Buddhist Afghanistan before Islam

The Buddhas of Bamiyan niches preservation by Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan (English subtitle)

(Namat Rawan) Foladi Valley Bamiyan, Afghanistan, drone footage ديدار از دره شاه فولادی باميان

"Monks of the Mines" National Geographic 2015 (Rocío Espín Piñar - Mes Aynak temple)

• Buddhist Afghanistan’s amazing past

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.

• The Afghanistan Heritage and Extractive Industries Development Initiative | UNESCO

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.

(Zawia) For Muslims to care about cultural preservation: The Age of

Buddhism before Islam in Afghanistan | زمان افغانستان قبل از اسلام بودیزم

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

• Brent E. Huffman, savemesaynak.org, Kartemquin Films; UNESCO.org; Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly