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Bamiyan, the glory and the tragedy

By Ven S. Dhammika 

The valley of Bamiyan is about a hundred miles north-west of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. The valley is green and fertile in stark contrast to the surrounding countryside which is dusty, rugged and without vegetation. The north side of the valley is formed by a impressive cliff about a mile and a half long and in places over two hundred and fifty feet high. Cut into this cliff are hundreds of niches, tunnels, halls and rooms which formed part of several huge monasteries that once existed here. But the most prominent of the man-made cxcavations on the cliff are four huge niches containing images of the Buddha, one of them being the biggest statues ever made. On the far eastern end of the cliff is the remains of a niche over a thousand feet long which once sheltered a reclining image of the Buddha. Most of the cliff has collapsed and little can be seen there today. Further to the west is a second niche containing a standing Buddha about one hundred and twenty feet high. On the cliff to the left of this statue was a huge buttress erected in the 1960's by Italian archaeologists to protect the side of the niche from collapsing. Despite being badly damaged and weathered the original beauty of this statue was still apparent. Further along is a niche about thirty feet high containing statue of the Buddha sitting in meditation. This statue is very rough and apparently was never finished.

The Red Idol

The largest and most famous of these statues is near the western end of the cliff. This huge statue is one hundred and seventy three feet high and was known by local people as Surkh'bud, the Red Idol. It seems that the statue was originally covered with gold leaf applied to a red arsenic base and when the gold wore off the statue appeared red coloured for some centuries and hence its popular name. Carved into the cliff around the Great Buddha's feet were nine shrines which gave a good idea of the richness and sophistication attained by Bamiyan's monasteries. The first shrine consisted of an eight-sided chamber (one side forming the door) with a domed roof. Niches rose in three tiers consecutively seven, fourteen and twenty one in number, each containing an image of either the Buddha or a bodhisattva and each beautifully painted. Rather than a dome the roof of shrine No V consisted of juxtaposed square rafters in imitation of the wooden architecture of the time. And once again all this was covered with delicate stucco work and paintings. From shrine No VIII stairs led up through numerous other rooms mainly monks cells to the very top of the Great Buddha's head. From there, looking up to the curved roof above, the visitors would have noticed that large areas were covered with paintings, mainly depicting scenes from the life of the Buddha and still vivid after nearly one and a half millennium. Looking straight ahead the visitor would be rewarded by a breathtaking view over the town below, the verdant fields beyond and the snowdusted mountains on the distant horizon. Obviously those who constructed the Great Buddha envisaged it gazing protectively over the countryside and the inhabitants in turn looking up from their daily labours and being reassured by its benign and gentle smile. If the visitor descended the stairs, walked about a quarter of a mile from the base of the cliff and looked back, he or she got some idea of just how remarkable the Great Buddha of Bamiyan really was. It was made in the Indo-Greek, sometimes called, Gandhara, style and was probably constructed in the fourth or fifth century CE. It stood in the tribhanga posture, that is, with one leg bent and slightly forward. The right hand was raised, palm outward, in the gesture of fearless and the left hand probably held the corner of the robe, as was commonly done in Gandhara representations of the Buddha. Despite the enormous dimensions they were working with, the artists managed to create a well-proportioned image with all the lightness and grace characteristic of much smaller Buddha statues from the same period.

No records

One is forced to wonder how something so huge could have been constructed before the advent of modern engineering. So how was it made? No records survive but we can speculate. It seems probable that the artist or artists conceived the general size and outline of the figure and then the stone masons, suspended from ropes hanging from the top of the cliff, just started cutting into the rock, probably starting at the top and working downwards. Of course this would have been done by hand. Many thousands of tons of rock had to be removed and this formed the large terrace that extends outward from the statue's feet. When the rough outlines of the figure began to emerge wooden scaffolding had to be erected around it so that the masons could do the finishing and the fine details. For some reason the masons decided not to cut the folds of the Great Buddha's robe out of the rock. Instead they draped ropes loosely over the statue, fixed them with pegs and then placed wooden poles along them. Likewise the hands were made separately. Holes were cut into the wrists, long wooden poles were driven into them and the hands were built up out of clay on these. When this was done the whole statue was covered with fine clay, polished, painted and then, at least at one period, covered with gold leaf. The rock forming the robe below the left hand collapsed at one time and the holes drilled into the rock there are remnants of attempts to repair this. The whole project must have taken many years and an investment of vast amounts of labour and resources.

Huien Tsiang

In about 630 CE the Chinese pilgrim Huien Tsiang passed through Bamiyan on his way to India and left a description on the place as it existed at that time. He found ten monasteries housing about a thousand monks. They belonged to the Lokottravadin School and "were distinguished from their neighbours by their love for religion". Concerning the great Buddha images he wrote: "To the north-east of the royal city there is a mountain on the face of which is a stone statue of the Buddha standing, 140 or 150 feet high. Its golden hues sparkle on every side and its precious ornaments dazzle the eyes by their brightness. To the east of this spot there is a monastery which was built by one of the former kings of the country. To the east of the monastery there is another standing figure of Sakya Buddha made of metallic stone about 100 feet high. It has been cast in different parts and joined together and thus placed in a completed form as it stands. To the east of the city 12 or l3 li there is another monastery in which there is a figure of the Buddha reclining as when he attained Nirvana. The figure is a 1000 or so feet long". Bamiyan is situated on what was the main trade routes from Central Asia and China to India and the routes from India to Persia. Trade routes can also serve as highways for invading armies and this was to have disastrous consequences for Bamiyan and its inhabitants. Trade brought pilgrims and wealth hut some time before Huien Tsiang's it also brought the first of a long line of very destructive visitors, the notorious White Huns. These raiders did great damage hut their primary interest was loot and after getting what they wanted they passed on and Bamiyan's monasteries were able to recover. But then in the second half of the eight century came the newly Islamised Arabs who, while greedy for loot were also interested in imposing their faith on the peoples they conquered. To save their skins the rulers of Bamiyan converted to Islam although their faith seems to have been lukewarm because records show that they continued to patronize Buddhist monasteries.

Islamisation

But as one ruler followed another and the pressure of Islamisation intensified the monasteries ceased to find royal support, were occasionally attacked and found less and less young men willing to become monks. In 870 CE Saffarid Yakub looted the place and carted many Buddha statues off to Baghdad where they were probably desecrated and then destroyed. The coup de grace came in the early thirteenth century when Genghis Khan's hordes broke out of Central Asia and swarmed south and west. The impact they had on Islam was so devastating that the faith almost ceased to exist. But when the storm passed it was able to recover with help from Islamic lands untouched by the Mongols. The same was not true for Buddhism in Afghanistan. In 1222 the Mongols raged Bamiyan and because Buddhism in adjoining regions was itself weak or fading it was unable to help in the reconstruction. Bamiyan's monasteries were abandoned and gradually began to crumble. But even this was not enough for the fanatics and random acts of vandalism and desecration continued for centuries. At the end of the seventeenth century the Mogul emperor Aurangzeb ordered that Bamiyan's huge statues be destroyed by cannon fire. It was at this time also that the faces of the two largest statues were broken off. Huge pegs were driven into the tops of the statues heads-until the faces broke off as huge single slabs and fell crashing to the ground.

Destruction

The last act in the long sad saga of abuse of the Great Buddha took place just a few months ago when Afghanistan's Islamic government announced that it had ordered the statues complete destruction. Protests from governments, cultural organizations, museums and concerned individuals poured in from all over the world. A Taliban public relations spokesman tried to explain the reasons for the destruction including that that representations of humans are forbidden in Islam. A UN official commented, "The Taliban don't need a public relations expert, they need a psychiatrist". It is a reflection on the Taliban's mentality that they not only announced their intention but that they actually filmed the desecration and then released it for the whole world to see. Even common vandals commit their deeds stealthily and when no one can see. Not so the Taliban a single gun was positioned about a mile from the Great Buddha and a single explosive shell was lobbed at it. When the dust cleared only the crudest outline of the Great Buddha remained. The concussion from the explosion must have also caused the collapse of the many shrines around the Great Buddha and the severe damage if not complete obliteration of the paintings within them.

The Great Buddha of Bamiyan was the most famous of Afghanistan's art treasures to be destroyed but by no means the only one. The Taliban announced that they intended to destroy all Afghanistan's non-lslamic art and indeed it seems they have. About fifty miles south-east of Bamiyan are extensive ruins now called Begran which represent the remains of the ancient capital city of the Buddhist kingdom of Kapisia. In the 1930's, 50's and 60's French and Italian archaeologists did major work here, uncovering vast amounts of sculpture and other artifacts, much of it Buddhist. Even at that time Afghanistan's government was not particularly interested in its pre-Islamic heritage and while some of the finds from Begram were taken to the Kabul Museum much else was shipped back to Europe where it can be seen today at the Musee Guimet in Paris. Much else was stored in a large building on the site. At the time the Great Buddha was destroyed all this sculptures was destroyed too. Reports say all the statues had there heads broken off with hammers and were then taken to a nearby gorge and thrown over the side. The Afghan countryside was dotted with the remains of stupas, often situated in prominent places like passes and the tops of mountains. The fate of only one of these monuments is known, the nearly complete stupa at Guldara. In March this year dynamite was placed around this beautiful stupa and it was unceremoniously blown to bits. The fate of the other stupas is not known although it seems likely that it was the same.

But the most tragic and shocking example of all this vandalism was the apparent complete destruction of the collection of the Kabul Museum. This institution housed the largest and finest collection of Indo-Greek art in the world; sculptures, jewellery, inscriptions, pottery and paintings of inestimable value and importance. Much had already disappeared in the years of chaos prior to the Taliban's capture of the capital. Unruly soldiers and frightened museum staff hoping to secure their futures simply stole the gold and silver jewellery and melted it down.

Largest museum

This is believed to be the largest museum theft in history. The numerous paintings, statues and other artifacts had no immediate value and thus survived although some smaller pieces turned up in Pakistan from where they found their way to the international art market. Art historians were hoping that the rest might survive but it was not to be so. Simultaneously with the announcement of the destruction at Bamiyan the government also proclaimed that it had destroyed all the 'idolatrous art' in the museum. One can only hope that some of the more corrupt Taliban officials saved some pieces with the intention of selling them later, although this seems unlikely. All this has to be the most terrible blow to the art world, indeed to civilization in general, since the Nazis assault on art during the Second World War. In time of course the Taliban will go the way of all tyrants but the ugly black hole they have smashed in humankind's common cultural heritage will, tragically, remain forever.

The Island - 23 Feb 02

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Searching for Templo budista

On a hot sunny morning I climbed 70 steps to the Temple-saw the monk and said "Ayubowan"

By Chula Wickremasinghe

For the last four years, I have been visiting "Cidade Maravilhosa" (Marvelous City) = Rio De Janeiro in Brazil, three to four times a year - Using Rio as a base, touring other cities in Brazil - practising my Sinhalese. Jokes aside, you will be amazed at the number of Portuguese words in the Sinhala language.

In Sept. 2001, I saw a Brazilian lady wearing a Buddhist Flag pin on the Rio subway and asked her if she was a BUDISTA (Buddhist) and told her that I too was a Budista from Sri Lanka. The lady informed me that there was a Sri Lankan monk in a small temple in Rio, but was not aware of its location.

On my return to the states, I e-mailed Sri Lanka Express for information. Deeptha & Hassina asked me to talk with Dr. Ananda Guruge who had visited the temple.

On my return to Rio in December 20O1, I finally located and visited the temple.

The Temple is located in the hilly Santa Tereza district of Rio, on a mountain site within sight of world famous Corcovado (Statue of Christ). It is a US$ 10.00 taxi ride from the tourist hotels of Copacabana Beach.

Dec. 10th - 2001. On a hot & sunny morning, l climbed 70 steps to the Temple - saw the monk and said "Ayubowan Bhikku".

1967 - The Rio De Janeiro Meditation Society invited Talpitiye Anuruddha Thero to start a Theravada Buddhist Society and to build a temple and meditation centre. Rev. Anuruddha gave meditation courses in Brazilian cities & talks at inter-religious gatherings. 32 Brazilians contributed to buy 20 acres of land on the slopes of a mountainside. Levelling of the mountain side and building of the centre was done by Brazilian volunteers under the direction of Rev. Anuruddha.

1972 - Temple & Meditation centre opened by the Governor of Rio State. This is the first & only Theravada Buddhist centre in the Continent of South America.

1973 - Rev. Anuruddha disrobed.& took back his birth name of Don Kulatunga Jayanetti.

1974-5 - Temple headed by Rev. Badulle Shanthi Budra.

1976-86 - The Meditation Society invited Don Jayanetti to become the Chief Dayakaya and to maintain the temple.

