Sarira

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Various sarira from the Buddha and various students, part of a collection by Maitreya Project

Sarira (Tibetan: རིང་བསྲེལ།; Wylie: ring-bsrel; Sanskrit: शरीर (śarīra); Japanese: Shari 舎利; Chinese: Sheli 舍利; Vietnamese: Xá Lợi, Korean: Sari 사리/舍利), are generic terms for "Buddhist relics", although in common usage these terms usually refer to a kind of pearl or crystal-like bead-shaped objects that are purportedly found among the cremated ashes of Buddhist spiritual masters.

1 Terminology
2 Pearl-like Sariras
3 Material Properties of Sarira
4 External links

[edit] Terminology

The term sarira (शरीर) is a loanword from Sanskrit. The term "Sarira" originally means "body" in Sankrit. The term ringsel is a loanword from the Tibetan language.

Both of these terms are somewhat ambiguous in English, they are generally used as synonyms, although according to some interpretations, Ringsels are a subset of Sariras. The below offers an overview of the terms as they are understood in Chinese

Sarira (舍利)can refer to:

Dharma body sariras (法身舍利), or sutras as told by the Buddha, according to Din Fu Bao's (zh:丁福保) Dictionary of Buddhist Terms (zh:佛学大辞典), a Dharma body Sasira (法身舍利) is "the Sutra as told by the Buddha: That which is unchanging in what is told by the Buddha, is of the same property as the essence of the Buddha himself, hence it is called the 'dhama body sarira'" (与法身偈同。又佛所说之经卷，谓之法身舍利。如来所说实相中道之理，不改不变，性相常尔，故云法身舍利) In this sense, the Buddhist understanding of the words of Buddha as "body" is similar to Christians's understanding of Jesus as the "word"
Corporal sariras (肉身舍利), the cremated remains of the Buddha (or any other spiritual master), but can also be used to refer other remains (for instance, a finger), or a preserved body, such as Ch'an Patriarch Hui Neng's body.
Full body sariras (全身舍利), refers to the mummified remains of spiritual masters. These are sometimes thought to be a sign that their bodies are "incorruptible" (金剛不壞身). Again the concept is very similar to the Christian belief that certain saints are incorruptible.
"Broken body" sariras (碎身舍利) this refers specifically to cremated remains.
Sariras or Ringsels (舍利子), when used without qualification the term Sarira generally refers to the pearl like remnant of a master after cremation, (see sections below)

The word "shrine" is sometimes used as a translation for Ringsels (e.g. heart shrine relic refers to Ringsels that supposedly formed from someone's heart.) This rather peculiar use of the term "shrine" reflects the Buddhist concept of shrine. For Buddhists, a shrine is anything that is deliberately constructed to remind one of something that is essentially intangible. Ringsels, whose primary function is to act as a memento, serves the same purpose as shrines, hence it is referred to as such.

[edit] Pearl-like Sariras

Although the term "Sariras" can be used to refer to a wide variety of Buddhist relics, as listed above, they are generally used to refer to the pearl or crystal-like bead-shaped objects that are purportedly found among the cremated ashes of Buddhist spiritual masters.

These objects are considered relics of significant importance in many sects of Buddhism since they are believed to embody the spiritual knowledge, teachings, realizations, or living essence of the spiritual masters. As well, the objects are taken as evidence to their enlightenment and spiritual purity. Some believe that the sarira are deliberately left by the consciousness of a master for veneration.

