Shaolin Relics, ATTN: Gene

[stonecrusher69]

This question is for Gene but if anyone can give me any information that would be great. I wanted to know if Shaolin had a list of known relics that where missing since say the last 50 or so years that could be checked out. The reason I ask, I was told that my sigung who studied with a high level monk passed on some relics to him. I don't want to say in public what they are but I was told they have been lost now for some time. A monk from Shaolin came looking for them but my Sigung turn him away. I want to see if there is anyway to check this out.If this could be real story.My sigung also said his name is written in a book or something At Shaolin. He never went back to China because he said if he did he would not be able to return.

[GeneChing]

Do you mean Buddhist relics? I don't know of any such list. Shaolin went through some difficult times in the last century and I'm not sure that such records were even kept. It would help to know what, or should I say 'who', the relics are.

[stonecrusher69]

Do you mean Buddhist relics? I don't know of any such list. Shaolin went through some difficult times in the last century and I'm not sure that such records were even kept. It would help to know what, or should I say 'who', the relics are.


Yes ,Shaolin Buddhist relics.. the relics are stones(not sure what kind) that belonged to Shaolin that was giving to my sigung maybe 50 yrs ago.He had them in his possesion for many years but now are lost.He was suposed to bring them back to Shaolin when the time was right but now that's impossible.I was woundering if there are any records that show this type of relic that has been missing or any way to conform this.

[GeneChing]

Buddhist relics, just like those in Christianity or Hinduism, are the remains of famous masters, saints or important figures in the religion. These are often highly polished, like a bit of ivory, and contained in a bejeweled box of some sort. If these are truly relics, your master must know who's they are. Otherwise, they're just bones.

[stonecrusher69]

yes the stones(relics) belong to Ven.Hsu Yun then passed down to my sigung. That's the story anyway.I've never personally seen them but have heard about them. The stones represent the hire or lineage to who ever has them.

[Royal Dragon]

How did they get lost?

[stonecrusher69]

How did they get lost?

My sigung gave the stones ( to hold) to a good friend of his and when we was ready he was going to pick them up .His friend was about 20 years older then him.
Many years later, my sigung called his friend and his wife answer the phone and she said he passed away and did not know what he did with the stones. No ones seen them since then.

[Immortal_Dragon]

Hmm..may wanna try john takeshi's ninja compound.....heard there was a battle brewing....and something about a tournament that is held once a millenia. MWUAHAHAHAHAHA...sorry.

[GeneChing]

Interesting. Can you get me the Chinese characters for that?

[stonecrusher69]

Interesting. Can you get me the Chinese characters for that?

sure I will try..Do you know of the monk I'm talking about.He goes by many names.One is empty clound and also nine finger buddha(because one finger was missing)

[GeneChing]

More on relics from one of my fav sites




http://www.ancient-origins.net/sites/default/files/field/image/Mini-Golden-Coffin.jpg

1 JULY, 2016 - 00:50 ALICIA MCDERMOTT
Mini Golden Coffin Found in Crypt May Hold Skull Bone of Buddha (http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/mini-golden-coffin-found-crypt-may-hold-skull-bone-buddha-006209?nopaging=1)

When archaeologists were excavating the Grand Bao’en Temple of Nanjing, China in 2008 they came across a significant find – a relic linked to Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama. The artifact was a skull bone found inside a decorated model stupa which was located in an underground shrine. This relic was later put on display in Hong Kong and Macao and received abundant attention by the Chinese media.

Finding the Stupa
The first hints of an important discovery came from a stele found in the excavations in July 2008. Macao magazine wrote that the inscription on the stele said “the palace preserved a “Seven-Treasure Pagoda of King Ashoka” containing gold and silver coffins with Sakyamuni's parietal bone and relics of other Buddhas inside them.” Within the next month the archaeologists unearthed a stone chest with an iron box inside it.
When the iron box was opened, the team encountered a stupa that measures about 4 ft. high and 1.5 ft. wide (117 cm by 45 cm). According to Live Science, “the model is made of sandalwood, silver and gold, and is covered with gemstones made of crystal, glass, agate and lapis lazuli.”

http://www.ancient-origins.net/sites/default/files/Model-of-the-stupa.jpg
Model of the stupa. (Chinese Cultural Relics)

The inscriptions on the stone chest say that the model was made during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong (997-1022 AD), in the Song Dynasty period. The stupa itself also has inscriptions with the names of people who donated money for and built the model. The Telegraph reported that the archaeologists believe the relic is “one of the 84,000 pagodas commissioned by Ashoka the Great in the second century BC to house the remains of the Buddha.”

