Date: 30 September 2011 Time: 8:30 pm to 10 pm Venue: Reclining Buddha Shrine Hall Sri Lankaramaya Buddhist Temple Singapore
Asāre sāramatino Sāre cāsāradassino Te sāraṃ nādhigacchanti Micchāsaṃkappagocarā.
Those who mistake the unessential to be essential and the essential to be unessential, dwelling in wrong thoughts, never arrive at the essential. Dhammapada Verse 11
Synopsis
Thousands of years have passed, The remains of the Supreme Buddha are still preserved. Buddha relics are priceless. Throughout centuries, The relics are worshipped, venerated And considered as Living Buddha himself. From time to time, There appears well organized relic exhibitions, There, you see, various relics in all colours and shapes, Some are blood relics and some others are brain relics, Still some more to come, representing parts and organs of the body.
Some claim to be the relics of previous Buddhas who lived hundreds of thousand years ago. There are some people who believe that relics can grow and multiply. Some make offerings to relics thinking that they can bring prosperity. Misconceptions and misinterpretation are done in the name of sacred relics. Faithful devotees are cheated by or misguided. Much damage has been done to Buddhism by opening the doors to unnecessary criticism and ridicule. What is a relic?
What happened to the remains of Buddha’s body after his cremation? Are there multi-coloured relics? Can relics multiply? Do relics have miracle power and ability to bring prosperity? What is the purpose of having relics?
What does it mean by the word relic?
The word relic has a broad meaning. It means something memorable, worthy to keep, to be venerated and is related to our past memories of somebody or something. In that sense, relic can be anything. Relics are not only found in Buddhism, but also in other religions.
In Buddhist practices, relics are categorised into 3 broad sections:
1. Uddesika These are Buddhist statues and monuments that we built to represent the Buddha. So, Buddhist statues can be considered as a form of relic because we venerate it, worship it and pay our highest respect to the Buddhist statue which represents the noble teacher, our great master. The symbol and monuments are collectively known as Uddesika.
2. Pāribhogika
These are items used by the Buddha. For example, his robes, alms bowl or anything he used are considered as a form of relic and we treasure them. That is why the Bodhi tree is highly venerated. The original sapling of the Bodhi Tree is preserved in Sri Lanka. All over the world, Buddhists visit this place to pay respect. We also have the same respect for other Bodhi trees, as these trees represent the Buddha. Remember, we are not worshipping trees or idols but we worship them that represent the Enlightened One.
3. Sāririka
It refers to bodily relics. After the Buddha’s body was cremated, the remains (mainly the bones) are called relics. They are the most important and precious bodily relics for Buddhists.
Our subject today concerns the bodily relics of the Buddha. Buddha’s relics are precious and priceless. For a Buddhist, the fragment of the bone of the Buddha is itself a living Buddha. Through the past two and a half millennia, Buddhists dedicated their lives to preserve and protect these relics, sometimes to the extent of risking their own lives. If you study history, you will get to know some Buddhist monks, nuns and lay Buddhist followers who risk their own lives to protect these relics that were passed down through generations. Before talking about bodily relics, we need to understand what had happened after the Buddha passed away. Here it is very important for all of us to understand how Buddha’s body was cremated.
The most important discourse related to our subject is Mahā Parinibbāna Sutta which is one of the longest discourse in the Digha Nikāya. In this discourse, it explained in detail how Buddha’s body was cremated. Just before the Buddha passed away, Venerable Ānanda asked the Buddha, “Venerable Sir, after you are gone, how should we deal with your body and the cremation? Please leave the necessary instructions.” The Buddha said, “ Ānanda , the Tathāgata body should be cremated exactly the same way as a body of a Universal Monarch is cremated.” Thus, Buddha gave detailed instructions to Venerable Ānanda .
Immediately after the Buddha passed away, the Mallas came together and followed the instructions; and proceeded step by step with the funeral arrangements. The Buddha’s body was laid down for 7 days. During this period, the Royal Park and the whole country were decorated; musicians and dancers came to perform day and night. That was how they paid their respects. They started offering flowers and incenses to pay their highest respects. Before they cremated the body (and it is very important for our subject today), Buddha’s body was wrapped in a new linen cloth.
