Guest Posted October 3, 2001 Report Share Posted October 3, 2001 I asked this on the Bin Laden t-shirt topic but got no reply. Do Thai people know that Bin Laden and the Taliban are the same Moslem slime that destroyed the 2000-year-old Buddhas in Afghanistan? The destruction just occured in March of 2001. The world-famous statues at Bamiyan were unique, the taller of the pair standing at 53 metres (125 feet) high. They date back to between the second and fifth centuries AD, before the coming of Islam. Check out the full story http://www.gandhara.com.au/afghan.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashman Posted October 3, 2001 Report Share Posted October 3, 2001 I doubt wether they would care anyway as it's not in Thailand. [ October 03, 2001: Message edited by: Ashman ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 3, 2001 Report Share Posted October 3, 2001 “I doubt wether they would care anyway as it's not in Thailand” Ashman I don't think that you have any clue on how far the Thai Buddhismn stretch outside the country. Can I suggest to you to do some readings?. Right now there is a large group of Thai Buddhist along with other groups from several countries, involving in the construction of the word biggest statue in India. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whosyourdaddy Posted October 3, 2001 Report Share Posted October 3, 2001 Yes there was a huge discussion on this when it happened. Which like the t-shirts turned into a flame war. Although I never read any books on it, as you suggest to ashman I did talk to dozens of thais about the subject. And Yes ashman is right. Thais had no concern about this. . Although many agree it was not right, they just did not care. Too far removed from thailand and never associated themselves with a friggen rock in the middle of a desert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 3, 2001 Report Share Posted October 3, 2001 I was one of the lucky people to live in Afghanistan in the early 70s and made a living taking people on trips to see these great Buddhas. They were being carefully restored in those days by a groups of French archeoligists. Have many a wonderful memory about camping out beneath their gaze on a starlit night. Once more man's ignorance and personal prejudice has wiped another piece of our history from our planet. Glad I got to see that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 4, 2001 Report Share Posted October 4, 2001 Originally posted by Dundee: "I don't think that you have any clue on how far the Thai Buddhismn stretch outside the country. Can I suggest to you to do some readings?." The influence of "Thai Buddhism" is certainly not as marked as you seem to imply. Alright, there are a few Thai temples in Singapore (after all, there are some 50,000 Thais living there), there's one lone Thai temple in Nepal, and there are a few Thai-sponsored buildings in Bodh Gaya, Northern India. But in the latter, virtually all Buddhist countries have sponsored buildings since it's the place where Buddha was supposed to have gained enlightenment. Even tiny Sri Lanka has financed major buildings there. Outside of Bodh Gaya and (I think) Kushinagar, where Buddha died, I don't know of any Thai temples in India. Of course, there are Thai temples wherever there are major Thai communities, mostly in the US, some in Germany, etc. All this of course doesn't imply that Thai Buddhism as a religious force "stretches far outside the country", as you say. Aside from these token buildings, Thai Buddhism plays no role in the religious life of the above mentioned countries. The only country in which Thai Buddhism is fairly well-known and appreciated is Sri Lanka, from where Thai Buddhism actually originated anyway. Sri Lanka and Thailand belong to the Theravada school and regard each other as religious brother countries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted October 4, 2001 Report Share Posted October 4, 2001 I saw a news show last night where they interviewed some of the Afganis and the person being interviewed said it has nothing to do with Islam. That was the excuse given by the Taliban but instead it was anger over not being alloted enough money for humanitarian aid and for the reduction of poppy fields. It was to anger the west. Even thouhg its Buddhist (eastern), the west (particular scholars) seemed to be interested in them so they destroyed them out of anger. Don't know how much of that is true but that was the reason given by the Afghani they spoke to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grabii Posted October 4, 2001 Report Share Posted October 4, 2001 Big, This would make them less, perhaps significantly less, than 2000 years old, would it not? Regards, JEff quote: Originally posted by Big_Dick: ... They date back to between the second and fifth centuries AD, before the coming of Islam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
follies Posted October 4, 2001 Report Share Posted October 4, 2001 Bin Laden had nothing to do with the destruction of the Buddhas. He much prefers destroying live targets..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted October 4, 2001 Report Share Posted October 4, 2001 I don't think he (Laden) had anything to do with it either. The report I heard said nothing of him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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