Śarīra is a generic term referring to Buddhist

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

s, although in common usage it usually refers to

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

-like

bead A bead is a small, decorative object that is formed in a variety of shapes and sizes of a material such as stone, bone, shell, glass, plastic, wood, or pearl and with a small hole for threading or stringing. Beads range in size from under ...

-shaped objects that are purportedly found among the

cremated Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India and Nepal, cremation on an open-air pyre i ...

ashes of Buddhist spiritual masters. Relics of the Buddha after cremation are termed ''dhātu'' in the '' Mahaparinibbana Sutta''. Śarīra are held to emanate or incite 'blessings' and 'grace' (Sanskrit:

adhiṣṭhāna The Sanskrit term adhiṣṭhāna ( sa, अधिष्ठान; ; ja, 加持 ''kaji''; th, อธิษฐาน ''àtíttǎan'') is the name for initiations or blessings in Vajrayana Buddhism. The term has various meanings, including the r ...

) within the

mindstream Mindstream (''citta-santāna'') in Buddhist philosophy is the moment-to-moment continuum (Sanskrit: ''saṃtāna'') of sense impressions and mental phenomena, which is also described as continuing from one life to another. Definition ' (Sanskri ...

and experience of those connected to them. Sarira are also believed to ward off evil in the Himalayan Buddhist tradition.

Terminology

Śarīraḥ (pronounced /ɕɐɽiːɽɐh/) means "body" in Sanskrit. When used in

Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit (BHS) is a modern linguistic category applied to the language used in a class of Indian Buddhist texts, such as the Perfection of Wisdom sutras. BHS is classified as a Middle Indo-Aryan language. It is sometimes called "Bu ...

texts to mean "relics", it is always used in the plural: śarīrāḥ. The term ''ringsel'' is a

loanword A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because th ...

from the

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...

རིང་བསྲེལ (''ring bsrel''). Both of these terms are ambiguous in English; they are generally used as synonyms, although according to some interpretations, ringsels are a subset of śarīras. Śarīra can refer to: *

Dharmakāya The ''dharmakāya'' ( sa, धर्म काय, "truth body" or "reality body", zh, t=法身, p=fǎshēn, ) is one of the three bodies (''trikāya'') of a buddha in Mahāyāna Buddhism. The ''dharmakāya'' constitutes the unmanifested, "inconc ...

śarīra, which are

sutra ''Sutra'' ( sa, सूत्र, translit=sūtra, translit-std=IAST, translation=string, thread)Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aph ...

s as told by the Buddha. According to

Ding Fubao Ding Fubao (Chinese:丁福保; 22 June 1874 – 28 November 1952) was a medical doctor, and noted Chinese scholar, who worked on Buddhist subjects, known for his authoritative work, A Dictionary of Buddhist Terms, which took 8 years to write an ...

's ''Dictionary of Buddhist Terms'', a Dharma body śarīra 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 'dharma body śarīra'". * Remains of the Buddha or other spiritual masters, either cremated remains or other pieces, including a finger bone or a preserved body, similar to the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

and

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...

incorruptibles Incorruptibility is a Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox belief that divine intervention allows some human bodies (specifically saints and Beatification, beati) to completely or partially avoid the normal process of decomposition after death as a ...

. * Broken-body śarīras refers specifically to cremated remains. * When used without qualification, it generally refers to the pearl-like remnant of a master left after cremation.

Pearl-like śarīras

Although the term śarīra can be used to refer to a wide variety of Buddhist relics, as listed above, it is generally used to refer to

-like

-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 Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

since they are believed to embody the spiritual knowledge, teachings, realizations or living essence of spiritual masters. They are taken as evidence of the masters' enlightenment and spiritual purity. Some believe that śarīras are deliberately left by the consciousness of a master for veneration, and that the beauty of the śarīras depends on how well the masters had cultivated their mind and souls. Śarīra come in a variety of colours, and some are even translucent. Sariras are typically displayed in a glass bowl inside small gold urns or

stupa A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as ''śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation. In Buddhism, circumamb ...

s as well as enshrined inside the master's statue. Śarīras are also believed to mysteriously multiply while inside their containers if they have been stored under favorable conditions.

Saffron Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent i ...

threads are sometimes placed within or around the bowl containing individual śarīra as an offering. In the Korean ''

Samguk yusa ''Samguk yusa'' () or ''Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms'' is a collection of legends, folktales and historical accounts relating to the Three Kingdoms of Korea (Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla), as well as to other periods and states before, duri ...

'' it is said that the monk Myojong received a śarīra from a turtle which caused others to treat the monk better. The occurrence of śarīra is not restricted to ancient times, and many Buddhists have shown that śarīra are not limited to humans or masters. Many texts of

Pure Land Buddhism Pure Land Buddhism (; ja, 浄土仏教, translit=Jōdo bukkyō; , also referred to as Amidism in English,) is a broad branch of Mahayana Buddhism focused on achieving rebirth in a Buddha's Buddha-field or Pure Land. It is one of the most wid ...

report śarīras of many adherents, some occurring recently. Some Buddhists associate a student's spiritual life with the amount and condition of the śarīra they leave after cremation. Many Pure Land Buddhists believe

Amitābha Amitābha ( sa, अमिताभ, IPA: ), also known as Amitāyus, is the primary Buddha of Pure Land Buddhism. In Vajrayana Buddhism, he is known for his longevity, discernment, pure perception, purification of aggregates, and deep awarene ...

's power manifests cremated remains into śarīra. Many claim that pearls of śarīra rain at the funerals of eminent monks. There are reports that śarīra may appear, multiply or disappear, depending on a keeper's thoughts. One's vow may also be important. One legend holds that the translator

Kumārajīva Kumārajīva (Sanskrit: कुमारजीव; , 344–413 CE) was a Buddhist monk, scholar, missionary and translator from the Kingdom of Kucha (present-day Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang, China). Kumārajīva is seen as one of the greatest ...

wanted to demonstrate that his translations were not false; as a result his tongue remained intact after cremation.

Scientific analysis

Relics of buddha from His Holiness Supreme Patriarch of Thailand 2012

There is evidence that under certain conditions of heating, human bones can form crystalline structures. In one chemical analysis, śarīras were found to be composed of the constituent elements of both bones and stones. This explains why śarīras should be found mostly in monks and not in other cremated human bodies, due to the materials of the pyre and cremation temperature and process.

Documentary films

Pearl relics are documented in the 2008 film, ''

Unmistaken Child ''Unmistaken Child'' is a 2008 independent documentary film, which follows a Tibetan Buddhist monk's search for the reincarnation of his beloved teacher, a world-renowned lama. It was directed by Nati Baratz. Plot The documentary follows a Tibeta ...

'', among the cremation ashes of Geshe Lama Konchog.

In Javanese language

Javanese has a strong historical bond with the Hindu tradition and Sanskrit liturgical language. Śarīra is also used in Archaic (Kawi) Javanese, preserving its original meaning of 'body' or 'human body'. The word also finds its way into the modern Javanese language as "slira" with the same meaning. "Sliramu" (strictly translated as 'your body') and "sliraku" (strictly translated as 'my body') are usually used in poems or songs to replace "you" and "I", respectively. The word is not common but is used in both oral and written contexts.

References

{{reflist

External links

Sariras: Ringsels and Mummies (side by side comparison between ringsels and gallstones)

Relics of Buddha

Sacred Buddhist Relics

WNET New York

Maitreya Relic Tour

Sarira collection

Buddhist relics collection
Buddhist religious objects Sanskrit words and phrases *