A journey to the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

Singapore News

WHEN it comes to housing a relic as sacred as a Buddha tooth, devotees spare no expense - as was the case for the new Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in Chinatown.

More than 60,000 donors poured $45 million and 270kg of gold into the four-storey building, where a tooth believed to be one of Buddha's molars now resides in a 3.6m-high stupa made out of worshippers' gold donations.

But now, doubts have been cast over whether this tooth belonged to Buddha - or even a human

being. And they range from the historical and political to the anatomical.

Mr Yap Kok Feng, a paralegal executive, wrote to Lianhe Zaobao recently claiming that the relic looks nothing like a human tooth.

When contacted, he said that he had shown a picture of it to dentists who believe it to be a herbivore's.

One of them, Dr Pamela Craig, a senior lecturer at the School of Dental Science at the University of Melbourne, told The Sunday Times she had examined photographs and compared the tooth with teeth from various animal skulls in her comparative dental anatomy department.

'There's absolutely no possibility that it is a human tooth,' said Dr Craig, who specialises in human and animal oral anatomy.

'I'm almost certain that it belongs to a member of the Bos species, probably a cow or a water buffalo.'

Dr Craig said human teeth should be rounded with a short crown and a comparatively longer root, but the picture clearly shows a long crown and a shorter root.

'In this case, looking at a photo is clear enough because it's so obvious that it's not a human tooth. It's like comparing a pear and an apple.'

The Sunday Times also showed a picture of the tooth to four other dentists, including two forensic dental experts. All said the tooth could not have come from a human.

'This is an animal 'cheek tooth', that is, a molar at the back of the mouth,' said Professor David K. Whittaker, a forensic dental specialist at Cardiff University in Britain.

The seemingly uneven biting surface is indicative of grass-eating animals whose teeth have 'a very efficient grinding surface for breaking up coarse plant materials,' he said.

Dr Myra Elliott, a consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeon with a practice at Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre, said: 'Even if human teeth have been fossilised, there's still a pattern. And what is shown in the picture doesn't look like a primate's tooth at all.'

The size of the tooth - measuring 7.5cm - is also far too long for a human tooth, said Dr Anthony Goh, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon.

'There isn't enough space in the jaw.'

The tooth relic was supposed to have been discovered by a Myanmar monk, the late Venerable Cakkapala of Bandula Monastery, in 1980 while restoring a collapsed stupa at Bagan Hill in Mrauk-U, Myanmar.

He gave the relic to Venerable Shi Fazhao, the abbot of both the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Golden Pagoda Buddhist Temple in Tampines in 2002.

The public can see the tooth only twice a year - on Vesak Day and the first day of Chinese New Year.

When The Sunday Times asked Venerable Shi Fazhao about the tooth, he said in Mandarin: 'To me, it has always been real and I have never questioned its authenticity.'

As for the dental experts' assessment, he said: 'They can say all they want, I don't care what they say. If you believe it's real, then it's real.'

The curious dental structure is not the only bone of contention here.

In another Lianhe Zaobao commentary published on July 6, Chinese Buddhism studies researcher and lecturer Wan Bingyan cited religious and historical texts supporting the popular belief that only two of Buddha's teeth are left in this world.

They are now believed to be at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy, Sri Lanka, and the Ling Guang Monastery in Beijing, China.

When a third surfaced in 1998 after a Tibetan monk smuggled it out and handed it to Taiwan's Venerable Master Hsing Yun of Fo Guang Shan Temple, it was fingered by Chinese officials as a fake.

Buddha's relics are venerated by Buddhists worldwide and held up as national treasures in Sri Lanka and China.

China had allowed its Buddha tooth relic to go on tour to Thailand, Hong Kong and thrice to Myanmar at the government's invitation.

Two tooth relic pagodas were later built in Yangon and Mandalay, one housing an ivory replica tooth and the other, donated religious items.

Mr Kyaw Swe Tint, counsellor at the Myanmar Embassy here, said that as far as he knows, there has been no evidence of genuine tooth relics in his country.

'This (the one believed to be housed here) could very well be a fake,' he said.

But Venerable Shi Fazhao said Venerable Cakkapala had given him the tooth; it was a private matter between two people and not between two countries. 'Don't politicise it,' he said.

Would he let an expert examine the tooth in Singapore? He replied: 'It's mine, why should I let you examine it? Why don't you go examine what's in Sri Lanka and China first?'

Venerable B. Dhammaratana, religious adviser of the Buddhist Research Society, explains that different Buddhist societies would subscribe to different versions of Buddha's legends.

'You can't say which is right or which is wrong.'

Well, I have spent about an hour in the temple with my family. It is not difficult to find a donation box. They are all located at all the entrances and on certain levels. We have donated some money on level 1 and level 4. We have also brought some mini bells each costs $1 at a gift shop. The staffs claimed that the bells can protect one from spiritual and blessed with good luck. My family was indeed very happy after visiting the temple but was quickly saddened and surprised by the abovementioned news when friends informed us about it.

On the 14th Dalai Lama's betrayal of Buddhism

Thursday's People's Daily (overseas edition) carried a signed article titled "Why does the "Buddhist leader" frequently violate dharma and break faith: on the 14th Dalai Lama's betrayal of Buddhism".

The basic criterion to distinguish pious Buddhists from bogus ones is "taking precepts as masters" and "abiding by precepts to practice Buddhadharma". dGe-lugs-pa Sect, the Yellow Sect of Lamaism, of the Tibetan Buddhism is even better known for its strict observance of those commandments. Master Tsongkha-pa wrote in his book, the Great Exposition on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, that "the great achievers will be so only in name if they fail to fully follow Buddhist precepts and teachings". Though the commandments followed by Tibetan Buddhists vary, they are all based on the common ground of four precepts, namely no killing, stealing, adultery and lying. Monks would be seen as committing serious offenses if they betrayed one of the four precepts. However, the 14th Dalai Lama, a self-claimed "Buddhist leader", repeatedly broke the commandments and betrayed his faith by violating the precepts of no killing and lying.

