A generous benefactor offered to sponsor statues of The Great Bodhisattva Kshitigarbha to FPMT Centres and projects around the world.
Last month, Jamyang London, Jamyang Leeds and Land of Joy all received one. The statue is carved from a block of solid white marble, and came with two beautiful texts on marble tablets too.
We asked the benefactor what motivated such devotion and generosity. This is what he shared:
“Ksitigarbha was the first Bodhisattva I met when I started to learn Dharma. I recite the Sutra of Ksitigarbha Fundamental Vows almost everyday. In this Sutra, the Buddha entrusted Ksitigarbha to save all beings until the rising of Maitreya. Therefore, he holds the responsibility to protect and promote all Buddha’s teachings. Also, he has very deep connections with beings, especially with the three unfortunate realms. Having the purpose of saving more lives, we started this project about 6 years ago.
In this process, we received a lot of feedback, for example, patients reciting his name/sutra/mantra got cured, suffering people got troubles resolved and obstacles got eliminated, etc. All the feedback encourages us to keep this mission going. We chose stone as the materials because it can last around 1000 years. We believe more people will meet him because of the statue’s presence.”
“Kshitigarbha” can be translated as “Essence of the Earth”. In fact, he represents the store of dharma on Earth, helping Earth’s residents to attain enlightenment… read more.
