In the Sakyamuni Tower of the Buddha Palace Temple in Yingxian County, Shanxi Province, there are two Buddhist tooth relics, which are revered by the world Buddhist community. They were placed in two silver profile statues dedicated to the seven treasures, which were confirmed to be the remains of Buddha's teeth by textual research.
In 486, Sakyamuni was born in Nirvana at the age of 80. After the extinction of the Buddha, * * * left seven Buddhist tooth relics.
Nowadays, the Buddhist community has different views on how many Buddha teeth Sakyamuni left after drinking tea. One said that the Buddha left four teeth after dying, and the other said that the Buddha left seven teeth after dying.
How many teeth did the Buddha leave after his death? And what is the basis of the debate between the parties?
Anyone who has studied Buddhist scriptures knows that the records of Buddha's teeth come from the Great Bodhisattva Sutra. * * * There are three versions of Mahayana Sutra. The first version is the Mahayana Sutra (three volumes) translated by Fa Xian in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. The second edition of * * * has three translations: the first translation is Mahayana Sutra (40 volumes) translated by Tan Shi, the second translation is Mahayana Sutra (36 volumes) added by Saman Yan Hui and others in the Song Dynasty, and the third translation is Buddha's Great Clay Tablet Sutra (6 volumes) translated by Saman Pingyang in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. The third edition is the Mahayana Sutra (later divided into volumes) translated by Samana Jonabadra of Boling State in the South China Sea of the Tang Dynasty.
The above three versions are all called Mahayana Sutra, and they are all classics that record how Sakyamuni achieved nirvana. The first two versions did not mention that the Buddha's teeth were left after the Buddha died. Only in the third edition, namely the Mahayana Sutra, Volume 4 of the Eucharist Runpin (up and down after the volume), it is recorded that Sakyamuni left a Buddha's tooth after tea:
Runpin IV of Mahayana Sutra Sanctuary
Released by the emperor, I went to the tea skin with the Qibao bottle and supporting tools, and the fire naturally went out for a while. The emperor put the Buddha's treasure coffin and wanted to invite the Buddha's tooth. The floor teased him and asked, "What are you?" Answer "I want to ask the Buddha tooth to return to heaven." Lou ridiculed: "If you don't have it for yourself, you can do it for the public." Explain that "the Buddha gave me the Buddhist relic first, and let me put myself out by fire." The emperor explained that the treasure coffin was opened immediately after the words were finished, and the tooth relic was taken out from the right upper jaw of the Buddha's mouth, that is, the tower fell from the sky for support. I have two dying patients, Luo Cha, who disappeared with the release of invisibility, all of them disappeared. Steal a pair of Buddha tooth relics. At that time, men and women in the city wanted to fight for relics for a while. Lou Dou warned: "The public should know how to treat peace and peace. As the Buddha said, they should support each other according to the law. " At that time, all the men and women in the city didn't hear what Lou teased. They each hold spears, bows, arrows, swords and all weapons, and everyone solemnly wants to choose interests. At that time, the public in the city opened Buddhist coffins, and their white hair was not burned. When they saw that they were crying again, their eyes were full of tears, and they all offered their grief and prayed deeply. They cried for a long time and said the same thing.
At that time, the Buddha was saddened by it and broke the diamond body into the last relic. But leave four teeth. Don't break them. At that time, the public saw that the relic was no longer sad and supported with tears.
By quoting the above version, we know that after the death of Buddha, * * * left seven Buddhist tooth relics. That is to say, before the Buddha was cremated, three Buddha teeth were left to the world, one for Indra and two for Ji Jie Luo Cha. After the Buddha statue was cremated, King Kong's body was broken into the last relic, leaving four Buddha teeth. In other words, there are seven Buddha tooth relics in heaven and earth.
Looking through the vast number of Buddhist classics, it is said that there is only one place for a pair of Buddha's teeth in the southern edition of the Great Bodhisattva Sutra, which shows that there is an inseparable relationship between them. The two Buddhist tooth relics found in Sakyamuni Pagoda of Buddha Palace Temple in Yingxian County should be a pair of Buddha teeth invisibly stolen by Ji Jie Luo Cha as recorded in Nanben Nirvana Sutra.