Firstly, let's look at how he betrayed the precept of no killing. In the late 1950s, Tibetan reactionary leaders launched an armed rebellion in an attempt to permanently maintain the feudal serfdom and their autocratic rule. The 14th Dalai Lama was the chief representative of the feudal serfdom. The armed rebels set houses on fire, looted Tibetan people and raped women. What happened then still lingers in Tibetan people's minds today. In the late 1980s, the Dalai Lama clique stirred up unrest in Lhasa, which seriously harmed people's lives and damaged their property. Moreover, who was behind the mid 1970s assassination of Gung-thangTshul-khrims, one of the leaders of the Group 13, who failed to obey Dalai's orders? Who nodded to plot and implement the assassination of Li-thang A-thar? Who, in the late 1990s, sent killers to the home of Rin-po-che Kun-bde-gling and seriously wounded him? Who threatened to exterminate the "life and activities" of two young Rin-po-ches, Chi-jang and Sun-po? Vjigs-med Tshe-ring, who once was one of the key members of the Dalai Lama clique, said that at least ten Tibetans, who disagreed with the Dalai Lama, had been assassinated.

Secondly, let's have a look at how the 14th Dalai Lama violated the precept of no lying. The Dalai Lama sent a telegram in 1951 after the signing of the agreement on the peaceful liberation of Tibet, in which he said that the agreement, signed on May 23, 1951,was based on friendship and thus won unanimous support from the local government of Tibet, Tibetan monks and the people. But on March 10, 1961, the 14th Dalai Lama said in a speech that the agreement was written fully in the will of the "Red Han" and was signed by his representative, who was put under house arrest. In 1953, the 14th Dalai Lama wrote an article, saying that Tibetans were one of the ethnic communities in China, which enjoyed long and rich history and Tibetan people enjoyed freedom and equality as all the other ethnic groups did in China after they returned to the great family of the motherland. But on March 10, 1960, he said in another speech that Tibet has been "a completely independent country" with its own political system and government ever since the Tibetan people created their own written language.

In 1954, I accompanied the 14th Dalai Lama and the 10th Panchen Lama to Beijing. Till now, the zealous and respectful manner that the Dalai Lama demonstrated during that visit is still vivid in my mind. In the eulogy he presented to Chairman Mao Zedong in both Tibetan and Chinese, he extolled Chairman Mao as the "red sun", which "glorifies the whole nation, drives away invaders, and brings peace and blessing to people of all ethnic groups". However, when he fled abroad, he went back on his words and broke the precept of no lying by wantonly attacking and defaming his home country and calling on the so-called free world to unite to block the development of his own people and motherland.

It is known to all that in the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the Fifth Dalai Lama paid respects to Emperor Shunzhi and was conferred by the Emperor with honorific title. The title and position of Dalai Lama was also legalized by the central authorities during the visit. The move not only helped maintain the unification of China, but also boosted the social stability and economic development in Tibet. The Tibetan people, who were profoundly grateful to the Fifth Dalai Lama, commended him as "theGreat Fifth". It was shocking to many people that as a descendent of the Fifth Dalai Lama, the 14th Dalai Lama unabashedly attacked the Fifth Dalai Lama in May 1986 at a gathering of Tibetan people in the Netherlands, saying that it was shameful for the Fifth Dalai Lama to have "joyously accepted the mandarin jacket conferred by the Qing emperor." He also derided the Fifth Dalai Lama for paying respects to the central authorities, saying he had" lost face by setting up the relations." Those sayings were Dalai Lama's real thoughts, which also proved that he had totally betrayed his ancestors and his religion.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the 14th Dalai Lama believed that the dramatic changes in the former Soviet Union and east Europe brought new opportunities for "Tibet independence". In August 1991, he said in France and Switzerland that it would take no more than five or ten years for Tibet to be separated from China. In January 1992, he said again that Tibet would achieve independence in five or ten years. In 1995, it seemed that Dalai Lama gained more "magic power" even though his clique was low in morale. In March of the same year, he formally issued a prophecy, proclaiming that great changes would take place in China that year or in the following year. In August, he said in public that the "upcoming changes in 1995 or 1996" would benefit his group. As a matter of fact, Tibet did witness "great changes" in 1995. During that year, Tibetan people celebrated the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Tibet Autonomous Region, and most of the 62 key construction projects in Tibet financially supported by the whole nation were completed. Also in 1995, the divine reincarnation of Panchen Lama was successfully completed. The development of Tibet played a joke with the "magic power" of the 14th Dalai Lama, which, perhaps, is the judgment on Dalai Lama for his betrayal of the precept of no lying.

The spiritual essence of the tenets and canons of the Tibetan Buddhism include the basic essentials of observing the rules, sincerity, equilibrium, even share of wealth, altruism and harmony, which are also the basics of the healthy practice of Buddhism over the past 2,000 years and grounds for Buddhists to cultivate themselves through meditation and encourage people to do good. All Buddhists should follow the tenets to distinguish right from wrong on cardinal issues and make further progress in their religious accomplishment. However, the 14th Dalai Lama has been playing with the divine Buddhism to achieve political goals and purposely mislead the public, which fully demonstrates his hypocrisy in faith. By Shi Shan, the author is a research fellow in Tibetan Buddhism, who used to work in Tibet for a long time.

Singapore's "magic monkey" trees inspire cult, cynics

SINGAPORE (Reuters Life!) - Buddha sat for years under one to find enlightenment, and scientist Isaac Newton had his epiphany in another's shade. But for many Singaporeans, trees are useful for a more prosaic quest -- lucky lottery numbers.

The discovery of two "monkey heads" poking out of the bark of an otherwise non-descript African Mahogany tree have sparked a minor craze in the southeast Asian state, as devotees seek numbers from what they believe to be a god living in the tree.

Bananas, peanuts and peaches have been left as offerings to please the monkey god, sacred in Chinese mythology and Hinduism. A wheel-like device which kneeling gamblers turn by hand in front of the tree to spit out numbered balls has helped fuel the mania.

"Most people come for lottery numbers", explained Madam Kang, who had traveled half way across the island to join a crowd of a hundred onlookers milling around the tree on a weekend afternoon.

"There were three car accidents by the tree but no one was hurt, so people believe it was the monkey god protecting them."

Not long after the monkey god reportedly aided a series of wins, another three trees bearing gnarls that resemble gods were discovered along the same -- now jammed -- road.

Cartons of milk and more joss sticks garnish a small shrine set up in front of the elephant god Ganesha on a nearby tree, where a nobbly "elephant" head juts from the trunk.

Meters away, more onlookers snap images of a bark outline of the Chinese mercy goddess, Guan Yin, while others pat an oval bark eruption on another tree, ringed with garlands and said to be a tiger-dragon god tree.

SPIRIT PANTHEON
Despite the sacred trees' popularity, not all are convinced.