Then the Buddha’s body was wrapped in teased cotton wool and then again in linen cloth. This went up to 500 layers of linen and 500 layers of cotton wool. Then the body was placed in an iron vessel filled with specially prepared fragrant oil (there was no mention about the type of fragrant oil used). Next, this iron vessel was enclosed within a bigger iron vessel. Finally, all kinds of perfumed wood were collected (especially sandalwood) to make into a funeral pyre for the cremation of the Buddha’s body. You can see that this is a special kind of cremation. No ordinary human being is given such a cremation. At that point of time, such cremation did not exist and the only one we knew then related to the Buddha’s body.
In the Buddha’s own words, such special method of cremation is not done for any ordinary human being except for the Buddha or the Universal Monarch. Many of you have heard about the way the Pharaohs were preserved as mummies until today in ancient Egyptian civilization. They too have a very special way of preserving the bodies. These are ancient science. In exactly the same manner, they developed a very special kind of technique for the cremation of the Buddha’s body 2,500 years ago in India.
Mahā Parinibbāna Sutta goes further. It said, once the body was cremated, nothing remained like ashes, flesh, sinews, blood, hair or anything else but only pure bones remained. Remember, it was recorded that only pure bones or fragment of bones remained and nothing else. Not even ashes. Remember that the Buddha’s body was enshrined in an iron vessel and this was a special way of burning. Only pure bones remained. After cremation, these bones were collected and brought by procession into their assembly halls and the paying of respect, offerings and homage to the Buddha commenced.
When other kings also came to know that the Buddha had passed away in the Kingdom of Mallas of Kusinara, they sent their messengers to claim the relics of the Buddha. There were 6 other kingdoms: King Ajatasattu from Magadha, Licchavis of Vesali, Mallas of Pava, Sakyas of Kapilavatthu, Bulis of Allakappa, Kolis of Ramagama and one Vethadipa brahman (who was a very powerful Brahmin, whose status was equivalent to a King during that time) who also wanted to claim the relics. All these people came together and each staked a claim to the Buddha’s relics. They claimed that the Buddha was their Master who taught them and wanted a portion of the relics. Another claimed that the Buddha was their relative who came from the Sakya clan and also wanted a claim on the relics.
The Mallas of Kusinara said that they would not be giving any relics to anyone because the Buddha came all the way to their kingdom to pass away and they were the ones who cremated his body and handled his funeral - thus the relics belonged to them. There was no solution in sight – everyone was arguing and ready to go to war over the relics. At this critical juncture, there was one Brahmin called Dona and he said, “Lords, give me a chance to utter one single word. Our Buddha is a peaceloving person.” And that settled all the disputes.
The Buddha lived for “peace”. His thoughts were peaceful, His words were peaceful and His actions were peaceful. He dedicated Himself to spread peace among the human beings through thoughts, words and actions. He taught the Dhamma that leads to the perfect sublime peace of Nibbāna. And this Brahmin Dona suggested to divide the relics into 8 portions and distribute among the 7 kingdoms and the Vethadipa brahman. Brahmin Dona divided the relics into 8 portions to be given to the kings and the Vethadipa brahman. Each king received his share of the relics and built huge stupas (pagodas) to enshrine these relics in their Kingdoms.
Immediately after the relics were divided into 8 portions, there was another group (the Moriyas of Pipphalivana) who came and also wanted a share of the relics but at that time, the relics had already been divided and distributed. Brahmin Dona told them that if they wished, they would have the ashes from the funeral’s place derived from burning wood. They collected all the ashes from the funeral’s place and built a stupa. Brahmin Dona took the huge iron vessel which Buddha’s body was cremated in and he built a stupa. All these are relics.
There were a total of 10 stupas being built, and 8 stupas were built for the bodily relics of Buddha. Now, so how can the other Buddhist countries have such relics? Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, China, Cambodia, Japan, and Korea – these countries claimed that they have Buddha’s relics. How did these countries get the relics? The story goes further. 300 years after the Buddha’s passing, there was a very powerful emperor in India – Emperor Asoka.
