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Showing posts with label Bactria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bactria. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 24, 2024

Lost Greek-Buddhists of Alexander

1st human representation of the Buddha: Gandhara

The LOST Greek Buddhists: The Untold Story of Alexander's Monks

(Buddha's Wisdom) 🗡️ When Greek Warriors Became Buddhist Monks: History's Greatest Plot Twist. In 326 BCE, Alexander's unstoppable army met something their swords couldn't conquer -- the wisdom of naked monks (Gymnosophists). Greek warriors laid down their weapons to follow the Buddha's path, sparking one of history's most fascinating cultural fusions.

Discover how fierce Greek soldiers became peaceful Buddhist monks, why they created the world's first Buddha statues, and what happened when Greek philosophy met Buddhist enlightenment.

From lost kingdoms to hidden [Central Asian] monasteries, uncover the epic story that changed both East and West forever.

🗡️MAJOR REVEALS
  • The warrior who dropped his sword and changed history
  • The Greek king who chose enlightenment over empire
  • Recently discovered scrolls that reveal ancient secrets
  • The stunning truth about the Buddha's familiar face
  • New evidence of undiscovered monasteries
🎯 KEY MOMENTS
  • 0:00 Introduction
  • 2:03 Warriors Meet Wisdom
  • 6:38 The Naked Truth
  • 9:18 Kingdom of Two World
  • 13:08 The Face of Buddha
  • 17:10 The Lost Scrolls
  • 23:05 Legacy of the Lost Monks
  • 17:59 Conclusion
Support this channel: Buy us a coffee ☕: buymeacoffee.com/buddhaswisdom. Join in as archaeology meets adventure in this untold tale of warriors, wisdom, and one of history's greatest transformations. #Buddhism #History #AncientGreece #Philosophy #Archaeology
  • Buddha's Wisdom, 11/19/24; Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
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Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Buddhist Afghanistan before Islam

(Namat Rawan) Foladi Valley Bamiyan, Afghanistan, drone footage ديدار از دره شاه فولادی باميان
Beauty and significance of Buddhist Mes Aynak | Afghanistan
(Kartemquin) May 6, 2015: #SAVEMESAYNAK. Watch the film: igg.me/at/savemesaynak.

FILM: Saving Mes Aynak
The award-winning film Saving Mes Aynak follows Afghan archeologist Qadir Temori as he races against time to save this 5,000-year-old Buddhist archeological site in Afghanistan from imminent demolition [by Chinese industrialists who want to extract gold and rare earth minerals].

Saving Mes Aynak, from the producers of Life Itself and The Interrupters, examines the conflict between ancient cultural preservation and new economic opportunity, through the lens of the Afghan archeologists and local villagers who live and work near Mes Aynak.

They face a nearly impossible battle against the communist Chinese, the Islamic Taliban, and local politics to save their Buddhist culture and heritage from permanent erasure. But we can help.
  • We must try to stop this from happening (igg.me/at/savemesaynak).
  • The Buddha was born in Afghanistan, according to Dr. Ranajit Pal, which at that time was a part of ancient Gandhara, and the oldest Buddhist texts are from there: Gandhāran Buddhist texts. This is why the largest unexcavated Buddhist temple is in Afghanistan, why the oldest Buddhist texts are from here, and why the largest Buddha statues were built here (including the most massive one in the world, a buried reclining Buddha in the lion's pose under Bamiyan). The Shakyians, from which we derive the name Shakyamuni, are the ancient Indo-Sakas.
  • [UPDATE: Sakka, Kwan Yin, Maha Brahma, and/or Prajnaparamita Devi seem to have intervened and raised the human supply of rare earth minerals, which means the price was brought down, which stopped the Chinese government in its tracks. It already built train tracks to the site to begin extracting the country's mineral resources, but it does not seem feasible (profitable) now to do so. Other sources of these formerly rare minerals were found on the seabed by Russian and other prospectors. That seems to have made things safe...until everyone needs a second cellphone and more electronics, which are dependent on these elements. So take care of your devices and use them longer, extending their usefulness and lifespan even though Apple Corporation and others want planned obsolescence.]
For the past few years, the effort of American Director (and Northwestern University Professor) Brent E. Huffman, through Saving Mes Aynak, has played a vital role in delaying the demolition of this historical treasure.

Mes Aynak: 1 sq. mile Buddhist temple complex
But again time may be quickly running out. A state-owned Chinese mining company still has immediate plans to destroy Mes Aynak and mine it for precious minerals, and it could happen AT ANY MOMENT.

