Los Angeles, USA -- The Maitreya Project Heart Shrine relics have been donated to and collected by Lama Zopa Rinpoche specifically for placing in the Heart Shrine of the 500ft/152m Maitreya Buddha statue. The statue will be the focus of Maitreya Project's vision of creating spiritual, social and economic benefit during the next millennium.

The relics will travel the world until approximately 2008 when they will be placed in the completed 500ft/152m Maitreya Buddha statue. Until then, it is Rinpoche's wish that as many people as possible will have the opportunity of viewing these relics in their local communities.

In March 2001, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Spiritual Director of Maitreya Project, released this rare and precious collection of Buddhist relics for worldwide exhibition. Since then, these sacred relics have been displayed at temples, meditation centres, and other public locations all over the world.

The collection is truly extraordinary. There are many relics of Shakyamuni Buddha and of the Buddha's well-known disciples - Maudgalyayana, Ananda and Sariputra -as well as relics of many other saints and spiritual masters from the Chinese, Indian and Tibetan traditions.

Many living Buddhist masters from a number of traditions and countries, including Burma, Indonesia, Thailand, Tibet and Taiwan, have donated relics to be placed in the Heart Shrine of the Maitreya Project statue, including relics of Shakyamuni Buddha which were offered by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

The relics include crystalline, pearl-like deposits as well as fragments of bone, etc., collected from the ashes of spiritual masters after their cremation.

Some of the relics were salvaged from statues in Tibet where they had been enshrined for thousands of years before the Communist occupation in 1959, other relics were donated by museums and monasteries. Lama Zopa Rinpoche has checked very carefully that the relics are genuine before displaying them.

The Heart Shrine Relic Tour exhibitions are open to the public and are free, giving everyone the rare opportunity to be in the presence of such priceless holy objects.

If you are interested in your community sharing in the precious opportunity to view this collection of relics, then please contact us for more details.

The Buddha Relics Tour (aka: Heart Shrine Tour) returns to Los Angeles in July. 
Dates:   July 15, 16 & 17, 2005
Times:   Friday 5pm Opening Ceremony / Saturday and Sunday 10am to 5pm.
Location:  Golden Bridge- A Spiritual Village, 6322 DeLongpre Ave, Hollywood
http://www.goldenbridgeyoga.com and their phone # 323.926.4172