"Relics"

Donald Zhang Osborn (osborndo@student.msu.edu)
Sun, Jan 29 1995 01:31:15 GMT

Allah'u'abha! A recent article about a supposed tooth of the Buddha
(excerpts attached) reminded me of stories heard from a Catholic friend a
few weeks ago about similar sorts of veneration of supposed bones of saints
in the Catholic church. Evidently there was something of a traffic in bones
("relics") said to be those of various saints during the middle ages, and
while these aren't moved around today as much as they were then, this friend
mentioned that one head of state in Europe in the middle third of this
century used to carry around (in a box) the arm of one of these saints.

Although I may have been vaguely aware of such practices before, only now
have I really noticed it, and confess that I find it somewhat troubling. I
would therefore like to pose some questions, with absolutely no disrespect
intended to Buddhists, Christians, or anyone else whose religion has
developed this kind of tradition):

- How did such practices arise? Why was there such dismemberment of earthly
remains of holy personages (or anyone)? (This sounds like a pointed
question, but I really am curious as to why they were not left intact.)
Is there a significant difference between this kind of veneration and the
respect paid to a Manifestation of God or the memory of a holy person at
a site of burial?

- Are the laws of more recent Divine Revelations concerning burial intended
in part to discourage such practices (exhibiting & even trading relics)?
(e.g., the strict Islamic prohibition of exhuming buried bodies; Baha'i
law concerning burial and teachings of respect for the physical body as
the "throne of the inner temple" (_Selections from the Writings of the
Bab_, p. 95).

- What are the laws and traditions of other religions (Hinduism, Judaism,
Zorosatrianism, Sikhism, and indigenous religions of Africa, Australia,
and the Americas) in this matter? One finds the concern expressed by
many Native Americans over the treatment of skeletons uncovered by
archaeological digs in North America of interest in this context. Did
the oldest religions prescribe &/or proscribe certain treatments of the
earthly remains of the departed?

Thanks in advance for any info & insights ...
Don Osborn osborndo@student.msu.edu don.osborn@ssc.msu.edu
Michigan State University

Forwarded message:
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Attn: Burma Newsreaders
> Re: Wired News on Jan 11-12, '95
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Chinese Buddha relic to return to Burma in 1996
>
> RANGOON, Jan 11 (Reuter) - China has agreed to a request from Burma's
> military government to allow another visit of a tooth of the Buddha,
> official newspapers reported on Wednesday.
[deleted]
> Hundreds of thousands of Burmese Buddhists turned out to pay their
> respects to the relic when it was carried throughout the country in an
> elaborate 45-day procession that began last April.
> Donations of more than 180 million kyat ($29 million at the official
> exchange rate and $1.6 million at the black market rate) and thousands of
> pieces of jewellery were collected and will be used to build pagodas to house
> replicas of the tooth relic, the reports said.
[deleted]
>
> Transmitted: 95-01-11 06:04:57 EST
> *********