The Peace Mandala is a powerful Buddhist monument that possesses the energetic ability to bestow blessings that will permeate the five elements throughout the world. The blessings of the Peace Mandala will be vast and powerful as they are carried on the strong currents of air and water to restore balance and harmony—ecologically, socially and personally—for all of the earth's inhabitants around the globe. His Holiness, Shenphen Dawa Norbu Rinpoche, supreme lineage holder of the Dudjom Tersar, has offered his full support of the P'hurba Peace Mandala Project in a recent letter, which includes a beautiful teaching about the importance of Vajrakilaya.
The Mandala awaiting completion of the Temple to be installed and consecrated. Read about the Temple construction.
We are at a critical time in human history. As ancient prophecies predicted, our modern era is burdened with challenges and Earth’s inhabitants face many dangerous problems: increased warfare, environmental disasters, economic breakdown, epidemic diseases, famine, and political turmoil are prominent among them.
Wherever you look, there is conflict, violence, turmoil, and suffering. How can we make a difference? How can we do something that will pacify this negativity and help to restore peace?
In the Buddhist tradition, it is believed that there are special types of monuments that possess powerful energetic abilities to remove negativity and protect from disaster. One example is a full-scale, three-dimensional mandala. These types of monuments have the ability to bestow great blessings throughout the earth—permeating the five elements with their power.
Vajrakilaya
Padmasambhava predicted that Vajrakilaya (P’hurba) would be of particular importance in restoring peace and balance on the earth at this critical time. Vakrakilaya is the powerful embodiment of all the Buddha’s activities and is the remover of obstacles.
In keeping with the prophecies, and in response to the growing need to take action, we have initiated the Phurba Peace Mandala Project and the construction of a full-scale Vajrakilaya mandala, and temple to house it, according to the Dudjom Tersar lineage.
The mandala itself is now complete and ready to be installed at P’hurba T’hinley Ling. We continue the next phase of building the Temple in which to house it.
Interview with Lama Dawa Rinpoche on the Vajrakilaya Mandala Project
What Is a Mandala?
The word mandala is Sanskrit for circle. Mandalas exist in Hinduism and Buddhism and can be recognized in Native American and other indigenous cultures. Both ancient and contemporary spiritual traditions employ them to symbolize a microcosm of the universe and enlightened vision.
There are many different types of mandalas, each with different energies and intentions. They can be used as a focus in meditation and prayer, for healing and teaching, and for establishing sacred space.
You may be familiar with Tibetan sand mandalas, where a specific intricate design is created in colored sand. These two-dimensional mandalas are actually blueprints for three-dimensional models of a perfected universe and tradition dictates the deities, objects, and colors within.
The P’hurba Peace Mandala will be the first full-scale, three-dimensional mandala on the North American continent. It will embody the universe in full harmony, generating great energy and blessings, bringing balance to the elements, and promoting peace for the continent and the entire world.
The Sacred Land
The temple sits atop a high bluff overlooking the Upper Mississippi River Valley, in the Lansing Wildlife Management Area, in Lansing, Iowa. The ridge itself is shaped like a giant p’hurba pointing due east toward the Mississippi River – a natural geomantic formation that Lama Dawa recognized as the perfect seat for the Vajrakilaya Mandala, where the rising eastern sun will bathe the mandala in first light each morning. These bluffs have been revered for millennia, home to ancient Native American effigy mounds and petroglyphs. The land itself seems to welcome the temple with open arms. Read more about the location.