What is a relic?
Its magical phenomena show that it can't be a stone:
Medical students should know the appearance and physical properties of stones. The solid is mainly composed of calcium or metal salt deposits, which are similar in shape to scales and fragile (so stones can be broken by ultrasonic waves), and these things will become powdery oxides at high temperature.
Dade's tongue, heart and other soft tissues without bones can also be cremated to form Buddhist relics, and even the tongue of a Buddha-chanting parrot can also become Buddhist relics.
What's more, the number of stones in the body is very small, otherwise it will endanger life, but sometimes the number of relics in Dade is amazing (tens to tens of thousands), and the colors and shapes are different. So many people can't burn stones, can they live?
It's not just monks who are vegetarian all the year round. After only one year's conversion, laymen also have colorful relics after burning, while ordinary vegetarians and many vegetarian animals have relics.
In all kinds of examples, some relics are pure and flawless, some can appear out of thin air (rain falling from the sky), some can shine, some can grow, some can show words on bones, and even the flesh shrinks or disappears, which is beyond the explanation of common sense and modern science.
Of course, some so-called relics are really bones and teeth that have not been completely burned, but stones cannot be incinerated into relics.
The word "relic" was originally called "relic" and later called "relic". Buddhist relics were originally translated into various names in Hindi, meaning (Buddhist relics) or (spiritual bones), but Buddhist relics were not completely obtained by cremation, and there are many examples of Buddhist relics from heaven.
The "relic" is the crystallization of personal abstinence and wisdom. It is also a witness to the achievements of practitioners and can strengthen the practice of disciples. Therefore, when Buddhists see the Buddhist relics, it is like seeing the Buddha and Bodhisattva, worshiping them and offering them sincerely. But before nirvana, the Buddha told his disciples not to pay attention to his Buddhist relics, but to "Dharma Buddhist relics", that is, ancient books that integrate his words, deeds and examples.
There are three main types of relics:
1. Whole body relic: Master Huineng of Shaoguan, Guangdong, and Di Chin, a Tibetan monk of Jiuhuashan Sports Hall in Anhui; Ishii, founder of Shijing Temple in Chengdu, Sichuan. It is what we call a "flesh bodhisattva" whose flesh does not rot.
2, broken relics: it is what everyone usually calls relics. After the cremation of Sakyamuni Buddha, the relics, the living Buddha of Lausanne Temple and the abbot Zhu Zhai were all broken. Among them, there are many kinds.
3. Relic: The Sutra of Seating, the Sutra of Vulgarity, the Sutra of Tibetan Buddhism and the Sutra of Han Buddhism all belong to the Relic of Relic. It is the crystallization of wisdom left by Dade to future generations.
Relic, commonly known as relic, originally refers to the relics and beaded gem products left by Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, so it is also called Buddha bone and Buddha relic. Later, it also refers to the bones left by the burning of monks after death.
The relics are round, oval and lotus in shape, with different colors, such as white, black, green and red. Buddhism believes that the formation of Buddhist relics is closely related to the practice of practitioners before their death. The relic is acquired by a person through cultivation, determination and wisdom, plus his great will. It is very rare and precious. Because the relic is regarded as a sacred object, there is little identification of its components and there is a lack of strict scientific research. At present, there is no definite conclusion about the causes of "relics" in science, and most of the explanations are only based on existing scientific principles.
The Sanskrit transliteration of Buddhist relics is "Buddhist relics", and when translated into Chinese, it means spiritual bones and body bones. It's a crystal left by a person after cremation. But the relics are completely different from the bones of ordinary dead people. Its shapes are ever-changing, including round, oval, lotus, Buddha or bodhisattva; Its colors are white, black, green and red, and there are also various colors; Some relics are like pearls, while others are like agates and crystals. Some are transparent, others are bright, just like diamonds. In addition, domestic eminent monks and believers who have made great achievements in spiritual practice can also get relics after their death, such as modern masters Hong Yi, Yin Guang, Taixu, Zhang Jia and Elder Ben Huan, who all left a considerable number of relics. In ancient books, many people also recorded that other monks were cremated and obtained Buddhist relics. The Biography of Song Monks, Volume 7, Biography of Wang Yuan, records that after Wang Yuan's death, his body was crushed and more than 700 relics were obtained. In Xuan Yue Biography, the seventh volume of the same book, it is mentioned that hundreds of Xuan Yue's relics have been collected.
