The Buddha's Relics Stolen!

reply to post by Skyfloating

Well..you asked "is there anything lower?".

Yup, I sure did, huh? I suppose I opened the door pretty wide on that. lol....

I'm sitting here with more rest and much better spirits than I've had for this past hell week. So, I'm laughing a bit at the mental image of The Buddha, wherever He may be for those who follow the teachings, taking any concern for what these criminals did as a personal offense. Naww.... If anything, I imagine the wise features just screwing up a tad while He'd figure the idiots would just love how fate returns that for them, then turning to important things.

People give no thought to the harm actions bring other people though, do they? I think it's the 10's of thousands of Cambodians turning out to physically follow the trip of this Urn that got me the most for impact on this. In that nation, it seems, this is a major and very important cultural item, as well as Faith related.

The irony of some of the sentiments in the thread.

Superstition? Nothing Buddha taught was superstitious (as opposed to an Abrahamic religious, founded on fables, mythology, & pagan tradition.. oh Christmas tree oh Christmas tree..)

Are some of you saying if your mother/father/spouse's coffin was dug up an stolen, you'd be indifferent?

Heck, why bury bodies, why not just burn it? If many Khmers believe the Golden Urn and other accompanying relics pertinent to their spiritual teacher, why belittle the crime? I mean, would one belittle the crime of theft of one's loved one's estate??

This is horrible news, although the loss of his physical remains will not harm the knowledge of his teachings, they were an awe inspiring reminder of the man who dedicated his life to the impossible, but noble task of the irradiation of suffering.

I think I will meditate again for the first time in a while tonight, and hope that whoever stole it will find a happier path in their lives than the one that led them here.

Metta.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


I was waiting for this to happen..... Maybe now they will finally clone the Buddha!

reply to post by combatmaster


That's a terrifying thought. I can think of many people from the past whose grave location is known or likely found and not indexed....who I am very happy to see stay in the past. I don't mean Mr. Mustache from Germany either. Truth be known, he was one cold fish ...but he was an amatuer compared to some that grace the bloody pages of the past.

...It always starts with good intentions right? Like Jurassic Park. awww...how cute the Brontosaurus was in the start...then they got to the other creations like Raptors.

This is not the first time something holy was stolen in Cambodia. In the 1970s the ancient khmer holy sword call preah khan was stolen. Preah Khan beleive to be over 3000+ years old According to legend the sword was made by the Gods and was giving to the first ancient khmer kings. The sword been pass from one khmer king to the next king.

In 1970 Cambodian king was overthrown by US-back cambodian army and was force to leave the country.
when the king return in 1990 the holy sword preah khan and holy relic of mout meru had disappear. No one know what happened.

Here the very last picture of Holy Khmer sword was taken in 1920 by National Geo.
i38.tinypic.com...

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Indeed a terrifying thought.

But still better to regret something you have done, than to regret something you have not done!

The first thing I thought of to compare in my own mind before bringing the story over were the Relics of Catholic Saints. How would the Church react or simply Faithful of the Church it happened at? Those would be Saints. Imagine it being a Relic of Jesus. Isn't The Buddha of similar importance? (I'm not through comparative religions yet. Thats next spring...so a serious question I'm not at all sure on for that in Buddhism?)

Luke 6:27-36
Love for Enemies

27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.

32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

What a crazy guy.

Wrabbit2000
Okay, how low is low. Go lower. Much lower.

Just how bad would bad be? I think this is worse.

Philosophical questions, which somehow fit to this story as it's a unique story for the depravity of man.

These aren't some relics about The Buddha. The word Relic here is in the proper religious sense. This WAS THE Buddha. At least, a part...and someone stole it/Him!

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodian officials say a golden urn containing what are considered to be remnants of the Buddha's body has been stolen from its shrine near the capital.

Has man no shame whatsoever? Perhaps, more importantly, just what Karma might these thieving people expect to come their way? I mean this the kind of karma where a little asteroid comes out of nowhere, and just enough survives reentry to brain ya as you stroll down the street. That kind of Karma.

..I'm just trying to think. What actually IS worse than stealing a part of The Buddha?

National Police spokesman Kirt Chantharith said the theft was discovered Tuesday when a guard found the lock to the shrine's door had been destroyed and the urn removed.

He said police questioned 13 of the shrine's guards and detained six as suspects, but that authorities had no information on the relics' whereabouts.

Source

I'm no FBI Agent or other professional, but I'm going to say that isn't sounding good for the Urn or the thieves to still be around. I can only guess the 5th Amendment isn't a highly respected principle in Cambodia. Particularly when you've stolen ..ahem.. this item.

I've got to admit, this is a laugh or cry story, and in no humor.

It's just so wrong on so many levels, it's hard to sort reactions?

Karma can only be portioned by the cosmos because Homer Simpsons says so.

Bad is relative and dependent on perspective. Perspective defines convention.

If we were to follow ideal Buddhist logic, what is worse than the religious artifacts being stolen is the mere fact the artifacts were there in the first place to be stolen.

Buddhism teaches against attachment. Dude's death was due to accepting the spoiled food supplied by his host because that was all the host had to offer. Dude had to keep teaching until his death bed by telling his perplexed pupils that he purposely accepted the spoiled food knowing it would kill him in his old age because that was the compassionate thing to do. It was not compassionate to turn away all the host had to offer.

Crazy huh?

With all this history being textually imposed, it's ironic that a golden urn supposedly containing the remnants of a corpse is regarded as a sacred relic.

Apparently, it's okay to practice attachment because it has to do with the Buddha.

Like a previous poster mentioned, it took one person to finally tell the Buddhist masses what is truly up.

To me, it seems that there is an ironic nature whenever the pure spirit of a religion steers from the flock... And not many listen when it tries to come back...

But don't listen to this crazy derelict.