Welcome To
thekchen choling
Syracuse
Upcoming Events
Thekchen Choling Syracuse Presents Rare Buddha Relic Display Nov. 1-3
A Rain of Blessings exhibition features 2,500-year-old, crystallized remains of the Buddha and his disciples.
Teachers, scholars, students and practitioners of Eastern religion—and Tibetan Buddhism, in particular—are converging on Thekchen Choling Syracuse for a special exhibition titled A Rain of Blessings: Holy Relics of the Buddha and the 16 Arhats, running Nov. 1-3.
The display features two-dozen, extremely rare relics, which are pearl-like objects found in the ashes of cremated Buddhist masters—in this case, the Historical Buddha and 16 of his closest disciples, or arhats. Manifestations of piety and devotion, the 2,500-year-old relics presumably contain strong healing powers and can ward off evil. The objects are stored in small, magnified acrylic domes for easy viewing.
A Rain of Blessings runs Friday-Saturday, Nov. 1-2, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 3, from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. The program culminates in a circumambulation of the temple accompanied by the chanting of holy texts on Nov. 3 from 1:30-2 p.m.
The exhibition is free and open to the public, but donations of $10-$20 are appreciated. Attendees also can purchase a program guide for $15. The temple is located at 109 East Ave., Minoa, New York 13116.
For more information, contact Babette Teich-Visco, president of Thekchen Choling Syracuse, at 315.480-1088 or tccl.syracuse@gmail.com.
Twenty-Five Hundred Years in the Making
“The relics are a huge blessing,” says Teich-Visco, a founding member of the temple, which marks its 10th anniversary this fall. “Just being in their presence can cause people to feel calm, peaceful and inspired.”
The crystallized remains—sarira (Sanskrit) or ringsel (Tibetan)—are gifts from Singha Namdrol Rinpoche, founder and spiritual director of Thekchen Choling, which also has Buddhist temples in Malaysia and his native Singapore.
Known for their uncanny ability to self-propagate, the relics have been authenticated by the Buddha Dharma Relics Museum in Bangkok, Thailand. “They’re miracles of our time,” says Rinpoche, who is visiting Minoa from Oct. 23-Nov. 26 with a retinue of Singaporean students and friends. “Imagine a small piece of bone defying the logic of science to continuously produce spherical miracles over the millennia. … I hope that everyone who is in the presence of these relics, who can see or sense them, will be inspired and blessed.”
Teich-Visco, who twice-worked on the 15-year-long, multinational Maitreya Loving Kindness Relic Tour, considers A Rain of Blessings a unique opportunity for people of all backgrounds.
She explains that after the Buddha’s cremation around 480 B.C.E., his ashes were divided among eight kings. Two centuries later, an Indian ruler named Ashoka collected most of the relics and redistributed them among hundreds of stupas that he had built throughout southern Asia.
The Buddha’s relics—along with those of his disciples, who vowed to protect and spread his teachings until the arrival of the next buddha, Maitreya—have since crisscrossed the globe. “The arhats still do important work in unseen ways,” Teich-Visco says. “Because they’re imbued with the blessings of their corporeal remains, the relics are often taken to hospitals, prisons and animal sanctuaries to help others.”
She recalls an unusual request from a resident of The Nottingham, a local senior living community, two years ago. “Even though the person in question was Catholic, she and her family understood the relics’ healing properties, so they asked one of our temple monks, Geshe-La, to perform a relic blessing,” Teich-Visco continues. “The incident exemplifies how the relics can benefit those who see, hear, touch or even think about them regardless of their faith background.”
Aside from a small exhibition in 2019, the Syracuse collection is rarely seen in its entirety. Then again, no two viewings are alike, Teich-Visco points out. She remembers setting aside three relics from the initial batch of nine for traveling purposes.
“One day, I peered at the remaining six relics through their container and was astonished to see that two more objects had manifested, along with hundreds of what looked like tiny drops of nectar,” she says. “It was exciting and thought-provoking.”
Thekchen Choling’s Decade of Dharma
Plans are underway for Rinpoche to discuss A Rain of Blessings at a local venue in October. (Details forthcoming.) Other events, like lectures, puja rituals, and pet and animal blessings, are also being planned around his visit.
Founded in 2014, Thekchen Choling Syracuse is among a small number of Tibetan Buddhist temples in Central and Upstate New York. Home to two Tibetan monks (one, a teacher-scholar of Buddhist philosophy; the other, a specialist in tantric ritual arts), the temple includes the renovated Medicine Buddha Hall, a 1,600-square-foot sanctuary for healing; a lending library and gift shop; and other spaces for classes, workshops and retreats.
Thekchen Choling occupied several locations in Syracuse before moving to its current site in Minoa in 2017.
# # #
About Thekchen Choling Syracuse
On the auspicious day of the 29th day of the eighth lunar month of the Wooden Horse year (22nd October 2014), Thekchen Choling USA (Syracuse) - a new temple for the cultivation and practice of Buddhadarma was officially established.
Our Mission: "Living and Propagating the Buddhadarma for the fulfillment of others and self".
Connecting All with Divine Hearts
About Us
A Buddha Relic Temple located in Central New York
It is said that merely seeing the relics of Lord Shakyamuni Buddha is the same as seeing the Buddha himself. Buddha relics are the crystallized remains that formed after the Buddha’s holy body was cremated in India over 2500 years ago. These relics are known to have tremendous power and can bring great blessings to individuals and the surroundings. Offered to Thekchen Choling Syracuse by Singha Thekchen Namdrol Rinpoche in 2014, the temple houses a small collection of Buddha relics on its altar for public viewing. Visitors to the temple are welcome and encouraged to sit, meditate and feel the Buddha’s blessings in the presence of these precious relics. (In special circumstances and upon request, these relics can be taken out into the community to hospitals, nursing homes and animal shelters to give blessings to those beings who are sick, dying or suffering in other ways.)
Our mission is to practice and propagate the Buddhadharma for the fulfillment of self and others.
We invite you to explore our web site via the links above, and to join us for events at the Thekchen Choling Vajrayana Temple.