1986-date - The temple has been headed by Ven. Puhulwelle Vipassi Thero. In 1988, the Malwatta Chapter of Sri Lanka awarded the title of Sangha Nayaka post for Brazil & South America to Rev. Vipassi.

1992 - Former Sri Lanka President Wijetunge planted a Bo Tree from the Sri Maha Bodhi, Anuradhapura during the Earth Summit Conference on 8th June.

Today, the temple has an active membership of 400 to 500 Brazilians. Activities include Daily Pooja/Meditation at 7 p.m., with an additional Pooja/Meditation at 4.00 p.m. on Saturdays & Sundays. There is a retreat on the last weekend of each month.

Both Rev. Vipassi & Mr. Don Jayanetti, give regular talks on Buddhism/Meditation to University students and at Inter-religious gatherings.

Other Information

1997 - Rev. Vipassi was honoured at the Dalada Maligawa, Kandy for his Buddhist duties in South America by the Mahanayake Thera's of the Malwatta Maha Vihara.

1974 - Don Jayanetti married Maria Scarambone, they have 2 daughters Marianna & Nanda. In March 2002, Marianna is going to London (UK) for post graduate studies. Nanda is a student at the Rio University. For many years Don worked for a large Corporation in the states of Bahia & Amazonas.

Other Lankans in Brazil  

Rev. Vipassi is aware of - Dayananda & Sumana Kapuge and 2 sons in Rio de Janeiro. Piyadasa Uduwanage married to a Brazilian lady - also living in Rio; Kenneth De Lanerolle & Brazilian wife who lives in the Capital city of Brasilia; Nihal Perera who lives in Goias state.

Historical notes

The Portuguese came to Brazil in 1500 & to Ceylon in 1505. In Brazil, the local Gurani & Tupi people were eating certain fruits. The Portuguese introduced the fruits to Ceylon together with the Gurani/Tupi names. So today in Sri Lanka we eat - Caju, Annazi, Pera, Naranja, Kabaranka, Sapatillo.

According to historical documents in Brazil, Portuguese officials posted to Ceylon, came over with their Sinhalese servants on being re-posted to Brazil. So there are Brazilians with genes going back to Ceylon.

I spent 3 quiet/peaceful mornings/afternoons at the Temple. Gave Dana to the monk & received his blessings. Also each day met both Rev. Vipassi & Don Jayanetti - 3 middle aged men, born in Sri Lanka, talking in Sinhala/English/Portuguese in a Theravada Buddhist Temple on a mountainside in Brazil.

I believe the Temple could use funds for its maintenance & specially to print Buddhist literature in the Portuguese language for local distribution. Any Buddhist or Sri Lankan artifacts or handicrafts. These could be kept in the Shrine room & Meeting hall.

Rev. Vipassi & Don Jayanetti would welcome the Sri Lanka Express. The Temple does not have a computer. Rev. & Don, would welcome letters from other Sri Lankans - Do write to them, Miss Marianna & Miss Nanda Jayanetti. They have not heard Sinhala music. Any Sinhala music cassettes & CDs would be most welcomed by these 2 young Sinhalese-Brazilian ladies. Letters/parcels should be sent c/o the Temple.

Finally, Rev. Vipassi & Don Jayanetti requests any Sri Lankans visiting Rio De Janeiro to please drop in at the Temple.

Leaving Rio - Brazilian security officer at airport, opens my USA passport - notes "place of birth" Sri Lanka. Asks me if I know Mr. Dayananda Kapuge. I informed him that I visited Temple Budista. The security officer then informs me that he is a member of the Temple & personally knows Rev. Vipassi. He says the Buddhist Prayer" Namo Tassa Bagavatho" I smile at him and say "Sadhu, Sadhu".

In "Cidade Maravilhosa" (Marvelous City), Rio de Janeiro, a city of 8 million Roman Catholic Christians - my faith in Buddhism is restored.

Address: Templo Budista Rio De Janeiro Estrada Dom Joaquim Mamede 45 Lagoinha - Santa Tereza Rio De Janeiro RJ - 20241-230 Tel: 526-1411

www.geocities.com/tokyo/

If anyone needs further information, please e-mail me at [email protected]

Sunday Island - 17 Feb 02

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Aluvihara- where Tripitakas were written

The epic reign of king Valagamba/Vattagamani (104-77 B.C.) would go into the annals of the Buddhist literary history as the Tripitakas (Buddhist scriptures) were written down on ola leaves in Pali by a conclave of Buddhist monks of the Aluvihara Temple, lying close to Matale.

These Tripitakas originally had come down by mere word of mouth by being committed to memory by Buddhist monks of the time. Such Tripitakas are classified into three divisions. They are Vinaya Pitakaya (Basket of discipline), Suthra Pitakaya (Basket of Discourse) and Abidarma Pitakaya (Basket of Metaphysics).

The entrance canopy has a prominent Pandal with an arch constructed out of concrete. From there is a steep ascent of stone steps leading to the meda midula - frontage terrace. Here looms a mass of rock boulders harbouring cave shelters.

Then from there, rises round and round steps of stone giving way to the other rock caves having well chiselled drip ledges on the apex. Mr. W. Edwin is in charge of the library housed in a commodious building which is named as the International Library and Museum for writing the Tripitakayas on ola leaves in Pali.

The foundation stone for this International Library and Museum was laid by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Sihanouk of Cambodia on 17.2.1957.

He had been in Sri Lanka then to attend the Buddha Jayanthi Celebrations held in February 1957. This edifice was inaugurated by the late Premier, Srimavo Dias Bandaranaike on 1.9.1974. It was constructed with state funds.

Mr. W. Edwin, Librarin there, is a real repository of all Buddhist philosophy and other historical episodes connected with this Aluvihara Temple and other archaeological artifacts of cultural value. He was receptive to me and briefed me its origins.

There is an influx of tourists both home and abroad flocking to this historic temple. The library contains a gallery of antiques ranging from Buddhist statues, seated, standing made out of clay, brass, marble, while some of them have been gold plated.

There are priceless Buddha statues gifted by Siam, Cambodia, China, Japan, and Myrama (Burma), together with other archaeological artifacts pertaining to old Lanka, as well. Then there is also displayed Buddha statues of Mahayana sect gifted from countries like China, Japan, Cambodia and Korea. There are well bound Tripitakas on ola leaves written in Pali displayed in a separate bookshelf.

Then next comes an array of heaps of talipot leaves (fresh ones processed into ola leaves on which the scriptures are written with the aid of the panhida-stile.  

These specimens are in the form of display to visiting tourists as Mr. Edwin, the Librarian has to explain to them in his lectures as to how these ola leaves are processed from the tali-pat palm-leaves. Besides. Mr. Edwin being proficient in Sinhala, Pali, Sanscrit, he is also well-versed in foreign languages like French, Italian and German as he delivers lectures in these languages on all aspects of making of ola leaves from scrap, and about the origins of Buddha statues and other stone monuments.

Among the antiques displayed are old brass lamps, arecanut cutters, swords, knives, ceramic ware, and other ornaments and implements of antiquity, as well.

This Aluvihara temple from ancient times had been called as Aloka vihara. Mr. Edwin told me that during the reign of Valagamba of the 1st century A.D., the Buddhist scriptures, those Tripitakayas were originally written on ola leaves in Pali at seven of those rock caves by an assembly of erudite Buddhist monks who were resident in those very caves. Of those seven caves, only three are remaining.

In the first cave about 25 feet long and 10 feet high was one of the venues where some of these archaic Tripitakayas were written on ola leaves in Pali by a team of Buddhist monks. On its apex is written in bold Sinhala letters that the Tripitakayas were written during the reign of king Valagamba at this cave shelter.  

The rock cave shelter harbours an Image House. Its entrance doorway, overhead is surmounted with the typical Makara Thoranay motif flanked by janitors. There are also seated standing and recumbent Buddha statues of terra-cota, while the murals are adorned with paintings of Jataka stories. The cave ceilings are studded with fascinating paintings of lotus flowers in full bloom - all dating back to the Kandyan period of time.

Next comes a spiral stone staircase that terminates on its summit where the sacred Bodhiya stands cloistering an image house in this rock cave shelter.

The third cave is met amidst a conclave of rock boulders where is sheltered another rock cave where the Tripitakayas were written on ola leaves by the ancient Buddhist monks. Lying in the same premises where the Library stands, is another commodious building sheltering the Sanga Nivasa (Monks Residency).

This Sanga Nivasa was completed on 14.7.1994.

Inside the hall is placed a bronze plaque against its wall in which are inscribed both in Sinhala and English the following nobel but immortal words: "This Sanga Nivasa dedicated to the Sanga Fraternity became a reality on 14.7.1994 with meritorious act completed with the support of the Ven. Son Song Nayaka Thera, members of the Dayaka Sabha Hynn Bulsung Temple of Bulsung Sect in Korea and the Aluvihara Temple Development Fund initiated and constructed during the incumbency of Ven. Ethipola Sri Medhankara Nayake Priest, Chief High Priest, Matale District.

Sunday Observer - 13 Jan 02

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Fanatics instigated destruction of Bamiyan statues

Bamiyan statues, the tallest standing statues of Buddha, were blown up by the Taliban at the instance of Pakistani, Saudi and other fanatic followers of Osama Bin Laden, according to minutes of a meeting found in a house abandoned by the fleeing militia.

The Times of India reported that "the one-page document, discovered in a house in Kabul is labelled minute of a meeting and describes how Al-Qaeda fighters, as well as Uzbek, Chechen and Pakistani militants who were allied with them, had sent a delegation to the Taliban to "discuss the fate of the Buddha statues," a report said on Sunday.

The document suggests that the Islamic groups or foreigners met repeatedly and lobbied with the Taliban to take action, some of which was opposed by the Afghan leaders.

Said Amin Mujahed, a history professor at Kabul University who was involved in trying to persuade the Taliban to spare the statues, told the Washington Post: "I believed from the early days that this was not the Taliban doing. This was the Islamic radicals from Pakistan, the Arab Wahhabis. The Taliban were not the ones deciding - they were only the implementers. Other people were dictating to them, and they were just repeating the words. You can easily say the Taliban were just the spokespersons for Bin Laden".

The Island - 2 Jan 02

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Ven. Samita as pioneer Bhikku MP Whither Buddha Sasana?

By D. Amarasiri Weeraratne

Reference letter of Mr. P. A. W. Perera on the Ven. Samita Thera, as pioneer Bhikkhu M.P. (Island 17/12/01), it is a matter for deep regret that he is advocating the regularisation of an apostasy which would ring the death-knell of the Buddha Sasana in Sri Lanka.

Knowledgeable Buddhists know the vow taken by all Buddhist monks at their ordination. With folded palms in worship they say to the teacher 'Ven. Sir, take these robes and ordain me, so that I may devote my life to the realisation of Nirvana and get rid of all suffering in Sansara.' This vow stands unaltered from the Buddha's days to this day. If, due to social, political or economic changes since the Buddha's days, an amendment of the Vinaya is necessary, the Sangha leaders may do so after convening a Sangha Council. But without that for individual members to contravene the Vinaya rules at their convenience and pleasure is a grave apostasy. The Maha Nayake of the Sect is responsible for the maintenance of Vinaya discipline in his Sect. If he cannot do that properly he is not fit for the office of Primate.  

Nowadays monks take to various professions, trades, business venture for monetary gain. It is for the Mahanayakes to study why they do so, and what are the necessities which compel them do so. If the funds and incomes of temples are credited to a central fund and distributed among the monks to meet their religious needs, monks need not go for salaried employment. So I must say the Three Mahanayakes are responsible for the break-down of Vinaya observance, and laxity of erratic monks. In the past the Mahanayakes have turned a blind eye to Vinaya-lapses by the rank and file and only a few glaring cases are spotlighted in the newspapers.

In the case of Samita Thera he is a monk of the Siamese Sect. He should have got the permission of his Mahanayake to do partypolitics, contest a seat and enter parliament. He has not done so.

I see people objecting to a bhikkhu becoming an M.P. on very puerile and shallow grounds. Bowing to the Speaker, spreading a white cloth over his seat, leaving the session at 11 a.m. for dana are marginal minor matters that can be adjusted in the way monks in universities, teaching posts resolve these minor issues.

In the case of Samita Thera he is breaking new ground. He is creating history in the sasana, and a precedent that will open the gates of Vinaya violations for future generations.

