Is Buddha tooth here the Real McCoy?

[From_75557]

Ronald Louis sent this via 75557

Rev Fazhao was quoted as saying the tooth belongs to him and thus there is no need for checks on its authencity.

but he has used this tooth to raise close to a few hundred millions of dollars from the pulbic or devotees to build this temple.

Is it mis-leading info that he gave to raise funds, intentional or not.....no one knows. But as a religious outfit and to raise this sort of money from the public or devotees, there must be accountability. does any govt agency regulate religious organ anyway in Spore or it could turn out to be the next NKF.

I am not saying that that Metta did any wrong but they need to be accountable as devotees/public gave money bcos of the tooth to be of Buddha.

the tone of the reply from the Reverend seems unbecoming of a monk that commands a large following but then from the newspaper reports one cannot hear the tone etc of the reply from the Reverend. He sounded defensive to me.

[From_75557]

Liau Ming Ong sent this via 75557

Venerable Shi Fazhao as the Abbot of the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple should
know that the pursuit of Buddhism is to discover the truth and not be
ignorant. He must therefore produce evidence to prove that the tooth in his
possession is not only human tooth but that it is the Buddha’s tooth!

He should be aware that in the Sutra of the Abiding In Good And Noble
Deportment, it is stipulated that a monk must not be deceitful; must not
delude and confuse others; and must not earn a livelihood in an improper
way.

Faced with clear medical assessment that the tooth in his possession is not
the Buddha’s tooth, it is therefore not right for him to say that he doesn’t
care what the medical experts said about his alleged Buddha’s tooth and that
the tooth is his and why should he allowed it to be examined. His purported
explanations are totally unacceptable.

Venerable Shi Fazhao must know it is not “private” matter about the alleged
Buddha’s tooth because he made representation to the whole wide world that
he has the Buddha’s tooth and he and his Buddha Tooth Relic Temple solicit
funds from tourists and the public for money. Accordingly, there must be
accountability on their part when told that the tooth in their possession is
not the Buddha’s tooth.

[From_75557]

Eng sent this via 75557

Venerable Shi Fazhao as the Abbot must act responsibly. He cannot refuse now to answer the most crucial question as to whether the tooth he has is the real Buddha’s tooth in face of strong medical assessment that the tooth is not a human tooth let alone the Buddha’s tooth!

He reportedly said that the tooth has always been real and that he has never questioned its authenticity. In fact, in Venerable Fazhao’s publication “New Discoveries On The Threshold of Enlightenment”, it is stated at page 83 that “This tooth relic has been inspected and authenticated by experts from Japan”. Since this is the position, Venerable Shi Fazhao must produce evidence from the alleged Japanese experts to support his representation that the tooth in his possession is the real Buddha’s tooth!

If Venerable Shi Fazhao cannot produce evidence from such Japanese experts, he must withdraw his representation to the whole world that he has the Buddha’s tooth and he has to apologize for making a misleading representation and the authorities should stop him and his Buddha Tooth Relic Temple to solicit money from tourists and locals alike using such representation.

The point here is also that we must not look stupid before the world by treating a herbivore’s tooth for a Buddha’s tooth. The truth must prevail!

[From_75557]

Nicholas Lazarus sent this via 75557

Venerable Shi Fazhao cannot simply ignore the dental experts’ assessment. Since he represents to Singaporeans and tourists that the tooth he has is the
authentic Buddha’s tooth and also he has solicited public funds (not in small quantity of S$45 million and 270kg of gold!) and is still soliciting, he owes a
duty to prove that the tooth he has is indeed the Buddha’s tooth.

There are enough troubles of the late with public and charitable organizations starting with NKF, Singapore Association Of The Visually Handicapped, St. John’s Home For Elderly Persons and Care Corner Family Service Centre.

It is only right that there must be transparency, good governance and accountability.

This also applies to temples and all religious organizations where public funds are being solicited.

Since this is clearly not a private and personal matter of Venerable Shi Fazhao and as he and his Buddha Tooth Relic Temple solicit public funds, he
must account to the public and he is under a duty to prove to the public that the tooth he has is the real Buddha’s tooth.

If no proof is produced, Venerable Shi Fazhao and his Temple should stop or be stopped to collect money from the public and tourists.

[qwerty0870]

Is it really necessary to pin the physical authenticity of this tooth down?

As I understand it, all sorts of revered objects in all the world's faiths have their critics. But also such objects form representations of each faith, and are not to be taken literally as truly belonging to a person.

Whether belonging to animal or man, the tooth is merely a point of focus for devotees to pay homeage to the wisdom and compassion of this individual - buddha.

Truly, in the diamond sutra, it is written "Is it possible to grasp the Tathágata by means of bodily signs?" - which belies the suggestion "what isn't buddha?" - the sound of leaves falling; the laughter of a child, a lone tree on a hill, an old man cuddling his grandchild...

The venerable's claim to "If you believe in it, it's real. If you do not, it's not" may have been taken in the wrong context, and we must remember he is not a monk, philosopher, linguist, public relations executive, diplomat, all roled into one. We can expect verbal slip-ups from time to time.