"The uneven bark surface at the base of the tree trunk is the result of callusing, a natural reaction in which the tree grows new bark over injured areas", a spokeswoman for the National Parks Board told the official Straits Times newspaper.

Other skeptics say the concept is simply too good to be true.

"If the tree can give money, most of the people in Singapore are not going to work. They'd just go to the tree and ask for the number," laughed taxi driver Mahmud Sanusi.

"After a few months maybe somebody will find a rock, with Mickey Mouse on it," said another taxi driver Chan Chee Siong.

But for others, sacred and lucky trees are a reality.

Bamboo and wooden "wishing trees", where devotees pray and hang written wishes, are found in several Chinese temples. And small shrines, nestled into the trunks of the roadside trees, are a common sight on this verdant island.

Henry Yap finds nothing strange about worshipping each week at a yellow-painted shrine set up in the roots of a massive banyan beside a shopping mall. "When you come here you set your mind free. It's what you call a holy place. It's very different from an indoors place," he explained.

For lucky tree-devotees, winning is believing. In February, 26-year-old Han Weili won $2,000 in the lottery with what he said were numbers gained from a lucky tree outside his housing block.

"I'd never won before" he said. "After I won I said thank you to the tree and bought it some food and some small flowers. I didn't buy anything with the money."

Despite local protests, estate renovations have now fenced off the tree. Devotees say the god "moved" to another sacred tree -- a 120-year-old, 30 meter (98 foot) tall Bodhi that towers over a temple, and which is now mobbed at weekends.

Volunteers at the temple, who believe the tree is Singapore's oldest and most sacred, are perplexed at its new fan base. But they can not stop them.

"No one can explain it. God appears in different forms to suit the culture," said temple volunteer Alice Chua.

"Being greedy is against our precepts, in Buddhism we don't encourage gambling. But we can't stop their luck if they do win."

- By Gillian Murdoch

Psychic or Spiritual attacks ?

Although very rarely there are some mortals that develop spiritual abilities and abuse them by attempting to use them to have negative influences on others. Those they can effect are usually sensitives themselves meaning they are normally quite spiritually or psychically aware people. Many of these individuals that feel or know they have another mortal effecting or attacking them suffer from fear and often feel they cannot protect themselves or control what is happening, this in turn makes them far more vulnerable as they begin to suffer from spiritual depletions and feelings of low energy caused by their own fears, which in themselves are negative feelings that cause the spirit to be on a lower vibration and depleted.

Fear or belief that another is able to overcome our defenses gives those who try to have these effects a psychological edge over us and that again aids them to have these effects upon us and prevents those being attacked from defending themselves and the more negative we become the more open we become to being attacked as the more positive and natural defenses of the spirit become depleted and the victims own negative vibrations and feelings bring them closer to the vibration of those who are having these effects upon them.

Thus our own worst enemy in such conditions is our own fear, as it opens us up and makes us vulnerable to these attacks lowering our own natural defenses. So the best defense to fight and protect against darkness is light and positivity along with a positive state of mind and belief in our own abilities to defend ourselves against any darkness. We should remember those that abuse their spiritual abilities bring darkness and spiritual depletion onto themselves as well as lowering their own vibrations. Whereas if we keep a positive mind so the spirit is energized, then we are able to project a barrier of light around ourselves and our homes to keep out darkness. Also the higher our vibration and the more positive we become, the further away from the vibration of those that effect us we become, thus it is harder for them to attune into us as our frequency of vibration is above and beyond theirs, somewhat like tuning a radio we move off of their frequency onto a higher one by our own positive state of mind and spirit making it much harder for them to have effects on us...

So remember our fear aids those who try to attack us and by being positive and projecting light to protect ourselves is our best defense, along with keeping a positive mind and the more self belief we put into our own spiritual abilities to defend ourselves the more we will be able to do so, thus seeing ourselves as indestructible and impervious to the effects of those who spiritually attempt to attack us is the best defense to move beyond and above their vibration of darkness is to use our light to cast out all darkness not only of others but also from within ourselves as the truth is where light exists it banishes darkness from its presence.

Psychic Perceptions or Effects of other Mortals

The most common effects that other mortals have on us are received through our own psychic abilities to pick up on them. For us to realize when we are being effected by others is not always that easy to recognize, as the psychic gifts normally give subtle feelings and intuitions unless they are well developed. Most of us have experience psychic perceptions only we may not have recognized them as that, for instance when we walk in a room where there has just been an argument, we can often psychically pick up on feelings that are heavy and depressing or are causing a dark and ominous atmosphere that can put us on edge, this sensation can feel like the air is full of bad vibrations, like those you could cut with a knife, as the individuals that have been arguing have been and maybe still are sending out negative emanations toward each other by thoughts that also emanates negativity from the spirit and the innocent bystander can get caught in the cross fire so to speak, also being able to pick up on these negative emanations. In these kind of conditions we often find ourselves wanting to disappear into the woodwork or find ourselves shriveling up as these heavy vibrations permeate our spiritual senses, thus we try to protect ourselves by shutting our psychic senses down to avoid taking on these feelings often without being that aware of doing so…

The main psychic chakra perception center that we receive through is placed in the solar plexus and when we are faced with confrontation many people cross their arms in what is quite often an unconscious form of self protection, to guard the solar plexus chakra from receiving or being read by another, by doing this it helps to block whatever we are sensing. This is something we might do in several situations such as in the presence of an argument or if we felt uneasy, challenged or embarrassed in someone's presence or at times with those who are suffering such disharmonies as depression, again this is to protect ourselves as we can also be effected and even become depressed by tacking on negative feelings from others often without even realizing just how much the moods and emanations of others can effect us…

This very same ability can work in reverse with those who are very positive and give out warmth and uplifting feelings that make us happy to be in their company, because we are not only getting the physical signs from them but are also constantly psychically sensing them even if we do not realize it and the psychic vibrations that we pick up on can uplift us and make us feel positive, thus we often seek to be close with those that make us feel this way. For instance spiritual healers might make us feel uplifted in both mind and body with the positive emanations and the healing rays they are imparting from spirit to us or someone who smiles or even the words we speak can cause psychic reactions within another, as there is an accompanying psychic sense with everything we say and do and the more psychically developed we become the more we can pick up on these intuitions and feelings that are emanating all around us. To protect ourselves from negative vibrations is as always, we need to encompass ourselves with light and positively by putting a protective bubble of light around ourselves to keep negativity away from our spirit and psychic senses.

