Buddha's tooth, ashes, footprints and other marks
Upvote:1
I found this information on Wikipedia. I hope you find it useful!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piprahwa
In January 1898, W.C. Peppe led a team of men to unearth a large mound on his land. Having cleared away scrub and jungle they set to work building a deep trench through the mound. Eventually they came to a large stone coffer which, on opening, contained five small vases containing ashes and jewels .[6]
On one of the vases was an inscription which was translated at the time to mean "This relic deposit of the Lord Buddha is the share of this renowned Sakya brethren, his own sister’s children and his own son;" meaning that this reliquary contained the ashes of the Buddha, also known as Siddhārtha Gautama[note 1], a member of the Sakyas [4] (however, there is no mention in the Buddhist scriptures of the Buddha having a sister). And in the 1970s the original interment site of the Buddha's ashes at Piprahwa was claimed to have been discovered by the Indian archaeologist S.M. Srivastava several feet deeper than the coffer containing the relics that W.C. Peppe had excavated.[5] This find was dated by Srivastava to the period in which Buddha lived.
Upvote:1
I practice Mahayana tradition so I hope you do not mind my comments from my perspective.
In my practice, I try not to have too much attachment with Buddha's relics (Chinese: 舍利, Sanskrit: śarīra). As long as I have Buddha's teachings in my heart and actions, that's the most important thing.
That being said, I have seen Buddha's relics a few times and they are truly fascinating. More crystal-like matter organically grow from the original relic, and they can vary in different form, colour and size. The Tibetan establishment across the street from where I live has relics from Buddha and his foremost students. I was very fascinated by Moggallana's relics as they were very dark, which was caused his unwholesome actions in the past and led to his tragic death being clubbed to death.
In Chinese Buddhism records diligent individuals (monks and lays) also leave behind relics. As they have completed the training in this life they leave their body behind, the relics withstand cremation and are collected by fellow Buddhists and honored for their accomplishment.
Relics are not exclusive to Buddhists. Before Buddha's time many Hindu sages also leave behind relics. Any beings who successfully transcends to the Realm of Form and beyond may leave behind relics. Therefore, relics may not be reliable evidence that one has liberated from Samsara.
Hope this is helpful. If there is anything I can improve with this reply, please kindly let me know :)
More post
- 📝 What religious texts would help me understand the fundamentals Buddhism better?
- 📝 How do we determine when to use logic and reason in Buddhism?
- 📝 Why is Zen/Chan thought to be more related to Buddhism than to Taoism?
- 📝 Time period between Buddhas
- 📝 How to handle torpor?
- 📝 Did Mara win over Buddha?
- 📝 How to approach motivation for work during Vipassana?
- 📝 Is Yogacara Buddhism still practiced today?
- 📝 Do lions create bad kamma for their next life when they kill?
- 📝 The Seven Factors of Enlightenment
- 📝 Is ending up in hell at some point in time inevitable for those beings who are not Stream-Entrants?
- 📝 The Law of One Form
- 📝 if rebirth/reincarnation is true then what is your first birth/incarnation?
- 📝 Panpsychism and philosophical interpretations of buddhism
- 📝 What meditation is best to learn to "control" your mind?
- 📝 Am I Bearing the pain or observing it, When my leg hurts during Vipassana?
- 📝 How do I relax thought-fabrication?
- 📝 How was oration performed in ancient times?
- 📝 Is Shakyamuni Buddha Siddhartha Gautama?
- 📝 Can there exist two Dalai Lamas at one instance of time?
- 📝 What is meant by "Practice the truth thy brother is same as thou"?
- 📝 Sleep - What about it?
- 📝 Any reconstructions of earliest mentioned classification of canon?
- 📝 Who follows which yana (Vajrayana, Hinayana or Mahayana)?
- 📝 Anapannasati - Why the breath?
- 📝 Personal practices of meditation
- 📝 What does delusion feel like?
- 📝 What exactly is Jhana?
- 📝 What is the different between Nirodha Samapatti and Phala Samapatti?
- 📝 Are attachment, aversion, ignorance Kamma?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Buddha's tooth, ashes, footprints and other marks
- 📝 What are the other Theravada Councils held between the 4th and 6th
- 📝 Difference in Buddhist meditation and meditation in other religions
- 📝 Attachment to other people and beings?
- 📝 Are Buddhists supposed to feel superior compared to other people, and to brag about it?
- 📝 Sleep, references to the buddha and other arhats
- 📝 Did the Buddha state that there is only one way, and state/imply that any other path (such as those practiced by yogis) was futile?
- 📝 What does the Pali canon, and other respected work, teach about parenting?
- 📝 What are the reasons for and against studying other religions?
- 📝 Is dukkha conventional or ultimate? Is it different from the other two marks of existence?
- 📝 How can I live life knowing other people work so hard for so little and people and animals suffer
- 📝 Considering other traditions than Goenka Vipassana for better Right Effort, Right Concentration and Right Mindfullness
- 📝 Inferiority and being judged by other
- 📝 Why do users of psychedelic drugs tend to gravitate toward Buddhism and other Eastern philosophies?
- 📝 Has anyone claimed to have reborn in Pure Land, and later returned to earth to help other beings?
- 📝 Is it recommended in Buddhism to know people from other nations and learn their languages
- 📝 Food and other cravings, and guarding the senses
- 📝 Buddhism and the Diet Practices view from other religion
- 📝 How do Buddhists talk about forgiveness and turning the other cheek, for extreme wrong doing?
- 📝 Was anapanasati and other meditations ever taught to lay followers?
- 📝 Tonglen - Exchanging Self and Other - Intersubjectivity
- 📝 About the compatibility between meditation methods, guides, trainings and teachers, and other questions regarding Samadhi
- 📝 Thought-sending in Tibetan Buddhism and other traditions
- 📝 Looking for the source of a story about the Buddha and a lady who looked the other way
- 📝 did buddha accept astrology and other occult science?
- 📝 King Siddharta, his wife Jasodhara, and other buddhas
- 📝 Is killing vermin and insects justifiable?
- 📝 What are the differences between vipassana and mindfulness meditation?
- 📝 Relationship with bad parents (kamma and issues)
- 📝 Are Vajrayana and Tibetan Buddhism the same thing?