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Two Buddha Relic Traditions
Author(s) -
Strong John S.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
religion compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.113
H-Index - 1
ISSN - 1749-8171
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-8171.2007.00028.x
Subject(s) - gautama buddha , buddhism , legend , uniqueness , focus (optics) , psychology , art , philosophy , social psychology , literature , theology , physics , optics
This article surveys some recent work on Buddhist relics, but with a particular focus. Starting with the observation that the distribution of the Buddha's relics in the Mah parinirv a sūtra violates the Buddha's own injunction to keep his remains together in a single stūpa, it goes on to examine the fluctuation, in Buddhist legend, between traditions that assert the togetherness of the Buddha's relics and traditions that assert their dispersal. It then relates this polarity to buddhological issues concerning the uniqueness and multiplicity of buddhas and questions about their overlap.