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Audio | view transcript

Five Element Symbolism and the Stupa

by Sangharakshita

What is 'The Stupa of Abundant Treasures' in The White Lotus Sutra? Sangharakshita explains the origins of the Buddhist stupa, and its connections with the five elements and the balance of 'yin' and 'yang'.

Talk given in 1971.

This talk is part of the series Parables, Myths and Symbols of Mahayana Buddhism in the White Lotus Sutra.

Tracks (click play to listen)

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	1.	Features of a landscape (6:52)
	2.	The position of the stupa in the sutra (5:45)
	3.	The origins of the stupa (11:58)
	4.	Stupa worship (9:00)
	5.	The appearance of the stupa in the sutra (8:30)
	6.	The five elements as psychical energies (6:19)
	7.	Further symbolic correlations of the five elements (4:21)
	8.	Five element symbolism in the stupa (9:04)
	9.	Yin Yang symbolism (9:00)
	10.	Basic structural form (10:28)
	11.	Abundant Treasures (5:28)