Now, the only way for Mes Aynak to be saved is if the Afghan government (that sold off the mineral rights in a desperate attempt to earn foreign currency) intervenes, halts mining, and officially petitions to UNESCO to make Mes Aynak a World Heritage Site.
Only the Afghan government can approach UNESCO. Through the film Saving Mes Aynak, the major goal is to raise mass awareness of the impending demolition, creating an international movement to put pressure on the mining company, the Afghanistan government, and UNESCO to make Mes Aynak a World Heritage Site.


This is the ONLY WAY to #SAVEMESAYNAK. The more funds raised, the more people will see the film and know the beauty and importance of Mes Aynak, and the greater the chance of Mes Aynak being saved.

To do this, the focal point of the campaign is #SaveMesAynak Day, July 1st, a global event when supporters everywhere stream the film and stand in unity together to save Mes Aynak.

Through social media, plans are to use this day to spark worldwide conversation, action, and protest. After that, an ambitious outreach effort will be mounted through the film to reach as many people as can be reached.

The more awareness that can be raised, the larger the pressure that can be put on the Afghan government to stop the demolition and to formally petition UNESCO instead. This way, we can all ensure Mes Aynak's safety for future generations. #savemesaynak

Hey, UNESCO, declare it a World Heritage Site

Afghan Buddhist treasures are priceless.
[Look, we're working on it:] ...a number of achievements, especially related to the enhancement of the joint Ministry of Information and Culture (MoIC)-Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MoMP) discussions about the Mes Aynak case. During a round of renegotiation between the MoMP and the Mining Company, it was suggested to implement an underground mining method, at least for the Central Aynak Deposit, to allow for in-situ conservation. This exploration of an integrated approach from the side of the MoMP, a tremendous step forward, led to the organization of the Mes Aynak Symposium (July 2019). The aim was to provide the government with a complete understanding of the relationship between mining and cultural resources in Mes Aynak and to examining the available options to reconcile them before approving a mining plan... unesco.org/en...afghanistan-heritage
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Sunday, November 12, 2023

Ancient pyramid found in Buddhist Central Asia

Aristos Georgios, Newsweek; Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki
Buddhist pyramid built recently at the Fo Guang Shan headquarters in Taiwan (pinterest.es)
This pyramid would be older than the historical Buddha, but Buddhism is older due to the 27 previous buddhas the Buddha talked about in this fortunate kalpa, and would have been from Central Asia (Majjhimedesa) like the cultural features (stupas, kurgans, tumuli) the Buddha was drawing on as a cultural legacy of previous buddhas.
Yantra: a mandala disc with sacred geometrical patterns depicting world as a mind map
Borobudur, Java: When fully fleshed out, this is a Buddhist pyramid capped by a stupa
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Archaeologists discover pyramid built more than 3,000 years ago
Archeologists have discovered a pyramid structure in the steppes of Central Asia that is thought to be more than 3,000 years old.

The monument, known as the Pyramid of Karazhartas, was uncovered during excavations conducted along the Taldy River in the Karaganda region of Central Kazakhstan.

The pyramid was constructed by the Begazy-Dandibai culture, which emerged in Central Kazakhstan during the Late Bronze Age.

This is the largest excavated Buddhist temple in the world, second to Mes Aynak, Afghanistan
Inside the sarcophagus, researchers found a skull belonging to a local ruler who was buried there. This is an aerial view of the step pyramid found on the steppes of Central Asia (© Aibar Kassenali).
Borobudur pyramid temple is aligned with Pawon and Mendut Monastery, Central Java
Stupa or kurgan of the Sakas (Trizna 1899)
This culture consisted of semi-sedentary communities primarily based on metallurgy [Scythians/Shakyians created Mes Aynak by the mines and were goldsmiths] and animal husbandry.

These communities achieved a relatively high level of economic prosperity thanks to the metal trade that extended to various parts of Eurasia.




Dr. Pal linked the Buddha
The high profits from metal exports created a new aristocratic class among the Begazy-Dandibay communities.

The Pyramid of Karazhartas was constructed as a mausoleum for a representative of this aristocratic class, historian Serhan Cinar and archeologist Aybar Kasenali — one of the coordinators of the excavations with the Kazakh National Museum — told Newsweek.

Unexcavated Mes Aynak ("Copper Hill" Mine) overview East hill, Afghanistan

This is a massive and incredible stupa hewn directly into the rock, Mes Aynak
.
Buddhist gold coin from Tillya Tepe site
The pyramidal tomb is one of the most "striking monuments" of the Begazy-Dandibai culture, the researchers said.

During the excavations, which were conducted by the Sary Arka Archaeological Expedition of Karaganda University, researchers found that the structure was a square pyramidal mausoleum consisting of step-like layers.
The Sakas/Scythians were semi-settled nomadic warriors on horseback, experts goldsmiths.
Scythian is broad term, East=Sakas
The mausoleum, which contains a burial chamber, measures around 65 feet by 98 feet across and stands about 5 feet high at its peak. The excavation of monumental stone mausoleums from the Begazy-Dandibai culture began in 1933.