2,500 years ago, when Sakyamuni Buddha was in nirvana, disciples got a parietal bone, two shoulder blades, four teeth, a middle finger relic and 84,000 beaded relics from the ashes when they cremated his body. These relics of the Buddha are regarded as sacred objects by believers, competing to offer them. According to the scripture, the relic is obtained by a person through practicing discipline, determination and wisdom, plus his own great will. It is very rare and precious. For example, after the Buddha's nirvana, as many as one stone and six buckets of relics were burned. At that time, eight kings competed for the Buddha relic, and each got a share. They brought the relics of the Buddha back to their own country and built pagodas for people to watch and worship. The golden blood relic of Sakyamuni Buddha is recorded in relevant Buddhist documents. After Buddha Sakyamuni was cremated, disciples found many round hard objects in his ashes, which were bright, transparent, colorful and as hard as steel. This is the relic, commonly known as the relic, which has always been regarded as a Buddhist treasure. At present, there are many kinds of patents for hand-made phosphate beaded ashes by Buddhist relics in Taiwan Province Province and other places, which are described in the collection of Junyou Association, an internationally renowned Buddhist public welfare organization: Buddhist relics include buddhas, bodhisattvas, arhats and monks.
(a) relics of successful practitioners of Buddhism after cremation;
(2) The remains flying from Elysium, Pure Brake Earth or other brake earth;
(3) Ten Buddhas or enlightened people bless and transform the Buddhist relics every time.
historical remains
(1) Whole corpse relic and dismembered corpse relic, the former refers to the whole corpse remains buried, and the latter refers to the cremated remains. This is from the third volume of the Bodhisattva Pregnancy Sutra. Or those who put all the remains in one tower are called whole corpse relics; On the other hand, those who divide the remains in multiple places are called broken relics (called two-person relics).
(2) There are two kinds of cultural relics, namely, bone relics and Fa Song relics. The Merit Sutra of Washing Buddha regards the Buddha's remains as Buddhist relics, and the teachings left by the Buddha are called Buddhist relics. This kind of relic shows that after the death of the Buddha, the teachings and commandments spoken by the Buddha will last forever and can be relied on by all living beings, so it is called dharma relic, or dharma relic for short, as opposed to body and bone relic.
(3) Bone remains, hair remains and meat remains. Volume 40 of Fallin says that the bone relic is white, the hair relic is black and the meat relic is red.
(4) It is also possible that monks put them into the corpse for various purposes and burned them together, or the deceased swallowed them himself before his death.
The so-called relics of later generations are the particles, solids and slight luster of adzuki beans, which are mostly placed in small towers and supported. It is generally believed that after the cremation of the Buddha's body, it is small and hard, and the cone is unbreakable. However, if you are a Buddhist disciple's relic, the cone attack will be broken. However, among the eight Buddhist relics found in India in modern times, one is neither granular nor solid, just like the usual human bones after being burned. Since ancient times, the parietal bone, tooth bone and finger bone of Buddha have been widely worshipped by believers. So in addition to the granular relics, there are other Buddhist relics circulating. In addition, the stupa where the relics are placed is called stupa, also called stupa. The bottle where the relic is put is called the relic bottle. The dharma meeting to support the relics is called the relic meeting. According to "Long Agama", Volume 4, "The Tour Sutra", after the Buddha was released from nirvana between the two trees in the detention city, the relic scored eight points. Supported by eight countries from the tower. According to the biography of King Ashoka, one hundred years after the extinction of the Buddha, King Ashoka collected the remains of the Buddha and built 84,000 pagodas to support it. Buddhists and Buddhist relics are inseparable, so they are willing to offer them respectfully. And often believe that where the relic is, it is where the dharma body is. Therefore, to support the relics, that is, to worship the bodhi tree, the throne of King Kong, the footprints of Buddhist scriptures, and so on, we want to establish karma worthy of Buddha's knowledge of Buddhism and achieve Bodhi quickly. Guang Jin Ming Jing, Volume 4, Sacrifice, Cloud (Dazheng 16 354a)? "People who make sacrifices are all cultivated by the wisdom of abstinence. It is hard to get, and the best is Fukuda." "Great Wisdom" Volume 59 refers to (Dazheng 25 480a)? Providing for the Buddhist relics, as mustard seed wishes, will bring endless blessings. '
In addition to the above-mentioned Asoka's collection of 84,000 treasure baskets and the construction of 84,000 pagodas, there are also cases of supporting relics in other places. For example, according to the article Shizi Country (Ceylon) in Fa Xian Zhuan, there is a beautiful house with Buddha's teeth in the city. Article 11 of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty says that there is an exquisite Buddha's Tooth Hall beside the palace. According to the Biography of Monks, there are Buddhist temples in Luocheng, which exhaust national boundaries. The Biography of the Great Monk Seeking Dharma in the Western Regions of Datang contains an article that Zhao Xuan once went to Gabon to worship the Tathagata. The Tale of the Western Regions of Datang has been published for twelve years. Xuanzang returned to China and demanded 150 pieces of meat relics from the Tathagata. One year after the publication of Biography of Song Monks, I Ching returned to the DPRK with 300 relics.
