Shakyamuni, the Historical Buddha

Relic of Shakyamuni from
Meiktila Relic Museum in Burma

Shakyamuni relics offered by His Holiness the XIV th Dalai Lama

Shakyamuni relics offered by
His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Buddha Shakyamuni's
head relics

Shakyamuni Buddha was born to Queen Mahamaya and King Shudhodana of Kapilavastu in approximately 563 BCE at Lumbini, which is on the modern border between India and Nepal. Before he became enlightened he was known as Prince Siddharta.

Prince Siddharta led the privileged life of royalty. He married Yosodhara and had a son. When he was 29 years old the Prince was travelling outside the palace when he saw the "Four Sights" - these were a sick man, an old man, a corpse and a monk. The prince had previously known only the extreme luxury of palace life and was shocked by what he now saw. He felt compelled to find a way out of the sufferings of life and death. From that moment he renounced his royal life, left his wife and child, and set out to find spiritual teachers.

For six years he engaged in very austere practices, but eventually he realised that such practices were not the true path of escape from suffering. He walked to Bodhgaya, took a small, nourishing meal, and with an attitude of discipline and great loving-kindness he sat down beneath a tree vowing not to rise again until he had achieved enlightenment. In the morning, a Buddha arose.

Turning the Wheel of Dharma

Buddha Shakyamuni's
relics

Buddha Shakyamuni's
blood relics

Shakyamuni relics offered by a senior monk in Borobudur, Indonesia

Buddha Shakyamuni's
relics

The Buddha did not begin to teach immediately after his enlightenment. Upon request, he gave his first teaching seven weeks later. This became known as the 'First Turning of the Wheel of Dharma'. The teaching was about the Four Noble Truths: all life is suffering, the suffering has a cause, the suffering can end and the true path to end suffering.

One of the Buddha's great skills was his ability to give teachings according to the capacity of those listening to him. This resulted in a wide variety and number of teachings called sutras. There are said to be 84,000 categories of the Buddha's teachings.

At Vultures Peak, Buddha 'turned the wheel of Dharma' a second time by teaching about the true nature of reality - the emptiness of all phenomena. These teachings are known as the Perfection of Wisdom sutras.

The Buddha turned the Wheel of Dharma a third time at Vaishali and continued to travel and teach for many years.

Buddha's Final Teaching

At the age of 80, in Kushinagar, India, the Buddha gave his final teaching. He taught the importance of meditating on impermanence. He said, "All conditioned phenomena are impermanent; subject to decay and disintegration. Work out your own salvations with diligence. This is the last teaching of the Tathagata (Buddha)." He then passed into progressively higher states of meditation into Nirvana (enlightenment).

Lumbini, Bodhgaya, Vaishali and Kushinagar are still foremost among the places of holy pilgrimage for millions of Buddhists today.

Relic and Source

Buddha Shakyamuni's blood relics - These relics came from Meiktila Relic Museum in Burma and were offered by the abbot who manages the museum.
Buddha Shakyamuni's head relics - These relics were offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche by his student, Wu Wen Yuen, during a long life puja (prayer ceremony) for Rinpoche held in Taipei, Taiwan on 18th March 2001.
The small granular relics came from a Thai monk who brought them to Malaysia. They were then given to a layperson whose practice was to make many offerings to the Sangha (ordained monks and nuns).
The white, flake-like relics came from Meiktila Relic Museum in Burma.
The one large and three smaller relics came from a senior monk in Borobudur, Indonesia where there is a great Buddhist monument. Upon Lama Zopa Rinpoche's request he offered these relics, which had been in his possession for many, many years, for placing in the Heart Shrine of the Maitrya Buddha statue.
The four identical relics were offered by His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama for the purpose of enshrining them at the heart of the Maitrya Buddha statue.
The very white relics were offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche by his student, Wu Wen Yuen.