Researchers have since discovered several pyramidal step tombs in the region of the Taldy River valley, in which great leaders were buried.

"The newly discovered Karazhartas stepped pyramidal mausoleum is the largest burial structure of the Begazy-Dandibay elite," Cinar said.

Pyramid base for stupa, Taiwan
"Considering the cut stones found in the Karazhartas pyramid and the monumental size of the mausoleum, the construction of such a gigantic structure in the Bronze Age — in a very arid region such as the steppe — is indicative of the high artistic understanding and rich spiritual beliefs reached by the Begazy-Dandibay communities."

Investigations at the Karazhartas Pyramid have identified a sarcophagus structure surrounded by granite stones, which was found in the burial chamber.

Sojiwan Buddhist Temple, SW of Prambanan Hindu Temple, near Borobudur, Indonesia (wiki)

Inside, researchers found a sarcophagus structure surrounded containing a skull.

In one area in the upper part of the burial chamber, archeologists uncovered a bronze arrowhead and a mysterious pottery fragment. Finally, animal bones, which were frequently used in the traditional ceremonies of steppe tribes, were found in various parts of the burial chamber and the step sections of the pyramid.

The features of the tomb, as well as the accompanying items, highlight the high status of the buried individual, according to Kasenali.

Analysis of organic materials found at the pyramid, carried out by Queen's University in the United Kingdom, has enabled researchers to date the pyramid structure to the 15th-14th centuries B.C.

Archeologists also uncovered evidence of a proto-city settlement named Kent in the same region as the mausoleum, which they attributed to the Begazy-Dandibai culture.

Spread over an area of 15 hectares, Kent was characterized by labyrinthine gates, ditches, and walls, according to the researchers.

Greek culture in Bactria
The settlement featured a regular, planned street network and water collection systems. And next to the settlement, archeologists found special sacrificial altars where ceremonial offerings to the gods were made.

"In the rituals of the Bronze Age inhabitants of Kazakhstan, offerings were made to the sun, fire, moon, and protective 'ongun' spirits," Cinar said.

The findings at Karazhartas provide detailed information about the historical identity, cultural connections and socioeconomic structure of the Begazy-Dandibay culture, according to Kasenali. More
The word kurgan [Buddhist stupa] is of Turkic origin and derives from Proto-Turkic kur- ["to erect (a building), to establish"]. In Ukraine and Russia, there are royal kurgans of Varangian chieftains [the Buddha being raised to be a Shakyian chieftain], such as the Black Grave in Ukrainian Chernihiv (excavated in the 19th century), Oleg's Grave in Russian Staraya Ladoga, and vast, intricate Rurik's Hill near Russian Novgorod. Other important kurgans are found in Ukraine and South Russia and are associated with much more ancient steppe peoples, notably the Scythians (e.g., Chortomlyk, Pazyryk) and early Indo-Europeans (e.g., Ipatovo kurgan) The steppe cultures found in Ukraine and South Russia naturally continue into Central Asia, in particular Kazakhstan. More

Newest Buddhist pyramid, Fo Guang Shan
Pyramid under Buddha: Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum 佛光山佛陀紀念館, Taiwan
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What does it have to do with the Buddha Shakyamuni (Saka-Muni)?
The Buddha was a royal Saka
The Sakas [Buddhist Shakas or Shakyas] were closely related to the Scythians, and both groups formed part of the wider Scythian cultures [9], through which they ultimately derived from the earlier Andronovo culture, BMAC, while also carrying East Asian genetic ancestry [10], with the Saka language forming part of the Scythian languages.

However, the Sakas of the Asian steppes are to be distinguished from the Scythians of the Pontic Steppe [8, 11]; and although the ancient Persians, ancient Greeks, and ancient Babylonians respectively used the names "Saka," "Scythian," and "Cimmerian" for all the steppe nomads, the name "Saka" is used specifically for the ancient nomads of the eastern steppe, while "Scythian" is used for the related group of nomads living in the western steppe [8, 12, 13].


While the Cimmerians were often described by contemporaries as culturally Scythian, they may have differed ethnically from the Scythians proper, to whom the Cimmerians were related, and who also displaced and replaced the Cimmerians [14].

Gandhara Greco-Buddhist art
Prominent archeological remains of the Sakas include Arzhan [15], Tunnug [16], the Pazyryk burials [17], the Issyk kurgan, Saka Kurgan tombs [18], the Barrows of Tasmola [19], and possibly Tillya Tepe.

