Monks from the High-level Tibetan Buddhism College of China paid homage to the pagoda housing Buddha Shakyamuni's tooth relic in Lingguang (or Ling-kuang) Temple in Beijing western suburban on May 10. [Photo/China Tibet Online]

BEIJING, May 13 (China Tibet Online) Monks from the High-level Tibetan Buddhism College of China paid homage to the pagoda housing Buddha Shakyamuni's tooth relic in Lingguang (or Ling-kuang) Temple in Beijing western suburban on May 10.

The Buddha's tooth relic in Beijing's Lingguang Temple is one of the two Buddha Shakyamuni's teeth relics in the world with the other being consecrated in Sri Lanka. Therefore, it is held supreme by Buddhism believers from domestic and abroad.

The pagoda often opens for public worship for a month from April 8 on the lunar calendar, which is considered as the birthday of Shakyamuni Buddha. This year the pagoda opens to public from May 8 to Jun. 8.

The 70 some monks with the High-level Tibetan Buddhism College of China are from Tibet and Tibetan inhabited areas in Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan, Yunnan provinces, who are studying in the college or attending the sutra debating sessions for "Nzhing Ram Ba" mid-level and "Tho Ram Pa" advanced level Tibetan Buddhism degrees.

On the foundation floor of the pagoda where three gold sitting statues of Buddha Shakyamuni with different gestures are consecrated, the monks sat in crossed-leg posture and chanted prayer scriptures for nearly half an hour, which made the secular disciples of Buddhism in the place in awe and veneration.

Some lay Buddhists felt so cleansed and consecrated by the monk's rhythmic and resounding scripture chanting that they offered money as "dana" (Buddhist bestow or almsgiving) to the holy sangha (monk, together with Buddha and Dharma, they are called three treasures or the triad of Buddhism).

"For a lay Buddhist like me who has never been to Tibet or Tibetan monasteries in west China, I've never seen such solemn scene of lamas chanting sutra since most Han Buddhism follows the meditative sect of Chan School where collective chanting of scriptures is really rare. I felt honored and in awe," said a female lay Buddhist who came from Hefei, the capital city of mid-east China's Anhui Province.

It's also the first time for many of the monks students from the Tibetan Buddhism college to worship Buddha's tooth relic here and they felt an atmosphere of sublime divinity as well.

Sonam Lodro, a monk student attending this year's mid-level degree exam from Tashi Choling Monastery in Qinghai's Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, said it was his third time to worship Buddha's tooth relic in the Lingguang Temple since he's been in Beijing for the degree study for two years.

"We prayed for peace of the world and blessings of all sentiment beings," said Sonam Lodro.

There’s also a young Tibetan monk refused to take the money from a lay Buddhists saying that he already received the almsgiving, which made the lay Buddhists on bended knees all the more in reverence.

According to many of the Tibetan monks, they often received respect and almsgiving from Han Buddhism disciples during their outings, and would often console the lay Buddhists as much as they could, but still sometimes it's hard to turn down the offering when they tried to decline.

"Buddhist needs to have compassion for all sentiment beings and I can understand some secular believers' enthusiasm. I would consider them as my own families and pray for them," said Trinley Gyaltsen, a sutra debater (the questioner for the candidate during a sutra debate test)for this year's "Tho Ram Pa" advanced Tibetan Buddhism degree exam from Tibet's Chamdo Prefecture.

Sonam Lodro (in the middle), a monk student attending this year's mid-level degree exam from Tashi Choling Monastery in Qinghai's Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, said it was his third time to worship Buddha's tooth relic in the Lingguang Temple since he's been in Beijing for the degree study for two years. [Photo/China Tibet Online]