Sinhalese monks were renunciate who had left the worldly life to pursue the holy life in terms of their vow at ordination. Buddhism had suffered under three colonial powers. So the younger intelligentsia among bhikkhus were anti-imperialistic and anti-colonialist. They believed in independence when Buddhism can gain its foremost place in the life of the people. The Sama Samajists found in them receptive sympathisers. So they got round the young monk intellectuals at Vidylankara Pirivena and conducted classes in Marxism. The young intelligentsia of the Vidyalankara became Sama Samaja sympathisers. It is at that time (1946) that young Rev. Walpola Rahula wrote his booklet called "Heritage of the Bhikkhu". In that he gave instances of Sangha-leaders becoming king-makers, advisors to kings, arbitrators in disputes to the throne etc. He omitted the parts where monks had helped rebels, and conspirators and were severely punished, executed etc. This book became the "vademecum' of young monks. It was a clarion call for party politics by Bhikkhus. This political trend in the young monks was later hijacked by Mr. Bandaranaike to win the 1956 elections. He was carried to power by the Bhikkhus in the vanguard of his pancha-bala-mandalaya. Bandaranaike ended his life being assassinated by Ven. Buddharakkita and Ven. Somarama. That is the finale to 'Bhikshuvage Urumaya' - heritage of the Buddhist monk. 

In reply to the 'Heritage of the Bhikkhu' by Walpola Rahula, Ven. Henpitagedera Piyananda wrote "what is the Bhikku's Heritage" (Bhikshuvage Urumaya Kumakda?), In this he pointed out that the heritage extolled by Ven. W. Rahula was a heritage of apostasies not in keeping with the ideals of the Bhikkhus life as enunciated in the Dhamma Vinaya taught by the Buddha. He pointed out that the monks who took to politics against the king were severely punished and sometimes executed by the king. Their monasteries had been demolished. Party politics have nothing to do with the Noble Eightfold Path which the monk has to tread towards Nirvana. The true heritage of the Bhikkhu is to study the Dhamma, teach it, practise it and meditate. He has to maintain temples, perform the rites to laymen and be their guide and mentor in social service and welfare activities.

The Dasa Dhamma Sutta of the Anguttara Nikaya lays down the guide-lines for the Bhikkhus. It has to be learnt by heart by every monk and repeated daily at their evening devotions. It contains Ten Reflections which a monk should constantly bear in mind. The first four are:-

1) I have become casteless.

2) My life style is different from a layman.

3) My life is dependent on others.

4) How do I spend my days and nights.

Far from becoming casteless - the Siamese Sect is the preserve of the Govigama. The Amarapura sub division are caste based.

How can a monk who takes to politics, business or salaried jobs say his life is different from that of a layman? How can a monk earning a salary say his livelihood is dependent on others for the bare necessities?

Rev. Samita has made a serious error of judgement. He has taken the gospel according to Rev. Walpola Rahula as his scripture and religious text. It is a litany of apostasies and corrupt practices of erratic monks of a by-gone age. It is the duty of any genuine Buddhist monk to test any new interpretations or presentations with the Dhamma and the Vinaya of the Buddha. He cannot have the cake and eat the cake. He cannot be a monk and a layman at the same time.

The fault is not entirely with Rev. Samita. It is with the Malwatte Mahanayake the Primate of the Siamese sect. He has no control over his sect, and he himself sets no example in accepting Mercedes Benz cars violating the Vinaya and observing caste in admission of monks to his sect.

If he cares to he can see how the Primate of Thailand (the Sangaraja) exercises his control and Vinaya discipline among his monks who number about 70,000. No monk is allowed to do politics. Siamese monks do not even vote at the elections. They say we have renounced the world, we don't want to do politics and behave like laymen. No monk in Siam is allowed to get a salaried job. They do not litigate in the public court-houses. They are not allowed foreign travel without permission from the hierarchy. Because they do not take part in party politics. People of all parties worship and honour them.

If the Sangaraja of Siam can control his monks and see that they keep to the Vinaya, why cannot the Primate of the Siamese Sect in Sri Lanka to the same? If he does not have the legal powers he can ask the government to give him the powers, by law. No, he is not interested.

The Primate of the Amarapura sects in an article in the Silumina had deplored and expressed dismay at the entry of a Bhikkhu to Parliament as an MP. Ven. Dr. W. Ariyadeva of the Ruhunu University had deplored and appealed to Ven. Samita to vacate his seat and offer it to the candidate of his party who polled the largest number of votes next to him. Or in the alternative he appealed to Ven. Samita to disrobe and worshipfully hand over the noble garb of the Arahants to his teacher or in his absence to a representative elder of the Sangha. Then he should worship the robe which came down to him from a lineage originated by the Buddha. Then he should take the Five Precepts from the Sangha and become a layman. Thereby he can retrieve his good name and the honour of the Bhikkhu Sasana initiated by the Buddha.

The Island - 29 Dec 01

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Several important events occurred on Navam Full Moon Poya Day

by Dr. Walpola Wimalagnana

Even before the advent of Lord Buddha, Poya was observed as a day of rest by the people. Traditional villagers gave pride of place to spiritual attainments on poya day whilst enjoying the material comforts with his family members.

During the Buddha's days, even Brahmin ascetics had declared poya as a day of religious significance. Buddha too affirmed thus practiced and showed His disciples and lay society to follow suit and engage in dhamma discourses.

Of the four poya days the full moon day of each month was observed with sanctity since several important events relating to Buddha's life and the Buddhist order occurred on such a day.

It was the Navam poya at Veluwana Maha Viharaya. The occasion was graced by Lord Buddha surrounded by around 1250 bhikkhus headed by Arahants, Sariputra and Moggallana. The newly ordained disciples such as Uruwela Kassapa, Gaya Kassapa and Nadi Kassapa added lustre to the assembly.

The day became historic when Buddha elevated Arahants, Moggallana and Sariputra as his two chief disciples.

During the first twenty years of Buddha Sasana which is called, 'Patama Sambodhi,' the necessity did not arise for Buddha to introduce special rules of conduct as the bhikkhus remained in virtuous lot.

However, with the passage of time, the situation demanded to enforce rules of discipline, i.e. Vinaya and as such Buddha preached, 'Ovadapati Mokka' sutra-panacea for all ills, to ensure discipline on a Nawam Poya day.

It was again on Navam poya that the Buddha pronounced at Chapala Chetiya the day of His demise, which is called, Ayusanskaraya.

During the last three months prior to His passing away, the Buddha accompanied by His disciple Ananda kept on visiting places of importance associated with His life.

Finally on a Wesak full moon day, the Enlightened One passed away at Upawatta Sal grouse in Kusinara.

Daily News - 26 Feb 02

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King Wessanthara and the cave he lived in exile

by Anura Jayatunge

King Dharmashoka constructed, located and identified 84,000 places of religious worship with the help of Upaguththa Maha Arahat.

General Cunningham named the Father of Archeology by the Indians was able to find the rock cave where king Wessanthra lived.

This cave was visited by two travelling monks from China in 521 AD and again in 629 AD.

General Cunningham was responsible for finding the religious places of Sankassa, Kusinara, Srawasthi and famous Thakshila.

General Cunningham was appointed Director of Archaeology in charge of India in 1870 and he has published more than 13 research papers about archeological excavations in India. He was born in 1840, the 2nd son of Alan Cunningham, a Scottish poet, and died in 1893, after being knighted for his findings in India. He was responsible for finding the religious places of: "Sankassa, Kusinara, Srawasthi, and famous Thakshila". He was named the "Father of Archaeology" by the Indians. Sir Cunningham claimed he was able to find the rock cave where King "Wessanthara" lived.

Construction of 84,000 places of worship

It is well known that King Dharmashoka constructed, located and identified 84,000 places of religious worship with the help of "Upaguththa" Maha arahat (who was a fourth generation Buddhist Arahat living during King Dharmashoka's time. Being a Arahath he was able to foresee the future as well as the past and on invitation of King Dharmashoka, showed him places dating back to Lord Buddha Kakusanda and Lord Budddha Konagama's time.

King Dharmashoka being true to his word, constructed more than 84,000 monuments in India and some of them have survived up to date.

Arahat "UpaGuththa" was a student of Arahath "Yasa" (who was a 3rd generation Arahath after Lord Buddha) and his capability to see the future is explained from the following incidents.

Kunala - son of king Dharmashoka

King "Dharma-shoka's" queen named Pad-Mawathi had a son named Dharmawardana, who was fondly called by King Dharmashoka as Kunala because of his beautiful eyes. Once he want to see Arahath "Yasa" at Kakuthya-rama temple who saw that Kunala will go blind in the near future for a sin committed in his previous birth. (He has removed eyes of five hundred animals to keep them from escaping back to the Jungle). Arahat "Yasa" asked him remember that "all beautiful things are of temporary nature and will get destroyed as time passes".

Another young wife of King Dharma-shoka named Thishyarakshita loved Kunala for his beautiful eyes, and when he refused to see her secretly, she sent orders under King's seal to remove his eyes. None came forward to carry out this order, as he was much loved by his men. But Kunala himself got his eyes removed telling " being the next King to be in line, he should always follow ruling Kings orders precisely

King Dharmashoka was very sick at this time and was not able to attend to his royal duties for some time, and he fainted when he found his son has lost his eye sight. He immediately wanted to destroy Queen Thishyarakshitha" (whom Kunala pardoned, chiming it was not his wish to harm even the worst enemy and it is said that Kunala regained his eyesight thus showing maithree or compassion to his enemies.)

King Dharmashoka kept his Queen in a closed house arrest thereafter and punished the kingsman who allowed his son "Kunala" to remove his eyes even after they saw the Kings seal.

King Dharmashoka constructed a large stupa or a pagoda about 100 feet tall where Kunala lost his sight.

Findings of General Cunningham- Based on Hue Sean (629 AD)

General Cunningham found this pagoda at Karmal near Thakshila, following the book of Hue-Sean who was a Chinese travelling Buddhist monk, who came to India in 629 AD. He lived in India for 16 years and came back to China in 645 AD. The document prepared by Hue-Sean, the places he visited in India, and monuments constructed by King Dharmashoka helped General Cunningham to find these places very clearly.

Hue-Sean claims that he came to Siva Rata in India and saw the following monuments constructed by King Dharmashoka. First one is the monument constructed to mark the place King Wessanthara was separated from his family, and again Hue-Sean has also seen a monument where King Wessanthara handed over his children to a Brahamin named Jujaka. He also claimed that he saw the cave where king Wessanthara lived.

Confirmation by Sun-Yun (521 AD)

This story is reconfirmed by another travelling monk named Sun-Yun who came to India in 518 AD and returned there in 521 AD almost 100 years before Hu-Sean.

Sun-Yun says he saw the cave in which King Wessanthara lived as a Brahamin, in exile, and a large flat stone where King Wessanthara used to sit. He says King Dharmashoka erected a monument in this place after being shown by Maha Arahat Upa-guththa.

He also claims that the temple of famous white elephant was located very closely and inside the temple there was a picture of King "Wessanthara" handing over his children to poor, a Brahamin, named Jujaka and all Tarter people weep when they see these pictures!

King Wessanthara who donated his children

King Wessanthara was the last human form of Lord Buddha, before elevating to heaven named Thaw-thisha. He was born again as Siddhartha Kumara in and became Lord Buddha named Govthama. Lord Buddha is the greatest being of all three worlds and having power to show the path of enlightenment for suffering human beings.

General Cunningham has published his findings in Archeological survey reports in India" including a diagram of the cave he identified, situated close to Sivi-Rata.

According to Buddhist history king Wessanthara would have been born over a very long period ago according to Budu Maga published by Upali publications. This completely contradicts the theory of evaluation where man has evolved from a basic ape and advanced with in a few years.

A small child enters the world crying, and leaves the world crying, facing the death as an old man. Any man who has read "Mahabarath" and "Buddhist Philosophy" (which ranges between 5000 years to 2500 years) is free to judge whether man is evolving towards the advancement or becoming an ape day by day.

The Island - 1 Dec 01

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Thousands of low-caste Hindus convert to Buddhism

New Delhi, India, Nov. 4 (AP)- Defying police restrictions, thousands of low-caste Hindus on Sunday converted to Buddhism, shaking off centuries old social shackles that condemn them to lives marked by discrimination.

Facing a bronze statue of the Buddha, flanked by monks in saffron-coloured robes, new converts chanted religious hymns and lighted candles during a simple ceremony held in an open field in the Indian capital.

"We will no longer pray to Hindu gods and goddesses," they chanted.

The message of Buddhism is that all human beings are equal," said Harish Khare, a 36-year-old government employee who travelled from the western state of Maharashtra to participate in the ceremony.

Nearly one-fourth of India's more than one billion people are low-caste Hindus of "dalites". Also known as untouchable, they occupy the lowest rank in the caste system that is dominated by the once priestly class of Brahmins.

India's constitution outlaws discrimination on the basis of caste. But age-old practices persist in rural areas, where untouchable often are barred from sharing public facilities or temples with upper-caste Hindus. Many low-caste Hindus have chosen to convert to other religions to protest continued exploitation by upper-caste Hindus.

