Venezuela: The Sacred Relics of Buddha at the CAF

Sacred Relics of Buddha on exhibition at the CAF

After a tour of over 30 countries, the Sacred Relics of the Buddha exhibition arrived in Venezuela. The exhibition will open on Tuesday 14 in the CAF Gallery as part of the Culture for Peace Program that this institution is supporting to promote dialogue, co-existence and reconciliation.

The exhibition was opened in the presence of Lama Gangchen Tulku Rinpoche, spiritual leader of the Lama Gangchen World Peace Foundation, and CAF Executive President Enrique García, who said that in these times, it is necessary to return to the humanist thinking that peace is the best tool for promoting social progress.

In 2002 the CAF published the book Palabras de Paz (Words of Peace) which has become a document of historic value since it contains the speeches given by the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates when they received this honor.

The Sacred Relics of Buddha collection belongs to the United Nations which received them as a donation from Thailand, Myanmar and Sri Lanka in 2000 in appreciation of the official UN recognition of the Day of Vesak, which is the commemoration of the birth, illumination and death of Buddha Sakyamuni, or Prince Siddharta, who lived 2,500 years ago.

This is the first and only time that the relics will visit Venezuela; when they return to the United Nations in New York in May 2005 they will never leave again.

To accompany these precious spiritual jewels, Lama Gangchen Tulku Rinpoche made a special trip from Italy where his Foundation is based. The relics will be exhibited in Caracas and Puerto Ordaz with the message All United for the Peace.

Lama Gangchen Tulku Rinpoche was born in western Tibet in 1941. He was recognized at a very early age as the reincarnation of a Lama healer. He was enthroned at the age of five in the Gangchen Choepeling monastery.

He now lives in Italy from where he leads over 100 centers or groups around the world devoted to education for interior peace and the study of self-healing. He is the present representative of an ancient and uninterrupted lineage of Tantric Masters which dates from the times of Buddha Shakyamuni. He has officiated at ceremonies for world peace in Singapore, Indonesia, Nepal, Mongolia, India, Russia, Italy and Spain.