By Steve Waldon
His Holiness Sakya Trizin tested the reservoirs of inner peace ever so gently when he arrived half an hour late for a blessing on the outskirts of Bendigo yesterday.
In Tibetan Buddhist protocol, the genial man in bright robes is second only to the Dalai Lama.
As the 41st head of the Sakya tradition – one of four associated with Tibetan Buddhism – Sakya Trizin is regarded as the living embodiment of Manjushri, the Buddha of enlightened wisdom.
On that basis, the 300 or so who had gathered under an unexpectedly soporific sun were more than happy not to confine the visiting spiritual master to a temporal timetable.
As part of a two-month Australian visit, Sakya Trizin agreed to bless the foundations of the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, just outside Eaglehawk.
The massive temple, due to be completed by 2010 at a cost of more than $10 million, will be the biggest in the Western world.
For project director Ian Green, such an accomplishment will bring to fruition a vision he dared to dream 23 years ago when his father, Ed Green, donated a parcel of land to Bendigo’s Buddhist community.
Yesterday, the site was still not much more than a cleared and stepped plateau, surrounded by a periphery of eucalypts, the tops of which obscured what must be a terrific view from the elevated position.
A sign said the new temple would “benefit all sentient beings and relieve them from suffering”.
It also said it was custom to walk around the site clockwise. Sakya Trizin approached the mobile stage in a decidedly anti-clockwise shuffle, but that did not matter to the devotees who bowed as he passed.
The world faced many difficulties, he said, and all religions should use their beauty and influence to deal with them.
Buddhism, he said, was not immune from this responsibility. He predicted that the completed temple would “benefit the whole world”.
Ian Green, now 57, said the Dalai Lama had promised to visit when the stupa was finished.