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London Buddhist Vihare celebrates 75 years

From Sujeeva Nivunhella in London

London Buddhist Vihara celebrated its 75th anniversary last week. Under the patronage of Chief Sanga Nayaka of Great Britain, the Head Priest of London Buddhist Vihara Ven. Dr. Medagama Vajiragnana, the celebrations started with a whole night Pirith ceremony followed by an alms giving. There was an exhibition on Buddhism at the Vihara for a week.

Celebrations were concluded on 23rd September at Hammersmith Town Hall. Large number of Buddhist and Non-Buddhist clergy and the lay people from all over the world attended the ceremony.

Welcoming all the people who attended that day, Ven. Dr. Vajiragnana said that the London Buddhist Vihara was founded by Anagarika Dharmapala in 1926. He said it was the only Theravada Buddhist Vihara in London until Thai Buddhist monastery was opened in 1966.

"During the seventy-five years of its vibrant existence, the London Buddhist Vihara has played diverse roles. It was not always smooth sailing. Truly, often there has been a soothing, gentle breeze; at times this turned into gusts of wind and developed even to storms. Yet this flagship Vihara could not be rocked. Obstacles acted as if they were forces of inspiration; the Vihara bravely facing them has always come out clear with renewed vigour and dynamism to achieve the objectives set by its Founder," he said.

"Being the first Buddhist Vihara in the West, it served as the pathfinder, the beacon light to many a subsequent Buddhist mission. It served as a role model to them. Vihara regularly conducts Dhamma talks, discussions and meditation sessions. Library facilities are made available for those interested in furthering knowledge on Buddhism and even pursuing higher studies. The Sunday Dhamma School and Sinhala classes conducted by the Vihara are well attended by the Sri Lankans living in and around London. Without limiting its activities to such traditional areas, the Vihara has begun providing a forum for inter and intra faith dialogue, thus contributing immensely to mutual co-operation, understanding and harmony," he further said.

He noted that he could, without any hesitation, say that the London Buddhist Vihara would certainly be the cynosure of all Buddhists in the West.

Addressing the gathering, Ven. Prof. Bellanvila Wimalaratane Thero said that Anagarika Dharmapala toured the country with American Theosophist Henry Steel Olcott to revive Buddhism in Sri Lanka and he founded the Mahabodhi Society in India in 1891. He said that Anagarika Dharmapala attended the Parliament of World Religion held in Chicago in 1893 and there he determined to introduce practical Buddhism to the West and as a result he started the London Buddhist Vihara in 1926.

"London Buddhist Vihara was not purely for the purpose of serving the needs of the small expatriate community of Buddhist living in London. It was to impart Buddhist knowledge to the British here. From the inception up to now the London Buddhist Vihara has not forgotten the objective for which it was established. It has been doing its best to impart knowledge about Buddhism to people in England. This objective was very devotedly pursued by the Heads of the London Buddhist Vihara. This tradition is continued with same vigour and dynamism at present. The London Buddhist Vihara is fortunate in having as its Head Ven. Dr. Vajiragnana who is eminently qualified and suitable to shoulder a responsibility of this magnitude. The founding of London Buddhist Vihara is certainly an epoch making event. In effectively supplemented the academic interest of the westends in studying Buddhist texts. With the founding of the London Buddhist Vihara there came into being a centre of living Buddhism," he said. 

Sri Lankan High Commissioner in London Mr. Mangala Munasinghe, Mr. Brian Appleyard of the Buddhist Society and Dr. Kim Kwang also spoke.

The Island - 30 Sep 01

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Establishment of the Sri Lanka Sangha Sabha

August 26, 2001 marked another milestone in Dhammadutta work in the South East Asian region. For the first time in modern history, Sri Lankan monks on dhammadutta mission outside Sri Lanka have deemed it fit to organise themselves under one Sangha umbrella group to work together for the betterment of the Buddha Sasana.  

The newly formed Sangha Sabha will serve as a platform for monks from Malaysia and Singapore to exchange ideas on training, Dhammadutta work and techniques, socio-welfare work, etc. There is also a long term plan to recruit suitable monks from Sri Lanka to undergo training in English and Mandarin language proficiency, public relations, Buddhist apologetics, Sutta Study and Commentaries, local cultures, etc. before dispatching them to various parts in the region to meet the needs of the ever growing demand for Dhamma from Buddhist seekers in Malaysia and Singapore.  

The President of the Sangha Sabha is the Most Venerable Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda Maha Nayaka Thera of the world renowned Buddhist Maha Vihara, Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur. Bhante who hails from Kirinde, Matara has also been the Chief Sanghanayaka for Malaysia and Singapore since 1965. The Sangha Sabha consists of 35 monks from 18 Buddhist temples and societies in Malaysia and Singapore.

The other office bearers of the Sangha Sabha includes:

Vice Presidents: Ven. Belanwila Dhammaratana Thera (Buddhist Research Society, Spore), Ven. Bothawatta Saranankara Thera (Sri Lanka Buddhist Temple, KL), Ven. Kotawila Sri Pemaloka Nayaka Maha Thera (Mangala Vihara, Spore), Ven. Weragoda Sarada Thera (Spore Buddhist Meditation Centre)

Joint Secretaries: Ven. Nakulugamuwe Sumana Thera (Society of Buddhist Volunteers, Spore), Ven. Kirinde Dhammaratana Thera (Buddhist Maha Vihara, KL)

Hon. Treasurer: Ven. Elgiriye Indaratana Thera (Mahindarama Temple, Penang)

To commemorate the occasion a magazine was published which included interviews with various monks who forwarded many valuable suggestions for Dhammadutta work in the region. The magazine also gave an anumodana in memory of all the pioneer monks who worked tirelessly to propagate Buddhism in the region.

The previous night a group of 26 Sri Lankan monks held an all night chanting to bless the Sovereign, the government, the people and the nation on the occasion of celebrating the Independence day of Malaysia which fell on August 31. The Maha Pirith Ceremony was initiated by Ven. Dhammananda in 1965 and has been held every year in the month of August uninterruptedly to commemorate Malaysia's independence from the British in 1957. Prior to the Maha Pirith recited by Sri Lankan monks, monks from the Vajrayana and Mahayana tradition are also invited to chant their suttras. This is to underscore the great sense of fellowship enjoyed by the Buddhists of various traditions in Malaysia.

The Maha Pirith was listed as one of Malaysia's national events in conjunction with Independence Day. The occasion was graced by Datuk Seri Dr. Lim Keng Yaik, the Minister of Primary Industries. 

The contribution of Sri Lankan monks to the rebirth and development of Buddhism in South East Asia has been immense, especially in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. This revival which began in the early 20th century has been sparked mainly by the exodus of Lankans to Malaya who brought with them able religious teachers from Lanka to cater to the Sinhala devotees' spiritual and cultural needs.

Some of these monks however have gone beyond their primary duties of catering to the Sinhalese to serve the greater Buddhist population. Among the notable early monks were the late Ven. Sri K. Gunaratana Nayaka Maha Thera, the late Ven. Narada Maha Thera, the late Ven. Ananda Mangala Nayaka Maha Thera, the late Ven. Sri P. Pemaratana Nayaka Maha Thera, Ven. Mahaweera Nayaka Maha Thera and Ven. Dr. K Sri Dhammananda Nayaka Maha Thera. Both Ven. Mahaweera and Ven. Dhammananda together have a span of 120 years of Dhammadutta work in the region between them.

These venerables have achieved great success in their Dhammadutta mission in this region and truly contributed to the rebirth of Buddhism in the region after a lapse of almost a thousand years. They have also inspired a second generation of able monks in the likes of Ven. W Sarada Maha Thera, Ven. B. Dhammaratana Thera, Ven. E. Indaratana Thera, Ven. B. Saranankara Maha Thera, Ven. K. Dhammaratana Thera, Ven. K Sri Pemaloka Maha Thera, Ven. N. Sumana Thera, Ven. Dr. K. Gunaratana Thera, Ven. G. Udita Thera, the list goes on.

The number of Sri Lankan monks who came to the region in the last century was small and most of the success achieved by these Venerables was in an individual capacity. The Sasana Abhiwurdhi Wardhana Society (SAWS) being the oldest Buddhist Society in Malaysia formed in 1895 decided to carry out Venerable Dhammananda's suggestion to convene a Sri Lankan Sangha conference to chart the future direction of Dhammadutta work carried out by Sri Lankan monks in the region who in the year 2001 have reached forty in number. This would give a great synergistic effect by creating a platform for exchange of ideas while adding strength to spearhead certain landmark directions in Dhammadutta work for the region.

The Sangha Sabha will meet regularly to achieve its objectives and to organise regular Sangha meetings to chart future directions.

The future of Buddhism depends on a solid foundation of Sila. A strong Sangha founded on Sila and supported by a community of Dhamma-inspired lay persons will ensure that the Buddha Sasana will progress, not decline.  

May the Buddha Sasana endure!

The Island - 28 Sep 01

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Buddhist stupa rises in the Rockies

WASHINGTON: The contrast, and the moment it has become stark, couldn't be more striking. While the bigotry-filled Taliban, wreckers of the Bamiyan Buddha in Afghanistan, continue to hold the world hostage to their whims, a 108-foot tall Buddhist stupa, the largest in the western world, has just arisen in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

The Great Stupa of Dharmakaya, whose 10-day consecration concluded this weekend amid chanting and prayers by hundreds of Buddhist monks and followers, is being described as "a symbol of Buddhism's migration and development in the West".

Arguably the most plural society in the world after India, the United States is now home to a variety of religions that has led to a feverish construction of temples, mosques and other places of worship across the country.

But Buddhism has a relatively small and elite following - many Hollywood celebrities among them - and there are only a few small stupas around compared to the scores of grand temples and mosques across America. In fact, most Americans are unaware that Buddhism was born in India. Many believe it originated further east - China or Japan.

The Dharmakaya stupa is almost entirely the product of American converts to Buddhism. It's principle architect is Bob King, a general contractor in Boulder who gave up his business 14 years ago and moved to a camper in the mountains to build the temple for free.

Located 8500 feet above sea level, the inside of the stupa is dominated by an 18-foot seated Buddha finished in gold leaf. The floors are polished granite, lapis, marble and onyx. Built according to the Tibetan tradition, it is replete with typical Buddhist icons and symbols including vividly painted mandalas.

It also has several modern features including temperature control for its three meditation

rooms and specially mixed concrete intended to keep it intact through 1,000 Rocky Mountain winters. The stupa alone is estimated to have cost $ 2.7 million, part of a $ 40 million project that will see a full-fledged Buddhist pilgrimage center come up over the next few years.

The center is dedicated to Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, a Tibetan exile who brought Buddhist teachings to the West long before the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual and temporal leader, achieved his celebrity status.

Before his death at 47 in 1987, Trungpa Rinpoche, who fled Tibet for India to escape Chinese repression before migrating to the West, wrote a dozen books expounding Buddhism to westerners. He also founded the Naropa University in Boulder and the Rocky Mountain Shambhala Center, on whose grounds the new stupa stands.

In a glowing account of the consecration, Colorado's premier paper The Denver Post said, "There are hardly adjectives for the 108-foot-high temple that rises from a mountain clearing at the Buddhist retreat, 5 miles south of Red Feather Lakes. It is eye-popping -gilded and embellished with stunning color."

The Island - 22 Aug 01 

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'Buddhism is practice, not preaching'

by Kirthie Abeyesekera

"The Buddha's Teaching cannot be learnt from a book or a teacher, but only by practice," a University of Toronto professor told a Toronto audience. "And unless you practice, you should not preach".

Professor Pamela Dillon was the keynote speaker at the re-naming of the Toronto College of Buddhist Studies as the Nalanda College of Buddhist Studies, June 23. The TCBS was ceremoniously opened last year and reported in 'The Sunday Island' of August 6, 2000.

"A new name, a new vibrancy," said College president, Professor Suwanda H. J. Sugunasiri, welcoming the gathering at the 'Open House,' renaming the institution. The College is the only one of its kind in Canada, offering several courses in various aspects of Buddhism leading to a Diploma in Buddhist Studies. The College faculty is drawn from several University professors with Doctorates in allied subjects. Prof. Dillon is the latest addition to the Faculty, holding an M.Ed. in Applied Psychology and is on her way to a Doctorate.

The name-change "was humbly sought to invoke history as well as set our sights high," says Dr. Sugunasiri. "The name 'Nalanda' has an auspicious history. Nalanda University in India, founded in the fifth century, was the most famous Buddhist University, and is linked to all the major Buddhist Schools - Theravada, Chinese and Tibetan".

