Faithful thrilled by unveiling of Jade Buddha

TAMPA - As the firecrackers exploded and the green curtain drew back, Christy Phan put her right hand over her heart.
"This gives me chills," she said, admiring the world's largest jade Buddha, a 10-foot-tall, 4-ton statue unveiled this morning at the Minh Dang Quang Monastery, 5607 Town 'N Country Blvd.
Pushing back the sleeve of her purple dress, she displayed the goose bumps on her arm.
"This is such an honor to have this here," she said, gazing at the Buddha she helped bring to Tampa.

Phan has been working since November to plan the visit of the Jade Buddha for Universal Peace, which is traveling the world before being enshrined in its permanent home at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion in Australia. She spent hours helping to raise money and awareness and doing the required paperwork.
When the curtains parted, it was the first time Phan had seen the Buddha, which will be in Tampa for 10 days.
The Buddha represents world peace, said Phan, a 25-year-old University of South Florida business major. Among other things, the faithful who see it will pray for the victims of war, as well as those affected by natural disasters such as the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile and a cyclone in Vietnam.
Bringing such a large statue to Tampa was no easy feat, said Tuan Le, one of the organizers and a leader in Tampa's Vietnamese Buddhist community.
It cost about $15,000 to transport the Buddha here from Orlando – the first Florida stop and second overall in the United States – and to pay for insurance and security. It travels in a special container; a crane is needed to lift the statue.
"This is a very poor community," he said of the estimated 7,000 to 8,000 Vietnamese living in Tampa. "But there were a lot of contributions."
The Buddha has been traveling the world since 2009, said Phan. It was the brainchild of Australian philanthropist Ian Green and his wife, Judy.
In 2003, a jade designer in the United States told Green about a massive hunk of polar jade – considered the world's finest – that was discovered in Canada in the late 1990s. Green flew from Australia to Vancouver and, upon seeing the jade boulder, contacted his spiritual adviser, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who told him to turn the jade into a Buddha.
To Phan, the unveiling ceremony was a dream come true.
And she isn't even Buddhist.
"I'm Catholic," she said. "But this has meaning for everyone."

Reporter Howard Altman can be reached at (813) 259-7629.