Third Storey
Sacred Buddha Relics Chamber Topics
Third Storey Topics
Avatamsaka Trinity
Location Description
The museum has 2 major exhibition using artifacts to elaborate about the Life of the Buddha, and the future Maitreya Buddha. The artifacts are from Gandhara, India, Sri Lanka, China, Myanmar, Thailand, Korea, etc. These artifacts were acquired via purchases from the auction houses of Sothebys and Christies, as well as generous donations from private collectors. Many of our artifacts have been sponsored by our donors and corporations.
Buddha's Relic
According to Mahaparinirvana-Sutra, just before the Buddha's nirvana, his disciples were very sad. Then Buddha said, "you don't have to be sad, as after Buddha attains nirvana, there will be many relics (sariras) left for you to make offerings". Hence, the relics are the Buddha's body in the eternal form which keeps the Dharma Wheel turning forever.
The relics of the Buddha are usually in pure white, gold, jade green and orange red colours. All these bright and striking colours are the result of the Buddha gone through the six paramitas, the complete fulfilment of all dharma including precepts, meditation and wisdom. The gold relics represent the incomparable brightness, wisdom and gunamati. The pure white represents the patience under provocation and calmness for commandment-keeping. Jade green represent the concentration of mind, profound and complete fulfilment of all dharma. Orange red represent dana (donation) and retribution of good deed.
Buddha Disciples' Relics
The collection of arahant’s relics in the Relics Chamber are from the holy remains of the Venerable Sariputra, Moggallana, Anada, Sivali, Anuruddha, Upali, Kaccayana, Bakkula and many other arahants.
Avatamsaka Trinity in Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum
On the third level of the temple, you will find at the rear chamber of this hall, the sacred Relics of the Buddha are on display for visitors and devotees to view and venerate. On display are numerous relics and reliquaries from various countries, including Gandharan period. A most peaceful and yet thoughts provoking place.
The Buddha Sakyamuni statue is in the Padmasana (seated lotus) posture on the diamond throne. His hands are on his lap in the dhyana (meditation) mudra. A gold cloud aureole radiates behind his body and head with a small stupa at the top.
The Bodhisattva Manjusri statue is on the left, in the Lalitasana (relaxation) posture on the lotus pedestal, seated on the black lion. He holds a Sword of Wisdom in his right hand and a sutra on a lotus in his left hand. His hair is tied in a high chignon with a high crown adorned with the Dharma Wheel. A flower aureole radiates behind his head. He has a jeweled necklace around the body.
The Bodhisattva Samantabhadra is on the right, in the Lalitasana (relaxation) posture on the lotus pedestal, seated on the white elephant. He holds a ruyi in his right hand and his left hand in the mudra. His hair is tied in a high chignon. A flower aureole radiates behind his head. He has a high crown adorned with the Dharma Wheel. He has a jeweled necklace around the body. The white elephant has a cintamani jewel on his head.
About Avatamsaka Trinity
The Avatamsaka Trinity (Three Saints of Avatamsaka) consists of the following:
Buddha Shakyamuni was the historical Buddha who lived in the 6th century BCE in North India. Sage of the Shakyas, He was also known by his personal name Gautama or his family name Siddhartha.
Bodhisattva Manjushri represents transcendental wisdom, virtue, auspiciousness and joy. He is sometimes known as the Dharma Prince wielding the sword of wisdom subduing the hordes of demons and cutting off all worries and delusions. His left hand holds a green lotus which bears the scroll of the Heart Sutra which symbolizes the wisdom realizing the true nature of all things.
Bodhisattva Samantabhadra is usually depicted seated on an elephant with six tusks (six paramitas). He is a major Bodhisattva who personifies the transcendental practices and vows of the Buddhas. In the Avatamsaka Sutra, Samantabhadra makes Ten Great Vows concerning his Buddhist practice. In the twenty-eighth chapter of the Lotus Sutra, he vows to protect the Lotus Sutra, and its devotees.