Prof. Sugunasiri expressed the hope that the College would serve more comprehensively, the educational needs of Canadians, Buddhist and non-Buddhist, "helping build a more harmonious Canadian and world society".

The topic of Prof. Dillon's address was 'Buddhism and psychotherapy: the interface'. She discussed the question as to how psychotherapy and Buddhist practices could be connected. Psychology, the treatment of the mind, is similar to Meditation - an essential part of the Theravada Buddhist practices. Both help in cleansing the mind.

"The practice of psychotherapy is the love of my life," Dillon observed. "It facilitates the process of healing which is a natural process that cannot come from outside. It has to come from within ourselves."

Answering an audience question, she said she does not subscribe to the Rudyard Kipling theory that 'Never the 'twain shall meet'. Buddhist practices, she said, could be the means of expanding the Western psychotherapeutic paradigm.

Prof. Dillon dwelt on the problems of depression and anxiety in modern North American society, observing that therapy could be applied to mental problems through the Buddhist concept of meditation. She herself, has practised Yoga and Meditation for the last two decades.

There is a desperate hunger for knowledge in the West, Prof. Dillon observed. And, it is looking for the teachings of the East for answers to the mounting human problems. Why, she asked, is it that Western psychology does not deal with the spirit? How can we be in the world, yet, not of it? The Buddhist Teachings hold practical answers, she said.

In a post-Open House interview with 'The Sunday Island', Prof. Dillon traced her birth to Guyana. Of mixed parentage, she came from a devout Roman Catholic family. She was nine when her parents made Canada their home 37 years ago. From her early years, she was disillusioned with dogmatic religion.

Over a vegetarian meal of green salads, the single mother of a 17-year-old son, spoke of her long journey in search of something more meaningful than organized religion. "Finding Buddhism was like coming home," she said. She looked for people living spiritual lives in their day-to-day activities. "People who practice what they preach are very few". This, she observes, applies to Christians as well as Buddhists.

She is vehement, almost brutal, against the waste of time on traditional rites and rituals. No, she says, she does not take 'Refuge in the Buddha'.

"The Buddha constantly dwelt on 'Attahi Attano Natho'- being a refuge to oneself - or the Master of one's Fate". She stresses the importance of what she cells 'embodied Buddhist practice'. She explains this as the difference between calling oneself a 'Buddhist' on the one hand, and committing to 'being our Buddhist nature in each and every moment of our lives,' on the other.

"The Buddha was not a Buddhist," she asserts paradoxically, if not sacrilegiously. "He had striven for and attained his true nature - his Buddha nature - by stilling his mind and experiencing every moment of his living, resulting in his awakening".

"As you know," she tells me, leaning on an elbow, "the word 'Buddha' means one who is awake, and not the follower of anyone else".

Prof. Dillon says that one can pay lip service to the work of enlightenment, and simply hide behind the 'Buddhist' label in the very same way that one might hide behind the label of 'Christian,' rather than attempt to emulate the example of Christ in every waking moment of life. The difference between 'label' and the reality of moment-to-moment presence, is the difference between 'Samsara' and actual transformation in our lives into the experience of freedom.

Prof. Dillon believes that the emergence of joy and peace from the bondage of suffering is the gift of the Buddha. This, she says, is not to be found through ritual, but rather, in the simplicity of the present moment. She sees herself as one trying to help people find peace within themselves. "I am interested in transforming the lives of people," she says. To her, Buddhism is a powerful means of exploring consciousness. "Most of the time," she says, "people are looking for ways to escape reality". Seeing oneself clearly, calls for change, and human beings, by nature, tend to be resistant to such change. They accept painful, old patterns of living rather than changing their lives.

"But the Buddha's gift of 'Vipassana Bhavana' is the way (magga), parexcellence, to begin to perceive one's own 'present moment' reality with Compassion and Wisdom".  

Pamela Dillon vibrates with life. She loves people, life and jazz music, and is interested in both, physical and mental health and well-being. She considers her life to be an ever deepening journey of understanding spirit in matter. As a Yoga teacher, marathon runner and athlete for over 20 years, a Shiatsu therapist for ten years, Akido practitioner and avid student of Taoist philosophy and Jungian Psychology, Pamela Dillon's versatile life equips her to explore mind/body/spirit dynamics to facilitate the healing process in others.

A bundle of energy, she's passionate about the Buddha-Teaching which she sees as a driving force for the enjoyment of life.

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Nepal asks India to

scrap dam project that will flood Buddha's birth place

KATMANDU, Nepal. 2-Aug-01 - Nepal has asked India to stop building a dam that threatens to flood Buddha's birthplace and violate international laws. Nepal formally requested India to "stop the construction of the barrage," Minister for Water Resources Bijaya Gachchedar. Four months ago, India began building the Rassiyal-Khurda-Lautan dam across the Danav River, just 655 feet from the Nepal-India border south of Lumbini - Buddha's birthplace.

Buddhist scholars and Nepalese political parties have criticized the 20-foot high dam. They accuse Hindu-dominated India of violating international laws that bar such constructions within five miles of an international border.

"The construction of this barrage is a well-designed conspiracy of India to inundate the birthplace of Lord Buddha and create another fake Lumbini somewhere in the Indian territory," said lawmaker Gokarna Bista of the United Marxist Leninist Communist Party of Nepal.

Some said say India is conspiring to use the dam as a way of flooding the historical location. Lumbini, 170 miles southwest of Nepal's capital of Katmandu, is said to be the place where Buddha born more than 26 centuries ago as Gautama Siddhartha.

UNESCO, the United Nations' cultural arm, has also recognized Lumbini as the birthplace of Buddha and declared it a World Heritage Site.

India officials have said the dam is meant to block and manage the flow of river water, mainly for irrigation. India has long claimed the actual birthplace of Buddha is in India and not Nepal. However, archeologists discovered in 1996 a commemorative pillar placed there by the Indian Emperor Ashoka in 249 B.C. that marked the precise location.

UNESCO has said that Lumbini is one of the holiest places of one of the world's great religions, and its remains contain important evidence about the nature of Buddhist pilgrimage centers from a very early period. (CNN) 

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Missing hands of Bamiyan Buddha Statue

by D. G. B. de Silva

Will the Sri Lankan Buddhists accept the idea that a Buddha statue could be sculpted without the details of the face and the hands? Going by their response so far the answer has to be in the negative. They have been reconstituting even those statues which had been without parts; or added elements that were not there in order to conform to present ideas regarding the sculpting of Buddha statues. The damaged nose of Samadhi statue, a picture on which Jawaharlal Nehru had meditated when he was in prison, was repaired giving it a 'Semetic' looking nose which has destroyed much of its original appeal. A 'Usnisa' was fixed on the head of the colossal Buddha statue at Avukana overlooking the fact that 'Usnisa' did not form part of statues executed during the Anuradhapura period. A number of other Buddhist statues have been repaired by adding the missing parts.

This is a situation that Buddhists of Sri Lanka who are going to set up replicas of the colossal Buddha statue of Bamiyan which was destroyed, among others, by the Taleban regime of Afghanistan will have to contend with, before they raise the statue because the colossal statue at Bamiyan had neither its face, nor its hands and the left leg intact. The commencement of construction of one of the replicas at Gampola was shown on Television news with the President participating on the occasion. If these are not political gimmicks at least the design of the proposed statue should have been disclosed to the public, who will, no doubt, be called upon to meet the expenses.

Criteria

Besides, what criteria is behind creating a replica of the Bamiyan statue when the iconographic concept behind it does not fit in either to the religious or the iconographic tradition of Sri Lanka? So the decision to erect a replica of Bamiyan statue has to be seen as an emotional response to the destruction of the statues. The political appeal has also to be recognised. The idea has nothing Buddhist about it. A replica as some one pointed out may not have the same attraction religious-wise. It may not even help raise emotions over its aesthetic appeal. It is not just the mass of rock or concrete that makes both religious and aesthetic appeal but the sculpture itself in its "living beauty," set against its background of history and traditions. Whether it be as an object of worship, or something with aesthetic value. A replica could only have a commercial value like the Tokyo Tower which the Japanese constructed in imitation of the Eifel Tower.

Emotional responses of this nature may be a universal phenomenon in a situation like the one mankind faced when Taleban regime destroyed the cultural heritage. Such emotions could be compared to a child crying over a lost toy being pacified by saying "We will get you another one.'' but certainly, it cannot be called neither a Buddhist nor a Sinhalese attitude. The Sinhalese as others, have more profound perceptions as seen from the simple villager's saying "Giya hakurata nadunne; tiyena hakura rekaganne" [Do not cry over the lost lump of sugar: take care of what you have]. The saying goes far deeper than the English proverb 'Do not cry over spilt milk". This is not the place to go into details. To cut it short, the government may do well by taking effective measures to safeguard our vanishing cultural heritage, especially our valuable Buddha statues being stolen or vandalised as we hear almost daily today. The Buddhists themselves have enough to think of rather than building replicas of Buddha statues which are not even part of our religious and sculptural tradition. If one wants to gain merit as the old belief goes, collect a few Tourist Dollars as they do with the Tokyo Tower, or one wants to use the occasion to meet a political agenda it is a different thing. There are enough gullible people in the country. Why? Didn't an Indian fast- talker who was promoting the Tourist Board's Hanuman Temple complex idea at Sita Eliya say that millions of Indians would come and Sri Lanka could earn valuable 'forex' by selling the black earth (claimed to be resulting from the Hanuman's burning of Ravana's city) of Sita Eliya. Even our chenas may not be spared once the idea catches on! Besides, why go so far looking for mythical Hanumans when there are living ones in our very midst-Colombo. Jaffna, Mawanella, Ratnapura included? This is by the way.

Mudras

In my last article entitled "Misconceptions about Sri Lankan Buddha Image - The case of Avukana Buddha. I rejected the comparison of the Bamiyan and Avukana statues made by my good friend, Denis N. Fernando, which arguments he has failed to meet or defend his two positions in his rejoinder. Additionally, I advanced the hypotheses that the missing right hand of the Bamiyan colossus was probably held in the 'abhaya mudra' which is different from the 'Asisa' mudra in which the right hand of Avukana statue as well as other standing statues of the Anuradhapura period were held. Denis Fernando has agreed with my view that the upper arms of the Bamiyan statue where the details of the robe have been meticulously moulded with cascading frills were not meant to be hidden away [if the hand was held perpendicularly close to the Upper arm as is the case in Avukana statue]. But, he has rejected my proposition about the position of the hand thereby raising a contradiction. However, he has made a very valid observation when he points out that the sheer weight of the hands if carved out of the rock would not have permitted cantilevering as required if the hand was not held in the perpendicular position close to the body [upper arm] of which it should have been part. Of course, he visualises the possibility that the hands may have been made out of wood in which case also it would have to be supported [from underneath or horizontally]. This is a problem that sculptors of standing Buddha statues had to grapple with and one sees the hands being supported by making them part of the flowing outer robe or cloak (in some). Later this supporting de vice had become a sculptural feature which is continued even in bronze figures where the problems of cantilevering was not acute.

The first point I wish to make is that the hands of the Bamiyan statue could not have been sculpted out of the same sand stone rock. The evidence is that like some other parts of the body, e.g. Iegs, the robe etc. the hands too had been moulded whether using a wooden framework, or stucco [ mixture of straw and mud some times with a wooden base] as often found in sculptures from Bamiyan, Fondukistan and Hadda in Afghanistan. In this case the problem of weight and cantilevening is less acute. As such, a position like the 'abhaya mudra' cannot be excluded. It must be said that there are several variations of the 'abhaya mudra; but in none of these does the hand rise above the level of the shoulder.

The second point is that there is no evidence as far as one could see from pictures that the right hand had been held close to the body as at Avukana where such positioning was necessitated because there was no other way it could be supported, as there is no robe covering the right shoulder drooping over the right arm which could have provided alternate support. In the Bamiyan image as in other images where the right shoulder is covered and the robe droops down over the right hand, such presentation provides the support [cantilever ] to the right hand. The robe arrangement transforms itself into an iconographic feature from a sculptural necessity and as such, is repeated even in bronze cast statues where the problem of cantilevering does not arise.

