The Story of the Amitabha Stupa, Sedona Arizona 1 | Page 11

Miniature Stupa Offerings
While the construction crew was
working on the stupa’s exterior,
another team was preparing the
ritual offerings that would fill the
inside chambers. These included
tsa-tsas or miniature clay stupas.
Making tsa-tsas is an exacting and
time-intensive process. It requires
adherence to a proscribed diet: no
meat, no dairy, no eggs, no garlic,
no onions, no alcohol, no tobacco,
no sexual activity. Special prayers
are recited with pure intention,
setting the stage for the transforma-

tion of ordinary clay into an object
of reverence. Even the breath is
prevented from falling on the tsatsas while they are being made.
Tsa-tsas are made from brass molds
that are inscribed with mantra or sacred seed syllables. These mantras
must be visibly imprinted on the
clay for a tsa-tsa to proceed to the
next step: being fired to hardness
and filled with a small mantra scroll,
juniper, and sacred substances.
Then they are painted. Only half of
the 7,000 tsa-tsas that were made
were considered worthy of placement in the Amitabha Stupa.