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Relics and Veneration

This chapter addresses the role of relics and veneration in Buddhism. Words like “relic” and “veneration” can often feel too religious and too supernatural. For many with a modern outlook, practices involving the veneration of relics can seem archaic and irrelevant. As a result, they are too often overshadowed by philosophy and meditation in many contemporary discussions of Buddhism. Nevertheless, these practices can not only be deeply meaningful and transformative but are among the most widespread and popular in the Buddhist world today. Indeed, for the vast majority of practicing Buddhists in the world, the veneration of relics and important places is absolutely central to what Buddhism means to them. Most generally, these practices are ways of expressing respect and admiration, but they also bring about changes in one's outlook. They typically involve an especially important object or place, and there are, as one might expect, many variations. Since they often involve magical or supernatural elements, they are sometimes ignored or downplayed in modern forms of Buddhism. They are, however, important in the Buddhist world and offer important lessons, even for those who do not accept the supernatural aspects.