Sarira of a certain religious master is typically displayed in glass bowl inside small gold urns or stupas as well as enshrined inside their statue. The pieces of sarira are also believed to mysteriously multiply in number while inside their containers if they have been stored under favorable conditions. Saffron is sometimes placed within or around the bowl containing the individual pieces of sarira as an offering. It is believed that individuals regardless of their faith will be overcome with emotions of joy, love, peace, inspiration, or even spiritual transformation when in the presence of the ringsel. There have been testimonies of healings and visions attributed to seeing these relics.^{[citation needed]}

The occurrence of sarira is not restricted to ancient times. The latest report of sarira came after the cremation of Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche, who passed away in December of 2006.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Material Properties of Sarira

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The heart relic of Thích Quảng Đức

The exact composition of Sarira and the physical principles behind its formation remains unknown to science.^{[citation needed]} Physical samples of Sarira do exist (some are even housed in western institutions such as MIT),^{[citation needed]} however, the sacred status of sarira, its rarity, and the various legends surrounding these objects makes rigorous scientific examination of the phenomenon next to impossible.^{[citation needed]}

Very often, faithful Buddhists tend to favor, and hence spread, spiritual explanations, and "evidences" supporting those explanations over physical ones. The following lists some of the commonly held belief about the material aspects of sarira.

Chinese media have often cites the theory that sarira is the remnant of gallstones and kidney stones. This is the most prevailing scientific theory regarding the formation of sarira.^{[citation needed]} Many sarira look identical to gallstones, however, opponents^[who?] claim that this is unlikely since sarira are found only in the cremated remains of "enlightened" individuals and that sarira are sometimes found in very large quantities in individuals who did not exhibit any sign of having gallstones stones when they were alive. (The Buddha supposedly produced eighteen pieces of sarira (some say 32))^{[citation needed]}
Another theory is that sarira may be linked in some way to the life-long, strictly vegetarian diet of devout Buddhist practitioners.^{[citation needed]} This, however, is also questionable due to the fact that sarira occurs only very rarely, while there are tens of millions Buddhists who follows the same dietary regiment as those whose produces sarira.^{[original research?]}
There are also legends of "highly enlightened" Buddhist practitioners producing sarira after only a year of practicing Buddhism at home, casting doubt on the "life long" aspect of the theory.
Supposedly, sarira have also being found in the cremated remains of a parrot who have learned to recite sutras.^{[citation needed]} Some Buddhist cultures do not practice cremating pets.
There are no reports of sarira being found among the cremated remains of non-Buddhists (with the possible exception of the aforementioned parrot).
Supposedly, sarira can form from soft tissues such as the heart, the tongue, and even from blood. Although it is difficult to see how such information can be obtained, --short of dismembering the remains of one's beloved master and cremating different parts of the body individually, it is rather difficult to pinpoint the exact tissue that a particular piece of sarira comes from.
There are two types of sarira; Sambhinna (easily breakable) and Asambhinna (not easily breakable), the latter type is said to be so hard as to shatter the hammers that hits it.^{[citation needed]} (This is most likely exaggerated because most human cannot exert the amount of force necessary to shatter a hammer, not to mention that hammers generally do not shatter.)^{[original research?]}
Some are said^[who?] to be able to glow in the dark, however this has not being observed in modern times.
According to Ven/Ledi Sayadaw, the Buddha produced 32 pyi of Ringsel upon death. (one pyi is about 8 handful, or 250 cubic centimeters, so 32 pyi is approximately two gallon, or 8 liters) they are:
- Ten pieces of Mahanta Pancanaliyo, or large sarira, the size of beans, gold/yellow in color, supposedly the muscles of the Buddha
- Ten pieces of Majjhima Nalipacaka, or medium sarira. the size of rice, silver/white in color, supposedly from the bones of the Buddha
- Twelve pieces of Chanali Khuddaka, or small sarira, the size of mustard seeds, red/pink in color, supposedly from the blood of the Buddha
- The head of the Buddha supposedly produced what is know as the Sisa Relics --seven colored sarira with colors of ambers, rubies, emerald, diamond etc.

(links to pictures to some of these can be found in the link section)

While these figures are most likely exaggerated, it does help us eliminate some potential candidate for the composition of sarira (For instance, given the quantity of sarira found, we can deduce that red sarira probably not made of mercury oxide.)^{[original research?]}