VICTORIA EWART
discussing
"The Maitreya Project Relics Tour"

Welcome to the Maitreya Project Relics Show. I want to briefly explain what the relics are, where they came from, why they're touring like this, and the significance of the Maitreya statue that Zopa Rinpoche plans to build in India. The relics are not physical remains like dead bones or hair or teeth from dead people. These are different. The Tibetans call these "ringsel," and it means that they hold the consciousness of the Buddhist master, who's no longer with us. When the Shakyamuni Buddha was cremated two and a half thousand years ago, among his ashes were tiny crystals. They look very shiny and hard, like pearls, and they hold the essence of the spiritual realizations of the Buddha.

When we see the relics, we may think that it is a very beautiful display with interesting objects. But much more is involved, since people who come to the relics can create positive energy virtue by relating to these holy objects. In other words, when you look at the display and become involved, you can actually create the causes for your own happiness. This is why Lama Zopa Rinpoche lets me take these relics around to different centers and temples all over the world.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche keeps a tiny stupa of Buddha relics in the pocket of his robes. (A stupa is a traditional Buddhist monument. ) When he sees an ant or some other small creature, he will lift it onto his finger and have it go around and around and around the relics. This is incredibly beneficial for the ant because it ensures that in it's future rebirths it will eventually become liberated. Now, the ant doesn't know what's going on and in an analogous way, we might come here with a mind of suspicion, anger, indifference or just curiosity. But we will still create merit and positive energy, which we need in order to have happiness and peace in our lives. And that's what's so beautiful about this.

But as His Holiness the Dalai Lama explains to us, we are not like ants or animals; in fact, we have human intelligence, heart, intuition, and wisdom. So, when we approach the relics and hear about them, we can experience something truly extraordinary. There can be a definite energy happening if we put aside our schedule and our thoughts about the past or the future, allow ourselves to be present, and tune in to the relics and the statue. Viewers often say that they experience a sense of peace, comfort, wisdom or a feeling of reassurance. There are more than one thousand relics in the tour. It's may be difficult for us to get our minds around this, but we're incredibly fortunate to be able to see them.

Sometimes we consider the relics to be separate from ourselves, but in fact, they are a reminder of our own wisdom and our own compassion. We look at the Buddha and think we could never be like that. But actually we are the Buddha and we have the Buddha nature. We have this purity even though we may have forgotten about it. When we come here, we can be inspired by the qualities of the Maitreya Buddha, which are loving-kindness, tolerance and compassion. These are basic human values that our media doesn't publicize so much. We hear about war and suffering so much more.

Recently PBS asked us to come and show the relics as part of their "Life and Times" program, and they slotted us in at the end as a kind of a curiosity item. But what was interesting was that the whole program was about suffering. They had pieces on the war with Iraq, terrorism, anti-war protesters, and a man who had written a book about the Holocaust. And I saw a real connection, because the purpose of this tour as well as the project to build the Maitreya statue in India is to try to reverse or counterbalance the suffering that's happening in the world. We're trying to remind people of their own pure nature and compassion, and the basic quality of human kindness. The relics, I think, provide a very gentle healing space for people to come and explore these feelings, without any particular labels. This isn't just a Buddhist exhibition open only to Buddhists. This energy, or blessing, is accessible to everyone because we're all human beings.

The statue as designed by Rinpoche is a huge undertaking. It's going to be five hundred feet tall, built in India, and designed to last for one thousand years. If you think about such a large statue that will cost some two hundred million dollars, you may get lost in the details, as I sometimes do. But aside from the statistics, what is this actually about? What does it symbolize? And why will it benefit us.

We have the Statue of Liberty, which symbolizes worldly freedom, or the Taj Mahal, which is a symbol of one man's love for his wife. And while we have built many monuments to commerce in our present era, we don't have many spiritual or humanitarian symbols.

Many people think we should build a hospital or a school with the money instead of a statue, which raises a very good point. Actually, there will be a hospital and a school at the site of the Maitreya Project to help the local people. But the idea of the statue extends to many lifetimes. It allows us to connect with the Maitreya Buddha, the Buddha of the future.

And while the statue in India hasn't been built yet, I believe the tour itself creates the causes for the statue. This tour isn't about raising money so much as it is about changing conditions. It's about people thinking. If people just pick up a leaflet and think about the possibilities of the Project, then it is like a visualization, and we start to put energy into it.

