Religion and Spirituality – Paint Your Landscape

Although we had lived in Sedona for many years, we had never visited the Amitabha Stupa and Peace Park. Thanks to a friend, a recent trip to Red Rock Country from the Valley of the Sun brought us to this sacred ground, situated at the base of Thunder Mountain.

Amitabha Stupa with Chimney Rock in background

Stupas have graced the Earth for over 2,600 years and are said to be the physical embodiment of the Buddha’s enlightened mind. One of the oldest forms of sacred architecture on the planet, their blessings are immeasurable and their presence in the West very rare. For millennia stupas have been built to deepen the spiritual life and promote healing, peace, and prosperity, and are a place for meditation and spiritual renewal.

Rosie & Terry at the Stupa

Stupa’s crown

Medicine wheel on the Stupa grounds

Offerings at the base of the Stupa

Red rocks with dusting of snow

Construction on the 36-foot tall Amitabha Stupa began in July, 2003, with a final 3-day consecration ceremony taking place on August 1, 2004. On this final day, marked with offerings, song, and dance, prayers began in the early dawn at 5:00 AM. At this hour the Stupa was bathed in moonlight, but when the rising sun shone on the face of the Amitabha Buddha, the Stupa was born. Since then the Amitabha Stupa has been radiating blessings of compassion day and night.

The external beauty of the Stupa covers many offerings within its walls. A sok-shing, tapered 4-sided, 21-foot long cedar column runs along the central channel and is the life force of the Stupa. It is carved at the top like a stupa and has a thunderbolt at the bottom. A large copper cauldron has been placed in the center as a symbol to protect the environment and replenish the five classical elements (earth, water, fire, air, and space) and is said to restore the Earth’s vital energies. Along with this are holy relics, rolled mantras, semi-precious stones and crystals, and other deity statues.

Red rock serenity

Sacred ground in the high desert

Can you spot Coffeepot Rock?

Image of Amitabha in faceplate

Prayer flags fluttering in the breeze

When you arrive at a stupa, Buddhist tradition teaches that there is great benefit in walking clockwise around the stupa at least three times, while making personal prayers for those suffering and for world concerns. A small offering can be made after this journey to dedicate the merit of these prayers for the greater good.

After the three of us had made the journey around the Stupa, we quietly absorbed the serenity of our surroundings. Soon a lone coyote’s cry pierced the silence. Native Americans feel the coyote teaches us that only when all illusions have fallen away will we connect with the source ~ beautiful symbolism experienced on this sacred ground.

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For many, hiking is a form of meditation, getting in touch with nature. This is certainly true for Terry, and I love hiking myself, but I need a little more. That is what took me to the Tucson Community Meditation Center last night. It came highly recommended to me by our friend Kevin. A 30-minute Q&A, followed by a 45-minute sit and a Dharma talk about how to merge tranquility into your meditation practice rounded out the evening.

The speaker for the evening was Upasaka Culadasa, a lay-practitioner who has practiced Buddhist meditation for 35 years and is now devoted to helping students master meditation skills. It was a very welcoming group that I spent the evening with and I felt blessed to have had the opportunity to sit in the presence of this revered teacher. What I didn’t realize until this morning is how much his talk on serenity spoke to me.

You see, for the most part, I tend to see myself as a tranquil person but I have discovered that I have been anything but serene for the past week or so. What I have been is restless, with a somewhat uneasy feeling about me and not quite sure why. I think I may have gotten to the crux of the matter.

When I retired and started this blog, it was with the intent of keeping family and friends informed of our travels throughout Mexico, but also with the thought that I would now have time to pursue my spirituality and write with a more philosophical bent as well. After all, the front page of my blog does say a ‘Journey of Self-Discovery and Adventure” and in my post on Ringing in 2012 I said to be true to yourself, so I guess it is time I do just that.

I enjoy writing about our travels and will continue to do so, as I want to share another great hike we did today in the Santa Catalina Mountains, for those who might like hiking and find themselves in the Tucson area. Hopefully my occasional philosophical musings will not scare anyone off but if you think they might, hit the back button and get out while you can! Otherwise, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

The Santa Catalinas are so beautiful and so vast that we decided to do the Pima Canyon Trail, on the other side of the mountain. We completed 8 of the 14 miles of this trail before turning back, and with an elevation gain just shy of 2000 feet, we said “good enough”. Truthfully the literature warns that once beyond the 3-mile mark, the trail becomes noticeably more rugged and steep. For me that means treacherous on the way down. We did a lot of boulder-hopping after the 3-mile mark as well and had to stay alert to make sure we did not make a wrong turn, as the trail was not well-defined beyond this point.

I mastered the descent down the mountain, well almost. We always carry a first-aid kit with us, mostly for the benefit of Terry, as the standing joke is that he seems to take any opportunity he can to injure himself in some way. But today, this first-aid kit was to be all mine. I got through the worst of the loose, steep descent, stepped onto a granite boulder, and slid down the other side, whacking my forearm on the way down. I hit my funny bone (can someone remind me why they call it that?) and drew just enough blood to invoke sympathy from Terry, as he rounded the corner to see me laid out. Thank goodness for an ice pack in our lunch sack, to reduce the knots that began to appear on my arm. After a few minutes of easing the light-headedness I was feeling from where I hit the nerve in my elbow and my embarrassment, we were on our way once more.

Except for my minor mishap today, with enough trails under my belt, I think Terry may just make a hiker out of me after all. Now, if he could just teach me how to pee in the wilderness without getting my boots wet! Not happenin’.