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In October of 2000, monks at Chonggye-sa
Temple in Seoul noticed a strange thing.
Their Kwan Yin statue was sprouting what
looked to be tiny white flowers on the statue's
forehead. The flowers were discovered by
a woman while praying at the main Buddha
hall.
This has caused quite a stir and prompted
the daily visits of more than 7,000 people
traversing form near and far, jamming the
roads of the quiet area just to see. Although
the statue is drawing a lot of attention,
there has been no report of any miraculous
healing events.
The 500 year-old Buddhist statute was
probably
gilded every two to three years, covering
over the woodwork, and the monks are
amazed
that the flowers can actually grow
on it.
It is not actually known, but the flowers
seem to be in the same botanical category
of Ficus, or fig. According to monks,
there
is a growth of 21 thread-like twigs,
each
one a centimeter in length, with a
tiny white
flower no bigger than the tip of a
ball-point
pen at the top.
In Buddhist literature, there is a
legendary
flower called "Udambara"
in Sanskrit,
which blooms once in 3,000 years, as
told
by the Lotus Sutra. Religious Indians
believe
the blooming takes place when the Sage
King
of the Future comes to the world. Could
this
be the reason for the timing of this
event?
When I asked Kwan Yin about this, she said
that there is no particular "Sage King"
about to appear, but that the appearance
of the flowers has to do with the coming
of The Christ Consciousness to us.
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