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Sacred tooth relic of Lord Buddha to head for Myanmar from Beijing
Tanda
Explorer
Comments
And it's a sorry day for any religion, if it relies on relics to keep it going.
I scarcely think the Anglican church closing down could have been saved by such a relic appearing...
Here's a relic for you, and what people will pay for things:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/john-lennons-tooth-sells-for-more-than-31-000-at-auction-20111106
Talk about attachment.
http://www.maitreyaproject.org/en/relic/
The whole idea of revering relics seems completely contrary to the teachings of the Buddha, but society worships fame and anything remotely connected to the famous (whether verified or not).
http://www.shroudstory.com/topic-sturp.htm
And yes, earlier studies had concluded it was faked, but those were ineffective studies, meaning they didn't test the original cloth, and there were other flaws.
http://www.shroudstory.com/faq-carbon-14.htm
The creation and veneration of sacred relics is one of the most widespread and ancient of spiritual practices. I'm not just talking about the Buddha's tooth or a splinter from the cross. I'm talking about a tribe of people who don't even know what a religon is, who dig up an ancestor and keep their skull in a special place so the spirit of the wise old man can keep watch over the household. Less gruesome, even places where Gods or Holy People appeared become relics, places of power. It can be a Sacred Grove, or a spring, or just a rock. Maybe it's the wrong spring, or someone replaced the rock, or just took an old tooth and declared it to be something special.
I think it's about connection. Our minds, no matter how invested in belief, long for a physical connection to the spiritual. It's the way we work on a deep, nonverbal level. We want to touch. It's the difference a child feels between a Mother saying she loves us over the phone or being present and giving us a hug. So when we see a relic, it provides a direction for this emotional bonding.
In my case, my family has my Grandmother's preaching Bible, filled with her scribbled notes and underlines and used all her life. Right now Mother has care of it, and one day it will be passed to me, I suppose, and eventually to great-grandchildren who never knew her. It fits every definition of a relic for my family. Sure, it's just a book. Nothing special about it. But when I hold it, I feel connected to someone I love and perhaps that future person will use it as a connection in their life to something deeper.
So I wonder, do any of you have your own personal relics, objects that mean something special to you?
"There was an old woman in Lhasa whose son was a trader. Once a year he went to India to do business. His mother was a very devout Buddhist. She said to her son on numerous occasions, as he was setting off on his trips, 'You know, you're going to the land of India, which is the most holy country on earth as far as Buddhists are concerned, because the Lord Buddha appeared there and first presented the teachings of the Buddhadharma in that country. Do your old mother a favor and bring back some relic or some holy article or object from India that I can use as an object of worship on my shrine. I'll place it on my shrine and do prostrations to it, pray to it, make offerings to it as a way to develop my faith and merit.'
"Every time the son would say ,'Yes, mother,' but he would become so involved in his business that he would completely forget about it, because to him it was a very trivial thing. When he would return, his mother would ask, 'Well, did you bring me my relic?' And he would tell her he'd forgotten. This was repeated many times.
"As she got older, the woman became a little desperate and she finally said to her son, 'This may be the last journey you will make in my lifetime. This is your last chance to bring me a holy relic from India. If you fail this old mother of yours is going to kill herself in your presence.' Realizing that she was serious, he tried his best to remember, but again he became involved in traveling, trading, and making profits.
"On his return journey, he sat by the side of the road to brew up a cup of tea. Suddenly, he remembered his promise to his mother and in his desperation, saw the bones of a dog that had died by the side of the road. He had an inspiration and broke off one of the teeth from the jawbone of the dog, wrapped it up in a very fine silk of different colors, and carried it home.
"When his mother said, 'Did you remember?' he said, 'I remembered.' He unwrapped the gift and said, 'This is the Buddha's tooth. I brought this back from India just for you, Mother, because you wanted something very holy. It is a very, very blessed and holy object.' His mother was overjoyed. She took it and put it up on her shrine. She would spend the whole day doing prostrations to it, making offerings to it, and praying to the Buddha in the presence of what she felt was the tooth of the Buddha. The remarkable thing was that relics started to emerge from this dog's tooth. Not only did these benefit a large number of people, but the old woman was enveloped in a rainbow of light as she died and a shower of blossoms rained down from the sky as an indication that she had definitely made a significant step forward on the path to liberation.
"So even in situations where the object of one's faith seems to be quite ordinary, one should never exclude the possibility that one's faith and confidence in that situation will open one to a great deal of blessing and benefit. This in fact was the basis for the proverb in Tibet that says, 'Even a dog's tooth can give off relics.' ” - Kalu Rinpoche
Also in the case you mentioned, your Grandmother's Bible, there's more than it simply having belonged to her, but from the notes and underlines it provides a glimpse into her mind. That in and of itself is valuable.
