Bone fragment of Lord Buddha installed at Phuket temple

[Ensapa]

Here's another event to rejoice at: the installation of the Buddha's bone fragment relic at a temple. This is really auspicious to bless the living beings residing in that area. I hope to visit there someday!

The bone-fragment of the Lord Buddha was installed in the Chedi Dok Bua Kaew at Nakaram Temple on Friday. Photo: Kritsada Mueanhawong


ICT Minister Anudit Nakorntap (left) chaired the event, which Phuket Senator Thanyarat Achariyachai (right) also attended. Photo: Kritsada Mueanhawong

PHUKET: A bone-fragment relic of Lord Buddha was respectfully installed at Chedi Dok Bua Kaew “Crystal Lotus Pagoda” in Nakaram Temple, Wichit, during a ceremony on Friday.

The ceremony was led by Phra Thepsitthimunee, Deputy Monk Dean of Region 16 from Dusidaram Warrawiharn Temple in Bangkok, along with 108 Buddhist monks from the greater Phuket area.

“The relic of the Lord Buddha was given to Wat Nakaram by Sangharaja [the head of the order of Buddhist monks in Thailand] to be installed in Chedi Dok Bua Kaew,” said the Director of the Phuket branch of the National Office of Buddhism, Chatpawit Jinapong.

“It is intended to remind Buddhists in Phuket of the virtues of the Lord Buddha, as well as to build their faith in Buddhism,” he added.

Mr Chatpawit explained that the installation of the relic would benefit Buddhism, as well as tourism for Phuket.

“Seventy-three per cent of the people on Phuket are Buddhist, due to that fact the island is well-known as place of culture, as well as for its natural beauty,” he said.

There are 37 Buddhist temples in Phuket, 31 of which are of the Maha Nikaya order and the remaining six of the Dhammayuttika Nikaya order. There are also 11 Buddhist monk camps on the island that have yet to be formally recognized as temples.

The ceremony on Friday was chaired by Information and Communication Technology Minister Anudit Nakorntap, who was joined at the event by Phuket Senator Thanyarat Achariyachai, Phuket MP Raywat Areerob and Wichit Mayor Kreetha Chotwitpipat.

[Positive Change]

many holy relics that travel the world as part of what is called The Relic Tour. Some of the relics include:

Lama Tsongkhapa



Lama Tsongkhapa (1357 - 1419) was born in the Tsong Kha region of Amdo Province in eastern Tibet. He is the founder of the Gelug tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, and is famous for his dedication to vigorous mental and physical practice. There are many remarkable stories about his perseverance. For instance, he completed 3,500,000 full-length prostrations, leaving an impression of his body on the floor of the temple.

He wrote many learned treatises and commentaries on Buddhist texts such as the Lam Rim Chen Mo (The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment).

At the age of 62, very early in the morning while sitting in full lotus posture, Lama Tsongkhapa’s breathing stopped. Many disciples present witnessed light rays emanating from his body, leading them to believe that he had entered the bardo (the stage between death and rebirth) as an enlightened being.

He taught:

"If you knew how hard it is to acquire,
Living the average life would be impossible.

If you saw its great benefits,
You would be sorry if it stayed meaningless.

If you thought about death,
You would make preparations for your future lives.

If you thought about cause and effect,
You would stop being reckless."

Relic and Source

   

- This small stupa was made by Lama Tsongkhapa himself. It was offered by Oser Rinpoche who is from Sera Me Monastery in South India.

- The five olive green relics were offered by Wu Wen Yuen in Taiwan, in 2001.

- While he was still alive, Lama Tsongkhapa offered his tooth to one of his heart disciples called Khedrup Je. The other disciples also wanted the tooth, so Lama Tsongkhapa placed it on the altar, making offerings and prayers. The tooth multiplied into nine relics, which he distributed among his followers. The large white tooth relic shown here is one of those nine relics. It was offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Lhasa, Tibet, in 1987 by Wesar Rinpoche from Sera Me Monastery in South India.

[brian]

Holy relics are known to have powerful qualities too if i am not mistaken. It can bless the whole area by having relics of Enlightened Beings in the area. Worshipers usually will install relics in a stupa so that worshipers from local town or abroad are able to pray to these holy relics. One such example are in Kathmandu, Nepal. Locals or foreigners would circumambulate the Stupa who was said to have a Buddha's relic inside the stupa. And this has been said to me many times that Buddha's relics can actually used to deter away evil spirits.

[rossoneri]

Holy Relics

When a Buddha, Bodhisattva, or Great Master passes their bodies are generally cremated.  Please note that the cremation process in the East is much different than in the west. The crematory pyre does not reach the high level of heat the crematory furnaces do in the west. So, please keep that in mind as you view the following information and photos.  After the body of a Buddha, Bodhisattva, or Great Master has been cremated one finds what are known as "holy relics."  Because this being had purified his or herself greatly in life, attaining great realizations up to and including enlightenment, they have thus purfied their very body as well. Holy Relics can be anything from small pearlized substances to actual diamonds. The photos here are from various places. Many thanks to Dharma sister Lhamo Drisa from Northern Kentucky Tibetan Buddhist Centre for all her hard work in locating all of these photos so that we could arrange them all in one place for study and viewing.

