What is a relic?

What exactly is a relic? It should be said that this can be measured by extraordinary feelings. Some people have conducted so-called scientific research, saying that the relic is a "stone" in the human body, because monks are vegetarian all the year round and eat too many bean products, which is caused by calcium precipitation and accumulation. There are also some heretics who think that the relics are "Dan" made of essence, qi and spirit, and they make a big fuss about refining qi and spirit. These statements are ridiculous. They don't know that the Buddhist "relic" has all kinds of incredible things, and the relic is not just a product in the body.

"Saria" is a transliteration of Sanskrit, which means "body bone", also known as "spiritual bone" or "strong son", but this is only as far as most relics come from human body. Because most of the relics were obtained from the incineration of human remains. The earliest is that after the teacher Sakyamuni showed silence, he burned himself into a relic with eight hooves and four fights. So the relic is also called "body bone". But there are also relics that are not bones. For example, in the Song Dynasty, when a layman like Lu carved a pure land of dragon trees and a wishing piece, the sarira burst out in the edition, * * * three times. In ancient times, there were also incredible deeds such as good women embroidering sutras, blocking needles, seeking relics, chanting Buddha or getting relics from their mouths when learning scriptures. There are also monks who wipe their backs while taking a bath, and there are Buddhist relics. When Master Xue Yanqin shaved his head, his hair turned into a string of relics. What's even more incredible is that when Jackson Song Xian died, there was a strong wind that blew the smoke forty miles away. Wherever the smoke goes, there are traces on houses, trees and grasslands, and as many as four stones have been collected. Can modern science or pagans guess this?

Modern people also have such intangible cultural relics. If you burn Yi Deng for the Buddha, you will feel sincere, and you will get a relic in snuff. This is the so-called "good news with snuff" phenomenon in Buddhism. Yang Peizhi (Qian Hui), a converted disciple of Master Yin Guang, once got a relic on snuff. 1947, Lingyanshan Temple in Suzhou published "The Great Trend to Buddha chanting Tong Yuan"? Printing an open book? Gong Jing's lecture notes coincided with the general trend of Bodhisattva's birthday. When the lamp dropped the relic, a large relic was found in the lamp board, as pure as crystal beads. This phenomenon of losing cultural relics by lights usually happens. From April to July, * * * got four big five Xiao Jiu relics in the lamp tray (see the book "Karma Induction of Publishing Books"). Master Yin Guang said that this is because "the sincerity is great, and the Buddha's kindness is shown" ("The third edition of Master Yin Guang's banknotes? After yang peiwen's "the book of laymen"), it can be seen that this is not measurable under any circumstances.

Usually, relics mainly refer to the crystals burned by monks after being raped. This crystal is as strong as King Kong.

Shiny, different shapes, there are relic beads, relic flowers, relic blocks, tooth relics and so on; Colors are also different, often called "five-color relics". For example, Master Jingru of Wutai Mountain, a director of the Chinese Buddhist Association who died recently, found more than 5,000 relics of various colors, mainly black, white, red, silver and blue. According to the teachings of American Xuanhua people, the white one is the bone relic; Black is a relic; The red one is the remains of meat. There are two kinds of relics: one is the whole body relic, such as the Duobao Buddha relic. The second is the broken relics, such as those of Sakyamuni Buddha. There are also two kinds of living relics and fa relics. Living relics are definitely smoked and cultivated. Relic relics are all scriptures. "("Master Xuanhua talks about three volumes of Hokkekyo ",p. 334). What we generally call relics only refers to the living relics.

What a relic is, although it can be measured by extraordinary feelings, its function is obvious. Biological relics, like utensils (classics), have the value of spreading Buddhism. After the nirvana of Sakyamuni Buddha, his biological relic was divided into eight parts by Mahabharata, Sakyamuni and other eight countries, and a tower was built to support him. In the third century, Ashoka took it out and distributed it all over India, building 84,000 pagodas, and Buddhism flourished. A few years ago, the discovery of Sakyamuni Buddha relic (finger bone relic) in Fufeng Famen Temple, Shaanxi Province, China was a great event in the Buddhist community, which was of great significance for promoting Buddhism. Why did the Buddha leave the relic after he showed silence? This is a very meaningful question. In Hokkaido. In the Tathagata's Quality of Life, the Buddha himself said:

Everyone saw me destroy my wealth and the relics I provided.

Salty taste causes thirst and thirst.

All beings believe in quality, straightness and softness.

See the Buddha with all my heart and not cherish my life.