King Ashoka’s Conversion to Buddhism
King Ashoka is widely remembered as a Buddhist ruler in India. In fact, his contributions to Buddhism and morality are what made him such a renowned figure in Indian history. It has been said that even at a young age Ashoka showed potential to be a successful general and an astute administrator. However, despite his prowess, Ashoka’s chances of succeeding his father were thought to be slim, due to the fact that he had several elder half-brothers.
Nonetheless, one legend claims that Ashoka fought and killed 99 of his brothers in order to inherit the throne. Only his younger brother, Vitashoka, is said to have been spared. Ashoka was a cruel ruler when he first took the throne, but many legends say that he changed his ways after conquering Kalinga. These stories assert that the amount of death and destruction sickened the emperor and incited him to renounce his violent ways and embrace Buddhism.

http://www.ancient-origins.net/sites/default/files/Indian-relief.jpg
An Indian relief that may depict Ashoka in the center. From Amaravati, Guntur district, India. (CC BY SA 3.0)

An inscription found within the stone chest with the pagoda from about 1000 years ago provides more information on the connection between Ashoka and the relic. The text was written by a man calling himself Deming who described his role as "the Master of Perfect Enlightenment, Abbot of Chengtian Monastery [and] the Holder of the Purple Robe." Live Science wrote that the text says:
“after the Buddha entered parinirvana (a final death that breaks the cycle of death and rebirth), that his body was cremated near the Hirannavati River in India. The man who ruled India at the time, King Ashoka, decided to preserve the Buddha's remains, which he divided into a total of 84,000 shares…Our land of China received 19 of them, including the parietal bone.”

Displaying the Relic
The skull bone was found within a gold mini-coffin, which was inside a mini silver coffin, inside the model stupa. Live Science describes the coffins as “decorated with images of lotus patterns, phoenix birds and gods guarding the caskets with swords. The outer casket also has images of spirits called apsaras that are shown playing musical instruments.” They also write that “The parietal bone of the Buddha was placed […] along with three crystal bottles and a silver box, all of which contain the remains of other Buddhist saints.”
Speaking on the discovery in November 2008, De Qing, an expert in Buddhism in Nanjing, said:
“The discovery of the relic will have a huge influence on the cultural history of Buddhism in China and will establish Nanjing as a premier site. It will be a great encouragement for Buddhists as well as for future studies. It is important for Buddhism as a religion to have these sarira, or relics, to show its followers. The more a Buddhist practises, the more relics will remain of him after his death. I am hugely excited. I think they should take the skull outside of the container, it is a sacred item, but it is not an untouchable item.”

http://www.ancient-origins.net/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/silver-coffin.jpg?itok=MxI2qT-a
The silver coffin found inside the stupa is decorated with images of gods guarding it with swords. There are also images of spirits called asparas, who are shown playing musical instruments. Source: Chinese Cultural Relics

De Qing was right and his wish to reveal the relic to the public came true. The parietal bone was first revealed at the Qixia Monastery of Nanjing and exhibited for public worship in 2012 in Hong Kong and Macao. It has been said that “Tens of thousands of Buddhist devotees, from Macao, Hong Kong and mainland China, paid their respects to the 2,500-year-old relic” when it was exhibited at that time.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSGwQIAX_KI