How does a person get possessed ?

The more spiritual sensitivity you have the more open you are to possession. Risk activities involve , Burn Charming, Pendulum Diagnosis, Yin-Yang, Ghosts, Trance Diagnosis, Birth Stones, Metaphysical Healing, drugs.

Prayer wheel (Tibetan)

This is an exclusively Tibetan Buddhist praying instrument which always bears the mystical word 'OM MANI PADME HUM' [Om the Jewel in the Lotus Hum] numbering six syllables in the mantra of Avalokitesvara. The syllables are carved outside the wheel as well as kept inside the wheel printed in the paper in numerous numbers.

It is generally made of a cylindrical body of repoussé metal, penetrated along its axis by a wooden or metal handle. The cylinder can turn around the handle, with a slight rotation of the wrist, thanks to a cord or ballasted chain, which keeps it in movement. Inside this cylinder, written on paper or skin, are esoteric texts, usually invocations (dharani or mantra), the most common being that of Avalokitesvara.

These prayer wheels may be small and carried by pilgrims, or larger and fixed to the gates of monasteries or around stupas and chortens. Each turn of the cylinder generates as much merit as the reading of the sutra or the formula enclosed therein. All these objects are also called chhos-hkor in Tibetan, 'Wheel of the Law'. Some are very large and, enclosed in small structures, turn under the action of a 'mill' driven by water.

The Seventh Month - Hungry Ghosts !

Debunking the 10 Myths of the Seventh Month - from the Buddhist Perspective

MYTH #1: The gates of hell are open every seventh lunar month.
TRUTH: Beings leave hell not only in the seventh month, but as and when karmically appropriate. Beings leave hell only when their strong negative karma, which rendered them to be reborn in hell, is exhausted and when karma for rebirth surfaces.

MYTH #2: During the seventh month, hungry ghosts from hell roam the world freely as wandering spirits.
TRUTH: Most ghostly encounters are with wandering spirits, not hungry ghosts or hell-beings. Hungry ghosts, hell-beings and wandering spirits are all different. Wandering spirits are beings who have not taken proper rebirths due to strong attachment. Although all are unfortunate beings, hell-beings generally have more intense suffering with no holidays in our world, while we already co-exist with hungry ghosts and wandering spirits.

MYTH #3: All will go to hell after death.
TRUTH: Only those who have created very negative karma are reborn in hell. There are five other possible realms of existence — that of hungry ghosts, animals, humans, demi-gods and gods.

MYTH #4: Life in hell requires all the daily items of our world, so we must burn these items.
TRUTH: Since hell is a realm of suffering, burning paper money, houses, cars and cellphones would not be relevant. There is no basis that burnt paper items will materialise into solid items. Burning them not only wastes money, time and effort, it also pollutes the environment and harms our health.

MYTH #5: If we do not burn paper items out of goodwill, we are being uncompassionate?
TRUTH: It is more helpful to do good deeds and dedicate merits in the name of the deceased. We can also offer prayers by chanting, in the hope they may learn the Buddha's teachings and alleviate their own suffering. We can also make food offerings to hungry ghosts and wandering spirits.

MYTH #6: Why is there more supernatural phenomena during the seventh month?
TRUTH: If we expect supernatural incidents to occur, experiencing the supernatural can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. There could also be more supernatural activity because of elaborate and rowdy celebrations to gather and honour unseen beings.What if I have dreams of a deceased relative asking for paper items?You can explain to the deceased to let him or her understand that burning is not needed. Sometimes we dream so because we think the deceased needs the paper items. Other times, it is because the deceased is attached to the idea of needing paper items burnt. We can make food and prayers offerings to the deceased instead.

MYTH #7: Life in hell is eternal suffering.
TRUTH: Since there is limited evil that one can do in a lifetime, one will not experience karmic retribution forever. However, due to great suffering, life in hell is often experienced as a very long duration.

MYTH #8: All unseen beings are either mischievous or evil. We need to appease them and ask for protection.
TRUTH: Most Hungry ghosts and wandering spirits exist in states too unfortunate to sabotage us in any way. Buddhists take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, not in unenlightened beings. There is no need to appease any unseen being, but we can practise compassion when we encounter them.

MYTH #9: It is bad luck to have celebrations during the seventh month.
TRUTH: Ullambana itself is a spiritual celebration. If more of us practise Ullambana in the right way, the seventh month will be a time of great joy, merits and auspiciousness.

MYTH #10: It is definitely unfortunate to encounter an unseen being.
TRUTH: Encountering an unseen being is due to your karmic affinity with each other. You can urge the being to let go of attachment and take a good rebirth in Amitabha Buddha’s Pure Land, where enlightenment is guaranteed. You can do this by having good intentions, and chanting simple chants like “Namo Amituofo” (Homage to Amitabha Buddha).

China bans mining on sacred Buddhist mountains

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has banned mining on mountains sacred to Buddhists after protests from monks that the exploitation was damaging ancient temples and violating holy sites, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday.

The move was in response to complaints from monks in northern Shanxi province's Wutai mountain, a sacred peak, Xinhua said, but it also follows a riot among Tibetan Buddhists in the country's southwest in an area that was being mined for lead and zinc.

"The blasting to extract ore has cracked the walls, and ruined some of the frescoes," Xinhua quoted Abbot Shi Renfa of the Manjusri Monastery in the Wutai Mountains, as saying.

"I used to worry greatly that they would also break the Buddha statuettes and the outdoor pagoda made of coloured glaze."

The area is home to rich iron ore deposits and about 10 mines were being developed there, the report said.

China is desperate for energy, metals and other natural resources to feed its rapidly expanding economy, but the ruling Communist Party is also intent on maintaining social stability and cracks down hard on public protests.

It pays particular attention to stability in its ethnic minority regions like Bamei town in the southwestern province of Sichuan, where hundreds of Tibetans rioted in June over the exploitation of Yala Mountain, smashing mining equipment and attacking work teams in an attempt to halt work at the mine.

Residents said at the time that village elders went missing after they tried to petition the government, and they believed they had been arrested.

Thursday's report made no mention of the unrest in Sichuan, but said the decision to ban mining on sacred mountains had been taken in response to a joint letter filed in June by a group of monks in Shanxi to the provincial religious association.

In mid-August, the city and provincial governments announced they would close three mines within the Wutai mountain range and suspend operations of seven others nearby, the report said.

The government was still assessing compensation for the mining companies, it added.

