Dedicated monk saved Buddhist treasures from Communist purge

eppur_se_muova

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Sat Aug-01-09 05:41 PM
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Dedicated monk saved Buddhist treasures from Communist purge

Hidden Gobi Desert relics found

Rare Buddhist treasures, not seen for more than 70 years, have been unearthed in the Gobi Desert.

The historic artefacts were buried in the 1930s during Mongolia's Communist purge, when hundreds of monasteries were looted and destroyed.

The relics include statues, art work, manuscripts and personal belongings of a famous 19th Century Buddhist master.

The leader of the search team, Michael Eisenriegler, described it as an "adventure of a lifetime".

A total of 64 crates of treasures were buried in the desert by a monk named Tudev, in an attempt to save them from the ransacking of the Mongolian and Soviet armies.
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8179921.stm

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RandomThoughts

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Sat Aug-01-09 05:53 PM
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1. Found Hidden Treasure!

The cultural destruction by many groups is always bad, it is a form of thought control, not letting other opinions challenge ones statements.

Culture should be defended. If a culture is bad then discussing it would show that, and if a culture is good, then discussing it would show that.

So anyone that destroys culture is doing it probably because they think it is good, and people will know it if they see it. And hiding good from people is one of the goals of secrecy and those that are bad.

Glad they found the stuff.

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DonCoquixote

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Sat Aug-01-09 05:54 PM
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2. Sad to say

There are some on the left who would have cheered for the monk to be killed, as it would be some triumph of "rational" thought versus religion.

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Warpy

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Sat Aug-01-09 06:05 PM
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4. Only ignorant people who think Buddhism is a religion at its core

Even though some sects have been turned into folk religion, Buddhism remains more psychology than anything else.

I don't think you'll find many people on this particular board who think destruction of the past by destroying its treasures is a good idea.

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eppur_se_muova

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Sat Aug-01-09 07:09 PM
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5. I'm an atheist myself, but am opposed to denying people choice.

*Forced* conversion or abandonment of religious practices should be ovbiously immoral even to unbelievers.

Besides, even atheists can see beauty in religious artwork -- art is profoundly irrational, but I wouldn't want to live without it.

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Uncle Joe

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Sat Aug-01-09 06:03 PM
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3. Excellent, that is good.

Thanks for the thread, eppur_se_muova.

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