We live in the era of Shakyamuni Buddha, and some of the relics are from the Shakyamuni Buddha. We also have the relics of the previous Buddha, Kasyapa Buddha, who was the Buddha before Shakyamuni Buddha. We are said to be living in the time of one thousand Buddhas who come to give us teaching and to show us the path to liberation. Some of these relics are thousands of years old.

One of the most extraordinary things about these relics is that they have multiplied during the tour. How can the relics just spontaneously multiply? When people visit them and have a mind of faith and respect, they create the karma or the conditions to see more relics. As a result, more relics manifest, since they are living and have the living essence of the consciousness of the master. Conversely, if we didn't treat them with respect, they would disappear.

The lamas tell us that when we observe the suffering in the world, we mistakenly try to deal with it externally by building more weapons, or making a protest, or using similar means to address the problem. But in actuality, we need to change ourselves and the way that we see things in order to change our collective reality. And to do that, we are building a statue. Why? Because it is a virtuous activity, and the result - the statue - will be a significant spiritual symbol. If you're not Buddhist, you can think about it in terms of the qualities of loving-kindness and what it means to have a good heart. That is the humanitarian message of the Project which is accessible to all.

This is the vision of the project. People may say that two hundred million dollars is an enormous sum. But here we are in Hollywood where a film like the "Matrix" contains a momentary special effect, lasting only a few seconds, but costing several million dollars. It is indicative of our times, that we can spend so much money on something that's just momentary -- and ends up on a video shelf -- while we are reluctant to provide enough money to build an important spiritual symbol like the Maitreya Project. And that's because of our karma. So what we're trying to do is to elevate our intention and change our karma by building this statue.

When we walk around the table where the relics are displayed, we can think about the possibility that this is actually the living Buddha. We can share the essence of no more suffering, and of lasting peace and happiness. By being with the relics, we are working with our own karma and creating merit. We each have our own responsibility, and as His Holiness the Dalai Lama points out, we also have a universal responsibility to be aware of our environment and to be kind to other people, or at least to avoid hurting them. You can think about the meaning of your life. You can bring to mind the fact that you are purifying the negative activity you have created in this life and in past lives. And at the same time, you are creating the merit or positive energy which you need both to become liberated and in order to become happy right now. It is this capacity that distinguishes us from animals and other beings who don't have opportunity we are now experiencing.

At one time, most of the relics were in statues in Tibet, but when the Chinese Communists invaded Tibet in the sixties, many statues were desecrated or destroyed. Fortunately, local Tibetans had the foresight to salvage these relics and place them in safekeeping with trusted people. Eventually, these relics were offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche. He conceived the idea of the Maitreya Project and the Relics Tour, through which the relics will travel to many places around the world so that people can benefit by seeing them. Eventually, the relics will be enshrined inside the heart of the Maitreya Buddha statue that will be built in India. And when the relics go inside the statue, it will be like a light bulb turning on. It's like the sun shining in the sky -- that's the effect of having these holy relics inside.

When the Chinese heard about the Maitreya Project to build the largest Buddha statue in the world, they immediately said they were going to build a bigger one, a Quan Yin, the Buddha of Compassion. Peter, the leader of the Maitreya Project was horrified. But when he discussed it with Lama Ropa Rinpoche, Rinpoche was happy, and said he thought it was fantastic. It's really ironic, but it's great, and he was rejoicing. I've heard that it's now completed.

The Maitreya Project Relics tour has traveled widely. Wherever it has been, people have wanted to know more about the relics, and have felt something in their presence. This feeling isn't just for Buddhists, or people that have a Buddhist label. In fact, the spiritual path is for everyone and it doesn't matter whether you call yourself Christian, Baptist, Jewish, Buddhist or whatever. We all are searching for happiness and peace, and not just for ourselves, but for other people as well. All of this is what this tour and the relics are about.

When you see the relics, walk around them, or sit with them, your mind receives a blessing. But we also do a blessing ceremony, which involves being touched on the head with a relic. At that moment, the internal body receives a healing, or a purification. I don't know if that happens on a physical level, but I think it certainly happens on a subtle level.

We invite you to share your experiences with the relics with your friends and family. And please dedicate all the merit and benefit you have experienced to world peace and your own happiness. Thank you.