Although the inscriptions accompanying the artifact claim that the skull bone belongs to the Buddha, it has yet to be proven if this is true. Nevertheless, the skull bone has had a significant effect at the time of its exhibitions. For example, Kok Kwong, president of the Hong Kong Buddhist Association during that time told China Daily the first time he saw the skull bone relic. "It was truly joyful. I was filled with Dharma joy," He also said:
“Seeing the relic is like seeing the Buddha. Buddhism offers a wealth of wisdom, which brings true happiness to people. Worshiping the relic can promote people's inner mercy, purify people's minds, and is conducive to world peace.”

http://www.ancient-origins.net/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/parietal-bone.jpg?itok=xCuuiO2U
The parietal bone was enshrined for public worship in 2012. (Macao Magazine)

Top Image: This gold mini-coffin was found within the silver one. The skull bone of the Buddha, along with remains from other Buddhist saints, were placed inside. After the archaeological excavations, Buddhist monks interred the remains of the saints in Qixia Temple in China. (Chinese Cultural Relics)
By Alicia McDermott

[GeneChing]

I'm hijacking this thread in the name of BUDDHA. :)


BUDDHA’S REMAINS? CREMATED HUMAN DISCOVERED IN INSCRIBED BOX ALONGSIDE HUNDREDS OF ANCIENT STATUES IN CHINA (http://www.newsweek.com/buddha-buddhism-archaeology-ancient-china-cremated-remains-statues-711524)
BY KASTALIA MEDRANO ON 11/15/17 AT 11:15 AM

Archaeologists discovered a box in Jingchuan County, China, which, according to its inscription, contained the cremated remains of the Buddha.

More than 260 Buddhist statues were found along with the remains, some more than 6-and-a-half feet tall. One called the Heavenly King was just 13 inches in height. Archaeologists date the statues to the Northern Wei dynasty (386 A.D. to 534 A.D.) and the Song dynasty (960 A.D. to 1279 A.D.), 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 Chinese Cultural Relics.


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View image on Twitter (https://twitter.com/LiveScience/status/930499112021082112/photo/1)
Live Science ✔@LiveScience
Cremated Remains of the 'Buddha' Discovered in Chinese Village https://goo.gl/izm35j
10:14 AM - Nov 14, 2017
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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. According to Live Science, 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.”

http://s.newsweek.com/sites/www.newsweek.com/files/styles/full/public/2017/11/14/image-530466970.jpg
A statue of Buddha stands at the ancient Borobudur temple in Magelang, Indonesia. Archaeologists discovered a box in Jingchuan County, China, that, according to its inscription, contained the cremated remains of the Buddha.
GOH CHAI HIN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

The burial was dated June 22, 1013; the Buddha himself is said to have lived from 563 B.C. to 483 B.C. The archaeological team, led by Gansu Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology research fellow Hong Wu, is still determining whether the statues were also buried at that time along with the box. The inscription goes on to describe how the two monks spent decades collecting such remains.

“In order to promote Buddhism, they wanted to collect śarīra [Buddhist relics]. To reach this goal, both of them practiced the instruction of Buddhism during every moment of their lives for more than 20 years,” Live Science reported the inscription as reading. “Sometimes they received the śarīra from others’ donations; sometimes they found them by chance; sometimes they bought them from other places; and sometimes others gave them the śarīra to demonstrate their wholeheartedness.”

Some statues are of the Buddha or his disciples, while others represent deities. Live Science reported that the archaeologists also discovered several steles, or flat stone slabs, displaying carvings on their surface. Most statues had no writing, but one was inscribed with the following:

“[I] realized that I am confused...every day, because of my admiration of the wisdom of the Buddha, [I] contribute my daily expenses as a tribute, to sculpt a statue of Śākyamuni Buddha, praying for greater longevity, and…” The line that followed was not visible.

This isn’t the first time the Buddha’s remains have been reported found. A skull bone purportedly belonging to the Buddha turned up in 2016, inside a stone chest discovered in Nanjing, China.

[mickey]

More on relics from one of my fav sites


Greetings,

The model of the golden stupa looks wonderfully close to the Ark of the Covenant as shown by William Henry.

https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sumer_anunnaki/esp_sumer_annunaki20.htm

There are those who believe that Buddha is actually Ptah, a god from early Egypt.


mickey