there is just too many "Durai" type of management going on in "Charity" and in "fund" raising. Any sort of "fund" raising must be transparent, and I thought "someone in Government department" must have approved?

I don't think anyone officially checking from the government bodies got to seriously look at the tooth, in the first place. How do you get a civil servant to go questioning articles of faith? You'll get a whole lot of holy dung cast on you, in this case to the tune of $60 miilion plus?

On the other hand, how the funds are used, is a tricky thing when it comes to the religious bodies. Does this sect have what the Catholics have in terms of an equivalent Canon Law? (related to recent case of corruption found guilty by civil law too) Or like the Methodists, who have some means of saying how much pastors are remunerated, and a governing body independent of the clergy, that says much is spent on what? (recent vindicated case of overpayment) I don't know. But it sure will help inform the discussion if we knew.

Otherwise we are all conjecturing. Best not to put your foot prematurely in the mouth.

I have chosen to place my faith on Buddhist teachings and the Buddha is a very great teacher who had passed on. Not someone with special powers.

I am already feeling very very sceptical on the way they raise funds to build the temple to house the relic. The nature of Buddhism is that we should not be materialistic. But the management of the temple actually asks for gold to build the stand to hold the relic!

With so much gold and $ poured in to build the extravagant temple, I stand by the position that the head of the temple should send for a team of investigators to confirm, at least, that the relic is 2500 years old and it belong to that of a human at that time.

In my opinion ar, the tooth is obviously not that of a human's. I do not think homo sapiens can evolve so much within 2500 years. All the more we should allow the relic to be subjected to tests.

The faith of the Buddhist community should not be preyed upon by those who take advantage of it! You saw how that monk reply to queries. What's with the "if you believe, then it's real" thing?!

I beg not to offend. If one believes in the goodness of god and religion, it does not matter whether one prays in a run down hut or AT a show-off of a place, if god wants to hear you, he will. There are so many hungry and desolate people out there in the world.....it's amazing at how much people are willing to pay to assure themselves that they will be better blessed. I bet Buddha is shaking his head at all the waste and unnecessary cost. His teachings are so humble, so , his places of worship SHOULD BE TOO !!!!!!

While it is true that as long as the money is put to good and honest use, no one should be complaining. But is it considered good use to spend the money on making gold articles to house the tooth, the authenticity of which no one can or is willing to prove at this point? Even IF the tooth is real, is this really - according to Buddhist teachings and principles - the best way to spend the money?

The methods and style of the management is at head-on clash with the teachings of the Buddha.

I hope we do not make the mistake to think "Buddhism" is a monoltihic unified religion.

kianguan appears to subscribes to the more philosophical strain. That's creditable in itself. There are many more who are syncretists, and concrete article/objects of faith are more important than the abstract philosophy of Buddha as captured in the Sutras.

This is no different from christianity with its myriad variations, and also islam with the most famous divide between Shiites and Sunnis. But the most infamous one now the wahabis.

So, the most appropriate body to sanction (in the most general sense of the word) this temple, must be the people who are in charge of this sect. I have no clues who they are. But if it is a standalone entity not affiliated to any recognized larger body of Buddhists, then they are answerable only to whoever donated the money. In all cases, the honorable ven has to answer credibly to keep the donations pouring in. Else, I shudder to think what double hexes will be conjured up by the praying religious.......compared to this, what Mr. Durai faced will be a slap on the finger.

But like I said, what people donate to is thier own responsibility. Some give to charity, others to the pools. But if they did so with eyes open, and in this case are the forgiving kind which religious people are, then it's really up to them. As they say in the army: "outsiders smoke cigar".

The spirit of giving is overdone here. There might be a sense of deceiving. The spirit of Buddhism is to live simple.
This temple is not simple.

i'm a Buddhist...i believe in the Buddhism teaching..but still i want to know the truth...please do something about it...

sensitive issue but reality bites too.

The issue is that certain people thinks that they will not question the truth as long as it bears links to the holy one. But this tooth is likely to be from an animal than from a holy one. How can a human tooth be so huge?

The temple bearers should be taken to task to reveal the originality of this tooth. Expose the cheaters in public.

Reading the above postings, I got the idea that the temple is extravagant and "wasteful". I believe that Buddha wants to live humbly too though I am much a free-thinker.