Ephemeral Means to a Transient End: Does Authenticity Even Matter? [REPOST]
20/2/2024
I got to sit in on a most fascinating lecture today about Vajrayana or Esoteric Buddhism. In particular, the crypt under the Famen Si pagoda. in 1987, the pagoda partially collapsed and it was decided to rebuild it. When construction began, the workers dug into the foundation of the pagoda and discovered an amazing archeological find. A fabulous crypt, walls painted pitch black, with multiple chambers all nested together. This crypt mimicked imperial style crypts from the Tang Dynasty, but instead of a body, this crypt held many treasures.
Pottery, coins, glass ware, jade... so many beautiful and luxury items, amazingly pre-inventoried by whoever sealed the crypt, which had laid untouched since it was built. Each item was listed and accounted for.
Among the treasures were some very curious little objects. Four 'bones' discovered in nested reliquary boxes. One in the first chamber made of actual bone, one in the second chamber made out of jade, another made of jade in the third chamber, and in a tiny, secret niche a fourth reliquary made of bone.
These curious objects are said to be finger bones of the historic Buddha, prince Siddhartha Gautama. Only... they're not. Two aren't even bone and none of the four are the correct size or shape to be human finger bones.
Essentially what I'm getting at here is none of it is real.
...At least not by western standards.
You see, in Buddhism they believe that everything is transient. Everything fades, dies, or gets destroyed eventually. They're not exactly a materialistic bunch! So why would they even care about the authenticity of relics anyways?
They believe that the thing and the meaning of the thing are the same thing. There is no need for it to be the 'real deal', an actual bone from the hand of Siddartha himself. By being designated as a relic, it becomes a vehicle for teaching, for spreading the Dharma.
This got me thinking about magick. I think sometimes we can get caught up in the authenticity of stuff sometimes--- I know I certainly do.
Like with crystals specifically. It is common knowledge by now that crystal mining and the crystal industry as a whole is incredibly damaging to the planet and full of grifters. Most crystals are dyed/altered, over priced, and there is no real way of tracing their origin, making it difficult to find crystals that are ethically sourced.
Yet people insist on buying them because they 'need the real thing'.
Buddhists would argue the opposite!
So next time you find yourself worrying about getting the next crystal thats trending on witch tok, or feeling bad that you have to make your planetary talismans with construction paper, just remember..... fake bones were good enough for Buddhist monks with Imperial connections in ancient China!
