Buddha's relics

[Troy]

Have you guys heard of this tour? Supposedly, the relics of Gautama Siddartha and other famous Buddhist are at my local Zendo tonight and over the weekend! Hoping to make it there for a blessing of the relics.

http://www.maitreyarelictour.com/about

[Myosha]

Hello,

Fascinating.

Thank you for the link.


Gassho,
Myosha

[Jundo]

Hi,


Here is what I usually say to such things, keeping in mind that one man's kidney stone is another man's Holy Relic. Who knows.

Bone fragments, teeth, various calcified stones remaining after cremation (now thought to be perhaps actually the remains of kidney stones and gallstones!) and other claimed vestiges of the Buddha (called 'Sariras') are found enshrined all over Asia, now other places too. So much so, that I have sometimes joked that the man must have had a few thousand teeth (well, he is the Buddha after all!). It is not different at all from how various body parts of Catholic Saints and pieces of the Cross can be found enshrined around Europe ... a way to make tangible contact, "evidence" of their spiritual power in being beyond decay and such.

Were they actually part of the person? Are they the person? ... Well, they are what they are, and each is "Buddha" in its way.

One tooth of Buddha is found a short drive from here in Tsukuba, at the giant statue of Amida Buddha located in the next town (sometimes seen on the "sit-a-longs" here). It was a gift from the government of Thailand. It is, though, rather stuck away in a corner there of their little museum, without much particular comment ... because I think the Amida/Pure Land folks did not really know what to make of it (I do not think that such things are central to their beliefs either). But, there it is ... the "Tooth of Gautama Buddha" in a nice gold display case in Ushiku near Tsukuba! When folks come here to visit, I always take them to see it.

But for more information on Sariras, with a bit of a medical bent, this link. NOTE: CONTAINS PHOTOS OF MUMMIES AND KIDNEY STONES, MAYBE A BIT GRAPHIC TO SOME. Perhaps we are dealing with the Buddha's Sacred Kidney Stones, but each contains all the universe nonetheless ...

https://sites.google.com/site/philosophydude/sariras.html

Gassho, J

[Sekishi]

It looks like they will make their way through my neck of the woods in October. Not sure how literally I take it all, but I might make the drive to check them out anyway.

Thank you for sharing this info Troy.

Gassho,
Sekishi

[Troy]

Buddha's relics





The relics looked like little beads. The one shown is Gautama Siddartha's relics. They were donated to the tour by the Dali Lama. I was told enlightened beings grow these on their bones and they give off healing power forever. It was kind of cool to see.

[Amelia]

Cool, we get pictures! Thanks for showing, Troy.

[Jundo]

I was told enlightened beings grow these on their bones and they give off healing power forever.

I know a guru in Asia who sells small glass viles with his urine and used bath water to his followers for the same reason, the supposed power. I leave it to your imagination what his followers were to do with that!

I believe it shows that people will believe in anything if you cover it in gold and religion.

Gassho, J

[Ishin]

I think it goes without saying where the most precious Buddha Relic resides. Still I think it is sort of interesting from a cultural perspective.

I am working on creating enlightened beads in my own bones.

Gassho
C

[Joyo]

I was told enlightened beings grow these on their bones and they give off healing power forever.

I know a guru in Asia who sells small glass viles with his urine and used bath water to his followers for the same reason, the supposed power. I leave it to your imagination what his followers were to do with that!

I believe it shows that people will believe in anything if you cover it in gold and religion.

Gassho, J

Wow!!! That is quite something. It would be strange enough if he gave them out to people, claiming they had special powers. But to sell them?? That's just wrong. Reminds me of people in the west like Benny Hinn, promising to heal people, but oh, oh it will more likely happen if you give him money. Very sad actually!

Gassho,
Joyo

[Byokan]

I know a guru in Asia who sells small glass viles with his urine and used bath water to his followers...

Vile indeed!

I think it goes without saying where the most precious Buddha Relic resides.

Gassho
Lisa

[Jundo]

Hi,

I feel that, while recognizing the right of anyone to believe whatever they wish as their religion ... and while recognizing that we are all subject to our own superstitions ... and while recognizing that anything is possible so, who knows, it might be true ...

