Buddhism is popularly seen as a religion stressing the truth of impermanence. How, then, to account for the long-standing veneration, in Asian Buddhist communities, of bone fragments, hair, teeth, and other bodily bits said to come from the historic Buddha? Early European and American scholars of religion, influenced by a characteristic Protestant bias against relic worship, declared such practices to be superstitious and fraudulent, and far from the true essence of Buddhism. John Strong's book, by contrast, argues that relic veneration has played a serious and integral role in Buddhist traditions in South and Southeast Asia-and that it is in no way foreign to Buddhism. The book is structured around the life story of the Buddha, starting with traditions about relics of previous buddhas and relics from the past lives of the Buddha Sakyamuni. It then considers the death of the Buddha, the collection of his bodily relics after his cremation, and stories of their spread to different parts of Asia. The book ends with a consideration of the legend of the future parinirva na su tra (extinction) of the relics prior to the advent of the next Buddha, Maitreya. Throughout, the author does not hesitate to explore the many versions of these legends and to relate them to their ritual, doctrinal, artistic, and social contexts.
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Preface Note and Abbreviations INTRODUCTION: Relics of the Buddha Relics and the Biographical Process Types of Buddha Relics Relics, Bones, and Burial Practices in India and Beyond Relics and Images Limitations of This Study Outline CHAPTER ONE: Relics of Previous Buddhas Sakyamuni and His Predecessors Past Buddhas, Relics, and Soteriology The Case of Kasyapa and His Stupa Relics Dispersed and Not Dispersed Conclusion CHAPTER TWO: Relics of the Bodhisattva Relics and the Jatakas Bodhisattva Relics in the Final Birth as Gautama Conclusion CHAPTER THREE: Relics of the Still-Living Buddha: Haris and Footprints Hair and Nail Relics Footprints Conclusion CHAPTER FOUR: The Parinirvana of the Buddha The Duties to the Corpse The Funeral of a Cakravartin The Corpse's Clothing The Iron Coffin The Veneration of the Buddha's Body Cremation Collection, Dispute, and Distribution: The "War of the Relics" The Construction of the Stupas Conclusion CHAPTER FIVE: Asoka and the Buddha Relics The Collection of the Relics The Construction of the 84,000 Stupas The Festival of the Relics Conclusion CHAPTER SIX: Predestined Relics: The Extension of the Buddha's Life Story in Some Sri Lankan Traditions The Transplanting of the Bodhi Tree and the Multiplication of Relics The Collarbone Relic and Its Enshrinement in the Thuparama Dutthagamani, the Ramagrama Relics, and the Mahathupa Conclusion CHAPTER SEVEN: Further Extensions of the Buddha's Life Story: Some Tooth Relic Traditions The Kashmiri Tooth: Relics and Elephants The Eyeteeth of the Buddhas The Kalingan/Sri Lankan Tooth The Tours of the Chinese Tooth Conclusion CHAPTER EIGHT: Relics and Eschatology The Buddha's Bowl: A Recycled Relic The Buddha's Robe Conclusion CONCLUSIONS Relics and the Biographical Process Relics and Buddhology Relics and the Spread of Buddhism The Episodic Nature of Buddha-relics Relics and the Demands of Darsan Relics and Polity Strategies of Legitimation Relics as Performative Objects The Dialectic of Continuity and Discontinuity Bibliography Index
