Buddhist site in Afghanistan to be destroyed next month

[JohnRammy]

A major Buddhist archaeological site in Afghanistan is set to be destroyed next month:

https://www.facebook.com/buddhasofaynak
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZvrJUMkD4Y

Sign the petition:
http://www.change.org/petitions/preside ... l-damage-3

[JohnRammy]

Use any connections you have with the Buddhist community, to stop this.

Tell your lama etc.

[gregkavarnos]

What a surprise! Greed, anger and ignorance are a source of destruction!

The wheel of samsara goes 'round and 'round, 'round and 'round, 'round and 'round!
The wheel of samsara goes 'round and 'round, all the live long day!

[viniketa]

We've had extensive discussion of this here:

viewtopic.php?f=47&t=10286

It is very late to try to save the site, itself. Signing the petition to Karzai doesn't hurt, but I doubt it will help. UNESCO already has a petition to name as a World Heritage Site, but they will not do so under present circumstances.

It is not too late to save the documentary that is being made about the site. The film maker recently started a Kickstart campaign to raise the money he needs to complete the documentary "The Buddhas of Mes Aynak":

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/472 ... k?ref=city

[JohnRammy]

Signing the petition to Karzai doesn't hurt, but I doubt it will help.

Contact your local politicians, senators etc.

[Konchog1]

And the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus, saying: "Behold now, bhikkhus, I exhort you: All compounded things are subject to vanish. Strive with earnestness!"

This was the last word of the Tathagata.

[...]

And when the Blessed One had passed away, simultaneously with his Parinibbana, Brahma Sahampati spoke this stanza:
All must depart — all beings that have life
Must shed their compound forms. Yea, even one,
A Master such as he, a peerless being,
Powerful in wisdom, the Enlightened One, has passed away.

And when the Blessed One had passed away, simultaneously with his Parinibbana, Sakka, king of the gods, spoke this stanza:
Transient are all compounded things,
Subject to arise and vanish;
Having come into existence they pass away;
Good is the peace when they forever cease.

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .vaji.html

[JohnRammy]

bump

[JohnRammy]

Donate:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/472 ... -mes-aynak

[lobster]

Send a thank you to the Afghans for this wonderful teaching on impermanence

[JohnRammy]

Yeah everything is impermanent, so we should just give up.

[lobster]

so we should just give up

Perhaps. Or perhaps that is nihilism.

You are trying to protect someone who wishes to cut off their nose to spite their face.
With no nose, they may learn something.
Opposing thwm will just make them think their nose is something you want.

. . . of course if you really want their nose, go for it . . .

[gregkavarnos]

Send a thank you to the Afghans for this wonderful teaching on impermanence

If you bothered reading the article or watching the video you would have learnt that it is a Chinese mining colossus which is going to destroy the Budddhist archaeological site so they can dig up a huge hunk of copper, not the Afghans.

[lobster]

Excellent news. Development and local opportunities. Should end some suffering. The Buddha would approve. Meanwhile the devotees can abandon the relics.
Shame about the history, no doubt. Maybe the Chinese will replace it with a biodegradeable statue, I doubt that.

The important thing is to be attached to chiseled rock and make as much noise and fluster as possible. Maybe we should laminate sand mandalas too . . .

Impermenance, theory and practice . . .

[JohnRammy]

Send a thank you to the Afghans for this wonderful teaching on impermanence

If you bothered reading the article or watching the video you would have learnt that it is a Chinese mining colossus which is going to destroy the Budddhist archaeological site so they can dig up a huge hunk of copper, not the Afghans.

Which is even worse. The Chinese government (which controls the mining operation) hates Buddhism.

[viniketa]

An update from Brent Huffman, the documentary filmaker:

Good morning everyone! I have GREAT news to report.

We are now 80% funded!!! VERY EXCITING!

Thank you for all the wonderful support!

As I am preparing to head out to Mes Aynak next month, I am hearing that the Thai government, Smithsonian and US State Dept. (with help and video from this campaign) has been making inroads with the Afghan government to protect Mes Aynak.

So let's keep it up!

Now is the time to RAMP UP international support for Mes Aynak. We really need an international organization like UNESCO to get involved to preserve Mes Aynak for future generations.

But the odds are still against us due to $100 billion dollars of copper directly under the Buddhist city, the volatile Taliban presence in Logar, and the 2014 US troop pullout that could leave Afghanistan in chaos.

So we still have a lot of work to do!

Please continue to help spread the word and support the Kickstarter campaign.
We are $6,000 away from our goal of $30,000!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/472 ... -mes-aynak

Since the campaign has been SO SUCCESSFUL, we are looking at potential STRETCH GOALS.

If we reach $40,000, we want to include a Thai section of the documentary that interviews ALL the key supporters in Thailand that have fought so hard for Mes Aynak.
So let's try to keep the campaign going above and beyond the Kickstarter goal!

Again, thanks for reading and for all the AMAZING support!

P.S. A link to Save Mes Aynak Thailand: https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id ... nvcMTYIFts

[JohnRammy]

bump

[Zen Dude]

Which is even worse. The Chinese government (which controls the mining operation) hates Buddhism.

The people in charge of the mining operation, don't necessarily hate Buddhism. In my experience with high-society party members in China, many of them actually practice Buddhism, privately.

From what I've heard, the mining company wasn't actually informed that there was an archaeological site until after money, to the tune of 3 billion dollars, had already changed hands. Although this seemed far-fetched to me at first, it makes sense. If it came out, that the afghan government conveniently avoided showing them the site during negotiations, and that the executives didn't want to poke their nose around too much, in a Taliban controlled area, it wouldn't rock my world.

[pueraeternus]

The Last Days of Mes Aynak:

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/20 ... aynak.html

[Zen Dude]

Good news - They have postponed demolishing the site for another 6 months, to enable further archaeological excavation. With more media coverage and exposure, perhaps it is not impossible for it to be saved.

[pueraeternus]

Good news - They have postponed demolishing the site for another 6 months, to enable further archaeological excavation. With more media coverage and exposure, perhaps it is not impossible for it to be saved.

Excellent update! Seems like there is indeed a ray of light here.

More links:

http://www.wildmind.org/blogs/news/upda ... -mes-aynak

This article has some interesting perspective on the complexity of the situation on the ground (i.e. it seems to be not a situation of evil Chinese conglomerate vs the rest of the world):

http://www.travelculturemag.com/mes-ayn ... pper-mine/