re. Plight of Buddhist art

[Ven. Tantra]

Venkatraman Iyer writes:

<< BBC broadcasts that Buddhist statues are to be destroyed:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1192000/1192195.stm

Can Indologists do something? >>


Our sympathies go out -- but this seems to be in the hands of political
actors. And here it�s better to eschew the political.

Two points:

1. BBC reports that the Taleban �mistakenly think that Buddhists worship
the Buddha and that the statues are therefore idols.� It is the BBC who is
mistaken here.

2. Bearing in mind the legendary literature, one really does wonder what
al-Bouddah might have done had caught his devotees fashioning images of
his human form -- which he had apparently prohibited -- and worshipping
those very forbidden idols.

VT













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