In the 2nd century BC, many Sakas were driven by the Yuezhi from the steppe into Sogdia and Bactria and then to the northwest of the Indian subcontinent, where they were known as the Indo-Scythians [20, 21, 22].

Other Sakas invaded the Parthian Empire, eventually settling in Sistan, while others may have migrated to the Dian Kingdom in Yunnan, China.

In the Tarim Basin and Taklamakan Desert of today's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, they settled in Khotan, Yarkand, Kashgar, and other places [23]. More

PHOTOS: Buddhist pyramids are ancient feature and modern feature of temples
Four surrounding towers, like minurets, seem to replicate famous Bodhgaya Temple, India
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Friday, September 22, 2023

Ancient Afghanistan and its Buddhist history

Fortress of Lugh, 9/8/21; Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Pfc. Sandoval (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Ancient Origins and Myths of Afghanistan
(Fortress of Lugh) This is a brief look at the ancient origins, history, and myths of the region of modern-day Afghanistan [ancient Gandhara, Scythian Central Asia]. The region is extremely complex with a very eventful history, so this is a very general account. It does not necessarily reflect the origins of ALL ethnic groups in modern Afghanistan. Primary focus is on the Pashtuns, Tajiks, and other Iranian (Aryian) peoples in the region.

A few of the images were drawn from eupedia.com. To support the channel and get extra content, discussion, requests, and so on, see patreon.com/fortressoflugh. Paypal donations are greatly appreciated.

The Buddha was born in Afghanistan

The Buddha was born in a place called "Kapilavastu," the three seasonal capitals of the Saka/Shakya (Scythian) people, which Indian historian Dr. Ranajit Pal, Ph.D. (Non-Jonesian Indology and Alexander, New Delhi, 2002) identifies as Bamiyan and Kabul/Kapil, and we concur, placing the third seasonal capital in or near Mes Aynak, home of the largest unexcavated Buddhist temple complex in the world, seated above an ancient gold and rare earth mineral mining operation.

Bamiyan has the largest Buddha statues in the world, with the largest being a 1,000-foot-long reclining-into-nirvana Buddha buried for its protection, as the CIA and Pakistani ISI collaborated to create the Taliban by releasing hardened criminals from prisons and turning them into Mujahadeen fighters, useful in the CIA's proxy war against Russia in Central Asia, particularly in Afghanistan.

The CIA's hand is seen in the creation and promotion of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaida, "The List," as well, turning disaffected young Muslims into enemy forces as a pretext for bringing in the American military-industrial complex "war machine" to set up some of the largest U.S. military bases in the world, which keep the US Department of War Defense within easy reach of the geopolitical "Middle East," Russia, and other targeted countries, such as:
  • Iran,
  • Iraq,
  • Northern African states like
  • Israel,
  • Libya,
  • Egypt,
  • Syria,
  • Yemen,
  • Somalia,
  • Jordan,
  • Saudi Arabia, and
  • Lebanon,
keeping them and others in check because we have an endless need of targets to promote imperialism and hegemony.

In ancient times, this sweeping area was known as Scythia and before that as Gandhara, which gives us the term Gandharan or Greco-Buddhist art, from the first human depictions of the historical Buddha, Prince Siddhartha "Shakyamuni" Gautama. The ancient Greeks came to the area to set up a country called Bactria, and there were other would-be empires in the militarily strategic area that yet remains problematic, geo-politically speaking, such as the Sasanian Empire.

Dr. Pal maintains that Prince Siddhartha's mother (and her sister, his foster mother, both co-wives of the Future-Buddha's father, King Suddhodana, though perhaps more accurately to be thought of as a kind of Afghan chieftain carrying on ancient traditions of Afghans, Gandharans, Pashtuns, and Scythian nomads like the loya jirga or "great councils") were from Sistan-Balochistan, on the border of today's Afghanistan and Iran.

CIA/ISI/Taliban damage in Bamiyan
This is where his mother was returning when she was pregnant with him, giving birth along the way in a magnificent garden grove that came to be called Lumbini, the Buddha's birthplace outside Kapilavastu, not to be confused with any place now in Nepal, as Dr. Pal asserts that its placement in Nepal is a Jonesian archeological fraud, prompted more by religious politics and tourism than reality.

India utterly controls tiny Nepal and could get it to officially accede to anything, including locating some of these Buddhist Circuit sites on their territory, as borders are said to have moved over the centuries. But as Dr. Pal correctly points out, the wandering ascetic Siddhartha was an outsider, not an Indian. In fact, there was no "India" at that time. This was Proto-India, which would become "India" proper under the Buddhist Emperor Asoka centuries later. Siddhartha traveled to Magadha, Savatthi, Rajagriha, and Bihar (named after the many vihars Buddhists set up to practice in).
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