THINKING ABOUT SUICIDE?

Thoughts about dying and putting an early end to life are not as uncommon and occur to many. You may have had morbid thoughts about dying and ending your own life, or perhaps you know someone who does.

Depression could be the cause
Clinical depression - a serious medical illness linked to changes in the biochemistry of the brain - is believed to contribute to at least half of all suicides. It affects the way a person feels about himself and how he thinks about things. Characterised by overwhelming feelings of sadness lasting for more than two weeks, clinical depression is very different from a temporary case of “the blues” triggered by an unhappy event.

Depression is often accompanied by a loss of interest in life, hopelessness and helplessness, and can be triggered in somebody who is going through stressful or traumatic life events, or who is terminally ill. Such distressing feelings generally require the attention of a healthcare professional and the treatment of medications.

Death doesn’t end the suffering
People who contemplate of committing suicide may think that suicide is the only way that can take away all the pain and end their suffering. But in Buddhism, death is only the beginning of another cycle of pain and suffering for others and yourself. According to the Buddhist teaching of the Four Noble Truths – life is full of dissatisfactions. All the stages of life - birth, ageing, sickness, death - all the ways of being, wanting and striving are conditions of suffering. However, the Buddha also taught that the end to a dissatisfactory life is possible with the Noble Eightfold Path.

The Buddha also taught us to realise the impermanence and insubstantiality of both life and death. Everything changes constantly. Nothing stays the same. Rain might come after sunshine, but so does sunshine comes after rain. In the realisation that people (their personalities, interests and attitudes) and life situations are unfixed and constantly changing, it becomes possible to approach each moment with an open mind. One is then able to react and adapt to new situations without clinging to outdated and inconsequential conceptions.

We can live more in the present without hanging on to the past or worrying about the future since each phenomenon arises depending on causes and conditions that are coming into being. In Buddhism, the mind is also seen as the root of all good and all evil, the cause of both suffering and True Happiness. It regards the mind as the primary factor that determines the well-being of each person. Through meditation and counselling, the perception of reality for those with persistent negative-thinking can be adjusted. This will enable them to better cope with the unexpected changes of life.

Buddhism’s perspective to suicide
“If one knows how to treasure oneself, one should protect oneself well.”
-The Buddha (Dhammapada)

“According to the Buddhist teaching of cause and effect, since one does not realise the truth of all phenomena, or does not practise to be liberated from life and death, suicide is pointless. When one's karmic retribution is not exhausted, death by suicide only leads to another cycle of rebirth. This is why Buddhists do not support suicide; and instead, encourage constructive living, using this life to diligently practise good, thus changing the present and the future for the better.”
-Chan Master Sheng Yen

“Some people commit suicide; they seem to think that there is suffering simply because there is the human life, and that by cutting off the life there will be nothing... But, according to the Buddhist viewpoint, that's not the case; your consciousness will continue. Even if you take your own life, this life, you will have to take another body that again will be the basis of suffering. If you really want to get rid of all your suffering, all the difficulties you experience in your life, you have to get rid of the fundamental cause (greed, hatred and delusion) that gives rise to the aggregates that are the basis of all suffering. Killing yourself isn't going to solve your problems.”
-His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

“Taking one's own life under any circumstances is morally and spiritually wrong. Taking one's own life owing to frustration or disappointment only causes greater suffering. Suicide is a cowardly way to end one's problems of life. A person cannot commit suicide if his mind is pure and tranquil. If one leaves this world with a confused and frustrated mind, it is most unlikely that he would be born again in a better condition. Suicide is an unwholesome or unskilful act since it is encouraged by a mind filled with greed, hatred and delusion. Those who commit suicide have not learnt how to face their problems, how to face the facts of life, and how to use their mind in a proper manner. Such people have not been able to understand the nature of life and worldly conditions.”
-Venerable K. Sri Dhammananda

“This human body and life is difficult to attain but is now attained. The Buddha's teachings are difficult to encounter but are now encountered. If we do not use this precious body to help ourselves, till when shall we wait to save ourselves?”
- Buddhist Saying

Monk's Mercedes-Benz is the talk of the town in violence-hit Sri Lanka

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- The tale of the Buddhist monk and his shiny, new Mercedes-Benz has sparked a national drama that has enthralled Sri Lanka and left many questioning the political — and religious — ethics of the cleric's hawkish political party.

The roots of the scandal lie in a special perk for Sri Lanka's lawmakers that allows them to import cars without paying the country's massive duties, which often double or triple the cost of a vehicle.

The law bars them from selling their tax-free cars for five years, but it's common practice for lawmakers to do so, importing expensive vehicles in their names and turning the keys over to wealthy businessmen for a hefty fee.

Devout monk-legislator Ellawala Medhananda has denied accusations he sold his new silver, E-class Mercedes for a huge profit. But even as he insisted the car was still his, a top political rival was driving around town in it.

For many here, even allegations that a Buddhist monk would join in the shady practice and break the law to make tens of thousands of dollars (euros) were too much, especially when much of the country is struggling to eke out a living amid a bitter civil war.

"They (the monks' party) came into politics promising to set new standards for the political mainstream, but see what they are doing today. This is unacceptable," opposition lawmaker Gayantha Karunathilake said Monday.

Medhananda's party, the monk-led Jathika Hela Urumaya, or National Heritage Party, called accusations that it sold the car to businessman Hemantha Nishantha a political smear.

"We have not sold or transferred the ownership of vehicles. This is merely a well-planned political campaign to discredit our party and weaken the government, which has shown military success against terrorism," party spokesman Udaya Gammampila said.

The monks' party, which calls for the government to aggressively fight against mainly Hindu Tamil separatists, wields great influence among the 70 percent of Sri Lankans who are ethnic Sinhalese, most of them Buddhist.

The conflict, one of Asia's longest running, has left some 70,000 dead since 1983 and displaced hundreds of thousands. The country was also hard-hit by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and many people are still struggling to recover, having lost family and livelihoods.

The car controversy exploded into a near farce recently when opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe — an intense political rival of Medhananda — turned up for a meeting with another prominent monk at a Buddhist temple driving the Mercedes.

Wickremesinghe said the businessman, Nishantha, who happens to be a supporter of his, lent him the car.

Through intermediaries, Nishantha declined requests for comment. In an interview in The Sunday Leader newspaper, he said he paid 13 million rupees (US$116,000; €85,350) to an intermediary for the car and had received an offer from the JHU to buy it back for less than half that amount.

