Buddha's Body Found in Chinese Village by Archaeologists

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Archaeologists found cremated bones hidden in a 1,000-year-old chest in China that may belong to Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism. 

The remains were found in Jingchuan County, China and were supposedly originally buried by monks thousands of years ago. Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, died about 2,500 years ago at 80 years old and his sacred remains were fought over by six clans and a king. To avoid conflict, they were divided into ten portions among his disciples and some monarchs instead of going to his Shakya clan. His remains were put in different shrines and worshipped. 

Some consider this disrespectful and contrary to the teachings of not being attached to material possessions. What was found were over 2,000 bodily remains of bones, teeth, sarira, and more in a buried chest with a Chinese inscription saying:

 
"The monks Yunjiang and Zhiming of the Lotus School, who belonged to the Manjusri Temple of the Longxing Monastery in Jingzhou Prefecture, gathered more than 2,000 pieces of sarira, as well as the Buddha’s teeth and bones. [They] buried them in the Manjusri Hall of this temple."
 

Sarira are small hard bead-like substances of collected high-energy matter inside a monk's body that develop during his or her cultivation process, thus considering special artifacts validating spiritual enlightenment practice. 

Two monks from the Mañjuśrī Temple of the Longxing Monastery in China’s Jingzhou Prefecture supposedly collected these artifacts from all around the continent.

Who was the Buddha?

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According to legend, about 2,500 years ago a Nepalese prince named Siddhartha Gautama gave up his royal priveledges to cultivate his wisdom and transcend the human realm. His parents were Suddhodana, the king of the Sakyas who inhabit the Indian borders of Nepal. He was shielded from the people's suffering and was shocked to discover the harsh reality of human tribulations. This triggered his journey to enlightenment. 

Buddhism has benefited millions of people's lives all over the world by offering the guiding principles of compassion, truthfulness, and forbearing worldly temptations for self-improvement. The Buddha taught his disciples to look within themselves to clean out their desires and thinking to obtain tranquility and ascend in meditation towards spiritual enlightenment or realization of their true self.