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Heart
Shrine Relic Tour
by
Wendy Hogg
A precious collection of sacred Buddhist relics known as the Heart
Shrine Relics is currently touring the world and will stop briefly
in Atlanta at Drepung Loseling Institute from November 7th to
9th.
This rare collection of more than 1,000 relics, mainly from the
historical Buddha and from the Buddha's well-known disciples
– Maudgalyayana, Ananda and Sariputra – has been collected
from all over the world under the guidance of Lama Zopa Rinpoche,
spiritual director of the Maitreya Project, which is building
a 500 foot statue of Maitreya Buddha in northern India that will
eventually house the relics.
All the relics come from authentic spiritual sources such as His
Holiness the Dalai Lama and other Buddhist spiritual masters from
the Chinese, Indian and Tibetan traditions.
 Buddhist
relics are beautiful pearl-like crystals found among the cremation
ashes of the Buddha and other spiritual masters. They are deliberately
produced and embody the deceased master's spiritual qualities
of compassion and wisdom.
This unique exhibit is free of charge and is open to the public.
Tour manager Victoria Ewart reports that many visitors, Buddhist
and non-Buddhists alike, have reported experiences of inspiration
and spiritual healing while viewing the relics. “People are
often moved to pray for world peace,” she said.
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama commented, “This Project
is really wonderful and is the result of great courage and determination,
and from the depths of my heart, I appreciate and applaud this
wonderful Project. You should realize that this is a very holy
and sacred Project.”
Geshe Lobsang Tenzin, director of Drepung Loseling Institute,
which is hosting the relics in Atlanta, is “very proud that
the Institute is able to host this exhibit. I hope that Georgia
residents will take advantage of this rare opportunity to view
sacred relics.” Two of Drepung Loseling's resident monks
will periodically perform ceremonies throughout the exhibit for
those people wishing to be personally blessed by the relics. (Please
see the schedule for details.)
 Maitri,
from which the name Maitreya is derived, is a Sanskrit word meaning
love. Not romantic love, but love in the sense of tolerance and
compassion for others. His Holiness often points out that having
a good heart naturally brings peace to oneself and consequently
to others. The Maitreya Project's goal is to spread loving
kindness throughout the world, by helping each of us to transform
our own hearts and minds and thereby create the conditions for
lasting peace.
It is said that the body of the Buddha is vast like the ocean
but ordinary beings – most of us – cannot perceive this
presence. For our sakes, the Buddhas manifest relics as a means
for passing on the blessings of their body, speech and mind.
 Due
to the power of realization and compassion of these beings, anyone
who sees, hears of, touches or even thinks of relics, receives
their blessing, Lama Zopa explained. Relics might appear as ordinary
bones to those with untrained minds but in reality, he said, “the
relics are not ordinary at all.”
The Buddha has said that there are four special places, “the
place of my birth, the place of my enlightenment, the place where
I gave teachings and the place where I will pass away. Visiting
any of these places is equivalent of meeting me in person.”
According to Lama Zopa Rinpoche, the same is true for relics.
To view a relic is a rare opportunity as normally relics are permanently
enshrined in temples and are rarely made available for public
viewing, much less taken outside their resident countries.
 “Just
seeing the relics of the Buddha purifies an incredible amount
of negative karma [actions and habits] and that goes also for
the other relics as well. They are so unbelievably difficult to
find, to come into possession of this is just something almost
unthinkable,” said Venerable Ribur Rinpoche, the reincarnated
head lama of Ribur Monastery.
The Maitreya Project's Heart Shrine Relic Tour began in Taiwan
in March 2001 and has since traveled to locations in New Zealand,
the United States, Canada and Singapore. To date, there have been
more than 100 exhibitions, at which more than 100,000 people have
had the rare opportunity to view the relics.
 In
May 2003 the relics were displayed at Hai Inn Temple in Singapore,
where they were placed in beautiful wooden cabinets which had
been specially constructed by the temple. The Prime Minister's
wife, Mrs. Goh Chok Tong, ambassadors from Pakistan, India, Japan,
Sri Lanka and Mexico, venerable sangha from the Chinese, Burmese,
Thai and Sri Lankan traditions and many other dignitaries attended
a preview of the relics. “In all, 23,000 people attended
the two events in Singapore, both of which were splendid throughout,”
said Victoria Ewert.
The Heart Shrine Relics began their United States tour this past
April by visiting Arizona, Kansas and Missouri. Tour manager Victoria
Ewart and her colleague Darcy Jones have had a number of moving
experiences on the tour. In Kansas a group of inmates were blessed
by the Heart Shrine Relics inside a maximum security prison of
2,600 inmates. Chuck Stanford, who gives meditation classes at
the prison each month, arranged the visit.
