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Buddha's Cremated Remains Discovered in China

Risky Thicket

Risky Thicket

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[FONT=&quot]Archaeologists discovered a box in Jingchuan County, China, which, according to its inscription, contained cremated remains of the Buddha.
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More than 260 Buddhist statues were found along with the remains, some more than six-and-a-half feet tall. Another, called the “Heavenly King,” was just 13 inches in height. Archaeologists date them to the northern Wei dynasty (386-534) and the Song dynasty (960-1279), when the county was a major trading hub on the Silk Road. Local villagers discovered the statues and cremated remains in 2012, and details of the excavation were published in a Chinese-language journal in 2016. Two articles describing the find were more recently translated into English and published in the journal [/FONT]Chinese Cultural Relics[FONT=&quot].

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]The cremated human remains within the box have not yet been confirmed by archaeologists as belonging to the Buddha, known also as Gautama Buddha or Siddhārtha Gautama. [/FONT]According to Live Science[FONT=&quot], when translated, the accompanying transcription reads: "The monks Yunjiang and Zhiming of the Lotus School, who belonged to the Mañjuśrī Temple of the Longxing Monastery in Jingzhou Prefecture, gathered more than 2,000 pieces of śarīra [cremated remains of the Buddha], as well as the Buddha's teeth and bones, and buried them in the Mañjuśrī Hall of this temple."
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Source, a reprint from Newsweek, here.


Interesting? Yes. Does the discovery matter in terms of Buddhism? True or not it changes nothing. [/FONT]​
 
Definitely an interesting piece of history and a monumental discovery if these indeed are Buddha's remains.
 
Risky Thicket said:


Source, a reprint from Newsweek, here.


Interesting? Yes. Does the discovery matter in terms of Buddhism? True or not it changes nothing. [/FONT][/COLOR]​
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No, it terms of the teachings and message of the Buddha, nothing, whatsoever is changed.

Odd that Chinese monks would have something like that, as he is purported to have died in Kushinagar, India
 
Fascinating, true or not.

Thank the gods, his remains were not found in Newark, NJ. That would have been totally inexplicable.
 
Risky Thicket said:


Source, a reprint from Newsweek, here.


Interesting? Yes. Does the discovery matter in terms of Buddhism? True or not it changes nothing. [/FONT][/COLOR]​
Click to expand...

It's highly unlikely that these are Siddhartha Gautama's remains. Like the Catholic church's claim on "relics" from Saint's bones, which are largely goat's bones, I share some skepticism about this.

EDIT: I edited, because I misread a part of this, they didn't claim he died in China, only that his remains were gathered.
 
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FieldTheorist said:
It's highly unlikely that these are Siddhartha Gautama's remains. For one, it's unlikely this would be forgotten. For another, legend has it that he died in India (and modern day Nepal) where he was born and lived most of his life, although he traveled as far west as Afganistan. But I'm not sure he ever actually set foot in China. For another, this is both very easy and very lucrative to lie about.

But it's not impossible that his remains were carried to a Chinese temple, which was then abandoned.
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Agreed. I doubt the remains belong to Siddhartha Gautama.

It wouldn't surprise me that DNA testing determines the remains belong to more than one person.

Again, correct or not it should not matter. I'd argue that more would benefit if the remains were determined not to belong to Siddhartha Gautama.

It's not about the Buddha.
 
Risky Thicket said:
Agreed. I doubt the remains belong to Siddhartha Gautama.

It wouldn't surprise me that DNA testing determines the remains belong to more than one person.

Again, correct or not it should not matter. I'd argue that more would benefit if the remains were determined not to belong to Siddhartha Gautama.

It's not about the Buddha.
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Well, benefit in what sense? It's certainly interesting that it was collected.
 
FieldTheorist said:
Well, benefit in what sense? It's certainly interesting that it was collected.
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It would be extremely interesting if what has been reported is true. For starters I'd like to know how his remains got to China and why? It would be a fascinating story.

What the Buddha taught (good name for a book, no? ;) ) would be just as true and just as valuable if Siddhartha Gautama never became a Buddha, assuming of course the knowledge would be available in some other way.

Bones and dust change nothing. I suspect, however, there would be a great temptation for some people to venerate or even worship the remains and perhaps even ascribe magic powers to the them; looking or hoping for the easier path. That path would be circular, I think.

Of course it would be their path and what the hell do I know? LOL For me at least, it's a long road and a small wheel. All my ideas of shortcuts have been dead ends.
 
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