Followers Claim Rare "Buddha's Tooth" With Healing Powers Continues to Grow

[WisdomBeing]

So what do you think of this article? The tooth looks huge and it IS amazing that it is still growing... and i have no scientific explanation for it. However, i do wonder if, firstly, is it really is the Buddha's tooth and secondly, does it matter?

We all know the story of the dog's tooth, where faith supersedes the authenticity of the item. Here is is confirmed that it is not about the authenticity of the relic but how people view it. It goes back to the saying if you see your teacher as a Buddha, you will receive the blessings of a Buddha but if you see your teacher as an ordinary being, you will just receive the blessings of an ordinary being. So the onus is on the perceiver? And since most of our perception is deluded, we are pretty much screwed! What do you think?


Followers Claim Rare "Buddha's Tooth" With Healing Powers Continues to Grow
http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/weird/No-April-Fools-Followers-Claim-Rare-Buddhas-Tooth-With-Healing-Powers-Continues-to-Grow-201084501.html
Hundreds have flocked to a Rosemead temple to pray before what they say is Buddha's tooth, a reportedly ancient relic
By Heather Navarro |  Wednesday, Apr 3, 2013


Hundred flocked to a Buddhist temple in Rosemead to view a 2,500-year-old still-growing tooth believed to have belonged to Buddha himself, a monk at the Lu Mountain Temple said.

Hundreds of followers have flocked to a Buddhist temple in Southern California to view what is claimed to be a still-growing, 2-inch-long molar with healing powers that belonged to Buddha himself.

Thousands of years after Buddha’s death, the tooth, already about four times the length of the average human tooth, is continuing to grow because of what are believed to be its special powers, said Thomas Meier, a monk at the Lu Mountain Temple whose monk name is Xian Jie.

The tooth, which Meier says is 2,500 years old, is on display alongside other relics including a hair said to be from the Buddha that reportedly moves on its own and 10,000 color crystals said to have been extracted from the cremated remains of Buddha’s body.

Meier said an 80-year-old resident at the temple in who has experienced leg pain since she was a child was healed when the tooth and other relics arrived.

The tooth, which went on display on Sunday at the temple in Rosemead near East Los Angeles, is thought to be the only Buddha tooth currently in the United States and one of only a few existing sacred teeth from Buddha himself, according to a press release issued by the temple.

“It’s a matter of faith,” Meier said. “If these things are real, people have responses to them -- like people get healed in its presence."

The tooth was donated to the temple by a Buddhist in Vietnam who has collected thousands of Buddhist relics over the years, and wanted to share the relics with Buddhists in Southern California, Meier said.

The authenticity of the tooth has not been verified by an outside source. The longest human tooth on record was 1.26 inches long, according to The Guinness Book of World Records.

But Sonya Lee, an expert in Buddhist relic worship at USC, said fact-checking in Buddhist worship is not the most important factor in discerning whether a relic is really from the body of the sacred Buddha -- it’s what the believers witness while in its presence.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s genuinely from Buddha’s body,” Lee said. “It’s really the legend that makes it meaningful.”

How authentic the tooth and other relics may be is a common question, Meier said.

“How people react to them -- that’s where real test of it is,” Meier said.

Baby sparrows tried to peck their way into the room where the tooth was stored prior to its unveiling to the public, Meier said, because they "sensed something."

Other supernatural occurrences noted in relation to Buddhist relics include radiant lights or strong odors, Lee said.

“Relics can give off a great fragrance if responding favorably to prayer,” Lee said. “Or it can give off a great stink if it’s not.”

More than 200 people have visited the tooth and other relics over the course of the two days they have been on display, Meier said. Normally the temple sees 10 visitors on any given weekend.

As for the authenticity of the tooth, Lee said: ”What’s sacred is in the eye of the beholder.”

[Q]

I think relics do matter... that is the whole reason why we preserve many of our great high lama's ashes and even find our lama's malas, robes etc as very holy since it is after all used by a very holy being. So, I suppose if it is truly the Buddha's tooth, it will matter... being in the presence of a holy object like the Buddha's tooth will surely open some seeds in some people's minds that will help them in their spiritual practice.

I have heard of the dog's tooth story... how the woman, who held it precious because she thought it was the Buddha's tooth. She held it true that the tooth was actually the Buddha's and meditated everyday with that thought. Eventually when she passed away she attained the rainbow body and gained enlightenment. So it is actually how we perceive something to be just as you said. This lady achieved enlightenment not because of the dog's tooth! But because of her faith in Buddha's nature.

As to if this tooth is truly the Buddha's obviously I can't tell! lol. But if this Buddha tooth is able to draw in thousands by making them interested in Dharma, why now? After being in Vajrayana Buddhism for so long, I think any method of bringing people into Dharma is possible =)