Does a fake Buddha tooth still have power?

[angelica]

The power of the Buddha tooth does not depend on the genuinity of the tooth. The power come from the faith of the people. Therefore, if we believe and have faith, then it will have power.

Sharing a story on the importance of faith:
 
There was a mother in India that used recite the mantra of Buddha Chunda. The mother was recitING the mantra, the actual mantra is OM CHALE CHULE CHUNDE SOHA, but she has been reciting OM BALE BULE BUNDE SOHA, completely something else. But she was able to cook and eat stones, they became soft, cooked and she could eat. Probably, it means when there is a famine, no food, then this particular purpose of the deity, of course ultimate purpose is to become liberated from samsara and attain enlightenment. Her son who was a monk, getsul living in 36 vows, came home and heard her reciting the mantra, He told her the way she was reciting it was wrong, but when she tried to recite it correct, it didn't function to cook the stones.

[Matibhadra]

Does a fake Buddha tooth still have power?

For us, ordinary beings, there is no such thing as a “Buddha tooth” which is not fake. If it is a Buddha tooth, it is necessarily fake.

And why? Because a Buddha tooth is imagined to be what it is not, such as a Buddha tooth which is not merely called a “Buddha tooth”.

As far as we, ordinary beings, are concerned, “to exist” is tantamount to be fake.

Besides, whatever exists, being merely designated as such, is necessarily just imagined.

Therefore, a more meaningful question would be: “Does the mental image of a Buddha tooth have the same power of an imagined Buddha tooth?”

[Matibhadra]

Does a fake Buddha tooth still have power?

For us, ordinary beings, there is no such thing as a Buddha tooth which is not fake. If it is a Buddha tooth, it is necessarily fake.

And why? Because a Buddha tooth is imagined to be what it is not, such as a Buddha tooth which is not merely called a Buddha tooth.

As far as we, ordinary beings, are concerned, to exist is tantamount to be fake.

Besides, whatever exists, being merely designated as such, is necessarily just imagined.

Therefore, a more meaningful question would be: Does the mental image of a Buddha tooth have the same power of an imagined Buddha tooth?

[lotus1]

Agreed with Galen. If we believe it is real, and when we do offerings, the offerings are towards the three jewels.
I remembered there is a Buddha story that a child offered sand to Buddha. As the sand is all that he has and he offered with a very sincere and pure heart, he was born as a king in his next life.
For me, the result is that the temple now is spreading Buddhism and that is more important.

[Matibhadra]

If we believe it is real, and when we do offerings, the offerings are towards the three jewels.

Since buddhas are supposed to be all-pervading, or omnipresent, one makes no mistake imagining the Buddha in any piece of bone, or whatever else; anything will always be correctly imagined as the Buddha.

Therefore, and since as far as we, ordinary beings, are concerned, to exist means to be fake, or not to exist as imagined to, one should understand that the Buddha tooth is fake, and then make fake offerings to it, and such offerings will be towards the the fake Three Jewels, thus producing immeasurable fake merits for the benefit of all fake sentient beings.

[RedLantern]

Buddhist worship is not the most important factor in discerning whether a relic is really from the body of the sacred Buddha. It is what the believers witness while in it's presence. It is how people react to them. As for the authencity of the tooth,what's sacred is in the eye of the beholder.

[Matibhadra]

Buddhist worship is not the most important factor in discerning whether a relic is really from the body of the sacred Buddha.

Since no one here has ever proposed such view, you remark is irrelevant.

[gbds3jewels]

It is my understanding that sacred relics belonging to highly attained and holy beings do hold special powers. Buddha is enlightened and by that very nature of enlightenment is not bound by physical law of nature. If one truly believe the tooth to be of Buddha's and treat it as such, then I believe the "fake" tooth can materialized as the actual relic tooth if Buddha. If one does not believe or does not have the karma for it even the actual relic tooth could become a fake tooth. What is this world and every in it but an illusion. Since everything is an illusion, we become the creator of what we want to believe and make real. Only those fortunate ones who have broken free from the boundary of this world see pass the illusion and what is the pervasive truth. Until then for the rest of us mortals in samsara, fake or genuine tooth it is up to every individual mind what they choose for it to be.