Authenticity of Buddha tooth relic still subject of discussion

[Sumedho]

Kejadian di singapore katanya relik palsu 

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/289746/1/.html

SINGAPORE : Some people are still continuing to question the authenticity of the Buddha tooth relic housed in the temple along South Bridge Road.

The tooth relic is stored on the fourth floor of the temple which usually does not allow any photography.

But given the current interest, it has made an exception.

No one is allowed to enter the chamber, but from the outside, you can see the stupa which contains the tooth relic.

The stupa was built using 420 kilograms of gold, donated by devotees who can only visit the tooth relic twice a year - the first day of the Lunar New Year and Vesak Day.

The only other way to see it is through brochures, which could be the reason why people are made more curious about its authenticity.

Some experts have also reportedly questioned whether the tooth is from the Buddha himself.

Liau Ming Ong, Donor, says: "The reverend Fa Zhou have to come out to speak the truth. You cannot simply brush it off and you think it's real, it's real. It's not correct. We have scholars from all over the world, come here to take a look and they look at the size of the tooth, then it's very ridiculous."

Ong Kim Dee, Donor, says: "Since we've donated the money, we need to know the truth, whether this is the truth from a Buddha or any animal, we have the right to know. Everyday we see a lot of local and foreign tourists visit the temple. If one day they find out it is not the truth, then I think it's a joke, it's not very good for Singapore."

Renowned artist Tan Swie Hian had done some research on Buddhism and believes it teaches the pursuit of truth.

He says: "I don't mind praying to a buffalo's tooth provided I'm told it is one. Let me get it right before my prayer. The Buddha's teaching is all about seeing things as they are and this is nothing to do with Buddhism or faith. It is a claim that can be easily, conclusively proven by science."

The founder of a Buddhist Art Museum says he had received similar looking tooth relics when he visited Myanmar previously.

Woon Wee Teng, Founder and Curator, Nei Xue Tang - Buddhist Art Museum, says: "Many monks gave them to me and they told me, of course these teeth are quite similar to the one in the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and they told me please, bring them home to Singapore and put in the Museum to display. And of course, I'm very careful. I must do due diligence. What I did was to take them back, to check with the vet, forensic and also I checked with dentists, they're all forensics as well and they confirm that it's a non-human, herbivore's tooth. So I make a decision to not display."

Mr Woon says if the temple has the Buddha tooth, then as a public institution it has the responsibility to show proof.

He adds that the responsibility is even greater if the temple is collecting public money.

Mr Woon says: "We mustn't be seen by the outside world, internationally that we can't tell the difference between a horse tooth and a human tooth. That would be a disaster, it's a lot of embarrassment. I think they should get it right and since it's so clear that it's a herbivore's tooth, then they must rectify it."

And verifying the authenticity of all displays is something the Asian Civilisations Museum takes seriously.

Tan Huism, Deputy Director - Curation and Collections, Asian Civilisation Museum, says: "A museum is a place where we'll display objects that are authentic to the cultures. We decide whether these objects are authentic to their cultures and their timing...through stylistic comparisons with similar objects found at that time and other museums.

"We would then look at the pieces and see how these pieces compare with similar pieces from other museums. Of course you could also do scientific testing."

Within the temple grounds, there are many notices explaining its position on the tooth relic.

It says the suggestion of DNA testing, whilst simplistic, is a practical challenge to conduct.

It adds DNA testing is also invasive and it is unlikely that any Buddhist temple and their devotees would agree to such a test for what they believe to be the Buddha tooth. - CNA/ch

[morpheus]

http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=57,4484,0,0,1,0
http://news.asiaone.com/News/The+Straits+Times/Story/Is+Buddha+tooth+here+the+real+McCoy%253F.html

yah, itu kan masih kontroversi.... dokter2 berkomentar itu giginya herbivore, yg punya temple bilang itu gigi buddha. yg punya temple gak mau giginya di test dna, katanya test dnanya "intrusive" (dalam arti harus ngambil (ngebor?) sample yg bisa merusak reliknya).

saya pribadi sih percaya dokter ketimbang templenya... tapi mungkin pemilik reliknya juga gak berniat menipu...

ginilah kalo ngambil comfort kepada sesuatu yg ada di luar. suatu saat akan kuciwa...

