Park itself contains many gates of wood and galvanized steel; such are the actual many doors. So, too, the Five Elements Stupa is chock full of 108 tsa-tsas of the same mold and rolled mantra as Tashi Gomang Stupa’s "Auspice Many Doors." 

Khenpo Losal, who blessed the land of Ani Chonyi’s Peace Park, sees things in a very practical and non-sectarian way. He said, "Stupas, like people, come in many shapes and sizes. It's not important what's on the outside; it's what's on the inside that's important." So as we see that this stupa is formally different in outer appearance, the inner meaning is the same. Its contents also carry equal blessing as any other so-called major, or popular, stupa of the region. 

When the Five Elements Stupa was built, Ani Chonyi Zangmo looked at it and pondered to herself, "A stupa is the mind of the Buddha. Why would you plunk it in the sand?" So she built a dry moat surrounding it: dry so that the stupa, itself, is still accessible by foot and yet it hints at water. When one wishes to approach the stupa, however, the moat urges mindfulness and prevents one from habitually “gushing” into things and thus tripping headfirst into granite. 

According to Ani Chonyi, before the dry moat-scape, the stupa appeared "tiny and insignificant." After the moat, however, the stupa's presence actually became predominant in the Park.

The five great elements that constitute the Tibetan cosmos are known by five corresponding bija, or “seed syllables.” In secret, these are the pure Five Wives of Five Gnoses, the better halves of the Five Buddha Families.

• KHA: space 
• HA: air 
• RA: fire 
• VA: water 
• A: earth

Similar to the inner channels and energies of Buddha, the essence of the stupa abides within its central channel. Thus the stupa’s life force pole is comprised of a 4” steel pipe stuffed with tiny sacred and blessed substances and numerous precious relics.

• Relic of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche: a thigh-bone's shard from among his cremated remains
• Relic of Buddha Kasyapa: two ringsel, crystalline bits of the pre-historic third buddha of our fortunate eon
• Many precious pills and personal effects of realized yogis, relics offered by His Eminence Dorzong Rinpoche (a beloved peer of Chogyam Trungpa's from the early days of Young Lama's Home School) and Dorzong Rinpoche's student, Popa Tulku
• Tsoknyi Rinpoche’s relic: his father/guru’s amṛta, a material link to Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche’s Enlightenment Stupa (featured above) as well as an offering of five tsa-tsas of each the five elements
• Ani Chonyi Zangmo herself cast, painted, stuffed and offered the traditional 108 tsa-tsas
• Paul C. Kloppenburg designed and built the stupa and also offered many wondrous and amazing substances including earth of both the hallowed grounds of Buddha and Wutai Shan’s peaks of five directions; many precious pills and substances; and tiny, sacred representations of enlightened Body, Speech, and Mind

Five Elements Stupa is placed at the crossroads between Crestone/Baca Grande and the greater San Luis Valley. It's placement is also as a votive to generate merit in the neighborhood grounds and to spiritually and esthetically uplift the POA’s Casita Park. 

According to the mandala principle, the periphery is equally as important as the center. And so this stupa and its blessed park is placed at the periphery of Crestone/Baca Grande. It rightfully abides on hallowed grounds, the idyllic and yet dynamic place of spiritual retreat. 

The Kalacakra Stupa at Vajra Vidya Retreat Center

How to Cultivate Good Fortune at a Stupa

Since the stupa is a living monument of the awakened mind of Buddha, the single refuge, we behave as we would if the Buddha were present in real life. Acts of homage to the sacred, monumental form of the stupa include prayer hands, the bow, prostration, and circumambulation. Such simple methods of cultivating virtue act in accord with correlative emergence, that all the intentions and blessings imbued in the creation of the stupa more quickly come true, altogether at once.

Prayer Hands

Prayer hands, also called anjali, are typically joined at the heart center. The fingertips and edges of the palm are joined thus leaving some empty space within. The gesture of prayer hands is as if one is cradling a wish-fulfilling jewel—in reality, it's one's own mind. 

Simply joining prayer hands with "good head and shoulders" becomes an act of homage and salute to the purity of the Buddha's awakened mind, acknowledged, too, as one's very own. 

