The collection includes donations from the Dalai Lama as well as other Buddhist masters from a number of traditions and countries. Eventually, the relics will be placed in the “heart shrine” of the 500-foot-tall statue of Maitreya Buddha in Kushinagar, India. In March 2001, he released the collection for worldwide exhibition, allowing tens of thousands of people to experience them at temples, meditation centers and other locations. The relics were collected over the years by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Chodron’s teacher and a renowned spiritual leader. Known as “ringsel” by Tibetans, some of the crystalline beads were salvaged from statues in Tibet, where they had been enshrined for thousands of years before the Communist occupation in 1959. More than 1,000 pieces in all, the relics were found among the cremation ashes of the Buddha and other Buddhist masters.

“The relics can inspire people to live better lives and to have more faith – not religious faith, but faith in humanity.” “We thought it would be a wonderful thing for people to experience – nothing like this has ever happened in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene,” said the Venerable Thubten Chodron, founder of Sravasti Abbey in Newport, Wash., and one of the visit’s organizers. This weekend, the Heart Shrine Relic Tour will make its way to Spokane, where people who view the relics can also take part in blessing ceremonies, talks on Buddhism and an interfaith panel discussion on compassion, forgiveness and world peace. Since 2001, these rare and precious relics have been displayed all over the world in an effort to share their blessings with people of all faiths and spiritual traditions. These pieces are said to be the sacred relics of the Buddha, his closest disciples, and other Buddhist masters throughout the centuries. The pearl-like beads of crystals often evoke deep emotions from those who behold them – inspiring some to pray for peace, to do charitable acts, to delve within themselves and explore their spirituality.

Maitreya project relic tour