God Seekers in Asia - The Wise World Traveler: Becoming a Part of All that You Meet - page 225

He has reached the end of his road… [188]
THE TWO VEHICLES
The story is told that as the Buddha lay dying, his anxious followers crowded around, beg-
ging him to transcend mortality and to declare his divinity. They could beg him, as a di-
vine being, to accept their prayers and assist in their salvation. To this the Buddha reportly
replied, “Do not look to others for your salvation. Be a lamp unto yourselves .” And in
keeping with that tradition, novitiates are brought into a temple and told to open the door
of a small shrine. When they do, they see a mirror. And in the mirror each sees his or her
own face.
This is austere stuff. Perhaps the oldest human metaphor is that life is a journey, that
death is a continuation of that journey, and that the afterlife is a happy place. The ancient
Chinese and Egyptians filled gravesites with implements that would be useful in that happy
place. Egyptians knew that the dead would harvest grain in fields presided over by Osiris.
Vikings believed that the afterlife in Valhalla is a place of continuous feasting and roister-
ing. Ancient Native Americans gave ornaments and useful implements for the afterlife to
their dead. And, of course, the pillar of Christianity is that resurrection awaits the godly,
who will dwell forever in the house of the Lord.
Buddhists who accept Buddha's Lamp are called Theravada (“tradition of the Elders”).
Buddhists who reject Theravada's claims of authenticity call them (pejoratively) Hinayana,
the smaller vehicle. Theravada dominates Sri Lanka and Burma. Because Theravada must
work out their own salvation, without reliance on “gods or any force beyond themselves,”
the monk is their ideal. “It is he who shaves his head, puts on the coarse yellow robe, takes
up the begging bowl, and goes forth to seek release from life.” [189]
As is often remarked, Theravada is a spare religion, but it is not a jealous religion. It
does not demand an exclusive dominion, nor does it pursue or punish heresy. Unlike Juda-
ism, Christianity, and Islam, an injunction akin to the First Commandment's “Thou shall
have no gods before me” is alien to the Buddhist spirit. So, a belief in folk gods and spirits
continues for those who wish to invoke them. Buddhist temples often display statues of be-
nevolent gods and spirits to guard against evil ones. Buddhists often wear amulets contain-
ing images of the Buddha to protect them from evil and bad fortune. For the same reason,
many also wear a wristlet that has been blessed by a monk.
Even so, or perhaps because of Theravada beliefs, relics of the Buddha are of great im-
portance. Fragments of his bones, clothes, and the Bo tree are venerated and often housed
in bell-shaped structures (stupas ).