Co Lam Pagoda
unveiled the Jade Buddha for Universal Peace —
a nearly
9-foot-high Buddha carved entirely out of one
block of jade, that will be at the temple
through Aug 29, 2010
Jade Buddha from B.C.,
via Australia and Thailand,
welcomed to Seattle
By
Janet I. Tu
(Seattle Times staff reporter)
With a procession
of monks and nuns, and chants and prayers, a
couple hundred people gathered on the grounds of
the Co Lam Pagoda for the unveiling Thursday of
a most striking Buddha statue: one that's nearly
9 feet high, weighs about 4 tons and was carved
entirely out of one block of jade.
It's called the
Jade Buddha for Universal Peace. And Co Lam
Pagoda, a Vietnamese Buddhist temple near the
intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Way South
and South Graham Street, is its latest stop in
an ongoing worldwide tour.
The block of jade
was discovered in British Columbia in 2000. An
Australian couple, Ian and Judy Green, who are
both Buddhists, purchased it and hired carvers
in Thailand to turn it into a Buddha statue.
Since then, the Jade Buddha has toured Vietnam,
Australia, Canada and the United States.
In Seattle, the
Jade Buddha will be on exhibit at Co Lam Pagoda
until Aug 29, 2010. The official opening
ceremony Saturday is expected to draw at least
5,000 people, with as many as 15,000 people
coming to view the statue through the opening
weekend.
Temple master Thich Nguyen An places the begging
bowl in the arms of the jade Buddha statue
during its unveiling at Seattle's Co Lam Pagoda.
"This
is once in my lifetime to have the opportunity
to worship with the Jade Buddha," said
Nghia Do, a systems engineer at the University
of Washington and part of the temple committee
that worked to bring the statue here.
The statue is
considered special because some believe it's
reportedly the largest existing jade Buddha
statue in the world. Even the Buddha's head and
the begging bowl he's holding are jade — though
painted gold to make the features stand out.
Jade is
considered precious to many Vietnamese and other
Asians, who believe it protects them from harm,
bad luck and evil.
It's also modeled
after a Buddha statue in Bodh-Gaya, India, where
Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha, was
said to have attained enlightenment. Bodh-Gaya
is considered a holy site for Buddhists.
Looking at the
Jade Buddha "reminds me of that statue at a
very holy place," Do said. "I feel closer
to Buddha."
The Greens, both
64, raised the money to buy the jade stone from
Canada and have it carved.
The Australian
couple, who live near Melbourne, own an
advertising agency and are in Seattle for the
duration of the statue's time at Co Lam Pagoda.
They've been Buddhists, in the Tibetan
tradition, for 35 years.
They plan to tour
the Jade Buddha for about five years, they say,
because they want people around the world,
irrespective of religion, to reflect upon peace
and to follow a peaceful path.
The tours also
help raise funds for their plans to build a
stupa — a sacred monument — in Bendigo,
Australia, where the Jade Buddha will eventually
be set. At each stop, they sell small items —
jewelry or small Buddha statues — carved from
the same block of jade as the Jade Buddha.
Phuc Le, an art
designer in Seattle and a temple member, said he
felt fortunate to be one of the first ones to
see the Jade Buddha in Seattle. Praying before
the Buddha, he said, helps him "focus my mind on
the Buddha."
Gazing on the
proceedings at his temple Thursday, Master
Nguyen Kim, who teaches Buddhism, said: "This
is a very special occasion."
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