Consecration of Statues

20 - 24 September 2006

We are very happy to share images from the week when the statues of our new centre were consecrated. The consecration process was for the Big Buddha statue and also for 5 other smaller statues. As you'll see, this involved a variety of precious substances, sacred and mundane objects, dharma texts and statues, mantras and other ritual objects. The process was led by Chopola, along with 4 other Lamas and one Ani.

Background on the Statues and their Consecration

In the main shrine room of the new Karma Kagyu Dharma Society centre, the central rupa will be an 8 foot Buddha Sakyamuni statue, two 3 1/2 foot statues(Chenrezig and Vajrapani), seven 3 foot statues (Medicine Buddha, Amitabha Buddha, Green Tara, Guru Rinpoche, Vajrasattva,Karmapa, Zambhala), twenty 1 foot Tara statues and over two hundred small statues of Karmapa, Tara, and other deities to be consecrated.

In the Tibetan tradition, holy statues enshrined in monasteries are filled with precious items and blessed in a special consecration ceremony during which the ultimate awareness is invited to enter in and merge with the statues. In this way, the statue becomes a living entity capable of bestowing blessing.

Benefits of Consecration

The Benefits and Merits of consecrating the statues are said to be:

1. Increase in wisdom
2. Purify defilement and obscuration
3. Health and longevity
4. Gain respect
5. Gracious appearance
6. Increase wealth and prosperity
7. All wishes fulfilled
8. Attain Buddhahood swiftly

Preparation Work on Mantras and other Materials

Preparation work for the Statue Consecration actually started a few months ago in June, led by Anila.

• The Mantras were all printed during June and July. There was a huge amount of mantras printed - enough to wrap them around and around, and then fill at least 50% of all the statues.
• Starting from August, all the mantra paper was ritually purified with saffron water.
• The mantra papers were then rolled up into sets of 2, 3, 5, 7, all the way up to 25 pieces. With this different size of mantra roll we were then able to fill the statues and made sure there is no space left within the statues.
• Then each mantra roll must be wrapped with yellow cloth. Then outside of this they are wrapped again with cloths of the 5 colors - White (body), Blue (speech), Red (mind), Yellow (qualities), Green (activities). When the finished mantra rolls are placed in the statues, they need to be put in with the white cloth on top and green cloth at the bottom.
• All the raw materials then needed to be gathered, such as sandalwood powder, wood (pine wood specifically), precious materials, 5 metals, shog string and a multitude of other small things.
• Then Lamas will perform purification puja prayers for all the materials. Images of this stage can be seen here ... Purification Prayers, and Purification Prayers.

Materials to fill the Statues

The following items are normally used to fill the statues:

• Life wood or Vital trunk (tib. Sog Shing): This is a long wooden stick placed vertically in the center of the statue to serve as the spine. The wood must come from a tree which is bearing fruit, and must be of a variety which has fragrant leaves, such as juniper or sandalwood. The piece of wood chosen must be straight, free of cracks or blemishes and must have an even surface. It must be marked on the side which faced in the east direction when it was still growing on the tree. Then it must be dried, polished and its four sides made perfectly square, with a point at the top. At the bottom end the wood has to be carved into the shape of a half vajra. Its length is also very specific. It should be also equal to the distance extending from the point on the statue where the palms of the hand rest together on the legs crossed in the full lotus posture, up to the crown of the head.
• Holy substances such as relics, dharma pills, dharma medicines, belongings of the past great masters, earth from the holy place, etc.
• Kangyur - 'translations of the pronouncements [of the Buddha]' - this therefore consists of the texts that are directly attributed to the Buddha
• Mantra rolls - the strips of paper with mantras are tightly rolled and tied together with pieces of strings in 5 colours (please see above)
• Herbal medicines
• Sandalwood powder and incense
• Dried flowers
• Various Precious materials

First set of Photos

These photos are the first few days of the consecration. The whole process lasted from 20 to 27 September.

20 September 2006

21 September 2006

24 September 2006

Email : KKDS,KL

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