The leadership of Surmang Dutsi Til monastery has just informed us that a key element required for the planned August 3 consecration of the shedra and the monastery lhakang cannot be finished in time. Therefore, the consecration will have to be postponed until 2019.
The large shrine statues, or rupas, are central elements that empower a shrine room. They are magnetizers and conduits of awakened energy. In preparation for consecration, they are filled with tens of thousands of mantras, the tsokshing (life-force pole), and other precious objects. Unfortunately, even though the three large rupas for the Surmang shedra are well on their way, as illustrated in the photo here, they won’t be completed in time and the consecration must be postponed.
Although the consecration is yet to come, it’s not too early to acknowledge all of the many hundreds of donors whose contributions paid for the construction of the shedra, the programs at the shedra that are planned or have already taken place, and, not least, the donors for these beautiful statues.
Photo: June 2018 Progress on Manjusri statue for Surmang shedra. Additional component parts are created and installed separately; thus the base, the throne, and the elaborate “surround” for the statue are not included in this photo.
