Largest Buddhist Collection Comes To SoCal

ROSEMEAD (CBSLA) — The tooth of the Buddha at the Wei Mountain Temple is just one of the thousands of treasured relics they're putting on display this weekend.

According to the monks, the tooth of the Buddha even produces crystals called "babies."

Organizers at Wei Mountain in Rosemead say many of the ancient pieces were donated to them, and the collection is a showcase of some of the rarest and most precious items in the Buddhist faith out of anywhere on Earth.

"We can all it the ten thousand Buddha relics collection. We say ten thousand but it's much more than that. They tend to come mainly from Asia and they do donate them to the temple," said one of the organizers.

Among the most revered items featured at the temple are the eyes of the Buddha.

The monks claim the eyes, just like the teeth, are the actual eyes of the Shakyamuni Buddha, the historical founder of Buddhism.

"We understand from what we've heard they were found in the jungles of Myanmar by a Burmese monk who took care of them in the jungle and then they were donated to us," said the organizer.

The Wei Mountain Temple in Rosemead is housed in what used to be a church.

The monks preserve the space to make the temple feel more inclusive and the relics will be on display this weekend.