World Peace Vase Program

It troubles me that many people still do not know about the late Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche's World Peace Vase Program, now administered out of Delhi by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche's Siddhartha's Intent organization. This really is one of the great stories of late 20th and early 21st century Buddhism!

Clicking the link, above, will give you the whole story much better than I can explain. However, the brief version is that some 6,200 vases were made and consecrated by His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse, as one of the last acts of his life. The intention was to place these all over the world, and even in space, to heal the planet, and offset the damage done by wars, and environmental disasters. The vases are placed in rivers, lakes, oceans, mountaintops, and a host of other locations well described on the web site. Some 4,000 are already in place, with roughly 2,000 more to go.

There are a number of pre-selected sites for placement, and the program also entertains suggestions that meet His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse's stated criteria. You can see the global mapping associated with this by clicking here.

I want to say, candidly, that this is "big magic." If you volunteer to place a vase, you really have to do so from pure intention, and then you have to actually go and place the vase, no matter what sort of hardship or expense that entails. You can't go weaseling a vase out of the program to selfishly keep for yourself, just because you think it might bring you luck. But, if you absolutely, genuinely want to help the planet -- and I know a lot of you do -- and you have the ability to finish what you start, then this really is the project for you.

We "children of the 'sixties" love this one on the whole random acts of kindness theory of operations. Admittedly, there is also that edge of the envelope appeal.

If crossing hot borders into denied areas, only to secretly bury a peace vase on some long silent battleground is your idea of fun -- if going to some of the most dangerous places in the world to do the deed Dilgo Khyentse wanted done is your idea of worthwhile risk -- if you can do this using your own initiative, anonymously and alone, without demanding recognition, acclaim or support from headquarters -- then you may be headed to a rewarding career in the Buddhist Foreign Service.

(As always, if you are caught or captured, the Secretary will disavow all knowledge of your actions.)