Stupa Cave
October 23, 2005  Ken Drummond

Today I worked on the stupa cave. I was going to make it into a fireplace, but I had trouble drilling through the dirt to make a channel for the smoke and heat, so I got my shovel out, and next thing you know I was making a cave. It had started out as a small opening that maybe a cat could get into. but today, in order to reach farther inside, I finally made the opening large enough for a person. It was a gradual thing. At first I reached in with the long shovel and made an enlarged area inside. Then when I had trouble reaching I finally ventured inside.

I was very conscious that it would not be good if the roof caved in. But every indication so far is that the dirt (adobe) is plenty strong. I got inside but it was not high enough to straighten my head up. I came out quickly. I hollowed the cave out some more and made it higher. I went in again and stayed a bit longer. This time I was able to sit with my head straight, but I sort of sat on my haunches, so I could get out easier if there was a cave-in. Also I kept the small shovel close by.

I came out and did some more digging.After a while I went in and stayed a long time, over half an hour, meditating. It was good for meditating because my head was in a dome-shaped area and I guess I was a bit sleepy because once in awhile I noticed my head falling forward and hitting the front of the dome. A pretty good sleepitation indicator. I switched to a different technique and didn't have any more problem.

It was pretty good. I was sitting in half-lotus in a little cave. It reminded me of Babaji's cave in the Himalaya's. I was also thinking of the yogis in India who were dug up after they had been buried for many years. Maybe they were in a dirt pile that caved in, and they were forced to go breathless in order to survive. As I recall they weren't very happy to be dug up though.

When I was a kid I was always digging tunnels. I remember one in particular where I dug down inside of an old concrete basement that had been filled in. When I got down several feet I turned and dug horizontally. I think that Louie and Gala were helping. They always seemed to be around. I think that Louie kind of tolerated my wild ideas just because I was older. But he was always a good helper.

If my mother were here and saw me inside the stupa I am sure she would be worried. She would say, "Kenny, do come out. Please come out." She worried about some of the things I used to do.

The stupa was cool inside during the hot part of the day. I will go inside tonight when I expect it to be warm inside the stupa when the temperature is cold outside.

I look forward to the next rain when I will have more free mud. I plan to enlarge the stupa, then when it hardens, enlarge the inside even more, so more than one person can go inside. It would be nice to eventually hollow out the inside to be 6 1/2 feet high and the same width and depth.

The last rain was several days ago. The mud was quite sloppy when I put it on but now it is firm. Digging through it on the inside of the stupa, the mud is moist but solid. It is easy to slice through it with a shovel or spatula. Scraping the walls smooth on the inside is satisfying.

I made a couple of steps to get down into the stupa. You have to stoop down to get inside. But actually it is stupid to stoop down in a stupa. It is much better to crawl, until you get inside. Then you can sit upright and meditate. That is about all there is to do in there and that is a good thing. It takes a bit of effort to get back out and it is a nice temperature inside so the stupa is very conducive to meditating.