Page 1 of 1

Buddha's Tooth - Kandy

Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 2:43 pm
by rahula80
Hi,

I have read that the sacred tooth at Kandy is non-human. and the original relic has been destroyed by the Portugese.
Any comments?

Regards,
Rahula

"....it is in fact nothing else than a simple rough-hewn finger-shaped bit of ivory, about two inches long and one inch thick.”
Ernst Haeckel: A Visit to Ceylon, 1883, p.147

"....whereas the object now shown is a piece of discoloured ivory, about two inches in length, and less than one in diameter, resembling the tooth of a crocodile rather than that of a man.”
James Emerson Tennent: Ceylon, 1859, vol.2, part IV, chapter 5, p.201

Re: Buddha's Tooth - Kandy

Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 2:55 pm
by BlackBird
Bit hard to know really don't you think, considering the way it's all encased in multiple gold sarcophagi and never shown to anyone?

It would seem you know more than most, so do you have anything to add?

Re: Buddha's Tooth - Kandy

Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 4:43 pm
by Bhikkhu Pesala
OK. I' will bite. Carbon-dating could soon sort out the tooth from the fiction. However, there's too much money and influence at stake for that to be allowed to happen.

Paying homage to relics is a wholesome kamma, and if people want to do that, it doesn't matter too much if the relic is genuine or not. It is the volition that matters.

The Buddha was clear about how best to pay homage to him, telling Venerable Ānanda on his death-bed that one who practises his teaching the best reveres him the most.

Nowadays, worship is preferred to practice. Meditating for long hours is painful and difficult. Struggling to overcome the mental hindrances, to gain concentration and insight, requires all five of the controlling-faculties: faith, effort, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom.

Queuing for long hours to pay homage to the tooth relic, only requires faith, and not a great deal of effort.

Re: Buddha's Tooth - Kandy

Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 5:12 pm
by Coyote
Bhikkhu Pesala wrote:OK. I' will bite. Carbon-dating could soon sort out the tooth from the fiction. However, there's too much money and influence at stake for that to be allowed to happen.

Paying homage to relics is a wholesome kamma, and if people want to do that, it doesn't matter too much if the relic is genuine or not. It is the volition that matters.

The Buddha was clear about how best to pay homage to him, telling Venerable Ānanda on his death-bed that one who practises his teaching the best reveres him the most.

Nowadays, worship is preferred to practice. Meditating for long hours is painful and difficult. Struggling to overcome the mental hindrances, to gain concentration and insight, requires all five of the controlling-faculties: faith, effort, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom.

Queuing for long hours to pay homage to the tooth relic, only requires faith, and not a great deal of effort.
:goodpost:

I don't think it really matters whether it is genuine or not. Paying homage to the Buddha is what matters. It is sad to see that there is vested interest in not allowing things like this to be verified though.

Re: Buddha's Tooth - Kandy

Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 6:57 pm
by Viscid
The illustrated fact of people being foolish enough to venerate a piece of ivory as the tooth of The Buddha is valuable in itself.
Pesala wrote:Paying homage to relics is a wholesome kamma, and if people want to do that, it doesn't matter too much if the relic is genuine or not. It is the volition that matters.
In some instances, I agree. For example, if there were two objects to venerate, one of The Buddha, with his qualities represented, and one of some other deity associated with negative qualities such as greed or hatred, and the individual chose to venerate the object associated with the positive attributes of The Buddha-- then, in the act of electing compassion and wisdom over greed and hatred, there is wholesome volition-- but if someone is venerating the tooth of The Buddha simply because everyone else is, or to merely appear as appropriately devout, or because the sarcophagi in which it's encased are pretty, then it means nothing.