The effective deeds of Buddhist relics have been circulated since ancient times, and it is not uncommon for Buddhist relics to feel sincere. According to the Biography of Monks (Volume 1), Sun Quan, the Lord of Wu, did not believe in Buddhism. He tried to call the Buddhist Association to inquire about the efficacy of Buddhism. The monk club invited him for three or seven days, and he touched the relic. Sun Quan ordered Lux to hit it with an anvil, but the anvil was trapped and the relic was not damaged. Sun Quan was greatly moved. Such examples are recorded in "Sambo Hong Guangming Ji" and "Fa Zhu Yuanlin". In the Tang Dynasty, the relics enshrined in Famen Temple (formerly Asoka Temple) outside Chang 'an won the respect of the ruling and opposition parties. In the 14th year of Zongyuan (8 19), Han Yu went to "remonstrate the Buddha's bones", saying that the bones of the Buddha who abandoned Di could not enter the palace, but should be put into fire and water to eradicate them. The emperor was furious when he saw the table, so he dismissed it as Chaozhou secretariat and ordered Zhang to write a Buddhist bone tablet. Emperor Song Renzong? In the first year (1049), Liu Chen was invited to rebuild the Paguan Temple Lingta, where the Buddha refers to the relic, and the emperor made a vow to welcome it. Since then, the reverence for the holy things has still prevailed. In addition, quite a few people describe monks tortured by monks. The Biography of Song Monks, Volume 7, Biography of Wang Yuan, states that after Wang's death, his body was crushed and more than 700 relics were obtained. Xuan Yue Biography, the seventh volume of Simultaneous Interpretation, describes the collection of hundreds of Xuan Yue relics. According to the current knowledge, researcher Wei Jidong boldly analyzed the causes of the remains, that is, put the remains in a sealed vessel similar to a metal coffin, then burn them with a big fire and keep them at a high temperature of 1600 degrees for several minutes. With the increase of temperature, the remains gradually turned into ashes, melted and finally crystallized. In this way, it became a relic. Because of the Buddha's high status, great ceremony and extravagance, ordinary people did not have such financial resources, and in ancient times, ordinary people rarely cremated. Therefore, future generations do not understand the causes of the relics, and feel mysterious, just worship.
1. Eating habits
Some people think that the formation of Buddhist relics is due to monks' long-term vegetarian diet, which absorbs a lot of cellulose and minerals. After human metabolism, it is easy to form a lot of phosphate and carbonate. And finally deposited in the body in the form of crystals. The objection is that there are countless vegetarians in the world, but there are no remains.
2. Human skeletal remains
Recrystallization of various shapes will occur when burning human bones. There are many tiny bones in the human body (such as phalanges, phalanges or tiny bones in the ear canal), and a few bones are burned and recrystallized to produce a "relic" with a crystal appearance. This possibility exists. According to the information of a Buddhist website in Taiwan Province Province: 1998, they cooperated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Taiwan Province Province to analyze the Buddhist relics of a monk and found that they were mainly human bones. Other scientific research has also proved the skeleton theory. In addition, teeth are also funerary objects carried by the deceased. The composition of teeth also includes many inorganic salts, among which cementum is similar to bone, so some people speculate that teeth are the source of relics [2].
3. Human calculus
Cultural relics unearthed from Famen Temple
Some people interpret this relic as a stone. Among human stones, the main components of gallstones are macromolecular organic substances (cholesterol and bilirubin) and a small amount of calcium carbonate; Kidney calculi and bladder stones are mainly composed of calcium salts (calcium oxalate and calcium phosphate), other mineral salts and uric acid. Among them, the latter is similar to the inorganic components of bones (inorganic salts containing calcium and phosphate). As the main components of stones, calcium and a small amount of metal salts will become powdery oxides at high temperature; Secondly, the opposing view is that a small number of stones in the human body will lead to unbearable severe colic, and it is impossible for patients to endure pain for a long time without delaying medical treatment; Moreover, many patients with lithiasis were cremated after death, and none of them had crystals. And almost all the people who gave birth to relics are healthy and carefree old people.
4. Personal effects
The shapes of relics are ever-changing, and the colors are also different; Some relics are like pearls, while others are like agates and crystals. Some are transparent, others are as shiny as diamonds. This form is not a natural product. When the monks are cremated, some will wear their personal belongings before their death, and some believers will offer offerings. Among these objects, there are many precious gems accompanied by the cremation of monks. The main component of the gems is silicon dioxide. These things will enter the cremation furnace with the remains of monks. At the high temperature of the cremator, these silica will dissolve and react with calcium carbonate in human bones to produce articles similar to bone China, glass and ceramics. Ruins may be formed in this way [3].
5. Temperature control
It is said that relics can only be formed by cremation at a relatively low temperature. For example, in ancient times, firewood was used as fuel, and the traditional cremators used in Southeast Asian countries could produce a large number of relics. Professionals have analyzed the difference of incineration effect between pit surface cremator and grate cremator, and also pointed out that there is slag. In recent years, many monks and great virtues who left Buddhist relics have been incinerated in modern funeral homes with programmed cremators. Therefore, the formation of this relic is considered to be related to the temperature control of cremation.