THE GREAT DHAMMAKAYA CETIYA
The Pagoda of One Million Lord Buddhas
Stupa or pagoda is a sacred place that has stood with Buddhism ever since the ancient time. It is considered a divine Buddhist site, which lifts quality of mind of those who visit and faithfully pay respect. The mind would become more purified to the level of Nirvana. Anyone who yearns to be free from Samsara, which is a prison for humans and all beings and is endless, should pay respect to the pagoda with great faith.
From the note of Xuanzang scholar, who travelled to India 1,400 years ago, Lord Buddha has showed a fundamental form of pagoda by stacking his folded rectangular robes with the lowest layer being widest and then inverting his alms bowl on top of the robes.
The form that the Lord Buddha has set from that day has therefore been the model until present time. As you can now see, Sanchi stupa, which was built 2,200 years ago, also has the form of semi-sphere that resembles an inverted alms bowl.
The Great Dhammakaya Cetiya shares a similar shape with the ancient Sanchi Cetiya located in India. Its construction began in 2538 B.E.(1995) and it was designed to last for no less than 1,000 years. Inside and outside the Cetiya, there are altogether one million Personal Dhammakaya Images made of silicon bronze and gold particles using the Titanium-Gold Ion Plating method.
Dhammakaya pagoda is in the universal form that existed in ancient times. It is designed to hold 1,000,000 personal Buddha statues sitting in half-lotus position. Each statue is 15-cm wide, 15-cm tall with a supporting base of 18-cm diameter and the name of its owner is inscribed at the base of the Dhammakaya Image. All the Buddha statues represent pureness, wisdom and enlightenment.
The Grand Buddha Image
Right in the center of The Great Dhammakaya Cetiya is the Grand Buddha Image made of 14 tons of pure silver. Every Dhammakaya Image represents the Lord Buddha sitting in a half-lotus position.
The grounds surrounding The Great Dhammakaya Cetiya are dedicated to activities leading to inner peace and world peace. Surrounding the Cetiya grounds is the great two-storied cloister which was built in 2547 B.E.(2004) It is the place where one million monks and laypeople can come to practice meditation together during such important Buddhist events as the Magha Puja Day Lanterns Lighting Ceremony, Mass Alms-Offering Ceremony, mass meditation practice on Earth Day, the meeting together of the V-Star children, leaders of world morality revival, etc.
It is also the venue where every day, 24 hours a day, the laypeople take turn coming in to worship the Cetiya, chant the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, circumambulate the Cetiya, and practice meditation. The Cetiya is the area where a huge amount of pure merit energy is being continuously generated.
The Great Dhammakaya Cetiya, the One Million Buddhas Cetiya, is the symbol of world peace through inner peace as well as the center of love for humanity.
The Great Dhammakaya Cetiya, The pagoda of one million Buddhas, is a spiritual center for all humans and spiritual beings, the place for them to pay homage to the Triple Gems and to fulfill their spiritual search regardless of race, creed, religion and nationality. The founding of the Great Dhammakaya Cetiya, is a great and important task. this talk will bring spiritual uplifting and install morality into humanity. This task will bring all humanity to feel close to the the Triple Gem. The origin of thought will be purified, and speech and manners will be purified. This will create the type of immunity that the world is looking for. The peace that will be radiated from the inner being will spread from Individual to families to societies, and to nations, and soon extend the true peace to the world at large.