Judging from the historical classics, the content of this matter is recorded in Volume 53 of Buddhist Statistics and Propaganda of Tang and Dao Lawyers in Song Dynasty. "The lawyer is walking in Ximing Temple, and the Prince of the North is a teacher with the Buddha's teeth." Lawyer Daoxuan has always kept the relic of the Buddha's teeth dedicated to this rare treasure, and when he visited Shanxi at the age of 35, he gave a pair of Buddha's teeth to Jincheng, a military town outside Yanmenguan. In the folk literature classics, the pagoda held by the father of Nezha, Tota Li Tianwang, is said to be Yingxian Pagoda. According to ancient legends, it should also explain the relationship between a pair of Buddha's tooth relics and Sakyamuni Tower in Fogong Temple in Yingxian County. Since then, "the first county in the cloud", that is, "the famous area in Mobei should be regarded as a great vassal", has become profound and complicated, which has given birth to the life track of the great integration of the Chinese nation and demonstrated the truth of Brahma.
Yingxian county was called Yingzhou in ancient times. Scholars in Yingxian county have studied the historical origin of Yingxian place names from many aspects. Tomorrow's meeting explained that it was named after the dragon head of Yanmen echoed with the two mountains, which was obviously a side meeting. According to the Buddhist scriptures, the sacred objects of the Buddha "should go up to heaven, and should sprout under it, which is actually where they should be." "Heaven is full of sprouting" means the gods in the sky and all beings on the earth, and the place where the Buddha's bones and teeth are displayed is "Ying Di". The same is true of the origin of Yingxian's ancient name "Yingzhou". A pair of Buddha's teeth reappear in Yingxian county, which shows the reason of extraordinary victory. Yingxian must be the only place on earth, and Sagata is certainly the only Dojo where Buddha can show the world.
If you have a chance to see the Buddha's teeth enshrined in various temples in China, you will find that their sizes and shapes are obviously different from those of human beings at present, and people will inevitably be confused. Isn't Sakyamuni Buddha also the Prince of Gabriello in ancient India 2500 years ago? Why are Buddha's teeth so different from ours?
Doubt 1: Is this really a Buddha tooth? Why is the Buddha's tooth so big and the shape is so obviously different from that of human teeth? Of course, all people who have doubts will naturally think, if the ancients used the teeth of other animals instead, why not choose the teeth of people who are easy to get instead?
In fact, there is a clear record in the Buddhist scriptures: according to the scriptures, the Buddha's treasure is solemn, "thirty-two phases and eighty kinds of goodness." Among the "thirty-two phases and eighty kinds of goodness", there are three phases and two kinds of goodness about "Buddha's tooth".
Its "three stages" are:
(1) Twenty-two phases: Forty-tooth phase
(2) Twenty-three phases: close pitch.
(3) Twenty-four phases: tooth white butter.
The "second best" is:
(1) Thirty-four is good: teeth are neat and bright.
(2) Thirty-five good: teeth are long and smooth.
Doubt 2: Can a tooth be this long? The Buddhist scriptures also say that Sakyamuni Buddha is the body of Liu Zhang, which means that the height of Buddha is 4.5 times that of modern people. Sakyamuni has 8 more "teeth" than normal people, and 20 teeth in the upper and lower jaws. The characteristic of its tooth phase should be that the end face of the square column is flat, and the ratio is 1: 0.0 14. It can be inferred that the length of teeth should be 6-8 cm.
According to the records in Thirty-two Phases and Eighty Kinds of Kindness, the "one phase" and "one goodness" of the tooth refers to the tooth "yellow and white, square column, sparkling and crystal clear".
Because the Buddha has 40 teeth, 20 on the top and 20 on the bottom, its end face must be smooth, otherwise the Buddha's mouth will not disturb, and it looks strange.
According to the Buddhist scriptures, the spiritual teeth left by the Buddha will grow fine lines on the root alveoli and teeth.
Tang Xuanzang's Biography of the Western Regions in the Tang Dynasty Kashmir Republic records that Master Xuanzang once worshipped Buddha's teeth in West India, which were three inches long and shiny.
According to Buddhist classics and historical records, the color, size and shape of the two Buddha's teeth collected by Sagata in the Buddha Palace Temple in Yingxian County are completely consistent with Buddhist classics. As Master Huili, a great monk in Taiwan Province Province and an African Buddhist instructor, said, "Before the tower is built, a bodhisattva must reach the earth and exist in the world, attracting all beings with various conveniences, and the tower can be built."
In the Book of Songs, "the mountain rises and the scenery stops". A pair of Buddha's teeth in Sagata of Buddha Palace Temple in Yingxian County have been regarded as mountains and scenic avenues in people's minds for thousands of years. We should pay tribute to them and practice them. Be kind to the earth, and look at the Buddha's teeth to be kind. Isn't this the meaning of every pilgrim's life?