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| Wednesday, 9 July 2003 |
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The mystery behind relic-worship Buddhist mirror by A.G.S.Kariyawasam When in 1999 Vesak full-moon day, sacred to the Buddhists as it commemorates the birth, enlightenment and passing away of the Buddha was officially recognized by the United Nations Organization as an internationally recognized sacred day, the Buddhists of Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand expressed their gratitude to the world body by presenting them with some bone-relics of the Buddha to be kept permanently at the UN headquarters in New York. According to a Reuter report from the capital city of Chile, Santiago, as appearing in the "Daily News" of 30th June 2003, these relics, which so far have been exhibited in 15 countries before they will be permanently housed safely at the UN headquarters next May, have presently been taken to Chile under the guidance and tight protection of the Tibetan Lama Gangchen Rinpoche. He has taken this step as a mark of gratitude to a group of Chilean engineers who had helped him to obtain water to his monastery in Tibet. His present pilgrimage to Chile, which is predominantly a Catholic country, is referred to as "a part of a pilgrimage for world peace," which has become a prime need today. Although the Buddhists are a tiny minority in Chile, there has been a large turnout to view the relics which are exhibited in a bowl inside a glass dome. A Chilean Buddhist has remarked that when these relics came there for them, it is like "going to Jerusalem for the Catholics." The following words of Lama Gangchen are worth quoting here: "These relics by being here are not something only for the Buddhists. It is something open to each and every one because the Buddha himself was open to all of us: the relics help the creation of a non-violent culture." The Buddhists there also claim that miraculous things had happened since the relics arrived in Santiago, for, a total transformation in the people who viewed the relics was clearly visible. The Buddhists world over know that seeing and worshipping the Buddha's relics is a highly devotional and a meritorious act. Therefore it would be of interest to delve a little deeper into the story behind them as well as into the reason as to how and why they become worthy of worship. The practice of worshipping the relics of holy persons had been prevalent even before the time of the Buddha as a general religious ritual as clearly proved by the claimants of the Buddha's bone relics after his cremation as recorded in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta (D.N. No - 16). What remained after the Buddha's body was burnt "were only the bones" which are explained as "the indestructible substance that remains unburnt in the ashes of Buddhas and Arahants." Accordingly, in addition to the seven great relics that remained unburnt, which were the four canine teeth, the two collarbones and the frontal bone, the other unburnable dhatus that remained scattered around the burnt up pyre were of the size of mustard seeds (Digha Commentary II, 604). At this time there were eight provincial kings making claims on the Buddha's relics. To avoid what would have been a serious confrontation, the brahmin Drona pointed out the impropriety of quarrelling over anything connected with the Buddha who was a great teacher of peace. The contenders listened to him because he was a respected teacher at the time and almost all of them were his pupils. Drona himself was a great devotee of the Buddha as he had become an Anagamin after listening to him. There he was requested to distribute the relics in a fair manner. Accordingly, Drona divided them into eight equal portions, one of which was given to each king as follows: i Ajatasattu of Magadha ii Liccharis of Vesali iii Sakyans of Kapilavattu iv Bulayas of Allakappa v Koliyas of Ramagama vi Brahmanas of Vethadeepa vii Mallas of Pava viii Mallas of Kusinara. The Manryas of Pipphalivana, who came too late to make their claim, were given the embers while the Brahmin Drona was given the measuring urn. All these ten parties erected cetiyas in their kingdoms enshrining each of the relics received by them. As for the seven great relics referred to earlier, one tooth relic is in the Tavatimsa heaven, one in Gandhara, one with the Nagas and the other in Sri Lanka at Kandy. Of the three remaining ones the Tissamaharama Cetiya enshrines the frontal bone (lalata) the Mahiyangana Cetiya one collarbone alongwith some hair relics and the Tuparamaya the other collarbone. Thus five of the seven are in Sri Lanka. There is also a tradition that, on the advice or the Arahant Mahakassapa, who survived the Buddha, regarding the future safety of the scattered relics, king Ajatasattu built a Cetiya at Rajagaha enshrining the relics collected from the eight cetiyas (mentioned above) by Arahant Mahakassapa himself, who collected the eight portions into one leaving a little in those eight places. This was a safety measure devised by Mahakasspa. It was by opening up this Rajagaha Cetiya that Emperor Asoka came to posses the vast amount of relics with which he put up cetiyas all over his Empire - the 84,000 mentioned in books. Sri Lanka was again lucky when Emperor Asoka presented a bowlful of these relics to Sumana Samanera when he went for him to obtain relics for the Thuparamaya, as described in chapter xiii of the Mahavamsa. This brief account regarding the history of the Buddha's bone-relics would show how these relics have been safely protected and handed down up- todate due to the far-seeing steps taken by the Theras and Kings in the history of Buddhism. Now, a question arises as to why relics are so worshipful. Is it just because they are the remains of holy persons, great beings like Buddhas and Arahants? That is not just the reason. There is an important scientifically acceptable reason for this worshipfulness of the bone-relics of Buddhas and Arahants. It is on record with vivid details as to how much mental and physical suffering the Buddha had to undergo prior to his enlightenment. The final six-year struggle is specially relevant here. In the course of such a struggle a great physical change also takes place in the physical structure of the person concerned. This brings about a chemical transformation in the bones as well. It is as if a surgeon were making a comprehensive surgical operation - in this case without a surgeon or a surgical knife. It is a high level self-effort towards the goal of realising the uncondoned state beyond mundane causality. This is not more knowledge but personal realisation of an ideal. It is this individual realisation at the personal level that brings about the required physical transformation. This state is the one in which a person's defilements have died (kilesa-parinibbana or sa-upadi-sesa nibbana) and he remains so till he dies from this world on his final death leading to no more rebirth. As such a person's bones too have become a party to this realisation of Freedom they have become worshipful as the person himself. After his death the bones remain as sacred and honourable. A very interesting episode on record in proof this point is the story of the poet-monk Vangisa, who during his lay life had mastered the art of telling where a dead person was reborn by tapping on his skull with his finger-nails. When the skull of an Arahant was given to him by the Buddha himself he tried and tried but could not make his usual prediction because the Arahant was not reborn anywhere. This means that the Arahant's skull had undergone the transformation as explained earlier and thereby become a sacred relic. This clearly shows the difference between the intellectual understanding of a truth and its personal realisation. The philosophy of final freedom as taught in Buddhism is difficult of realisation owing to this great hindrance. This also explains why there are no Arahants today. There seem to be no people with sufficient courage and self-confidence to undertake this arduous task. ************************ Dhamma Dhamma is neither east or west, Dhamma is neither a game of chess, Dhamma is neither the life of waste, Dhamma is neither black and white, Dhamma is neither to live on fate, Dhamma is neither for intellectual fame Dhamma is neither Hindu, Buddhist May all gain Nibbana - Ven. M.Vinayarikkhita |
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He
whose senses are subdued, like steeds well-trained by a charioteer, he
whose pride is destroyed and is free from corruptions, such a steadfast
one even the gods hold dear.Dhammapada (Arahanta Vagga)