But the essence of his thoughts is what's essential - that layperson practitioners (ye of little faith) need representations, and here's the example of one.

The tooth is like the finger pointing to the moon (buddha), but if we argue constantly whether a finger is an appropriate tool as a pointer, we fail to see the moon.

[From_75557]

Gyatso sent this via 75557

It would be a great disappointment if the “Buddha Tooth” is a fake! It would have bring much glory and pride to Singapore if is real. But if it is a fake it would be the century big joke!

Venerable Shi Fa Zhao should let a DNA test be conducted to confirm whether it’s a genuine human tooth. Also further test should be conducted for the age of the tooth if it is human. As he said in his soft launch epilogue that the temple “do not belong to Fa Zhao, but everything belongs to the devotees who had donated.” Therefore, the sponsors, devotees and general public should have the right to know and not merely lead by faith alone.

I have been to the two previous exhibitions and cannot imagine such a big tooth for a human being. Could it be an elephant tooth?

During the “Sacred Buddha Tooth Relic & 500 Arhat” Exhibition, sariras were offered to devotees for sponsorship at S$1,688. I got one stupa home for myself and found that one of the multi colour sariras have tiny air bubbles inside. Sariras shouldn’t have such qualities. If it has it could be a fake too (please see photo below from this exhibition magazine, page 82). I think a simple lab test or burning it would confirm that too.

I guessed finding out the truth and make ratifications now if it is not would be better for himself, Buddhist devotees and for Singapore. I am sure he understands what is cause and effects are about. Venerable Shi Fa Zhao needs the courage to face the truth whatever it maybe.

May the truth always prevail.

[From_75557]

Wong Y.C. sent this via 75557

Firstly, the comments from Venerable Shi Fazhao were unconvincing and
disappointing.

We are now living in the 21st century. Faith in itself sometimes is not enough. A tooth of 7.5cm (3 inches) is not human. Dr Pamela Craig, Professor David K. Whittaker, Dr Myra Elliott and Dr Anthony Goh had made their comments sensibly.

It is the holy duty of Venerable Shi Fazhao to clarify and to authentic this 7.5cm tooth as belonging to Buddha, because 60,000 donors had contributed S$45 million and 270kg of gold to this belief.

We had thought that Venerable Shi Fazhao would have sought authentic proof from the late Venerable Cakkapala. If yes, the donors and Buddhists world-wide need to know the details.

Secondly, this magnificent temple with the claim of housing the Buddha Tooth has developed Singapore's image as a centre for Buddhism.

Therefore not only Buddhists in Singapore but also around the World have to be assured of the fact, and not to base on faith or just blind belief.

It will be an ultimate mockery if a 3.6 metre-high stupa comprising 270kg of gold should be housing a tooth of a water buffalo.

The Mahaparinibbana Sutta gave an account of Buddha's cremation some 2,500 years ago. So how could Buddha's teeth (one housed at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy, Sri Lanka, the second at the Ling Guang Monastery in Beijing, China, and the third in Singapore) still exist after the cremation?

[DeathSTomp]

The Buddha's tooth is just like ours cos' Buddha was human being.
The "Buddha's Tooth" in the Temple can be just belongs to an animal.

[charissa26]

i seriously felt that someone is jealous of the success of the buddha tooth relic temple, therefore, creat such a big mess out of it. Its just a religion, believe it or not its up to individual. there are people out there that doubt other religions as well, so what?? Buddhas appear in many form and it is not surprising if the buddha tooth looks like that. What's the difference between human's and buddhas and gods?? there sure be something that they have that we do not have.

If you have a gift from someone say PSP and your friends says that it is fake, will you allow your friend to borrow it from you for weeks or days or months to examine. At the end of they day, they still insist that your PSP is fake.

Why the singapore tourism board agrees to the success and building of the temple?? do you all think singapore government dont do their homework? The temple represents the religion and also the history of chinese singaporeans. You think the government would just allow anyone to build a temple or church or mosque in chinatown??

Some believe a particular religion, how they rescue the poor and sick. Some prefers to be free-thinker because they dont belive in anything. Does it matter? Everyone have their own freedom in deciding what religion they want to follow. Why donors are so willing to donate without any doubts? Its because they believe in the venerable, the history of buddhism and most importantly, their heart.

I urged everyone to think about the sentences that they had commented.

[Richard.G]

How much do we know about Buddhism before we commenting?

How tall is Buddha? Do you know that the Buddha's tooth in Beijing & Kandy are about the same size as the one is Singapore? (http://www.lingguangsi.com/show.aspx?id=69&cid=5)

As for the testing of DNA, where should we get the DNA of Buddha for reference point and which Buddha's tooth are we taking about here??

We should all be mindful of our words, respect but not doubt all religion, so that we all can live in harmony regardless of race or religion and progress for our nation.

I"m always proud of Singaporean and should always keep this harmony spirit high! Let's all pray for world peace~!

Universal Responsibility
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysPzn6Qpg2w

Discovering Buddhism:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJAokwMG7o4