 Victoria
explained that she and Darcy underwent numerous security checks
and three locked doors before being locked inside the prison with
the relics for three hours. A group of inmates were allowed to
file in and take their seats in front of the relics. This was
the first time in the prison's history that maximum, medium
and minimum security inmates were allowed to sit together.
When the tour moved on to San Francisco's Chinatown, 10,000
people visited the relics and received personal blessings when
a stupa, containing some of Buddha Shakyamuni's relics, was
placed on the tops of their heads by attendant monks. The relic
tour and the Maitreya Project were widely covered in print and
broadcast media, enabling thousands of additional Californians
to be exposed to the relics.
Victoria and Darcy were invited to bring the relics to Mercy Hospital
in Mount Shasta, California to visit James Wallace who was suffering
from the motor neuron disease, ALS. James, who is unable to speak,
can move only his eyelids and communicates via a camera attached
to a computer. He communicated that he would chant the Metta Sutra
(a Buddhist text on loving kindness) while he was being blessed
with the stupa containing Buddha Shakyamuni's relics. Victoria
and Darcy chanted the Maitreya Buddha mantra during the blessing.
 As
they were leaving they noticed a photo on his wall of his four
young children. He asked that the photo also be touched with the
stupa. Then, using his eyelid, camera and computer, he typed “I
feel joy.”
In Los Angeles, Victoria said, the Heart Shrine Relics were displayed
in a neighborhood with a long history of drug abuse and violence.
In this difficult location, a multi-faith spiritual center called
Eagle Wings of Enlightenment hosted the Relic Tour and invited
the public, including 22 children between the ages of 4 and 12
years. A community radio talk show, which included phone-ins,
also brought the relics to the community's awareness.
Drepung Loseling Institute is the North American seat of Drepung
Loseling Monastery, India, and was academically affiliated with
Emory University in 1998. Following the legacy of Drepung Loseling
Monastery, and with the patronage of His Holiness the Dalai Lama,
the Institute has two major purposes: to share Tibet's unique
spiritual traditions in North America and to preserve Tibet's
unique culture.
The Institute is located at 2531 Briarcliff Rd, Suite 101, near
the intersection with North Druid Hills in the Woodlake Office
Park. For more information about the Institute and for a map and
directions please visit www.drepung.org; for more information
of the relic tour please visit www.maitreyaproject.org/relictour
The Atlanta Relic Tour is proudly sponsored by Return to Eden,
Living Foods Institute, South Trac and Ducshop LLC.
Heart
Shrine Schedule
Friday, November 7
Noon:
Opening ceremony and prayers
12:30 pm: Presentation 1
1:00 pm: Meditation on Loving Kindness
1.30 pm: Blessing Ceremony 2
2:00 pm – 6:00 pm: Public viewing and personal
reflection
6:00 pm: Blessing Ceremony 2
7:00 pm: Closing Prayers and Dedications
Saturday, November 8
10:00 am: Opening ceremony and prayers
10:30 am: Presentation 1
11:00 am: Meditation on Loving Kindness
11.30 am: Blessing Ceremony 2
Noon – 3:30 pm: Public viewing and personal reflection
3.30 pm: Presentation 1
4:00 pm: Blessing Ceremony 2
4:30 pm – 6:30 pm: Public viewing and personal
reflection
7:30 pm: Guru Puja with Closing Prayers and Dedications
3
8:30 pm: Sharing of food offering following puja
Sunday, November 9
11:00 am: Shamatha meditation 4
Noon: Opening ceremony and prayers
12:30 pm: Presentation 1
1:00 pm: Blessing Ceremony 2
1:30 pm: Public viewing and personal reflection
4:00 pm: Blessing Ceremony 2
5:00 pm: Closing Prayers and Dedications
1 Darcy Jones and Bessie Conniff, tour leaders
for the Heart Shrine Relic Tour, will talk about the Relics and
give an overview of the Maitreya Project.
2 In the Blessing Ceremony each person is touched on the
head with the Relics of the Buddha.
3 The Guru Puja is a popular Buddhist Tantric celebration
held monthly at the Loseling Institute. The public is welcome
and there is no charge. It is traditional to bring offerings of
baked goods, fruits or flowers to be blessed and shared after
the ceremony.
4 Shamatha is a fundamental form of mindfulness meditation.
The public is welcome and instruction is provided for beginners.
Free.
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Relic
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