It can be seen that the Buddhist relics left by the Buddha, the eminent monk and the great virtue can make us yearn for the cause, thirsty and believe in Buddhism. Originally, the Buddha was immortal. The reason why he died soon is a convenient performance, in order to prevent all beings from rising dependence and even rising tired and slack hearts. Hokkekyo said, "If the Tathagata doesn't die, then get up? I am arrogant, but I am tired of it. You can't have a hard heart, and the respectful heart is because it is convenient to say that monks should know that it is difficult to meet Buddhas when they are born. " After the Buddha's extinction, leaving the relic to build a tower for all sentient beings is to let all sentient beings offer a rare thought, think about seeing the Buddha when they see the relic, and even "see the Buddha wholeheartedly without cherishing their lives", so as to forge ahead and practice diligently. If we sincerely respect the Buddhist relics, we will feel the intercourse of Taoism and the appearance of the Buddha. This is always the case. In Hokkekyo, the Buddha said to himself, "When I was with all the monks, I came out of Lingjiusan. When I was talking about sentient beings, I stayed here to make things simple, but the existing ones cannot be destroyed. " He also advised: "If you have a wise man, don't be suspicious here. When the order is broken forever, the Buddha's words are true. " In the Sui Dynasty, when the master of Tiantai wise man read the "Skill of the King of Medicine and Bodhisattva" in Beijing, he suddenly fell into deep thought and looked at Lingshan for a while, as if he had never left. Master Hui Si confirmed: "I don't know, I can't prove it." This thing can prove.

There are various incredible phenomena in supporting and commemorating relics. Master Yin Guang gave an example: Before Emperor Wendi became emperor, an Indian monk gave him several relics. When he became emperor, he found hundreds of relics. Another example is the stupa of Asoka Temple, which you can hold in your hand and look inside. Everyone sees different scenes, and the size of the stupa will also change. All kinds of spiritual relics can be described as "God is unchangeable". All these supernatural changes have incredible value in spreading Buddhism. Everyone benefits from paying tribute to the relic. Master Yin Guang said that the supernatural phenomenon of the relic is that "all buddhas and bodhisattvas want to make all who see and hear deeply rooted in good roots, especially to show their sense of existence" (Yin Guangda, master Wen Chao). Therefore, the relics should not be blindly measured by secular wisdom.

But the emergence of the relic is due to the Taoist power of the yogi, which is certain. Therefore, the relic can "prove the faith" and prove the achievements of practitioners in abstinence from wisdom. Master Yin Guang said that the "relic" is the result of the practitioners' abstinence from wisdom, not the spirit of diligence. This is similar to the combination of heart and Tao, and the combination of heart and Buddha. "("print the owner's paper money? Therefore, practitioners who diligently practice abstinence wisdom can often screen out many Buddhist relics from the ashes after death. As for monks with profound Taoism, their Buddhist relics will also present various magical phenomena. For example, after the birth of Indian masters in the west 100 days, the smoke was as white as snow, and five colors of light appeared. The bones after the fire are white, solid and as heavy as minerals, and feel golden yellow. The parietal bone has five petals, such as lotus. All 32 teeth were saved. Found countless relics. Its shapes are beads, petals and blocks. Its colors are red, white, blue and colorful. "

It is particularly strange that Yuan De, a Wuxi layman, came late, leaving only ashes, so he sincerely begged and got three relics from the ashes. He wrapped these three relics with some ashes and returned to Wuxi. When he opened them for everyone to watch, he found that there were countless five-color relics in them ("Records of the Words and deeds of the Master of Printing Light?" Master History Biography ")

Guang Qin, an old monk, a contemporary monk, died in February 1986. There are also various magical phenomena in the relics left after tea. After the old monk was cremated, 100 many larger relics were collected by * *, and all the smaller relics were collected by disciples at home. A deceased believer knelt in front of the cremator all night and found a large relic on his knee at dawn. There was a believer who offered a handful of the ashes of the old monk Guangqin at home, and he found the relic again and again. There was an old lady who was too old to look for tiny relics in the ashes. She immediately knelt down and begged the teacher's father for forgiveness. As a result, she kowtowed three times and got three in a row. There is also an old man named Zhang at home, who is a disciple of the old monk Guangqin. When he arrived at the Miao Tong Temple crematorium in Tainan from Taipei, the relics in the crematorium had been taken away by the first believers. He was so sad that he cried at the cremator, grabbed two handfuls of ashes, wrapped them in handkerchiefs, and drove back to Taipei, reciting "Amitabha" all the way. When he got home, he put the ashes in a lacquer tray, which contained more than 30 glittering and translucent relics, which was incredible.

Regarding the Buddhist relics, Zhu Lin, a court official in the Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem "Ode to Buddhist relics", which is recorded as follows, as the end of this article:

Golden body scattered bones, pagoda dragon.

Founded in the Ten Pagodas, it eventually became 80,000.

When the bead cover flashes, the brake post spits hibiscus.

Open the fog and dew repeatedly, and count the signs of the poem.

Red and neon set each other off, the wind shook and the bell rang.

Fairy bears are often seen, and monks count from them.

It is higher than the saints, and it contains universal knowledge.

You didn't know that the saint was poor until you drilled into the spine and hit it hard.