..续本文上一页anmar at the place where the tooth relic of the Buddha was enshrined. It is not hard to imagine how many people will go there and worship everyday. Prior to that, when the finger bone relic of the Buddha was welcome to Taiwan, there were more than one hundred thousand daily worshipers during the short period of eleven days. More than a million went to pay their tributes all together.

　　People have great discernment now that it is the 21st century. It is impossible for them to believe in something blindly. Then why a mere section of the finger bone relic of the Buddha is so highly respected by so many people

　　 There must be a reason. Not long ago when I visited the Famen Temple in Xi”an, I also paid tribute to the finger bone relic of the Buddha enshrined there. I was told that the government has invested 1.2 billion yuan to construct the underground palace and palms together dagoba in order to protect the finger bone relic of the Buddha. My unsurpassed faith arose as I was prostrating at that time.

　　There have been many famous figures in human history, but has any of them been worshiped like this

　　 We all know the answer. Take the example of Sir Isaac Newton: he was buried at the Poets” Corner in Westminster Abbey. Tomb stones of famous people such as Shakespeare, Darwin, and Churchill are also over there.

　　And there was also Einstein – he had instructed in his will not to build any burial site for him but just sprinkle his remains in an unknown place. But an American doctor Thomas Stoltz Harvey secretly removed his brain. For the sake of his research, Harvey dissected Einstein”s brain into 240 pieces* and meticulously preserved them in ten boxes and two large mason jars. When this incident was exposed, it did not bring Harvey any honor, instead he had been labeled as a “brain thief” and despised by many. As such he had no choice but to resign and disappeared for a while. Forty two years later, Harvey formally returned the brain to Princeton Hospital where Einstein passed away. Although some research studies have been done to examine this brain, it certainly does not seem to have the power of blessing like the bone relic of the Buddha in many people”s minds.

　　Perhaps because I am a Buddhist, I might be partial in my respect and admiration toward the Buddha. But objectively speaking, we must also ponder: Is this a superstition if it is worshiped by so many people in

　　the world

　　 The Buddha has extensively demonstrated eighty-four thousand dharma methods for all sentient beings. In the Tibetan and Han regions as well, there are also so many Sūtras, Vinaya, Abhidharma Sastras in the “The Tripiṭaka” . Exactly what connotations are in these three pisions of the Buddhist canon

　　I was told that many of the students here have also studied “The Diamond Sutra” and “Mahāyāna- śraddhotpāda-śāstra ”. You might have noticed during your process of study that there is a significant difference between Buddhist and worldly writings. We have all had some schooling, and know that we do not necessarily have to perpetually study or enshrine the textbooks studied at grade schools, middle schools, and colleges. But Buddhist Sutras are different. Whoever read the relatively short “Heart Sutra” will savor its endless aftertastes, and get unsurpassed blessing and benefits from it. This is the inconceivable power and benevolence of the Buddha. Anyone with wisdom cannot deny this, for it is a fact that cannot be refuted.

　　Therefore, we must understand first, what is the Buddha after all

　　 There were many fabulous koans from his previous lives. But the more important implication is: What manifestation did he present to us human beings manifest in the life when he became Buddha

　　 What role did he play

　　There are many people …

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