An auspicious day
The day began at 4:30 am in preparation for the gang of workers to arrive. This morning, November the 5th, was a particularly auspicious day as there was to be a spectacular display in the dawn sky. Two of the brightest planets in the sky Venus and Jupiter came within 0.6 degrees of each other which could be symbolically interpreted as bringing joviality and pleasure to the event.

Asking for permission
The ritual commenced shortly before sunrise and a table was set up for Geshe-la to perform the ceremonies. Offering containers with incense, flowers, water, rice, bread, were placed on the table along with mantras which were wrapped in a yellow cloth. Geshe-la recited the mantras requesting permission of the nature spirits to take the tree for the stupa. It was a way for asking for all the wildlife that use the tree if it could be taken and explaining why.

Certain Criteria
As the sun was rising the first light was marked where it hit the tree. This was done because the tree has to be marked so that when it is erected within the Stupa being built on Kangaroo Island, it will be aligned again to the rising Sun. There exists certain criteria that has to be met when felling a tree for a Sokshin, one of these being that the first mark should be made by an attractive but unattached young man of fortunate circumstances who's parents are wealthy, alive and well. Joe Novasell (or Joe 'New House'), who happens to be a builder, was chosen for this role.

Breakfast Break
Anna had made everyone breakfast and chai tea after Geshela and Ruth left and we were all excited to commence work. 'Shorty', a tree lopper from Kangaroo Island was the man who would do most of the work. He had announced that this was to be his very last tree that he would chop down. It was just after 7.00 am when the chainsaws rawed into action. Shorty was up the tree like a shot, a very nimble guy at home in the lofty branches with the chainsaw dangling on a length of rope attached to his belt.

Taking measure
The first large branch to come down brushed the side of our next door neighbour's home. It was a close call. The other branches came down without much trouble and before long the apical tip of the tree was lopped leaving the bare central pole.....with Shorty perched on top, prompting the nickname: "the Christmas tree fairy". He dropped a rope that he had previously measured at 9 meters as the length needed to make the Sokshin was believed to be 8 meters. Shorty then chopped of the extra and returned to the ground.

Felling the tree
After a bit of deliberation decided where the tree would be brought down. Ropes were tied to the back of Thomas's truck which was parked in the street, while Shorty began taking a slice out of the base of the trunk to encourage the tree to fall down the drive way. He then cut another slice out of the back of the trunk into which Will drove a wedge. Thomas accelerated his truck, putting tension on the rope. The top of the tree showed signes of movement and the tree came crashing down.

It hit the ground with a loud "THWACK!" and a cry of despair from a few looking on. It had unfortunately hit the small side wall of the driveway and snapped the top of the tree off! We had measured allowing an extra 50 cm either end just to be sure and the bit that had snapped off was easily more than a meter.

An unexpected twist
It was a very disappointing turn of events. Will took out his tape measure and promptly measured the remaining length. It was 7.2 meters, well under the required 8 meters. Will then decided to rush home to look at the documentation to see if we could still get away with such a short piece. Will returned shortly after calculating exactly what height was needed. All were happy to be told that we needed 6.75 meters, meaning that we still had just over an extra 35cm in all.

The Life Tree was then stripped, its ends sealed with paint and wrapped up in plastic to ensure it would not dry out too quickly. The intention was to sink it in a lake near the Stupa after it had been transported to the island where it would cure for 12 to 18 months.

It was long day, the last leaving at about 7:00 pm.

Some similarities between the Tibetan Sokshin and Egyptian Djed Pillar

It was particularly interesting day for me. As I had previously explained to Geshe-la through his translator Ruth, that the Sokshin had uncanny similarities to the Ancient Egyptian ritual of raising the Djed Pillar:

• The Djed symbol originated from the legend which tells of the giant tree trunk with lopped branches:
• the Sokshin is formed from a Giant tree trunk with its branches lopped.
• The Djed represents the four cardinal points:
• the Sokshin having four flat sides (when finished the Sokshin would look like a giant chopstick) and is aligned to the cardinal points.
• The Djed represents the rising sun:
• the Sokshin must be marked where the rising Sun first lands on the trunk.
• The Djed is identified with the backbone of Osiris:
• the Sokshin is inside the stupa, which embodies the form of the seated Buddha.
• The Djed in the Legend becomes the main pillar in the House of the King:
• the Sokshin becomes the central pillar inside the Stupa.

(For more on the Djed Pillar go here: http://www.pyramidofman.com/Djed/)

I am now contemplating fashioning the remaining stump in our front yard into a Djed pillar to complete the circle.

I have made a small slide show and you can view it by going here: http://herbgarden.port5.com/sokshin/

Author - Vincent
Lightly edited & headings by ant