After Emperor Asoka became a Buddhist, he excavated all these stupas except one. He did not touch the stupa which was built by the Sakyans because they were the relatives of the Buddha. Out of respect for the Buddha’s relatives, he did not touch that stupa. But he excavated all the other stupas and opened the relic quarry and got all the relics back. Having taken all these Buddha’s relics, he built thousands of stupa all over his kingdom. It was said that he built 84,000 stupas and enshrined one small piece of relic inside each stupa. He also sent 9 missions to 9 countries, which included Sri Lanka, Burma (the present Myanmar), Thailand, Cambodia and other countries. When he sent the missionary monks to these countries, he sent relics together with them. This is how the other countries obtained Buddha’s relics.
Sri Lanka, being a very close country to India, had the privilege of receiving a lot of relics. Emperor Asoka’s own daughter, Sangamitta went to Sri Lanka to establish the nuns order and she took a sapling of the Bodhi tree with her. Until today, you can see it in the ancient kingdom of Anuradhapura. That is the oldest tree in the historical books of the world.
800 years after the Buddha’s passing, Sri Lanka received the Buddha’s tooth relic. The tooth relic was originally in India. It was said that when Brahmin Dona distributed the Buddha’s relics, this tooth relic was preserved, taken away and passed to a King who kept it secretly. Hundreds of years later, they started to worship the tooth relic as it became a powerful symbol representing the power to rule the country to whoever possesses it. This tooth relic resulted in wars being waged between the kings in India.
800 years after the passing of the Buddha, the tooth relic was acquired by King Guhaseeva of Kalinga. Due to a losing war he was fighting, he sent his daughter and son-in-law to Sri Lanka with the tooth relic. This was how Sri Lanka received the tooth relic. Our part of the world used to be dominated by the British and Europeans — Sri Lanka, India, Singapore and other parts of the world were under the British colony. From the 18th century onwards, the colonial rulers started archaeological experiments and did a lot of excavations, especially in India, Sri Lanka, and many other Buddhist countries. They rediscovered many of the Buddha’s relics.
In the beginning of the 20th century (1909), one of the American archaeologists who worked with the British archaeological department excavated the Kanishka's stupa. Kanishka was a great king who lived 400 years after the passing of the Buddha. He found a six-sided reliquary that contained the Buddha’s relics in the Kanishka's stupa with the inscriptions, “Here lies the bones of the Exalted One, the Buddha.”
Emperor Asoka did not touch the stupa that was built by the Sakyans. But one of the British archaeologists called Peppe excavated the stupa built by the Sakyans in the 19th century and found the relics of the Buddha. These relics were donated to Burma and enshrined in a stupa in Mandalay. Archaeologist Alexander Cunningham excavated the famous Sanchi Stupa and found the relics of the great disciples of the Buddha, Venerable Sariputra and Moggallana. Portions of the relics were given to Burma and Sri Lanka, and the remaining relics can still be seen in Sanchi (India).
This is the story of the relics of the Buddha. You may have seen relics in exhibitions. Have you gone to such exhibitions? I have visited these exhibitions, especially the relic’s exhibitions in Singapore. I have seen for myself the exhibited relics in various colourful types: blood relics, kidney relics, heart relics, brain relics – all kinds of relics representing each organ and they are very colourful. Some are in red, yellow and blue. Beautiful relics and it is claimed that these are the relics of the Buddha. But once a human body is cremated, there is nothing left except the bones. The same thing happened to the Buddha’s body.
Buddha was a human being but He was a supreme type of human being. But He still had a human body. There is nothing miraculous about His human body. His human body decayed and decomposed. He fell sick and grew old, and finally, He passed away. Once His body was cremated, what were left behind were bones and nothing else. This fact was reiterated in the Mahā Parinibbāna Sutta. Since there was no record of any colourful relic, there is no ground for such a belief. We should not promote this belief. If there are hair relics, then they were the hair relics of the Buddha before his body was cremated.