Indeed I do. Foremost, a King James Bible that my Grandmother gave me as a gift on my 9th birthday. It's also full of passages she underline that ether have significance to her, or she felt I should particularly take note of. I also have a 1942 photograph of my Grandfather in his Naval dress blues which was given to me by my grandfather shortly before he died. And my house is full of relics from my wife's family that she will not part with.
I just think they're blind.
Worshipping the Buddha as a whole or just his teeth, his socks, his words; is a mistake.
He pointed to our true nature and wanted us to wake up to it. That's something else.
I think the historic Buddha would have laughed out loud about people worshipping his tooth (and I’m aware that there is not one single account of the historic Buddha laughing out loud!)
But it is just so completely absurd.
Buddha statues are absurd. The idea comes from overly devout followers, certainly not from the Buddha. And in this case that’s not just my humble opinion; I think that’s pretty much a historic fact.
In the same way; any tooth is just a tooth. No need to take it on a tour across the country.
(Am I seriously explaining this?)
Am I blind, you ask? That depends on what you think of as blindness.
I think being blind is; not-questioning; not being honest about what I really think and feel; being a “Buddhist” instead of being who I am; being afraid to look deeper; being afraid of the truth.
When you think I’m blind according to this definition please don’t hesitate to correct me.
Gimme a break!
Either way, whomever thinks they're absurd surely knows little or nothing about Buddhism. I don't think most Buddhists (including HHDL) would use them as part of their practice if they were so absurd. Since most Buddhists don't see the Buddha as a deity, and thus don't "worship" the statue or the man, I see **nothing** wrong with having a statue of The Enlightened One as a reminder of why we practice. That's all it is to me. If you see that as absurd, I'm sorry for your shortsightedness.
I'll bet you've heard the following story before.
YOU SPIT, I BOW
The morning after Philip Kapleau and Professor Phillips arrived at Ryutakuji Monastery they were given a tour of the place by Abbot Soen Nakagawa. Both Americans had been heavily influenced by tales of ancient Chinese masters who'd destroyed sacred texts, and even images of the Buddha, in order to free themselves from attachment to anything.
They were thus surprised and disturbed to find themselves being led into a ceremonial hall, where the Roshi invited them to pay respects to a statue of the temple's founder, Hakuin Zenji, by bowing and offering incense.
On seeing Nakagawa bow before the image, Phillips couldn't contain himself, and burst out: "The old Chinese masters burned or spit on Buddha statues! Why do you bow down before them?"
"If you want to spit, you spit," replied the Roshi. "I prefer to bow."
From: One Bird One Stone: 108 American Zen Stories by Sean Murphy
And of course I have a Buddha statue or two in the house. No problem.
And faults, don’t worry, I know I’m not without them.
I can have compassion and understanding for people who have a deep sense of devotion for teeth and blocks of wood.
It’s just not something to applaud, to encourage, or something to join in with.
I find it surprising how the worship or relics is part of Therevada. When you’re so serious about being in line with the original teaching of the Buddha, you can’t seriously get into this kind of devotion. It clearly is a later development.
If you like, you could send me a PM… I think I can handle criticism.
“Judging and gossiping about other peoples’ faults” is not always a mistake imho.
When the bus is going in the wrong direction (like straight into the river) it is smart to discuss the direction it has taken.
When we are part of a community we share responsibility for what’s going on in this community.
It can be wrong – irresponsible - to play deaf, dumb and blind; to let things rot and think we’re only minding our own business.
But again, I’m not sure what was on your mind.
What ever the item, whatever the attachment, we're all guilty of wanting it to be just so....
So let's talk about devotion, or maybe call it what it is, and use that dreaded word "worship." Next to the word God, it probably leaves a bad taste in Western ears that have rejected the traditional religions based on worship.
But for many Buddhists in the world, their religion is pretty much composed of devotion. This intellectual hairsplitting holds no interest for them. There is the Lord Buddha, a classic Savior figure and founder of a religion, various saint-like figures we call Bodhisattvas, and we pray to him in times of trouble and these deities look down from their Heavenly realms and watch over us.
It's humanity doing what it does.
Now, I am not good at worship. I got kicked out of my church Sunday School classes as a teenager when I pointed out that God might get our obedience out of fear of punishment, but that doesn't mean he deserves our worship. The school bully didn't deserve my lunch money, either, but I learned to hand it over. I don't do worship. But I don't begrudge other people the privilage. What do you think?