In Bamiyan the upper arm and the torso are free from any encumbrances and sculptural details are very clear. On the contrary, there is a clear peg mark on the right hand wall of the niche in which the statue stands which is lager in dimension than other peg marks found elsewhere in the statue [Such a peg-mark is also found in a parallel position in relation to the left arm] which points to some supporting devise provided to the arm. Of greater significance are the four square peg marks found in a perpendicular position between the outer side of the right leg and the outer cloak [on the same side] which is evidence that they had supported the robe which had been drooping down to form as column the outstretched right hand. This contrivance has actually been used as a supporting device like a column to support the right hand. This column results from the robe on the right side being held on the right hand which is held in the 'abhaya mudra'. Many examples of this could be seen in Chinese, Japanese and Korean statues where the right shoulder is covered by the robe. In the case of the Bamiyan image the support for the right hand held in 'abhaya mudra' appears to have come from both the device fixed on the single large peg found on the niche on the right hand and the column [hanging robe] which extends downwards along the right leg which is now missing but the existence of which is clear from the peg marks left. This column [drooping robe] had been linked to the right leg which finally takes the weight of both the hand and the column. The hands as we observed, were in all probability of lighter material such as stucco on a wooden base.

The third point is that the "abhaya mudra" is not necessarily a one hundred per cent vertical position. There are varations in the position of the hand in this mudra but in general it is not a fully vertical position as found in statues where the hand is held in the 'Samudra-mudra' as found in Myanmar [Mandalagiri Vihara] and Thailand [Watkenchama-bojit vihara]. The statue in Myanmar though cast in bronze is a fine example of a fully vertically stretched hand which is supported by the arrangement of the robe as pointed out earlier.

In "abhaya mudra" the hand is held in a semi up-right [perpendicular] position the vertical aspect being not very pronounced. Still it would call for cantilevering but the problem is not as acute as in a fully vertical position here the hand is stretched forward.

The fourth point is that the perpendicularly held right hand as found in the Avukana statue which is known as 'Asisa mudra' is a variation of the 'Abhaya mudra' which is peculiar to Sri Lanka and nut found outside the Island. This may not be a scientific consideration, but it is an important observation in iconography which cannot be set aside, it has been developed in the Island more likely in the last days of the Anuradhapura period and continued to this day as a main sculptural feature.

Left hand

In the case of the left hand the iconographic tradition is less rigid. The sculptors seem to have had the freedom of choosing from several alternatives available. The Anuradhapura school has shown a preference for the perpendicular position of the left hand holding the end of the robe at the top of the left shoulder. This position of the hand is rare in other countries. The closest are the bronze statue in the Madras government Museum [10th century], and the statue in the Buddha Gaya museum. In all other countries and at Mathura in India the left is hand is generally held in a hanging position. In Sri Lanka too this universal style has been preferred from the Gampola period onwards.

There is no question, whether one looks scientifically on the basis of available evidence in the statue itself or through comparison with mudras in other statues and chronological development of the Buddha statue, that the left hand had not been held in the perpendicular position as it is in the Avukana statue. Besides the fact that the style of the robe in the Bamiyan statue has no end to hold as in Sri Lankan statues. There is no evidence of the left hand having obscured the finely defined folds in the robe through a movement of the hand upwards to the left shoulder.

There is some evidence of the left hand having been supported from bottom as the long line of peg marks as seen from the broken point in the bend of the arm to the bottom of the clock [it is more like a cloak which Persian and Kushan rulers wore more than an outer robed]. Similarly the right hand also has received strength from the lower part of the cloak which was in a fair state of preservation before the recent destruction. Like in the case of the right arm there is also evidence that the left hand has had support from a device fixed on the wall of the niche exactly as at the same height. Madame Nancy Dupree wife of archaeologist. Louis Dupree. has, in her writings stated as follows: "The face was once covered with gold leaf, the right hand lifted in a gesture of re-assurance [which is 'abhaya mudra'], the left hand hanging by the side. The small holes covering the body made by wooden plugs which held the cords in plastering his robe."

Madame Dupree wrote with the experience and observations of her husband who was an eminent archaeologists and art historian. She has left the question of both hands stated in simple language without reference to mudras or making any categorical identification of the postures. As for the right hand it is clear that the 'abhaya mudra' is meant. Regarding the left hand, the observation leaves the position open but it is certain that she meant a perpendicular position stretching downwards and not one stretching upwards as at Avukana. The comparison would fit into the position of the left hand in some of our more recent statues as found at Dambadeniya and Bellanvila Raja Maha Viharas.

At Bamiyan, the left hand is supported as I observed, by the left portion of the cloak which has stood like a column. Such supporting devices would have allowed the sculptor the freedom to choose a more appropriate posture than allowing the hands to droop down hanging, if one were to compare with the many positions in which the left hand is held in numerous statues found in (Central Asia, China, Korea, Japan and South Asia, one would see a number of different possibilities for the Bamiyan statue.

I was fascinated by the unusual but very balanced posture of the left hand found in the Buddha statue in gilt bronze belonging to the Northern Wei dynasty of China (King Udayana mudra] which is now at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art which I was privileged to see [See picture]. I would not apply the gesture in the right hand of the Chinese statue to the Bamiyan colossus as the evidence in the latter does not indicate that it was so. Though it is also in "abhaya mudra' the hand of the Chinese statue extends a little too far horizontally and the Bamiyan Buddha's robe arrangement does not extend that far. In my last article I gave the 'King Udayana mudra' and the 'Varocana mudra' [Gadaladeniya bronze statue- Photo in last article] as possible alternatives for the left hand. I think indeed the Bamiyan colossus represent the Vairocana Buddha, meaning 'Resplendent' in Sanskrit, whose images, it would seem from many Chinese examples, became popular from the second half of the 6th century onwards and finally made its entry into Japan. It was centering round Vairocana [Lu-che-na in Chinese and Roshana in Japanese] whose description is first given in 'Brahma-jala-Sutta' that images began to be built in China when the concept of a single supreme Buddha began to take a hold. The first experiment was to make the statue of this new concept as taller colossi to give it the cosmic appearance. One sees the beginning of this trend in Bamiyan where not only the colossal size its employed but also the paintings of the statues and the niches to give that cosmic appearance. The identification of the Bamiyan colossus itself requires a separate treatment.

The Island - 23 Jun 01

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First ever Buddhist Procession in UK

From Sujeeva Nivunhella in London

The first ever "Buddhist Procession" (Buddha Perahera) in the United Kingdom was held in London on May 26. About 2000 Buddhist devotees attended this procession and it was started at Hyde Park and ended by the Japanese Peace Pagoda in Battersea Park.

A group of Buddhist monks led this procession and they were followed by the dancers and the devotese with Buddhist flags. Another group of Buddhist monks travelled in a float chanting 'pirith'.

It was organised by the 'Sinhala Bala Mandalaya in the UK' with the help of all the Buddhist temples. The chief organiser Gamini Keerthichandra told 'The Sunday Island' that the reason he organised this was to unite all the Buddhist monks living in England and try to give Buddhism a greater exposure in the western countries. He also said that he was planning to rectify any shortcomings and organise another procession in a larger scale, next year.

The Island - 3 Jun 01

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Home is where the heart is

By Nan

I have written a couple of articles on Myanmar and seemed to rave over the place. Feedback there was in that around six persons wanted more details and said they were going to breathe life into their dream of visiting the Golden Land. Good for them! One or two asked me why I did not touch on political matters. It definitely is not my business and I cannot comment after a seven-day visit. Also, after being treated so goodly how could I criticize? Criticism would be merely superficial comment with absolutely no salutary effect, no one in Myanmar or in the embassy here taking the slightest notice of what I write. 

I did compare in my mind and once in a w hile in my articles, Myanmar and certain things as they prevail there with what obtains in Sri Lanka. And inevitably Myanmar scored. I want to balance things by writing of the positives of our beloved Sri Lanka as against the positives of Myanmar I wrote about.

I commented on the lack of real piety in general, and the absence of peace, quiet and heartfelt veneration in the places of worship here in Sri Lanka, in contrast to the sacred sites we visited in Yangon and Prome. I admit I was recollecting my impressions of visits to Mihintale and Sri Pade where the journey is more fun than pilgrimage, to most. I do still hold by my comment that we seem hurried and harried in our worship in temples. But there is a general awakening to this and the presence of many who go about their worship with quiet dignity is testimony to the fact that Buddhism in its pure form, devoid of rites and rituals, is taking strong hold in this country of ours.

True piety in Sri Lanka too

Vesak was spent at the Maitriye Hall in Mettarama Temple down Lauries Road. The temple hall too had a large number of devotees in sil. There was quiet and a pervasive sense of tranquillity, un-hurriedness and dignity. No loud speaker blared forth, no scramble for the two meals given, not much chatting and exchanging inane how-do-you-dos. Sil was undertaken seriously with commitment and joy. 

I had the good fortune of spending time recently at the Sacred Bo Tree and Ruanwelisaya. The special aura that is Anuradhapura, a mixture of pride in this prosperous ancestral capital of ours and piety surrounded me and filled my senses, so that I venerated the earth I walked on. I spent precious time sitting in absolute silence and devotion to the Sacred Tree, remembering with gratitude and joy that a little sapling that was alive when Siddhartha Gotama became the Thatagatha, was there before us, now old and gnarled but still alive to give us so much to be grateful for.

It was quiet with tourists and pilgrims going about their respective sight seeing and veneration. Seated on the bare ground, one did not feel its hardness, nor did the ants on whom one surely placed one's weight, strike back. Once in a while a man chanted, loud and clear, some gathas for a suppliant's benefit. I did not get distracted nor annoyed by this supplication to the devas. To each his own style of worship and sense of ego, but it would be good if this kapurala were given a place down below and not right under the sacred tree. Gratitude to the tree which sheltered Siddhartha Gotama and its veneration as symbolic of the Buddha are forgotten when the attraction of having one's prayers conveyed to the devas is offered. Sadly, money and profit raise their ugly heads here, tolerated if not encouraged by the monks in charge of the temple.

No glitter, but greater majesty

The Ruwanwelisaya is invariably stunning in its size and majesty. You may see it ever so often, but this awesome feeling, albeit comfortable and prideful, never fails to overwhelm you. Clean, white, uncluttered and stupendous, it takes your breath away and then you give grateful thanks to that mighty king, Dutugemunu. It has no gold, no glitter, but it overwhelms you. Walking round, peace and sheer joy that you are able to be there, flood you. You remember the times you have walked the hallowed ground and give merit to those who brought you to the sacred city - grandparents when you were very little, parents later, siblings in girlhood and then your husband.

The Shwedagon glittered and took your breath away. The Ruwanwelisaya does the same in its simplicity and majesty. It was special this time. It had been recently painted over, and the lighting along the cone at the top, rising from the rectangular section, was seen for miles around; on the left at one time as you went along the road, right as you took a turn. It was beautiful, the lighting effected expertly so that the very top glowed bluey white, with a glisten of the gem at the very top.

It was very quiet, the day we visited being a weekday and in-between poyas. Dusk falling wreathed the place with a special glow and the dry zone sunset set the western sky ablaze. I was asked by my brother to walk upto the wall that rises from the flat platform, keeping my eyes on the stupa. Yes, it disappeared from view as I got closer with only the jewel on the pinnacle visible as my nose touched the base of the stupa. Maybe I had done this before, but the marvel of the architectural know-how of those ancient builders brought on anew a sense of wonder and praise.

Persons in khaki 

Anuradhapura hits you in the eye with reminders of the on-going war. You see a lot of khaki and young men bathing in the wevas, concentrated near their barracks. You remember the hospital here receives the wounded as each battle rages and subsides.

The police in the town were rather hard. You stop your vehicle to ask directions and the two burly policemen on a motorbike who zoom on you have no mercy. Get on they shout and one scuttles the vehicle forward in case they clamp a fine on you, or worse, haul you to the police station.

Those guarding the sacred area and manning the checkpoints were, however, very polite. It is a great mercy and boon that vehicle passes are issued now to get closer to the very sacred area. Otherwise those incapacitated or aged will be kept away from the Ruwanwelisaya and Jayasirima Bodhiya. It is comparatively easy to get a pass to visit the sacred sites, the Ruwanwelisaya included, but to get a vehicle very close to the Sacred Bo Tree is difficult. This is as it should be. No matter though, since very thoughtfully a wheel chair has been provided for those elderly or ill, from the Ruwanwelisaya end. The bus continues to ferry people across, but sometimes a pass is preferred if one wishes to go very late in the evening to the most sacred area.

The Island - 20 May 01 

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Buddhisms betrayed - Part I

by Nalin de Silva

The Talibans have destroyed the Bhamian Buddha statues with a history of more than one thousand five hundred years. They have told the united nations that it is futile to request them to protect the Buddha statues as they have already demolished them. The "whole world" could not prevent the destruction of the statues and the sovereignty of Afghanistan has been respected. In that sense it is a triumph of the national states though Buddhisms world over have been betrayed. Unlike in the case of former Yugoslavia, the Blair doctrine which proclaims that the so-called international community should intervene in the affairs of nation states in the name of human rights has not been put into practise in Afghanistan. It may be that the destruction of Buddha statues or bombing of Dalada Maligawa has nothing to do with human rights as "idols" and not human beings are involved in these cases. In any event the human rights are defined by the politicians, political scientists and others in the west and not by the Diyavanna Oya parliament and the academics in the universities and so-called research institutes in Sri Lanka.

