Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
(READERS NOTE THAT THIS IS REPOSTED FROM A POST I MADE IN 2010 on my previous website)
Two days ago I witnessed my second ever traveling exhibit of Buddhist relics.
The first time was eight months ago when the Maitreya Project exhibit was displayed at the Masonic Temple in my town. Mostly, it consisted of “pearls”, or remains of a multitude of Buddhist teachers after cremation. Being in the presence of the pearls is supposed to transfer a feeling of peace and loving kindness. More than one person present was crying, and one quite violently. Before I went I had no idea what to expect. I, personally, felt at peace, but then I always do when I enter a Buddhist area where candles are lit and gentle people surround me. I was quite fascinated with the variety of sizes, shapes and colors of the pearls in the exhibition.
The Maitreya Project relics are on tour for eight years before they are to be built into a shrine in India, in a very poor region.
In each case the public was welcome to view the relics and while some folks drove many miles to see them all I had to do was ride my bike twenty minutes. Both times the relics were well attended.
The exhibit which I partook of two days ago was at Boulder’s Shambhala Meditation Center where I meditate once a week. The relics were those of master Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, who died in 1991 at the age of 81. I own a DVD of Dilgo Khyentse’s life story, so felt more familiar with the person whose relics I was witnessing this time. There was a beautiful, light, airy, sunny, cheerful atmosphere for this exhibit. There are professional Ikebana arrangers at this Sangha who did an absolutely amazing job of setting a mood with the simplest displays of colorful flowers. The sun angle through the old, tall, glass windows in the old building’s top story was magical at 4PM, the time I chose to attend. Yes, it was amazingly peaceful, but that building always is. This was special, though. I loved seeing the Tibetan boots which Dilgo Khyentse wore, the blanket, the pen, the tiny belongings, the little rabbit, the prayer book, his amazing, perfect Tibetan writing, and the other relics present.
The touring relics were accompanied by Dilgo Khyentse’s reincarnation, the 17-year-old Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche, whom I did not get to see.
(video of Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche speaking in Boulder)
One Seeker's Story 