Medhananda's exasperated party colleagues accused Wickremesinghe of essentially stealing the monk's car, and threatened to press charges.

Many Sri Lankans said the incident underscored the corruption plaguing the country, but the involvement of a monk made it even more difficult to digest.

Manoj Dissanayake, a local businessman, said Buddhist monks should stay away from politics. "For centuries, the role of Buddhist monks was to advise rulers and not to become rulers," he said.

The Morning Leader newspaper said Medhananda should be held to a higher ethical standard than other politicians.

"It could be argued that transfer of such permits by (members of Parliament) to outsiders for millions of rupees is an open secret," it said in an editorial last month. "But should MP monks, said to be the epitome of morality and virtue, engage in such shady practices?"- AP

History of relics

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THE oldest Buddhist text, the Mahaparinibbana Sutta, gave an account of Buddha's cremation some 2,500 years ago. His ashes were distributed equally among eight kings to avoid conflict. The kings took the holy ashes back to be enshrined in eight stupas in northern India. Since then, varying accounts of Buddha's tooth relics have surfaced. The most widely accepted legend is that there were four, of which only two are in the human world. Historical texts have documented how these two teeth have survived countless epic wars, journeys and sagas before finding their way to present-day Sri Lanka and China.

Sensoji Buddhist temple

Tokyo, Japan -- Monks at the Sensoji Buddhist temple in Tokyo, the city's oldest site of worship, are ditching tradition to the consternation of preservationists.

The priests used eight tons of titanium to replace the traditional clay-tile roof on their compound's two-story gate in May. Now they are considering using the lightweight metal, a favorite of aircraft and golf-club makers, to top the main pavilion, says Minoru Shimada, a Sensoji spokesman.

``Clay roof tiles are six times heavier than titanium, so in case of an earthquake, to prevent falling roof tiles hitting tourists, we decided to use titanium,'' Shimada says.

Japan's heritage watchdog, the Cultural Affairs Agency, isn't happy. While titanium is more durable than traditional wood, clay or copper tiles, bureaucrats say the 2,252 religious structures deemed national treasures must maintain convention or risk losing government funding.

``In restoring national heritage buildings, it is the very first principle to use original materials,'' says Kenichi Murata, a researcher at the agency in Tokyo. ``Using new materials such as titanium lowers the value of cultural assets.''

Buildings protected by the agency may receive public funds for as much as 85 percent of repair bills.

Financial support isn't as important as aesthetic appeal, says Dosho Yotsuya, abbot at the Zuiryuji Buddhist temple, a heritage site in the northwestern city of Takaoka.

Zuiryuji's seven-structure compound, completed around 1660, showcases early Zen architecture from Japan's 1603-1868 Edo period, when the administrative capital shifted to what is now Tokyo from Kyoto. Restored pavilions, arches and carvings illustrate the wealth of the surrounding region, then one of Japan's richest counties.

Peculiar Shine

New metals such as titanium have a peculiar shine that jars the eye when added to traditional structures, Yotsuya says. He renovated Zuiryuji's roof with clay and wooden tiles in 1996.

``Titanium doesn't convey the taste necessary for ancient buildings,'' Yotsuya says.

Modern materials have damaged historical structures before.

At the Acropolis in Athens, conservators first used iron rods and clamps to fortify a marble temple built around 400 BC. The iron rusted, staining the marble and accelerating its deterioration, according to Raifah Kabbani, a chemistry professor at Pace University in New York. Conservators switched to rustproof titanium in 1975.

In Kyoto, Koichi Kinoshita is siding with abbots weary of replacing tiles destroyed by acid rain, seismic jolts and seasonal typhoons.

Less Stress

While titanium is more expensive than conventional options, it lasts longer, says Kinoshita, a leading designer and restorer of traditional wooden buildings. The metal also puts less stress on the wood that supports it.

Titanium tiles cost 47,000 yen to 66,500 yen a square meter ($36 to $51 a square foot), compared with 19,600 yen to 25,200 yen for copper and 5,000 yen to 30,000 yen for clay, according to Kaname Corp., which molds titanium tiles north of Tokyo.

One titanium tile weighs 4.3 kilograms (9.5 pounds), according to Nihon Teppan Corp., a unit of Nippon Steel Corp., the world's second-largest steelmaker. That's half as much as a copper tile and one-sixth the weight of clay.

More than 60 religious structures around the country now sport titanium tiles made by Tokyo-based Nihon Teppan.

``Once they're put up, they don't need to be repaired,'' Kinoshita says. ``The Cultural Affairs Agency says don't use new materials, but the architectural technology for temples came from China and Korea, and temples were a showcase of cutting-edge technology then.''

Tile Monsters
Sensoji may even replace its roof gargoyles -- the ``oni gawara,'' or tile monsters -- with titanium models, spokesman Shimada says. Legend says the temple, which isn't deemed a heritage site, first rose in the seventh century.

Japan has had plenty of practice restoring its 158,334 Buddhist and Shinto structures. Many, including Sensoji and Zuiryuji, burned down in U.S. fire-bombing raids in World War II.

The country is also one of the world's most earthquake-prone, sitting in a zone where the shifting Eurasian, Philippine and Pacific tectonic plates meet.

Copper tiles are being attacked by acid rain, the result of pollution. Their average lifespan has dropped to as little as 20 years from about 80, says Tomoaki Yamashita, a priest at the Koetsuji Buddhist temple in Kyoto.

Koetsuji was one of the first temples to adopt titanium in 1992. Monks made the change after tests showed the metal lasted longer than copper tiles, Yamashita says.

``I imagined the future of my temple and concluded that renewing the roof every 50 years would be a heavy burden,'' he says. ``We haven't received complaints from worshippers. In fact, we've been getting inquiries from other temples.''

By Yoshifumi Takemoto, Bloomberg, July 27, 2007

Buddha's Relics

RELICS ENSURED THAT the presence of the Buddha is perpetuated after the passing of the Buddha. They are generally fragments of cremated bones. However, some relics can even appear pearl-like, translucent and multi-coloured.

Relics were always kept in monasteries, where they were enshrined in stupas. For instance, the great stupa at Sanchi, which contains relics of the Buddha, is set in the middle of a large monastic complex. A similar arrangement is found in Sri Lanka, where some of the relics finally came to rest, the most celebrated being the tooth relic at Kandy (see: Buddha's Tooth Relic). It is said that about forty pieces of Buddha tooth relics were distributed to different parts of the world. Myanmar is another country that's popularly known to enshrine Buddha tooth and body relics, alongside with relics of Buddha's disciples.

