India Woos Sri Lanka With Buddha's Bones

By Vishal Arora
Religion News Service

NEW DELHI (RNS) India plans to lend rare fragments of the Buddha's bones to Sri Lanka for the 2,600th anniversary of Buddha's Enlightenment in May, and some see it as part of India's strategy to gain a regional edge over neighboring China.

Indranil Banerjie, head of New Delhi-based think tank Security and Political Risk Analysis, said India's move to enhance its "existential bond" with a Sri Lanka's Buddhist heritage could have a powerful influence.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa "personally requested" the favor of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan when he visited New Delhi last June, the Indian mission in Colombo said in a statement.

India will also organize an international conference on Buddhism in Sri Lanka's Central Province in March, and install a 16-foot tall statue of the Buddha there, it added.

New Delhi's Buddhist overtures are significant given China's growing influence in Sri Lanka, strategically located off India's southern coast and a key naval link between western Asia and southeast Asia.

However, a "crude attempt" to leverage the Buddhist connection would not work, said Banerjie. "The message needs to be conveyed at a profound level," Banerjie said. "And that would be a challenge."

According to Buddhist traditions, the Buddha attained enlightenment around 500 B.C. in Bodh Gaya in eastern India. It is believed that Indian emperor Ashoka's son Mahinda introduced Buddhism in neighboring Sri Lanka, now one of the few remaining Buddhist countries in South
Asia, in the second century.

Comments

[Kapilvastu Day]

05:57 AM on 02/25/2011

Could India assure that that bone will not be fake like fake Lumbini?

[Ramkshrestha]

05:53 AM on 02/25/2011

India, just do not claim that Buddha was born in India as Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa knows very well that Lumbini is the birth place of Buddha.

[srkris]

03:07 PM on 04/01/2011

Both Kapilavastu and Lumbini are in India. Ashoka has planted pillars in Lumbini, and his pillars are within India's borders, not in Nepal.

See http://www.lumkap.org.uk/Lumbini On Trial.htm

[ninetailedfox]

06:30 AM on 02/23/2011

I hope that now there are less christians than there once were, but i saw an article about Sri Lanka banning mini skirts. Somehow I know that is the work of christians.

[ninetailedfox]

06:28 AM on 02/23/2011

I thought Id comment before the comments close. Sri Lanka was taken over by christians. I read about it in a history book about Sri Lanka at the library not too long ago.

[jobscabin]

09:01 AM on 02/18/2011

Comment removed. Okay.
No cow to get loose. No garden to protect from loose cow. Okay.
Old path. White cloud.

[notself]

03:34 PM on 02/17/2011

It would be nice to have a photo of Indians or Sri Lankans (Theravada Buddhists) instead of this lovely picture of Tibetan monks.

[NostradamnIsuck]

11:30 AM on 02/17/2011

Psst Buddhists...Y'all gotta learn from the Capitalist Christians...They sold millions of pieces of Christs cross...I'm sure you can find some way to market "Buddha Bones"...

[spilkus]

11:39 AM on 02/17/2011

I need to get me some of them buddha bones for my shrine. I'll bet I could meditate better with them and wouldn't get distracted away from unconditioned awareness by that danged old dog barkin' next door.

[Saidas]

10:01 AM on 02/17/2011

India views China "coming" to Sri Lanka as the US did the USSR in Cuba. Both are just 90 miles of the coast. India is spending billions on advanced weaponry for defense against China. Strategically, it has more to fear from China than it does Pakistan. China & India will be the new US & Japan.

[PaticaDeGato]

08:36 AM on 02/17/2011

I am not a Buddhist or an expert in theology (though I admire that religion greatly). However, from what I understand, I doubt Buddha would approve of this sort of relic worship.

[DEEisaliveee]

01:59 AM on 03/08/2011

Agreed

[ManuOB1]

07:57 AM on 02/17/2011

Lord Buddha was cremated. In the cremains of holy people, one or two "sari" are found. These calcified "jewels" are then placed in special stone pagodas. The holier the person, the more saris. According to lore, the ashes of Buddha yielded 50,000 sari.

[olmossy]

09:35 AM on 02/19/2011

But would Buddha want us to believe in "lore" and "myths" ? Buddha's teachings were important,not his ashes.

[Odeemgawa]

06:41 AM on 02/17/2011

Well...as an american Buddhist I recognize that the veneration of bone fragments (not unlike the Catholic practice of the same genre which I used to laugh at) could be alarming to non-Buddhists who might have otherwise been considering the Dharma as an alternative to their present beliefs.

Let me just say, possibly erroneously, that this sort of ritual is not necessary to practice the development of compassion towards all sentient beings, at least from my experience.

There are rituals commonly practiced by many Buddhists. I do so myself. They have particular
purposes for the cultivation of merit and proper mental motivation. I enjoy them and find inspiration from them, but I don't think they are necessary for inclusion in the Buddhist community. I might be wrong.....but my dharma teachers from Tibet have never required this from me.....more commonly the instruction has been to develop mental stability and flexibility, and do the best you can to control impatience and anger.

[kooldalai]

03:44 PM on 04/06/2011

Agree. Om mani padme hum.

[Cindbird]

02:55 AM on 02/17/2011

It's a great honor for India to do this. It will sanctify the new temple more than any prayers and mantras could ever do. I'm glad there will be a conference of the Sangha as well. I look forward to hearing what comes out of it.

[American Air]

09:07 PM on 02/16/2011

Sri Lanka is playing china and India like a tool