Our story
“Just as the lotus is born from the mud, the most beautiful things often arise during the most difficult times.”
The Journey Began with Exhaustion
It was 2017, and behind us were years of extreme workload — working 16 hours a day, 7 days a week in an international company. Long-term pressure, responsibility, and a nonstop pace gradually took their toll on both body and mind.
Fatigue was no longer just a feeling, but an everyday reality. Health problems appeared, along with a deep inner restlessness.
For a long time, we kept trying to convince ourselves that we could handle it. That we just needed to push through.
Eventually, we reached a point where we could no longer continue. It was not only physical exhaustion, but also a loss of direction and meaning.
We found ourselves at rock bottom.
At that time, we were not looking for a spiritual path or Buddhism. We were looking for a way to breathe again, to step out of the cycle, and to find our footing again.
We decided to travel to Asia. Without a plan. Just with backpacks on our shoulders.
Encounter with Stupas
Our journey took us to Sri Lanka, to the ancient city of Anuradhapura — a place closely connected with the origin and spread of Buddhism. It was there that we encountered stupas for the first time.
This moment became defining, both for the creation of our own stupas and for the gradual discovery of Buddhism in our personal lives.
For this reason, we consider it important to preserve the sentence that best expresses this experience:
“We did not come to stupas through Buddhism — rather, we came to Buddhism through stupas.”
Learning, Inspiration and Direction
During our further travels across Asia, we began to study in depth the form, symbolism, and meaning of stupas. This process lasted approximately two years. An important source of guidance for us were the study materials and teachings of Venerable Lama Zopa Rinpoche, which provided us with a solid and traditional foundation.
During this period, we also met people from the organization MOST ProTibet, thanks to whom our first exhibition took place. It became clear that what had originally begun as a personal project could also have meaning for others.
At one of the exhibitions in Prague, our first completed stupa was blessed by Venerable Chamtrul Rinpoche. This moment symbolically completed the entire process — from our first encounter with stupas to the creation of a stupa for our home altar, which had been our original intention.
Return to the Source
After two years of intensive work, we symbolically returned to where our journey had begun — to Sri Lanka.
In Anuradhapura, we took part in the construction of a large stupa, approximately 90 meters high. This return to the source became for us a natural completion of the first stage of our journey.
From a Personal Project to a Calling
After returning home, interest in our stupas gradually began to grow. During this period, we met Venerable Geshe Tenzin Dhargye, the resident lama of Tibetzentrum Österreich — an institute connected with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
During our conversations, Rinpoche expressed the wish to have our small stupas placed in the institute’s main temple. This was followed by an exhibition of stupas held on the occasion of the 600th anniversary of the passing of Je Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelug tradition, in the presence of His Eminence the 104th Ganden Tripa Rinpoche, Holder of the Golden Throne and spiritual leader of the Gelug school.
It was Geshe Tenzin Dhargye who offered us the inspiration and direction that led to the present form of our stupas. Tibetzentrum Österreich also became the first center for which we produced stupas.
At this point, what had originally been a personal interest naturally transformed into a calling.
The Path to Their Present Form
Since 2019, we have systematically worked, studied, and refined the form of our stupas. This phase lasted several years and was completed in 2025. The current final form of our stupas is the result of this long-term process of study and refinement.
We repeatedly traveled to India, where — in addition to supporting monasteries and children through MOST ProTibet — we also drew inspiration. A particularly meaningful place for us became the Norbulingka Institute for the Preservation of Tibetan Culture in Dharamsala. Some parts of the ornamentation of our stupas are precise replicas of the decoration of the eight stupas inside the Kalachakra Temple in McLeod Ganj, a place closely connected with the living practice of Tibetan Buddhism.
The entire process was accompanied by meetings with many Venerable lamas and Rinpoches. Worth mentioning is also our meeting with the artist Chhemet Rigzin from Ladakh, whose family has created Buddhist statues for generations. His father is the author of the monumental Maitreya Buddha statue at Thiksey Monastery, which Chhemet Rigzin later restored.
Over the years, we also took part in the preparation of fillings and assisted in the filling of large stupas here in the Czech Republic, naturally connecting our experience with the place where we live today.
Symbolic Completion
Just as we returned to the source after completing our first stupa, this stage of our journey was also completed in a symbolic way.
Through a meeting with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama at his summer residence, Shewatsel Phodrang, in Ladakh.
This meeting became a quiet and natural culmination of several years of learning.
Today, our stupas find their home not only in the Czech Republic, but also across Europe and around the world.
They are part of the practice of practitioners of all lineages of Tibetan Buddhism, as well as the life of Buddhist centers and temples of the Nyingma, Kagyu (Karma Kagyu), Sakya, and Gelug traditions.
It will be our great honor to create a stupa for you as well and, in the spirit of the Buddhist tradition, contribute to the benefit of all sentient beings without exception.
Everything that has arisen from this journey we dedicate to the benefit of all sentient beings.
We thank all the teachers, friends, and people we have met along this path.
Luboš & Róbert
In memory
Throughout the entire main process, which lasted six years, our dog Žeryk was with us. We brought him home from a shelter in 2019, and after a serious illness, he passed away in 2025 — within the same timeframe as the story we share here.
He traveled with us to Buddhist temples across Europe, walked with us around many stupas, sat with us in meditation, and was present during the making of every single stupa. He would quietly rest or sleep beside our work, and through his simple presence, he taught us humility, perseverance, compassion, patience, and trust in the process.
With these words, we wish to preserve his legacy and offer him a quiet tribute. He remains an inseparable part of this journey.
