Buddhist temples destroyed in Bangladesh.

[gregkavarnos]

Ignorance and hypocrisy are bases of arrogance...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimal#History

[gregkavarnos]

Keep it on topic people, the subject is "Buddhist temples destroyed in Bangladesh" not "How smart are Muslims?"

And, may I add, please be civil and refrain from ad hominems.

[PadmaVonSamba]

Keep it on topic people, the subject is "Buddhist temples destroyed in Bangladesh" not "How smart are Muslims?"
And, may I add, please be civil and refrain from ad hominems.

Yes, thank you.
my effort, in making the absurd assertion that if one uses the numeral "zero" one must be a muslim) was merely to make a point,
that if, because some muslims engage in violence
one thinks it rational to assume that therefore everyone who is a muslim is violent,
then therefore is equally rational to assume that
if someone asserts something that some muslims also assert (in this case, a principle of mathematics),
then that person is likewise a muslim.

Of course, this is not logical at all.

there is a saying, "a beard is just a beard, until it is on the chin of a communist.
Then it becomes one of those communist beards."
The same sort of bent reasoning is being used here.

All religions have holy books whose texts can be used to justify any level of violence or other expression of ignorance.
Both The anti-muslim, as well as the radical jihadist, point to the Qu'ran as an excuse for the acts of violence being committed. For the anti muslim, blame and for the jihadist, sacred rationale.
Either way, it ends up being the same.
It effectively takes the burden responsibility for his actions off the perpetrator.
"blame the words, not the person interpreting the words".

Buddhism teaches that we are responsible for our actions and the results of our actions.
This is why condemning everyone under a certain label is usually erroneous.
(usually, not always. it depends of the specific accuracy of the label).
It doesn't mean we condone violence or apologize for the actions of violent people.
it means we put the burden of responsibility where it belongs.
.
.
.

[mañjughoṣamaṇi]

In case anyone had missed what was happening across the border in Burma:

"There have been incidents of whole villages and parts of the towns being burnt down in Rakhine state," Thein Sein's spokesman told the BBC.

He was speaking after Human Rights Watch released satellite pictures showing hundreds of buildings destroyed in the coastal town of Kyaukpyu alone.

It says the victims were mostly Muslim Rohingya, targeted by non-Muslims.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20110150

Too often on the board we see people react in a way that implies when Buddhists (sometimes other non-Muslims) engage in horrible behavior it is the 3 poisons, but when Muslims engage in horrible behavior it is their religion which causes it.

[viniketa]

He was speaking after Human Rights Watch released satellite pictures showing hundreds of buildings destroyed in the coastal town of Kyaukpyu alone.

It says the victims were mostly Muslim Rohingya, targeted by non-Muslims.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20110150


Too often on the board we see people react in a way that implies when Buddhists (sometimes other non-Muslims) engage in horrible behavior it is the 3 poisons, but when Muslims engage in horrible behavior it is their religion which causes it.

Thank you, I agree. I have been following this; almost every Muslim home (around 2000, total) was destroyed in this community - by Buddhists and a theoretically "Buddhist" government. I hope no one concludes "Buddhism" is responsible.

[Arjan Dirkse]

Anti-mosque violence in the US

It's wrong to lay the blame for the state of the world today solely with one group. It's so saddening to see how Muslims get singled out and discriminated against here in my home country (the Netherlands), and we're supposed to be a "civilized" place.

[catmoon]

"The perception of Islam as narrow, intolerant and even open to terrorism is a false one and a very unfortunate consequence of 9/11. To take the insane acts of a misguided handful as representative of anything but their own depravity is to make a generalization that simply has no basis. In the religious community worldwide we must work unceasingly to reverse this wrong image, and in Islam itself leaders must make clear to Muslims that the extremist interpretation of their faith is not only damaging to the tradition but in fact does no justice to the richness and beauty of what Islam stands for."

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "Towards the True Kinship of Faiths", p. 92

[oldbob]

I think the key point is HOW to move both sides beyond violence as a means of settling differences.

Non-violent Communication is a possible solution.

This is a well developed approach to settling differences peacefully.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonviolent_Communication

http://www.cnvc.org/

http://www.nonviolentcommunication.com/ ... rocess.htm

How to implement this in Bangladesh / Burma?

ob

but to cheer you up in this sorrowful thread:

A poet is someone
Who can pour Light into a cup
and raise it to nourish your
beautiful parched holy mouth

--Hafiz

from: http://www.americanistan.com/id24.html

Nice poetry AND, for the ladies, learn to belly dance.

(Couldn't make this up.)

[food.cafe]

Oh, that's simply brilliant: 'an insane Copt and his equally insane buddies pissed us off' - or, if you will, 'we're so very angry at the US and the West which sucks up to the American boss' - 'so we'll destroy some Buddhist temples'. That logic, how irresistble it is. One just has to love the fundamentalist.

ooh its really really nice ...i am totlayy agree with yo.. u

[Namgyal]

The Kalachakra-tantra does not mention Islam specifically, it could be any force of darkness and extremism, including fundamentalist Christianity, or perhaps a political movement that has not yet arisen. Zero is from Indian mathematics, later adopted by the Arabs, and then copied from the Arabs by Europeans (which is why we have al-Gibra, al-Khimie and so forth.)
The Rohingya are attempting to create an independent Islamic republic inside Western Burma, and they are training and arming militias in Bangladesh for this purpose. Their manipulation of Western human rights agencies to create the impression that they are a harmless, oppressed minority is what is called 'information warfare'. As usual, all these troublemakers are funded by Saudi Arabia.

