The Shrine is the heart of Fo Guang Shan NC Temple. All Dharma services are performed in front of a carved white jade statue of Sakyamuni Buddha, accented with gold leaf and weighing fourteen tons.

Sakyamuni Buddha, the founder and original teacher of Buddhism, was born Prince Siddhartha Gautama, the son of King Suddhodana and Queen Maya, in the northern region of ancient India. Shortly after birth, he took seven steps, and after looking in every direction, he declared: This is my last birth into this world. It is for the sake of realizing Buddhahood that I have come. I am the greatest enlightened being, and I am here to liberate all beings.

At age 29, the Prince renounced his life of privileges to embark on a journey in search for the truth and solution to the suffering all humans face: sickness, poverty, old age, and death. After six years of ascetic practice, he became awakened while meditating under the bodhi tree. The Great Buddha discovered the truth of the universe and gained full insight of life. He traveled and taught for forty-nine years along the River Ganges and eventually entered into parinirvana (a conscious state of full liberation) at age eighty.