At the inner, tantric level are Five Gnostic Buddhas and Five Consorts as moon and sun mandalas within the fingertips, in the right and left, respectively—their union is the dawning of the buddhafield itself! This yogic deed while very easy to perform is quite profound in meaning. 

The Bow

The bow is a formal act of the body bending toward the honored one…in the case of a stupa, the shrine of the Buddha. Bending and bowing the body forward at the waist/lower back naturally lowers one's head. Therefore, it’s a virtuous act of selflessness, humbleness and respect. 

Bowing is a gesture that demonstrates an openness and receptivity to all the available goodness and blessings of the stupa. The hands may perform the gesture of prayer hands; alternatively, the palms may be placed on the hips. Meditation and martial arts' gestures of salute may also be used along with the bow as a means to formally arrive and depart any sacred space.

Prostrations (Deep Repeated Bows)

Prostrations are the most active and humbling act of the body. Prostrations include the gesture of prayer hands placed successively at one's three places (forehead, throat, and heart) in salute to Buddha-Body, Speech, and Mind. Then, the body is literally placed down to the ground. 

A "half prostration" touches five points to the ground: forehead, hands and knees. A "full prostration" is how it sounds: the full front of the body goes face-down flat—prayer hands then hinge up on the elbows for a final flourish. 

Once prostrated—either half or full—get up and do it again until the count is complete (three times is a typical minimum). There's no need to dwell or grovel there on the ground, but again and again get up and salute once more anew; paying respect to holiness and purifying misdeeds. 

Circumambulation

Circumambulation is a very common method of cultivating goodness and auspiciousness at stupas worldwide (it was commonly performed as an act of reverence to Buddha himself, especially prior to singing hymns, making offerings, or asking questions of Him). Practically every stupa has a means to walk around, it's usually a paved and circular path (or a series of concentric gardens and paths). The stupa is traditionally circumambulated clockwise, but this may differ depending on the continent upon which one resides. The traditional direction of one's devotional gait is to follow the illuminator: determine the direction of the sun's daily course—where it rises, traverses, and sets—then turn the same way in walking meditation.

Multiplying the Effects of Prayers at a Stupa

Above are behaviors of the body that support the cultivation of auspiciousness at stupas much like being among such holy beings themselves. In practice, though, we can actually cultivate three at a time: body, speech, and mind.

For instance: while engaging prayer hands we can easily uplift and expand the mind while saying prayers, or spelling mantra with our speech. Thus, in addition to the merits gained from paying homage with the body at a stupa, every level of one's being can engage and multiply the effects of good luck that the stupa is blessed to affect. 

One may also begin the three-fold multiplier with mind... having a flash peak experience of spacious clarity in mind, then joining hands with the body, and praying with speech: Actually speak the Buddha Word and/or one's personal prayers aloud. 

Generally being mindful and cultivating Four Foundations of Mindfulness in particular, is the way to engage the mind at a stupa, a temple, and/or among holy beings, whatever one does or says. In this way even a simple picnic can be a feast of meditation and cultivation of the positive virtues. 

Of course it's great to remain silent, too. Sometimes when others are present we might consider silence more golden. Whether standing, sitting, prostrating/lying down, or walking, just remain in the cultivation of virtue through every aspect of being. In the most profound state of mind, all forms are the Buddha Body; all sounds are Buddha Speech; and all thoughts are Buddha Mind.

Stupas are profound force multipliers of truth, so when we connect to them it is highly beneficial to cultivate the mirror-like truth of our own highest potential within. Multiply the effects by engaging the three—body speech, and mind—as well as with repetitions of three, seven, twenty-one, or 108! 

Do it like that again and again. 

Bibliography

Lama Anagarika Govinda. Psycho-cosmic Symbolism of the Buddhist Stupa. (Berkeley, California: Dharma Publishing, 1976).

McCalpin, James. Crestone: Gateway to the Higher Realms. (Crestone, Colorado: Crestone Science Center, 2011).

The Eye of the Land. Directed by Mark Elliot. (Crestone, Colorado: Crestone Films), DVD.

The Stupa: Sacred Symbol of Enlightenment (Crystal Mirror Series #12). Cook, Elizabeth & Yeshe De Project’s editorial team. (Berkeley, California: Dharma Publishing, 1977).

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