In China, finger bone of the Buddha was discovered in the 1980s in the forgotten crypt in the Fainen temple (Famensi) in Shaanxi province. Renowned as one of the four places in China with Buddha relics, the Famen temple enjoyed direct imperial patronage, especially in the ninth century.

Before the first century, relics were a key instrument in the spread of Buddhism in helping to establish new centres of religious significance. The practice of venerating relics and images has played a central role even in Buddhist traditions that strongly emphasize that Gautama Buddha was a human being who died and is no longer able to aid his followers. was a human being who died and is no longer able to aid his followers.

Buddha's Seven Coloured Relics


These pearls-like translucent multi-coloured relics are the corporeal remains of Buddha after his cremation. Each colour represents different parts of his body

Early accounts of the Buddha's death include the story of how his cremated remains were divided into portions and distributed among local rulers who enshrined them throughout northern India. What is more telling, however, is the description of how the Mallas, in whose territory the Buddha died, initially sought to keep all the relics for themselves.

When a terrible war was about to ensue, a Brahman or priest named Drona intervened, saying: "Our Buddha was a teacher of forbearance. Unfitting indeed is this clash of arms over the division of the (Buddha's) remains. May you all be united, sirs, reconciled; rejoicing together we shall make eight portions; relic monuments will be widespread in all directions."

This story provides a dramatic object lesson in both the great value accorded to the Buddha's remains and in dangers of selfish attachment. The resolution of the story suggests that the Buddha's relics are so precious that they should be widely distributed and thus made accessible to as many people as possible.

Whatever the historical legitimacy of any particular relic, the practice of relic veneration has been critical to the spread and maintenance of Buddhist tradition for more than two and the half millennia.

****************

Note :

According to Buddhist scriptures, the Buddha left 40 tooth relics to future generations to be worshipped. Among them, four tooth relics were conveyed to the Dragon King, the lord of the Nat Devas (Dhajia Min), Kandra (now Sri Lanka) and Kalika (now China). The rest of the 36 tooth relics were scattered to the present human world.

During the distribution of Buddha's relics, two monks, Gawunpadi and Kuthlayone delivered a few tooth relics to several other monks. One of the tooth relics, from the lower left side of Buddha's jaw, was received by the monk named Buhala and conveyed to the Rakhine State (Arakan) in what is known as Myanmar today.

At that time King Mahasandra (Weidali Dynasty) built a pagoda situated on the mountain called Bagan and that particular Buddha's tooth relic was enshrined in it. The pagoda was subsequently named Bagan Pagoda and was estimated to have been built some 2,300 years ago near Mrauk-U.

When the pagoda collapsed in 1980 due to natural wear and tear from the elements, an abbot of Mrauk-U discovered the Buddha tooth relic together with a 9-feet Buddha Image and other Buddha images made by lead mixed with earth and soil.

When the abbot compared it with a100-year old tooth relic that already existed in his monastery, to his surprise, he discovered that it was similar to the famous tooth relic from Sri Lanka. He immediately realized the significance of the new find.

Today, Golden Pagoda Buddhist Temple (GPBT) is fortunate to be a custodian of this particular tooth relic as a gift from the abbot who discovered it in Myanmar. The abbot of GPBT, Venerable Shi Fazhao, attributes this rare chance to merits that GPBT gained in the process of rebuilding temples in Bagan, Myanmar

Sources from Singapore Darma Net

Authenticity of Buddha tooth relic still subject of discussion

SINGAPORE



Some people are still continuing to question the authenticity of the Buddha tooth relic housed in the temple along South Bridge Road.

The tooth relic is stored on the fourth floor of the temple which usually does not allow any photography.

But given the current interest, it has made an exception.

No one is allowed to enter the chamber, but from the outside, you can see the stupa which contains the tooth relic.

The stupa was built using 420 kilograms of gold, donated by devotees who can only visit the tooth relic twice a year - the first day of the Lunar New Year and Vesak Day.

The only other way to see it is through brochures, which could be the reason why people are made more curious about its authenticity.

Some experts have also reportedly questioned whether the tooth is from the Buddha himself.

Liau Ming Ong, a donor, says: "The reverend Fa Zhou have to come out to speak the truth. You cannot simply brush it off and you think it's real, it's real. It's not correct. We have scholars from all over the world, come here to take a look and they look at the size of the tooth, then it's very ridiculous."

Ong Kim Dee, another donor, says: "Since we've donated the money, we need to know the truth, whether this is the truth from a Buddha or any animal, we have the right to know. Everyday we see a lot of local and foreign tourists visit the temple. If one day they find out it is not the truth, then I think it's a joke, it's not very good for Singapore."

Renowned artist Tan Swie Hian had done some research on Buddhism and believes it teaches the pursuit of truth.

He says: "I don't mind praying to a buffalo's tooth provided I'm told it is one. Let me get it right before my prayer. The Buddha's teaching is all about seeing things as they are and this is nothing to do with Buddhism or faith. It is a claim that can be easily, conclusively proven by science."

The founder of Nei Xue Tang, a Buddhist art museum, says he had received similar looking tooth relics when he visited Myanmar previously.

Woon Wee Teng says: "Many monks gave them to me and they told me, of course these teeth are quite similar to the one in the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and they told me please, bring them home to Singapore and put in the Museum to display. And of course, I'm very careful. I must do due diligence. What I did was to take them back, to check with the vet, forensic and also I checked with dentists, they're all forensics as well and they confirm that it's a non-human, herbivore's tooth. So I make a decision to not display."

Mr Woon says if the temple has the Buddha tooth, then as a public institution it has the responsibility to show proof.

He adds that the responsibility is even greater if the temple is collecting public money.

Mr Woon says: "We mustn't be seen by the outside world, internationally that we can't tell the difference between a horse tooth and a human tooth. That would be a disaster, it's a lot of embarrassment. I think they should get it right and since it's so clear that it's a herbivore's tooth, then they must rectify it."

And verifying the authenticity of all displays is something the Asian Civilisations Museum takes seriously.

Tan Huism, Deputy Director of Asian Civilisation Museum's Curation and Collections, says: "A museum is a place where we'll display objects that are authentic to the cultures. We decide whether these objects are authentic to their cultures and their timing...through stylistic comparisons with similar objects found at that time and other museums.