... I believe it also fine to speak out about and politely protest this kind of likely nonsense and superstition, myth and magic, hokum and hogwash in the Buddhist religion or any religion.

I believe that anyone is free to believe anything, and I am sure belief in relics such as these offer comfort and solace to many. If someone can get comfort from the guru's bathwater, I support that too and ... who knows ... the guru's old tub suds might contain some special power to cure cancer.

But I also believe that such beliefs are primitive and appeal to a kind of ignorance in human beings. I find very little to be "beautiful" or "uplifting" in a tour such as this showing nothing more, perhaps, than that some of our Buddhist ancestors had a bit too much calcium in their diets.

Gassho, Jundo

[Kokuu]

Hi all

There are many dharma doors and faith is one of them. I imagine these kind of relics inspire faith and devotion to practice. Although it is not my path, I would not deride those whose path it is. However, I do have a worry when this kind of practice becomes the main part of the Buddhist path over contemplation and insight.

In Tibetan cultures, the cremated remains of Buddhist masters are picked through for the signs of ringsel which are supposed to show great spiritual attainment and be used to ward off evil spirits. Zen seems to have far less of this kind of relic-based worship but I imagine it is present.

This story (from thedailyenlightenment.com) is a reminder to me of where the true power of relics lies:

Once there was an old woman whose son was a trader. Often he joined a caravan and went to distant India on business. One day his mother said, “Bodh Gaya in India is the place where the perfect Buddha was enlightened. Please bring me a blessed relic from there, a talisman I can use as a focus for my devotions. I shall place it on the altar, pray and bow to it as a material representation of the Buddha’s blessed body.”

Many times she repeated her request.


However, each time her son returned from a business trip to the holy land of India, he realized that he had forgotten his mother’s fervent plea. For several years he failed to bring her what she had asked for. One day, as he was getting ready to depart yet again for India, his mother said to him. “Son, remember my words on your journey. This time, if you do not bring me a relic from Bodh Gaya to use for my prostrations, I shall kill myself in front of you!” He was shocked by her unexpected intensity. Vowing to fulfill his mother’s wish, he left.


At last, after many months, his business affairs were completed and he approached his homeland. Again he had forgotten to acquire for his dear old mother a genuine relic of the Buddha. It was only when he approached his mother’s house that he remembered her words. “What am I going to do?” he thought. “I haven’t brought anything for Mother’s altar. If I arrive home empty-handed, she’ll kill herself!” Looking around in dismay, he spotted the dessicated skull of a dog lying by the roadside. Hastily, he tore a tooth from the jaw and proceeded to wrap it up.

Reaching home, he reverently presented this package to his mother. “Here is one of the Buddha’s teeth,” he said. “I acquired it in Lord Buddha’s native land, India. You can use it as a support for your prayers.” The old woman believed him. She had faith in the tooth, believing it to be from Lord Buddha himself. She constantly offered prostrations and prayers to it as the veritable embodiment of all the Buddhas. Through such practices she found the unshakable peace of mind she had long sought.


Miraculously, from the dog’s tooth emanated countless tiny translucent pearls and swirls of rainbow light. All the neighbours were delighted to find such blessings free for the taking at the old woman’s altar, where they gathered daily. When the old woman finally met death, a canopy of rainbow light surrounded her, and everyone recognized in the beatific smile on her wizened face that she had attained spiritual exaltation. Although a dog’s tooth in itself contains few blessings, the power of the woman’s unswerving faith ensured that the blessings of the Buddha would enter that tooth. Thus a mere dog’s tooth became no different from an authentic relic of the Buddha, and many were uplifted.

Gassho
Kokuu

[Jika]

A beautiful story, thanks, Kokuu.

Very human, how we think we depend on something outside ourselves.

Waiting for a germ of cristallization, like an oyster waiting for a grain of sand...

Good story for Ango, if this focus for practice is to be found far away only, or already here with us now.

Gassho,
Danny

[RichardH]

Personally, I would have no interest in seeing this. It holds no fascination and is of no benefit.

Gassho
Daizan

[Ryumon]

Buddha's relics are all around me: the dirt in my garden, the bees hovering around the lavender, the clouds lazing in the sky, and the air in every breath I take.

Gassho,

Kirk


(Posted from my iPhone; please excuse any typos or brevity.)