‘A place of calm and stillness in the hustle and bustle’
By Jes Abeita
A new deity — a four-metre-tall golden Buddha — was unveiled Sunday at the opening of a monastery on Richmond’s Highway to Heaven.
Thrangu Monastery, the first traditional-style Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Canada, joins the 20 temples, mosques and churches that line No. 5 Road in Richmond, earning that stretch of pavement its lofty nickname.
Hundreds of people attended the official opening of the monastery at 8140 No. 5 Rd. and the unveiling of the giant Buddha, the focal point of the monastery’s shrine room.
Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, the worldwide leader of Thrangu Monastery, who presided over the event, said through a translator that Richmond is a good home for the monastery: “Everyone is very loving and kind to each other.”
Lyle Weinstein, English language spokesman for the monastery, said: “This is now a public place … it’s a wonderful place whether you are part of the monastery community or not, whether you’re a Buddhist or not.”
The sun shone on the crowd of hundreds gathered in front of the large, ornate building to watch the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Plastic pennants snapped in the breeze as the blaring of horns announced the arrival of Thrangu Rinpoche, a bespectacled, smiling figure in red robes at the end of the procession.
He joined Senator Yonah Kim Martin, MLAs John Yap and Linda Reid, Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie and others on the stage for the ribbon-cutting.
The dignitaries then led the way into the shrine room, a large, open space with tall windows that let the light flood in. In addition to the main icon and several dozen lesser Buddhas, a thousand Medicine Buddhas, each a little over a foot tall, smiled serenely from glass-covered niches lining the walls. That’s 1,036 in all.
A huge gold-coloured curtain hung behind Thrangu Rinpoche and his delegation as they sat facing the crowd that was filing in and finding seats on the rows of cushions lined up on the floor.
Volunteers directed guests to remove their shoes before they stepped onto the satin-smooth wood floor of the monastery’s shrine room. More than a hundred volunteers helped out at the opening, said Victor Chan of Ho Made Marketing, planners for the event.
Calling the monastery “a place of calm and stillness in the hustle and bustle” of the city around it, Martin addressed the crowd inside the shrine room.
Her words were repeated outside on a bank of big-screen televisions so those who couldn’t crowd into the shrine room didn’t miss the unveiling.
The event was also streamed live on the Internet via the monastery’s website, said Laurie Cooper, spokeswoman for the event.
Thanking the guests packed into the room, Thrangu Rinpoche said that as a simple monk, “I don’t have the ability to build a temple on my own,” and thanked community members for their generosity.
“This is a good way to serve all the dharma practitioners of the world,” he said.
After Thrangu Rinpoche finished speaking, the curtain was dropped, revealing the large Buddha. The crowd gasped for a moment, then broke into applause.
It was a warm welcome for the Buddha and perhaps an opening for those who seek Nirvana on the Highway to heaven.
jabeita@vancouversun.com
Also Read: Richmond mayor says Thrangu Monastery opening highlights religious cooperation