"We would then look at the pieces and see how these pieces compare with similar pieces from other museums. Of course you could also do scientific testing."

Within the temple grounds, there are many notices explaining its position on the tooth relic.

It says the suggestion of DNA testing, whilst simplistic, is a practical challenge to conduct.

It adds DNA testing is also invasive and it is unlikely that any Buddhist temple and their devotees would agree to such a test for what they believe to be the Buddha tooth. - CNA/ch

Some call for proof, others say it is not necessary

Readers have written as many as 20 letters to The Sunday Times after its report last week that there were doubts over the relic's (above) authenticity.
THE Sunday Times received 20 letters from readers after it reported last week that doubts have been cast on the authenticity of the Buddha tooth relic in a temple here.
Dental specialists had also said that they believed the tooth, said to have been found in Myanmar and given to the temple, belonged to a herbivorous animal.
At least 16 letter-writers were upset.
One of them was private tutor Brandon Lee, 35. He had sponsored more than $4,000 worth of statues and tiles in the new temple at Chinatown.
Readers suggested that the temple should let dental experts examine the tooth. They said that with so much donated to the temple's construction, there should be some transparency.
More than 60,000 donors have given the temple $45 million and 270kg of gold.
The gold was later melted and rebuilt into a 3.6m-high stupa to house the tooth relic.
The Venerable Shi Fazhao is not in Singapore and hence unable to respond to queries, said temple aides.
But he had earlier ruled out conducting DNA tests on the tooth.

A Journey to the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

Singapore News

WHEN it comes to housing a relic as sacred as a Buddha tooth, devotees spare no expense - as was the case for the new Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in Chinatown.

More than 60,000 donors poured $45 million and 270kg of gold into the four-storey building, where a tooth believed to be one of Buddha's molars now resides in a 3.6m-high stupa made out of worshippers' gold donations.

But now, doubts have been cast over whether this tooth belonged to Buddha - or even a human

being. And they range from the historical and political to the anatomical.

Mr Yap Kok Feng, a paralegal executive, wrote to Lianhe Zaobao recently claiming that the relic looks nothing like a human tooth.

When contacted, he said that he had shown a picture of it to dentists who believe it to be a herbivore's.

One of them, Dr Pamela Craig, a senior lecturer at the School of Dental Science at the University of Melbourne, told The Sunday Times she had examined photographs and compared the tooth with teeth from various animal skulls in her comparative dental anatomy department.

'There's absolutely no possibility that it is a human tooth,' said Dr Craig, who specialises in human and animal oral anatomy.

'I'm almost certain that it belongs to a member of the Bos species, probably a cow or a water buffalo.'

Dr Craig said human teeth should be rounded with a short crown and a comparatively longer root, but the picture clearly shows a long crown and a shorter root.

'In this case, looking at a photo is clear enough because it's so obvious that it's not a human tooth. It's like comparing a pear and an apple.'

The Sunday Times also showed a picture of the tooth to four other dentists, including two forensic dental experts. All said the tooth could not have come from a human.

'This is an animal 'cheek tooth', that is, a molar at the back of the mouth,' said Professor David K. Whittaker, a forensic dental specialist at Cardiff University in Britain.

The seemingly uneven biting surface is indicative of grass-eating animals whose teeth have 'a very efficient grinding surface for breaking up coarse plant materials,' he said.

Dr Myra Elliott, a consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeon with a practice at Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre, said: 'Even if human teeth have been fossilised, there's still a pattern. And what is shown in the picture doesn't look like a primate's tooth at all.'

The size of the tooth - measuring 7.5cm - is also far too long for a human tooth, said Dr Anthony Goh, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon.

'There isn't enough space in the jaw.'

The tooth relic was supposed to have been discovered by a Myanmar monk, the late Venerable Cakkapala of Bandula Monastery, in 1980 while restoring a collapsed stupa at Bagan Hill in Mrauk-U, Myanmar.

He gave the relic to Venerable Shi Fazhao, the abbot of both the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Golden Pagoda Buddhist Temple in Tampines in 2002.

The public can see the tooth only twice a year - on Vesak Day and the first day of Chinese New Year.

When The Sunday Times asked Venerable Shi Fazhao about the tooth, he said in Mandarin: 'To me, it has always been real and I have never questioned its authenticity.'

As for the dental experts' assessment, he said: 'They can say all they want, I don't care what they say. If you believe it's real, then it's real.'

The curious dental structure is not the only bone of contention here.

In another Lianhe Zaobao commentary published on July 6, Chinese Buddhism studies researcher and lecturer Wan Bingyan cited religious and historical texts supporting the popular belief that only two of Buddha's teeth are left in this world.

They are now believed to be at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy, Sri Lanka, and the Ling Guang Monastery in Beijing, China.

When a third surfaced in 1998 after a Tibetan monk smuggled it out and handed it to Taiwan's Venerable Master Hsing Yun of Fo Guang Shan Temple, it was fingered by Chinese officials as a fake.

Buddha's relics are venerated by Buddhists worldwide and held up as national treasures in Sri Lanka and China.

China had allowed its Buddha tooth relic to go on tour to Thailand, Hong Kong and thrice to Myanmar at the government's invitation.

Two tooth relic pagodas were later built in Yangon and Mandalay, one housing an ivory replica tooth and the other, donated religious items.

Mr Kyaw Swe Tint, counsellor at the Myanmar Embassy here, said that as far as he knows, there has been no evidence of genuine tooth relics in his country.

'This (the one believed to be housed here) could very well be a fake,' he said.

But Venerable Shi Fazhao said Venerable Cakkapala had given him the tooth; it was a private matter between two people and not between two countries. 'Don't politicise it,' he said.

Would he let an expert examine the tooth in Singapore? He replied: 'It's mine, why should I let you examine it? Why don't you go examine what's in Sri Lanka and China first?'

Venerable B. Dhammaratana, religious adviser of the Buddhist Research Society, explains that different Buddhist societies would subscribe to different versions of Buddha's legends.

'You can't say which is right or which is wrong.'

Well, I have spent about an hour in the temple with my family. It is not difficult to find a donation box. They are all located at all the entrances and on certain levels. We have donated some money on level 1 and level 4. We have also brought some mini bells each costs $1 at a gift shop. The staffs claimed that the bells can protect one from spiritual and blessed with good luck. My family was indeed very happy after visiting the temple but was quickly saddened and surprised by the abovementioned news when friends informed us about it.