Have archaeologists found Buddha's remains? Cremated bones discovered in a 1,000-year-old chest

Daily Mail ^ | 15 November 2017 | Tim Collins

[mairdie]

Human remains buried by a pair of monks in China over a millennia ago are claimed to belong to Buddha.

Believers say the 2,000 pieces of cremated bones belonged to Siddhartha Gautama, whose teachings became the foundations of the Buddhist religion.

The cremated bones were found in an ceramic box with an inscription claiming they belong to Buddha, who is believed to have died 2,500 years ago.

The box was found in Jingchuan County, China, alongside more than 260 Buddhist statues.

[mairdie]

[silverleaf]

Awesome!

[mairdie]

Agreed. Almost sends chills.

Wonder if they’ll do DNA testing.

[Dr. Thorne]

Unlike Jesus, Buddha is still dead.

[JimSEA]

Beautiful! About the bone chips, almost every temple worth its salt has a Buddha relic and most of them are some sliver of bone, etc., footprints are popular as well.

[Constitution Day]

Indeed. You beat me to it.

[FES0844]

WOW!

[mairdie]

But he’ll live forever in the hearts of his followers. A great man, if you enjoy the Gita, one of my favorite books in highs school.

[wally_bert]

He was a technology guru at Dilbert’s company once.

[mairdie]

Didn’t know about the footprints. Wouldn’t be surprised if they were sometimes really captured if he traveled as much as said. Probably just as many pieces sold as pieces of the true cross, etc.

[mairdie]

Idiot me. The Gita was Hindu, not Buddhist. High school was a long time ago.

[mairdie]

Gautama Buddha (abt 563-480 BC – abt 483-400 BC) was an ascetic and sage, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. He is believed to have lived and taught mostly in the eastern part of ancient India sometime between the sixth and fourth centuries BC.

Gautama taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and the severe asceticism...

Gautama is the primary figure in Buddhism. He is recognized by Buddhists as an enlightened teacher who attained full Buddhahood, and shared his insights to help sentient beings end rebirth and suffering. Accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death and memorized by his followers. Various collections of teachings attributed to him were passed down by oral tradition and first committed to writing about 400 years later.

[JimSEA]

The footprints I’ve seen are natural impressions in the rocks. You’re right about the similarities between Buddha relics and slivers of the cross, etc. Maybe some people need physical proof for their beliefs.

[ek_hornbeck]

Wonder if they’ll do DNA testing.

Even if they did, how would they verify that the remains are Gautama Buddha's? There are no living verified descendants. The most a DNA test could do was to show that the remains are of a person from India rather than from China or surrounding areas.

[Rurudyne]

Was that before or after Path Way Electronics merged with E Tech Management to become Path E Tech Management?

[mairdie]

I was more thinking they could sort through the remains and figure out which ones are from the same person. Would you guess less than one percent? Interesting to think of them being purposely scattered like Catholic saints’ relics.

[Rurudyne]

Should we start an “Ancient Alien” meme over this hypothetical gene testing?

[AnotherUnixGeek]

By all accounts, the Buddha lived and died in India, on the other side of some very high mountain peaks. I doubt his ashes made it to China. And from what I’ve read about Buddhism, the Buddha would laugh at the idea of anyone keeping or revering his ashes.

[mairdie]

I don’t think necessarily physical proof. It’s sort of like autographs. It’s just really exciting to have something that was part of someone you admire. That’s why Catholic relics are popular from first class body pieces to 2nd class, frequently used objects, to 3rd class, came in contact with, objects. A rosary of Pope Pius XII would be a big deal not for any “belief” in him but as a reminder.

I put objects in the hallway that remind me of special moments I’ve shared with my husband, and things that make me stop for an instant and remember why I admire them, not just for their art, but for their backstory.

[mairdie]

There was a lovely story in Wikipedia about how he became deathly ill after his last meal served by a blacksmith, and how he wanted his attendants to assure the blacksmith that he hadn’t poisoned him but should be happy that he served a last meal to a Buddha. That sounds like a nice man.