The academics in our universities do not define anything. They only teach the definitions given by their western masters, while I doubt whether our parliamentarians could explain what is meant by definition. This reminds me of an incident that happened about forty years ago. When the whole class could not satisfactorily define an acid my Chemistry teacher in the fourth form, according to the former British way of thinking or year 9 according to the present western practice, asked the class to explain definition. When he did not get any response he wanted us to define explanation! I did not learn any Chemistry from him but neither did I depart and he, though a Christian, more than anybody else has helped me later in life to see through the mask of the linear systems of knowledge starting with undefined elements, (modeled on an undefined God), western Mathematics being the "queen" of all such systems, and get interested in the cyclic or sansaric systems of knowledge, as I call them, through his penetrating questions and comments. With respect to western knowledge systems two suitable mottoes for the Asians, at least for the Buddhists, would be (i) neither learn nor depart, (ii) learn and depart.  

It defies either or type logic of Aristotle but is in harmony with "chatuskotika" or four valued logic. Incidentally according to the definition of human rights of the western academics, politicians and the human rights groups, the poor Sinhala Buddhist villagers in places like Wahalkade do not have any rights human or otherwise.

The Talebans are considered to be fundamentalists by the westerners. However it was the westerners who promoted the Talebans against the former Soviet Union. Though there is supposed to be a civil war that has the "blessings" of the western powers, the Talebans continue to rule the country. The western powers did not do much to prevent the destruction of the Buddha statues. They were very much "concerned" and issued statements and made appeals to the Talebans but very democratically respected the sovereignty of the Afghanistan government. I wonder how they would have reacted if Christian artefacts were destroyed in some non Christian country. If they have even a fraction of that respect for the sovereignty of Sri Lanka it would go a long way towards solving the Tamil racist problem.  

Instead, the Sinhala Buddhists are branded as Chauvinists who are ill treating the Tamils in the country. The ambassadors and the high commissioners go to town defining the problem and offering solutions. The definitions are neither satisfactory nor consistent with facts, and my Chemistry teacher would have asked them to explain what is meant by a definition. In their enthusiasm they go to Jaffna town, in particular, and declare that the Tamils are not treated equally in this country. Coming from ambassadors and high commissioners in countries where English is the only official language, though there are many other communities that speak languages other than English, I begin to suspect that the word equal has multiple uneven meanings depending on the sense in which concepts such as multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-cultural are used. For example though English is the only official language of USA which is supposed to be a multi-racial, multi-cultural country, the Spanish speaking USAites are supposed to be treated equally. However, in Sri Lanka it is said that the Tamils are not treated equally, though Tamil is an official language of the country. It would not be a bad idea to request these ambassadors and high commissioners to define the term equal.

Sinhala Buddhists are supposed to have betrayed Buddhism. Sometime ago Prof. Thambiah wrote a book entitled Buddhism Betrayed. Recently another book has been written by another western sociologist Dr. H. L. Seneviratne, that has been reviewed favourably by Bhikku Bodhi, an authority on Theravada Buddhism according to scholars on Buddhistic studies and a non Sri Lankan by birth. The general idea behind all these is that the Sinhala Buddhists are not practising the Dhamma preached by the Buddha. The Sinhala Bhikkus are interested and take part in political activities and are supposed to be anti Tamil. Though I am neither a sociologist nor an expert on Buddhistic studies , there are number of questions that come to my mind, on the positions taken by these scholars. I do not want to deal with all of them but let me discuss just one of them in relation to the demolition of the Buddha statues by the Talebans. The Talebans have said number of times that their action is within their religion. In other words Islam justifies the destruction of the Buddha statues, according to them. However there are other Muslims who are of the opinion that Islam does not approve such activities. With these contradictory positions taken up by different groups of Muslims I am sure that my Chemistry teacher would have asked them first to define Islam. The moment one tries to define Islam or Buddhism or Christianity for that matter, one comes across many problems. As everybody knows there are two prominent sects of Muslims and not to be outdone Buddhism can be classified under number of headings. What does one mean by Buddhism? Is it a religion? Does one imply by Buddhism the Dhamma preached by the Buddha? If that is so then is it the Dhamma according to the Theravadins, Sauthranthikas, Madhyamikas, Vinnanavadins, Pudgalavadins or some other sect?

There may be number of definitions of religion but a religion can exist only if there are people following or associated with it. A religion is not merely the Dhamma or the doctrine of the founder(s). If one understands by religion the Dhamma or the doctrine then a religion can exist in the libraries and/or the museums of the world without a set of followers. A religion is centered around the Dhamma or the doctrine but it is much more than that. Even if one understands by the word religion the preaching of the founder(s) it is not something "objective" in the sense that the books or the diskettes containing the Dhamma or the doctrine are independent of the observers or the readers of those works. Unless somebody reads these works they have no meaning and a reader has to go through them in order to understand or give an interpretation to what is found in the books or the diskettes. As we know the readers give different interpretations and in that sense there is not one Dhamma or doctrine but many Dhammas or doctrines. One can say that only one of these interpretations, readings or understandings (they all mean the same, as by understanding something, one means creating an interpretation) is correct and that is the interpretation given by the founder(s). However it is not possible to find out the interpretation given by the founder(s) and to make it worse, in certain cases, we do not know whether the founder(s) actually preached some of the sections found in the books.

We may be able to analyse the material and find out whether they are internally and externally consistent but not all would agree with the conclusions. Even if one considers by religion the Dhamma or the doctrine or the preaching of the founder(s) one finds that there are many religions and not just one "objective" religion. In that sense there are many Buddhisms, Christianities, Hinduisms and Islams.

However a religion is not only the Dhamma or the doctrine and is associated with a culture of the people. In many cultures a religion plays a very significant part and the cultures themselves modify the religions. A religion devoid of a culture and confined to the libraries and museums, including open museums as in Egypt (pyramids) and Afghanistan (Buddha statues), could be referred to as a dead religion or a religion that belongs to history. As mentioned earlier even these dead religions could give rise to different interpretations with respect to the readers (observers). The Pharaohs when living probably had a vibrant culture associated with a religion. However as far as the whole world is concerned, at present it is a dead religion symbolised by the pyramids. I do not think that there are any practicing Afghan Buddhists and as far as Afghanistan is concerned Buddhism is a dead religion. Until recently the dead Afghan Buddhism was symbolised by the Buddha statues and some other artefacts. Even that is gone now and we can only read of dead Afghan Buddhism in the books available in the libraries around the world. A living religion or a religion for short is associated with a living culture that has given its own interpretation to the religion. Thus we have Sinhala Buddhism associated with the Sinhala Buddhist culture. Sinhala Buddhism like anything else is evolving and is not a static body of knowledge and rites.

When the Sociologists and the learned Bhikkus make statements to the effect that the Sinhala Buddhists, especially the Sinhala Bhikkus have betrayed Buddhism, they make the assumption that there is only one Buddhism, which is objective and independent of the observers (readers and the followers). They imagine (interpret) a corpus of knowledge to be Buddhism and then compare the actions of others, say the Sinhala Buddhists, with the Buddhism that they had created (interpreted) in their minds. What they fail to understand is that they are comparing the actions of the Sinhala Buddhists with "their" Buddhism and not with the Buddhism of the Sinhala Buddhists.  

They consider their Buddhism to be the only Buddhism, and in the tradition of the western academics their Buddhism is presented as the "objective Buddhism". Who gave the power to these so-called authorities to take their Buddhism as the yardstick to pronounce judgement on the actions of the Sinhala Buddhists? The authority they have emanates from their degrees from the western Christian universities (that includes Peradeniya as well) and the so-called research they carry out and recognised again by the same western Christian universities. When these so-called experts declare that the Sinhala Buddhists have betrayed Buddhism they mean that the actions and activities of the Sinhala Buddhists are not in agreement with their brand of dead Buddhism that they are supposed to have come across (given an interpretation) in their libraries and laptops.

(To be continued)

 The Island - 14 March 2001

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Bamiyan Buddhas were not the only ones: When man is against his own heritage

 By D. G. B de Silva

A San Diego University neuroscientist suggested recently that Samson who pulled down the Temple of the Philistines at Gaza and killed 1000 Philistines single handedly had shown six of the seven kinds of behaviour listed in the standard manual of mental illnesses called DMS-IV. If one were to probe, it may not be difficult to find people qualifying for all seven symptoms in our midst whatever may be the cloak in which they are covered, the pointing of the finger in the wrong direction, as Ayr. Dr. S. K. Vadivale often does, notwithstanding.

The iconography of Afghanistan belongs to the Gandhara School of Art, yet, they differ from that of north-west India. The French Archaeological delegation whcih investigated the Oxus river basin found that presence of a Greek artistic culture in Bactria. The madness of Taleban could only take second place when compared to the mind-set of those who directed and caused the destruction and desecration of places of hallowed religious worship in this island like that of the historic Kiraveddi Bodhi tree in Trincomalee district. The attack on the Sacred Bodhi Tree at Anuradhapura and the Temple of the Sacred Tooth in Kandy. In contrast to the two colossal standing Buddha statues and other sedant Buddha statues in the Bamiyan valley in Afghanistan which were more of interest to art historians rather than as objects of worship except to the small remnant minority of Buddhist villagers in the Bamiyan valley; and many other Buddhist sculptures scattered in places like Hadda. Kabul, Paitava [Kapisa], Ghazni, Kakrak valley and Fondukistan and many other places; and those deposited in the Kabul Museum itself, the places of Buddhist worship in Sri Lanka that came under destruction from time to time were all living monuments, i.e., places where devotees and pilgrims congregate daily and on festive occasions.

The Bamiyan statues cut out of rock and with surface modeled out of stucco are better known for their collosal size. The tallest stood at a height of 53 metres which another stood at 38 metres.

The situation in Sri Lanka was far more serious and called for urgent attention of the international community. Firstly, the destruction as caused at Kiraveddi and numerous other places were attempts to erase landmarks of the presence of Sinhalese Buddhist civilisation in the claimed so called "Tamil Homelands". Secondly, the attacks on the two places hallowed by Buddhists of this country and of others, was an attempt to dishearten and scatter the Buddhists by reminding them of the "impermanence" of their hallowed symbols of worship, as Magha did in the 13th century. It is significant that both places of worship are places closely associated historically speaking, with the very identity of the Sinhalese nation and their ancient kingdom and those who destroyed and desecrated them are the very people shouting over their own rights but do not think of the rights of others.  

What was the response of the government, the people and the so called "international community", the UN and UNESCO when the Sri Lankan historic edifices and objects of veneration were destroyed and damaged on the direction of a megalomaniac? Then why is this concern over the Taleban government destroying inanimate objects when human life itself was destroyed in the attempted destruction at Anuradhapura and Kandy? Weren’t the lives of those who were killed in these places in our island more sacred than the rock and stucco monuments and artifacts now being destroyed in Afghanistan? What happened to man’s conscience in relation to the Sri Lankan case which he, in general, and the international community in particular, now wont to display in great abundance over the Taleban affair? There cannot be duplicity. It is because of that duplicity on the part of the international community, the UN and UNESCO that they have lost clout and Taleban government does not care a two-pence for them.

This discourse is not an attempt to take away the seriousness of the issue caused by Taleban government’s action of destroying the ancient heritage of mankind now located within the territory of Afghanistan. What is even more appalling is not the destruction itself but the gross disrespect for international opinion.  

What was the true significance of the monuments and artifacts that came under Taleban regime’s canon fire and hammer ? The colossal sculptures of the Buddha in the Bamiyan valley chiseled out of solid rock on an extension of the Hindukush mountain range were only part of a great heritage of tolerance which was the result of the meeting of many cultures and minds that ancient Afghanistan once proudly claimed. This meeting place remains sadly bereft today of that great heritage and walks the path turning that ancient respectable land into a virtual cultural dessert and a symbol of gross intolerance. From the voices raised in other Muslim countries and organisations, including those in Sri Lanka, it is to be understood that this is very much against the spirit of Islam and the Taleban government is following a path of its own which is against humanity.

In 1998 I published a well researched article on this subject in "The Island" when Taleban forces were in the process of gaining control over the Bamiyan valley and appealed to the government, the intellectual community and to UNESCO to do all what was within their means to stop the destruction of the monuments. I followed this up with long telefax messages addressed to the Foreign Minister, the Minister of Cultural Affairs and Buddhasasana and others. Dr. Roland Silva, Chairperson of the IOCOM assured me that representations were sent to UNESCO. The threat to the monuments reappeared in December last year and it would seem that time has been lost meanwhile that the world is now faced with a fait accomplish as it seems.  