According to history and written records or legends, we came across the hair relics which Buddha gave to 2 merchants, Tapussa and Bhallika. People strongly believed that these hair relics were enshrined in Shwedagon Pagoda in Burma. Sri Lanka also claimed that these hair relics were enshrined in one of the pagodas in the northern part of the country. Whether the hair relics were in Sri Lanka or Burma, these are the only records that we have with regards to the hair relics when the Buddha was alive. Once the Buddha’s body was cremated, there were no remains of hairs or other organs. Some believe the relics can grow and multiply. Friends, what we called relics here, strictly speaking are fragments of the bones that do not have any life. There is no way for them to grow and multiply but there is one exception.
A fragment of the bone can be broken down into pieces due to weather or some other external physical factors. A bone that has been kept for one or two hundred years may deteriorate or disintegrate if it is not preserved well. Thus the relic does not grow or multiply but it can degenerate and break down into pieces. Some Buddhists believe that the relics can disappear from one place and reappear in another place due to various reasons such as: Not giving due respect, not keeping them in a proper place, the keeper is not a worthy person or does not uphold righteous principles, not a noble human being, not keeping to precepts, not pure in thoughts, words or actions, or if one does not take care of them. They may appear in another place with a suitable environment where they are well taken of, well venerated by worthy and noble human beings who come together to pay respect and uphold the teachings of the Buddha. Friends, this is possible from one angle.
From a scientific point of view, the relics cannot disappear on its own, as the relics do not have any life. However this can happen because of the miraculous power of certain unseen beings. Remember in Buddhism, we believe in gods and deities (devas). Virtuous devas are attracted to virtuous human beings who come and pay respect to relics. Suppose a group of good minded people (Buddhists) who practise and understand the Dhamma and keep to the precepts, received a piece of the relics. They will preserve, venerate and respect it (through chanting or offering of flowers) and keep it in a proper place. This will attract the good and virtuous divine beings. They will come to these places to pay respects and take care of the relics. If they are not well taken care of, these unseen good minded divine beings will protect and take the relics to be kept in another suitable place. This is possible.
So appearance and disappearance of the relics are possible based on this understanding, which is help given by unseen virtuous divine beings. Otherwise, there are no other possibilities that the relics can “grow” on their own. So in this aspect, the “growing” of relics is related to the appearance of additional relics due to the acts of unseen virtuous divine beings. Buddhist communities strongly believe in devas having the power to influence the appearance and disappearance of Buddhist relics. We believe that people who possess relics can have good luck. Because of this reason, people like to have relics.
But remember that someone with an honest and sincere mind to take care and venerate the relics, uphold the teachings of the Buddha and lead a pure life, is one who is a great blessing to the world. That person may get various kinds of help from other human beings as well as from unseen beings. In that sense, the good luck or prosperity is due to assistance given by fellow human beings as well as divine beings. So it is alright to say if we take care of the relics, pay respect and uphold the teachings of the Buddha, it can be a contributing factor for our good luck, happiness and prosperity. There is no ground for us to believe that just because you keep a piece of relic, good luck, happiness and prosperity will follow you even when you do not practise the Dhamma or behave in an unethical and immoral way.
Remember in Buddhism, when we talk about good luck, happiness and prosperity, it is not only material success but both material and spiritual successes and overall happiness of our life.
To summarise, the purpose of having relics is not to have good luck, popularity or other worldly gains but to pay our respects to the Enlightened Teacher because there is something for us to remember - His great virtues. The reason our ancestors and forefathers built these huge monuments or pagodas to enshrine the relics in pagoda and Buddhist statues is for us to remember the great Teacher and His Teachings as well as to encourage ourselves to follow the noble teachings of the Buddha and the Noble Eightfold Paths. These relics, as a representation of the Buddha, encourage us to follow the path to become a Buddha.
Friends, this much is enough for the talk
Selected Dhamma Talks in 2011 by Venerable K. Rathanasara Sri Lankaramaya Buddhist Temple 30C, St. Michael Road Singapore 328002