[pgdharma]

Buddhists believe that holy relics provide an opportunity to make a spiritual connection with Buddha and viewing these sacred relics can inspire them to develop loving kindness, good virtues and remind them that Enlightenment is possible.

When a spiritual master is cremated, beautiful pearl-like crystals are found among his ashes and Tibetans believe they hold the living essence of the spiritual master. The pearl-like deposits are a manifestation of the master’s inner purity due to devoting their whole life towards spiritual practices that are dedicated to the welfare of all sentient beings.

Some relics believed to be original remains of the body of the Buddha still survive, including the much-revered Sacred Relic of the tooth of the Buddha in Sri Lanka. Many Buddhist temples have stupas and the placement of relics in a stupa often became the initial structure around which the whole temple would be based. Today, many stupas also hold the ashes or ringsel (pearl or crystal like bead shaped objects) of prominent/respected Buddhists who were cremated. In rare cases the whole body is conserved, for example in the case of Dudjom Rinpoche, after his death his physical body was moved a year later from France and placed in a stupa in one of his main monasteries near Boudhanath, Nepal in 1988. Pilgrims may view his body through a glass window in the stupa.

[sonamdhargey]

I'm sure the Buddha relic's must be very rare. Is there a way to authenticate the Buddha relics? How many Buddha relics are there in the world?

I found that the Relics are in various clarity and colours such as crystal clear or opaque, white like the conch shell, gold, black, pink, red, etc.
found in different shapes which looks like rice grain, cabbage seed and broken bean , etc.
The smaller ones will float when place in water and attract each another when float together.
They can increase or decrease by themselves.
Their colour and size can change by themselves.
Most of them are lighter compared to ordinary stones of the same size.

It is also said:


The ancient teacher said the Buddha's relics and his disciples' relics which are not too big can be floated. When floating on the surface of water there appears a depression to support them. Moreover a radius can appear around the Buddha relics.

Whenever floated, the Buddha's relics can attract and float together even if they are far from each other. For this reason, there is the story talking about anybody who pays the regular high respect to the Buddha's relics, they can attract pieces to be in one place together.

Source:http://www.relicsofbuddha.com/eng/page2.htm

[Klein]

This is Buddha's parietal bone relic that was sent to Hong Kong from Nanjing, China to be worshipped by the public. The following is an account from Xinhuanet of the event.

"HONG KONG, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The only existing Sakyamuni Buddha's parietal-bone relic has been enshrined in the Hong Kong Coliseum Wednesday afternoon shortly after it arrived from Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province.

President of the Hong Kong Buddhist Association Kok Kwong, President of the Buddhist Association of China Chuan Yin, Director of the State Administration for Religious Affairs Wang Zuo'an, Secretary for Home Affairs of Hong Kong Tsang Tak-sing, as well as other eminent monks and leaders attend the grand ceremony.

The 11th Panchen Lama, Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu was also present. This is the first time that the 11th Panchen Lama made a public appearance outside the Chinese mainland.

The 22-year-old Panchen Lama, one of the two most senior living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism, is also vice president of the Buddhist Association of China.

Delivering an opening remark at the ceremony, venerable KoK Kwong said the Buddha's parietal-bone relic is one of the most precious Buddhist gems, the like of which has never been seen in the world. The veneration of the sacred relic is a grand event for Hong Kong Buddhists and a blessing to the local people.

Besides Kok Kwong, Chuan Yin, Tsang Tek-sing and Wang Zuo'an also gave speeches at the ceremony. After the speeches, several Buddhist rituals were held.

The parietal-bone relic is to open for public worship for six consecutive days from April 25 to 30. Tens of thousands of Buddhist devotees will pay homage to the sacred relic. Local Buddhist followers and, indeed, all citizens are privileged to have this rare opportunity to see such sacred and precious relic.

Following the unearthing of Buddha's parietal-bone relic in June 2010 in Nanjing, this is the first time the sacred relic was moved out from the Chinese mainland. After public obeisance in Hong Kong, it is to be conveyed to the Macao region.

It is estimated that out of Hong Kong's 7 million population, 1 million people believe in Buddhism. "The Grand Blessing Ceremony for Worshipping Buddha's Parietal-Bone Relic" is the largest scale of its kind and the most spectacular Buddhist ritual ceremony ever held in Hong Kong.

The parietal bone of Sakyamuni was allegedly remained after the Buddha's nirvana. It had been unearthed in 2008 when archaeologists discovered unexpectedly a crypt in the ruins of the Changgan Temple which was built in Song Dynasty during the excavation works at the Nanjing Grand Bao'en Temple.

Buddha's relics are usually well hidden in ancient temples and away from public. Buddha's remains are highly venerated by Buddhist devotees, regarded as national treasure in many historically Buddhist countries and regions.

Sakyamuni Buddha relics have been venerated twice in Hong Kong: Buddha's tooth relic in 1999 and Buddha's finger relic in 2004 respectively."

This is a video of the grand event. Felt like they were inviting Buddha himself.

Buddist relic 042512 194727