Tanka Tennen (739–824) was a disciple of Sekito Kisen. While he was staying at Erinji during a cold winter, he burnt a wooden statue of the Buddha to warm himself. Monks there renounced him for it.

He said to them, “I’m burning this to take sharira” (the Buddha’s relics). Someone said, “How can you get sharira from a piece of wood?”

Tennen replied, “If we can’t, then why do you find fault with me?”