About Avatamsaka Sutra
The Avataṃsaka Sūtra (Sanskrit: महावैपुल्यबुद्धावतंसकसूत्र Mahāvaipulya Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra) is one of the most influential Mahayana sutras of East Asian Buddhism. The title is rendered in English as Flower Garland Sutra, Flower Adornment Sutra, or Flower Ornament Scripture.
The Avataṃsaka Sūtra describes a cosmos of infinite realms upon realms, mutually containing one another. The vision expressed in this work was the foundation for the creation of the Huayan school of Chinese Buddhism, which was characterized by a philosophy of interpenetration. Huayan is known as Kegon in Japan.
History
The Avataṃsaka Sūtra was written in stages, beginning from at least 500 years after the death of the Buddha. One source claim that it is "a very long text composed of a number of originally independent scriptures of diverse provenance, all of which were combined, probably in Central Asia, in the late third or the fourth century CE. Japanese scholars such as Akira Hirakawa and Otake Susumu meanwhile argue that the Sanskrit original was compiled in India from sutras already in circulation which also bore the name "Buddhavatamsaka".
Two full Chinese translations of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra were made. Fragmentary translation probably began in the 2nd century CE, and the famous Ten Stages Sutra, often treated as an individual scripture, was first translated in the 3rd century. The first complete Chinese version was completed by Buddhabhadra around 420 in 60 scrolls with 34 chapters, and the second by Śikṣānanda around 699 in 80 scrolls with 40 chapters. There is also a translation of the Gaṇḍavyūha section by Prajñā around 798. The second translation includes more sutras than the first, and the Tibetan translation, which is still later, includes many differences with the 80 scrolls version. Scholars conclude that sutras were being added to the collection.
The single extant Tibetan version was translated from the original Sanskrit by Jinamitra et al. at the end of ninth century.
According to Paramārtha, a 6th-century monk from Ujjain in central India, the Avataṃsaka Sūtra is also called the "Bodhisattva Piṭaka". In his translation of the Mahāyānasaṃgrahabhāṣya, there is a reference to the Bodhisattva Piṭaka, which Paramārtha notes is the same as the Avataṃsaka Sūtra in 100,000 lines. Identification of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra as a "Bodhisattva Piṭaka" was also recorded in the colophon of a Chinese manuscript at the Mogao Caves: "Explication of the Ten Stages, entitled Creator of the Wisdom of an Omniscient Being by Degrees, a chapter of the Mahāyāna sūtra Bodhisattvapiṭaka Buddhāvataṃsaka, has ended."
The sutra, among the longest Buddhist sutras, is a compilation of disparate texts on various topics such as the Bodhisattva path, the interpenetration of phenomena (dharmas), the visionary powers of meditation and the equality of things in emptiness. According to Paul Demiéville, the collection is "characterized by overflowing visionary images, which multiply everything to infinity, by a type of monadology that teaches the interpenetration of the one whole and the particularized many, of spirit and matter" and by "the notion of a gradual progress towards liberation through successive stages and an obsessive preference for images of light and radiance."
The East Asian view of the text is that it expresses the universe as seen by a Buddha (the Dharmadhatu), who sees all phenomena as empty and thus infinitely interpenetrating, from the point of view of enlightenment. This interpenetration is described in the Avatamsaka as the perception "that the fields full of assemblies, the beings and aeons which are as many as all the dust particles, are all present in every particle of dust." Thus, a buddha's view of reality is also said to be "inconceivable; no sentient being can fathom it". It is notes that the sutra speaks of both Yogacara and Madhyamaka doctrines, stating that all things are empty of inherent existence and also of a "pure untainted awareness or consciousness (amalacitta) as the ground of all phenomena". The Avatamsaka sutra also highlights the visionary and mystical power of attaining the spiritual wisdom which sees the nature of the world.
Development of Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum - Avatamsaka Trinity
The Avatamsaka Trinity statues are modeled after similar Tang period Trinity statues.
Bibliography:
Lokesh Chandra, Dictionary of Buddhist Iconography, International Academy of Indian Culture and Aditya Prakashan, 1999, Vol 2 pages 466 - 468
Denise Patry Leidy, Shambala, The Art of Buddhism, An Introduction to its History & Meaning, 2008, pages 289