China's Buddha finger relic stirs worship fervor among South Korean followers
23/11/2005 17:13
Sealed inside a miniature golden pagoda with a bullet-proof glass
framework outside, a Buddha bone finger previously kept in the northwest ancient
Chinese city of Xi'an is drawing incessant crowds in South Korea.
Some
spectators were so deeply touched on the sight of the Buddha finger relic that
they burst into tears.
Hosted in a grand gymnasium in the South Korean
capital of Seoul, the 2,500-year-old bone, believed to be the middle finger
sarari of the Sakyamuni Buddha, has drawn thousands of Koreans to come around
paying respects and praying for good future.
Ferried to Seoul on Nov. 11, the
finger, one of China's most precious cultural relics guarded by four young
Chinese monks round-the-clock, is scheduled to stay in Seoul for more than 20
days before it is moved to Busan to conclude its 42-day trip for display in the
country.
On the same day, the finger bone was delivered to the Incheon
airport in a chartered plane after a 1,843-km flight.
Before this, a grand
gala attended by thousands of Chinese Buddhists was conducted in its host site
of the Famen temple in Xi'an, capital of western China's Shaanxi
province.
Though local media did not give it a big coverage, the
one-inch-long finger still witnessed incessant groups of worshipers wearing
their festival costumes from across the country.
"To see the finger is the
same as seeing the Buddha himself," said Master Hwei Cheung, abbot of a local
Korean temple. "It would surely bring about plenty of love and peace for our
people and country."
Lee Ivnok, a Seoul resident, burst into tears at the
first sight of the relic. Lee said she prayed a lot for her family, friends and
herself.
"I felt excited and warm from inside ... as if an old grandfather
were just around," she said. "It is really different from how I felt in a usual
abstract way about the Buddhism."
More South Korean followers are expected to
rush here to honor the precious relic, analysts say.
South Korea has more
than 20 million Buddhism followers, who view the coming of the finger as the
most important event in their lives.
Lee had told all of her relatives and
friends about the display of the finger. "I'm sure they will all come to mark it
as I did."
Though himself not a Buddhism follower, Mr. Kim still take her
wife and daughter to pay homage to the relic. "It can help purify our souls and
forge good relations with my neighbors."
Hwei Cheung said the powerful finger
will help Koreans to overcome various difficulties they are faced with and
render them a bright future.
"It will also help reunify our separated
peninsula and bring about more development and happiness for Koreans," he
said.
Hsun Shan, one of the top ROK monks, takes the event as the result of
the long-standing friendship between the Buddhists and people from South Korea
and China.
"The consecration has posed a rare opportunity for the Buddhists
from the two countries to look forward to a more promising bilateral
relationship," he said.
According to Sheng Hui, vice president of the China
Buddhist Association, the event is widely viewed as one of the best occasions
for cultural exchanges between the two countries in more than 1,600
years.
"The event has fully showcased the brotherhood between the Chinese and
the South Korean monks and lay masses," he said. "It will help further advance
the friendship and enhance mutual understanding between the two
nations."
Before this event, the finger had been taken out of the host Famen
temple for display in Thailand, China's Taiwan and Hong Kong respectively in
1994, 2002 and 2004 and had attracted millions of people.
The finger was
found in 1987 together with 2,499 pieces of relics from the underground chamber
of a pagoda, half of which had collapsed due to consecutive days of rain, after
remaining unseen for 1,113 years.
Archaeologists said the bone relic is part
of Sakyamuni's middle finger, which had survived a religious rite when Buddha's
remains were cremated by his followers.
Also found together with it were
sariras of a scull bone, three teeth and thousands of tiny ball-shaped
sariras.
Sakyamuni, born in BC 565 and died in BC 485, was the founder of
Buddhism. His remains were preserved after he achieved nirvana.
The finger is
cherished as one of China's top cultural and religious relics and worshipped by
the Buddhists from across the world.
Xinhua
|