[Indrajala]

The Kalachakra-tantra does not mention Islam specifically, it could be any force of darkness and extremism, including fundamentalist Christianity, or perhaps a political movement that has not yet arisen. Zero is from Indian mathematics, later adopted by the Arabs, and then copied from the Arabs by Europeans (which is why we have al-Gibra, al-Khimie and so forth.)
The Rohingya are attempting to create an independent Islamic republic inside Western Burma, and they are training and arming militias in Bangladesh for this purpose. Their manipulation of Western human rights agencies to create the impression that they are a harmless, oppressed minority is what is called 'information warfare'. As usual, all these troublemakers are funded by Saudi Arabia.

You need to read up a bit more. It is pretty obvious it is referring to Islam.

See Islam in the Kālacakra Tantra by John Newman.

[Namgyal]

Thanks for the article Huseng...I've read through but I still cannot find any specific mention of Islam. It is very likely that Tayin means Turk, but in the same fashion as the early English meaning, as a general term for 'barbarian'. Tibetans have an identical word (senior moment) for barbarian (i.e. just like one of those early Turks.) Professor Newman seems to be straining at the bit to prove that 'mleccha' are Muslims, but nowhere does he come up with any actual evidence. 'Ar-Rahman' could just as easily be the Zoroastrian 'Ahriman', in other words 'Druj', the Great Falsehood, which could apply to any tyranny. In any case the scribes of the Kalachakra were on a mission to make common cause with the Hindus, and were not above making one or two amendments to reflect the political realities of the day. This is very different from the actual Sri-Kalachakratantra which is far above political sectarianism, or any other worldly concerns. We have up to four hundred years before the prophesied Kalachakra war and any number of tyrannies could develop in that time. For example Communism has arisen in a little over a century. In fact, I could write a copy of Professor Newman's piece proving that Chinese Communists are the 'barbarians and demons' of the Kalachakra, and it would be a lot more convincing.

[Indrajala]

Who else would come from Mecca?

[gregkavarnos]

Meccacans?

[Namgyal]

Ok then lets go to defcon1 against Islam...on the basis of a single word written by a sectarian scribe in a besieged city a thousand years ago. Alternatively, you could ask HHDL, or another qualified Lama if Islam is the enemy of Buddhism in the Kalachakra. In fact, are there any credible sources to support this view from Buddhist teachers?...or is just Dr. Newman?

[Indrajala]

In the 11th century it was certainly not communists from China at the Indian frontier raiding and conquering.

[Namgyal]

In the Kalachakra the tyranny of the final age is global...I don't dispute that Afghan Mullahs can make a lot of trouble, but take over the world, not a chance. However when I look at China with its Orwellian information control, not to mention its mobile execution and organ extraction vehicles...I get the distinct impression that I am looking at a precursor of things to come. Almost certainly this will not be Communist China, but very likely it will be something quite similar. Those 11th century scribes were looking for terms to describe events that would take place well over a thousand years into the future, to describe a completely brainwashed society dedicated to immorality and wickedness. So naturally they used terms that referred to the most bloodthirsty barbarians of their own times, who were Muslim Afghans and Turks. In the same way I make reference to the most bloodthirsty barbarians of the present day to explain events that will take place in centuries to come, in both cases you should not take the analogous examples literally.

[gregkavarnos]

In the same way I make reference to the most bloodthirsty barbarians of the present day...

You mean the Americans?

[Namgyal]

Who else would come from Mecca?

'...The seventh will clearly be born in the city of Vagada in the land of Makha...' (KT. I.5)

In the words of Dr. Newman...
'...There is, of course, some confusion here. Muhammad (d. 632 CE) was not born in Baghdad (founded 762 CE), and Makka is not a "land." However, it is easily understandable that a writer in 11th century India, just beyond the fringe of the Muslim conquests, could have made Makka - the birthplace of Muhammad and Islam's holiest city - into a country, and then placed in it Baghdad...'

' ...the authors of the Kalacakra literature exhibit a playful attitude towards language which reflects their philosophical view that words are only conventionally related to the objects they signify; thus a single word can have multiple and even contrary referents.'

'Helmut Hoffmann identified "The White-Clad One" as Mani...As I have argued elsewhere, it is much simpler to interpret the entire list of mlecchas as being derived solely from an Islamic source, and there is no evidence that the authors of the Kalacakra had knowledge of Manichaeism or any other Western religion apart from Islam.'

(It is indeed 'much simpler' to formulate your conclusions before you begin your research, then all your have to do is work backwards conveniently overlooking everything that disagrees with you.)

[Namgyal]

You mean the Americans?

No, I was referring to...