[dipasena]

http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=57,4484,0,0,1,0
http://news.asiaone.com/News/The+Straits+Times/Story/Is+Buddha+tooth+here+the+real+McCoy%253F.html

yah, itu kan masih kontroversi.... dokter2 berkomentar itu giginya herbivore, yg punya temple bilang itu gigi buddha. yg punya temple gak mau giginya di test dna, katanya test dnanya "intrusive" (dalam arti harus ngambil (ngebor?) sample yg bisa merusak reliknya).

saya pribadi sih percaya dokter ketimbang templenya... tapi mungkin pemilik reliknya juga gak berniat menipu...

ginilah kalo ngambil comfort kepada sesuatu yg ada di luar. suatu saat akan kuciwa...

hehehe... anggap aja itu relic bodhisatva waktu jd herbivore... 

susah jg sih, saat ini makin byk relic bertebaran dimana2, asli ato palsu ? kembali lah ke jalan yg benar    gunakan wisedom n kalama sutta aja...

apakah relic yg berasal dari Thailand bs dikatakan semua asli ? belum tentu jg, relicnya bejibun, apakah benar itu relic Sang Buddha ? padahal relic Sang Buddha telah dibagi ke 8 kerajaan dan suku, saat ini entah ada dimana stupa yg menyimpan relic dari 8 kerajaan dan suku tersebut...

apakah relic jauh lebih penting dari pada pelaksanaan Dhamma ? apakah karena dikatakan itu adalah peninggalan orang suci, jd ada perlakuan istimewah ? trus manfaat relic sendiri apa ? jd lari ke tahayul lg, apakah bisa dikatakan Buddhism agama tahayul ? lama2 sih bs aja, krn prilaku dr umat yg bodoh !

[Kokuzo]

Udah nunggu relik gw aja, asli kok dijamin

[ryu]

Emang kapan mo di bakar?

[Kokuzo]

it just a matter of time... no matter how long it is... 

[ryu]

Harus banyak buat karma baik ya! Supaya banyak reliknya.

[Sumedho]

kalau relik mah kayaknya semua orang bisa.
orang biasa kalau dibakar juga ada sisa2xxnya. nah sisanya itu relik kan ?

[Kokuzo]

Bukannya katanya kalo mencapai kondisi batin tertentu aja? gw baru kemaren baca... semakin tinggi tingkatan batin semakin banyak reliknya... bener ga tuh?

[dipasena]

momod, masa semua orang punya relix ? masa kualitas bathinnya semua orang sama rata ? gw pernah liat tuh orang dikremasi, tapi setelah selesai ga ada relix nya, yg ada cuma debu or tulang yg ga abis terbakar (masih agak keras, tapi bisa di tumbuk, ntar jg hancur jd debu keputih-putihan)

[Sumedho]

nah hasil sisa pembakaran (tulang) itu relik kan ?

[davit_c]

Setahu saya malah ada jasa abu hasil kremasi dijadikan batu...

[Sumedho]

yg jadi cincin itu yah. kalau abu/batu kena tekanan dan suhu tinggi bisa berubah jadi batu yang indah2x.

[dipasena]

yg jadi cincin itu yah. kalau abu/batu kena tekanan dan suhu tinggi bisa berubah jadi batu yang indah2x.

apakah abu hasil dari kremasi bisa disebut relix ? tulang yg ga hancur itu biasanya menggunakan proses kremasi tradisional yaitu menggunakan kayu bakar, di sulut api, disimbur minyak trus menerus dan kudu dijaga.

tapi kalo di kremasi di krematorium, itungan jam abis semua dah, ga ada tulang" keras. tapi kalo kita liat relix" para arahat itu kan seperti mutiara/batu" yg indah dan berwarna warni, minimal berwarna putih keabu-abuan yg menyerupai batu tapi bukan dijadikan (proses setelahnya) batu.

sebenarnya relix itu sendiri apa sih ? kalo baca tulisan momod, berarti setiap orang itu pasti memiliki relix, apalagi semua abu manusia jika dipanaskan pada suhu tinggi tertentu akan menjadi batu"an yg indah, bukan kah ini relix ? berarti ga perlu kualitas bathin tertentu relix itu ada pada jasad seseorang dunk ?

[Sumedho]

IMHO,tidak ada yang spesial dari relik itu, mau berwarna warni ataupun bisa 'gaib'2x.

Inti dari relik adalah sebagai objek penghormatan, ketika melihat kita menghormat, muncul rasa senang, terus melaksanakan sang ajaran.

pertanyaannya, kalau relik asli kita ganti yg palsu tanpa kita ketahui, apakah akan merubah kualitas penghormatan, rasa senang, dan ingat pada sang ajaran ?