The Bamiyan statues cut on rock and with surface modeled out of stucco are better known because of their colossal size. The tallest of these stood at a height of 53 metres while another stood at 38 metres high (100 feet]. There were also other defaced seated Buddha figures in the niches around Bamiyan where a large number of rock-cut caves for monks existed. The 38 metre Buddha is assigned to the 4th and 5th centuries while the larger statue is dated in the 5th and 6th centuries. The significance of these statues is their "monumentality, " a process which began in ancient Kapisa [ Paitava) in Afghanistan during the mature phase of Gandhara art. These statues have not only provided a landmark to the caravaneers who traversed these great ancient caravan routes that linked the Mediterranean west with China and India but they also provided the ‘’protection" to the merchant classes who came to patronise them in their treck through lonely routes. As late as the 7th century, the Chinese pilgrim Hsuan -Tsang recorded the existence of another colossal Buddha figure in the Nirvana ;sleeping] position which was about 1000 feet in length but such a figure has not survived the vandalism throughout the centuries. The length attributed by this generally accurate observer is considered a corruption in the text.

Gandhara Tradition

The iconography of Afghanistan belongs to the Gandhara school of art. Yet they differ on certain aspects from that of the North-West of India. The French Archaeological Delegation which investigated the Oxus river basin in Northern Afghanistan found the presence of a Greek artistic culture in Bactria. Soviet excavation found this evidence extending beyond the territory of Oxus. Some of the 3rd century works found there are considered to have been produced in Greece itself but finds of stucco heads and unbaked clay sculptures also point to stylistic evolution towards distinctive forms still of ‘’classical" types. These are not Buddhist arts but they belong to the Gandhara tradition.

The excavations carried out at Hadda by the French Archaeological Delegation show that the tradition there is wholly Gandharan but have definitely Hellenistic classical elements. One of the most surprising examples in a niche from Hadda is the one where Buddha is accompanied by Vajrapani seated with his thunder bolt [Vajra]. This discovery by the Afghan Institute of Archaeology shows clear Hellenistic features in the drapery of the Seated Buddha figure, while Vajrapani is an unmistakable portrayal of Heracles holding the thunder bolt against his knee, in completely Hellenistic style, technique with Hellenistic drapery in the lion skin that is around the girdle. These features point to the execution of the work by an artist or several of them familiar with Hellenistic mythology as well as the sculptural tradition.

Speaking of the tradition of representation of Buddha, the distinguished archaeologists and art historians, Prof Jean Boissellier and Dr. Ahmad Hassan Dani who apparently compiled the evidence on Afghanistan for the UNESCO volume on Buddha Image, (1978) observed that in Hadda as well as other places:’’ It was no longer acceptable in Gandharan iconography for the Buddha Sakyamuni to be shown in the context of an episode in a narrative and on the same level of importance as the other characters as was the case in the older reliefs of the school . The Buddha has now assumed greater proportions, his position is one of rigid centrality and the very style in which he is depicted ÉÉÉ differentiates him from the other figures his ‘divinization’ is henceforth clearly reflected in the iconography, and this is all the more evident because here in Afghanistan more than elsewhere, the other figures continue to follow Hellenistic models".

The same work observes that the sculptures from Tapa Maranjan (Kabul) now in Kabul Museum, the "Buddha [or Bodhisttva] is depicted henceforth only in a purely architectural setting; his image is placed in a niche, so that it is isolated, or rather confined within its own space. This space may be in a niche, or it may be the base panel of a stupa, with pillasters around it. The scenes from the life of the Buddha and from the "Jatakas" then gradually disappear or become much reduced; they are no longer narrative accounts of an event but mere allusions to it. Yet within these limits the artists of Hadda were capable of producing a masterpiece, very freely composed, such as the ‘Preparation for the Great Renunciation’."

This attitude of Buddha which appeared in early sculptures as a ‘man among men’ reveals himself in the art of Afghanistan to men as a ‘constant source of salvation’. One is able to understand the non-Hellenic and Non-Indian attitude found in Kushan sculptures in places like Mathura and Surk Kotal when one examines the sculptural remains from Kapisa in Afghanistan. [Some pieces were in Kabul Museum]. The stele depicting ‘Buddha in the Dipankara Jataka’ found at Shotoruk [Kapisa] sculptured on schist rock- [Kabul Museum), which is a unique piece in itself where the Buddha Dipankara is depicted in proportions much larger than other figures illustrates this point .

The stele showing the final Nirvana of the Buddha and that of the Buddha being venerated by the three Kasyapas which are also in the Kabul Museum are valuable pieces sculpturally and in terms of Buddhist lore.

Fondukistan

New evidence brought out by French and Italian Missions point to ‘the final surge’ of renewal of the stylistic iconographical language, in Afghanistan before the Muslim invasion. The material used is clay-mixed with straw, and horsehair [at Fondukistan] often on a solid wooden framework. Features noted in these work containing figures of Bodhisattvas, Nagas, Devatas and Buddha himself are youthfulness, graceful shapely limbs with a ‘somewhat feminine ideal of beauty and grace unquestionably aristocratic.’ These have been further described as ‘subtly equivocal in the inclination of the head and the "Mudras" are no longer severe, as in the sculptures of the previous centuries, but are charming gestures of courtesy rather than symbolic attitudes heavy with religious significance."  

Hindu Sculpture

In contrast to clay sculpture from Fondukistan and other places crop of sculptures in marble and other calcareous material have appeared in East Afghanistan where the Kabul river meets, River Indus. These are mostly Saiva and Vaisnava sculptures attributed to the Shahi dynasty which was finally wiped out by the Gaznivad Muslims.

Bejeweled Buddhas

Another type of clay sculpture f’ound in a number of places are the bejeweled Bodhisattvas and Buddhas. These are considered to be the expression of the Mahayanist concept of "Sambhogakaya". The idea appears to be to identify the Buddha with the "Universal Monarch.’ This iconographical phenomenon, a good example (7th c. Fondukistan] of which is found in Musee Guimet in Paris. is that of a Bodhisattva image in unbaked clay with a reddish paint considered to derive from Mathura design of the Gupta period’ with a style of painting reminiscent of the Ajanta caves. However, I find an unmistakable Roman look about this Bodhisattva figure.

Afghanistan provides a treasure trove for the student of art history, specially a field to learn the fusion of several cultural streams which met there. The hay day of the civilisation was in the time of the Kushan kings, notably, the great Buddhist King Kanishka. This is not surprising as the land was in the heart of the ancient Silk Route linking the Mediterranean with China and India. It was along this route that Tapasra and Bhalluka, two Bactrian merchants who were Buddha’s first lay disciples stopped on their way to the ports of Kalinga, where, they had outposts and to Sri Lanka and beyond, stopped to listen to Buddha preaching the doctrine, and were rewarded with a few strands of Buddha’s hair which they deposited at the Dagoba at Tiriyaya, which event is commemorated by a 9th century Sanskrit inscription on the spot.

The explorations by the French and Italian archaeological missions during the 1960s have added to man’s knowledge about the cultural fusion, religious coexistence and the understanding the art, sculpture and painting traditions which developed in the whole region. Can one comprehended how man himself could rise to destroy he himself created over several millennia of history in the very land which once set an example to the whole world on the principle of coexistence of peoples, religions and cultures, except in terms of the DMS-IV syndrome’’ What is man’s response to situations like this?

The Island - 10 March 2001

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Buddhist Fellowship shocked over Taliban move

Sri Lanka Regional Centre of The World Fellowship of Buddhists is shocked to learn that the Taliban Movement has given a radical ruling of destroying all religious centres and statues including the priceless ancient Buddha statues at the Kabul museum and World famous Buddha statues at BAMIYAN valley.  

As a result of Emperor Dharma Asoka’s Dharma Duta activities, well-trained Bikkus from Kashmir who could speak, a number of languages went on dharma duta activities to the Far East, Persia, Afghanistan, Mesopotamia, and Palestine. These monks who travelled on the Silk route established in the Bamiyan Plateau a number of Buddhist centres. The name Bamiyan itself being used by them with the meaning " place of Buddha". Well-known sculptors from India built many Buddha statues and drew paintings in this Bamiyan Plateau dragging on to a number of years. There had been more than 5000 Bikhus under training and learning the Buddha’s path of teaching in the Bamiyan Plateau.

These statues are valuable not only to Buddhists but also to the country owning them as they posses historic and archeological values to mankind. Most of Afghan war terrorists are at present occupying these caves and destroying Buddhist monuments and continue to destroy most valuable Buddhist statues built around 2000 years ago.We being Buddhists, we are very much disturbed and concerned about this radical decision by the Taliban Movement in Afghanistan and humbly request the government to take up this matter with Director General of UNESCO General Koichiro Matsuura and Secretary General of the United Nations Mr. Kofi Annan demanding a stop to this radical demolition of statues of historic value.

The Island - 8 March 2001

[ NEWS INDEX - PAGE 2 ]

 

They were faceless but even more powerful: I was awestruck

By Julian West, New Delhi Correspondent

On a brilliant winter’s day three years ago, I flew into Afghanistan’s Bamiyan Valley in a cargo plane. From high above the snowy Hindu Kush, I could see the colossal statues of Buddha, which the radical Taliban movement is now destroying, dominating the area. It was only as we landed, though, that their awesome size became truly apparent.

Many years before, I had visited Bamiyan in winter as a student. The lovely valley was sealed by snow and ice and totally silent. On its northern edge rose a sandstone cliff, pockmarked with caves. There, set under a cerulean sky and dwarfing the village beneath them, towered the world’s two largest standing Buddha statues, 180ft and 125ft high. A slightly smaller, seated image was carved into the cliff, further along.

The Buddhas have stood at the spot for something like 1,700 years. They were carved during the Buddhist dynasty of the Kushan king, Kanishka, which flourished on the old Silk Route between China and the Mediterranean. In their heyday, they were known as one of the wonders of the world: robed in brilliant red and blue cloaks, their faces and hands glittering with gilt, their heads adorned with jewelled ornaments. Pilgrims came from afar to see them and visit the yellow-robed monks who lived in the exquisitely frescoed monastic complex carved in the cliff.

They have survived the ebbs and flows of empires and conquest, protected by their mountain fastness. Islam converted most of Afghanistan not long after they were carved, but the statues suffered little. Zealots hacked off their faces, but, if anything, such acts of religious vandalism rendered the faceless images even more powerful and god-like. I, like every visitor to Bamiyan, was awestruck.

By the time I first arrived at Bamiyan, the original decorations had long gone, victim of centuries of biting winters, baking summers and human neglect. Many of the frescos were faded or broken.

The lovely draperies remained, though, as a unique example of Gandhara style, the fusion of Greek and Asian art which flourished in Afghanistan and north-west India in the second to fifth centuries after Christ.

A steep narrow staircase, which more recently had partly crumbled, climbed up through the rock and into a chamber leading out on to the larger Buddha’s head, itself the size of a small room. From there, I gazed out over the wheat fields and orchards of the valley and the tiny figures of herdsmen on donkeys riding by the river far below. Afghanistan’s many troubles seemed to melt away. It was a scene of paradisiacal serenity.

More recently, I found that many of the Buddhas’ draperies had been damaged by the intervening years. The caves ringing the larger Buddha’s feet were being used as ammunition dumps. Still, the images retained their immense power and beauty. Last week, though, it seemed that the death knell had been sounded for them.

Taliban soldiers are said to have begun firing at the Buddhas with rockets and tanks. On Friday a Taliban team, armed with enough dynamite to blow up most of the cliff face in which the statues stand, had begun crossing the snowbound passes north of the capital. The fundamentalist Taliban, which controls most of Afghanistan, has ruled that all statues must be destroyed because they are un-Islamic. While countries across the world have expressed horror, to many Afghans the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas symbolises their impotence and the loss of everything they hold dear: their music, art, history - their culture and their joy.

Last week, an Afghan who works for an aid agency said: "In 20 years of war I haven’t cried. But when I heard this news, I cried." In Rome, Afghanistan’s exiled king, Zahir Shah, who personally supervised many of the country’s first archaeological digs and who has spent the past week striving to save the Buddhas and other threatened antiquities, said he was "shocked and saddened".

"You can rebuild a town, you can rebuild roads, but you can never rebuild these statues," he said.

As the Taliban embarked on one of the world’s most terrible acts of vandalism yesterday, a special representative of Unesco arrived in Pakistan in a last-minute attempt to stop the mass destruction. I remember how on my last visit to the Buddhas, my companions and I posed for photographs. In the picture, we reach as far as the larger Buddha’s ankle. It is, in many ways, a humbling image.

The Island - 5 March 2001

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