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| "The Buddhas of Mes Aynak" (Copper Well, Afghanistan) by Prof. Brent E. Huffman |
(National Geographic)
"Lost Treasures of Afghanistan," where the Buddha was really raised.
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This is the Land of the Shakyas (Indo-Scythians, Central Asians,
Gandharans), called from ancient times not the Middle East as we label
it now but the "Middle Country" (Majjhima-desa, see Rhys Davids' translation of The Story of the Lineage).
Follow the story of Afghan-American archeologist Nadia Tarzi (Nado
Gamazin), who was raised in Europe, as she visits Afghanistan for the first time to uncover its ancient
Buddhist past.
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| The world's largest Buddha -- reclining at nearly 1,000 feet -- is in Afghanistan (AFP/TBC) |
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Wander in nomadic Scythia, the ancestral range
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| The original "Middle Country" (Majjhima-desa) as nomadic/wandering Central Asia or Scythia touching India, which means Gandhara, Kamboja, the land of the Asavakas, the West beyond. All of this amounts to more evidence that the Buddha was certainly from Afghanistan/Indo-Scythia, Central Asia NOT Nepal or India -- and that the Future Buddha will be, too, at least according to The Story of the Lineage, which systematically states all buddhas come from here. |
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| Central Asia of the "Aryans" (Iranians, nobles) |
[See Part 1]. But
an interesting thing is said by Shakyamuni Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) at the conclusion of this sutra about Metteyya/Maitreya the "Future Buddha":
"Monastics, I do not see (envision) any other single strength so hard to
overcome as this, the strength of Mara."
This last passage is related
to the opening passage of the sutra,
in which the Buddha declares:
"Wander, monastics, in your proper range, your own
ancestral territory. When one wanders in one's proper range, one's own
ancestral territory, Mara finds no opening, Mara gains no foothold. And
it is because of adopting skillful actions that this merit increases." (See also SN 47.6-7). "And the adopting of skillful actions is what causes this merit to increase."
This is the refrain repeated with each stage in the account of how
human life will improve in the aftermath of the sword-interval. Here,
"merit" seems to have the meaning it has in Iti 22:
"Do not be afraid of acts of merit." This is another way of saying what
is welcome, blissful, desirable, pleasing, endearing, charming -- that is, acts of merit (punya), of profitable karma (kusala kamma), of good deeds.
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| The CIA/Taliban did not succeed in destroying the largest Buddha in Bamiyan, Afghanistan, even after detonating the tallest ones built into the cliffs of what is likely the real Kapilavastu near Kabul and Mes Aynak (Boys with bicycles in Bamiyan, 2012, wiki) |
The world's largest Buddha is underground in Afghanistan
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| SAFE (Saving Antiquities for Everyone)/archeologist Nadia Tarzi (savingantiquities.org) |
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| Kapilavastu as Bamiyan, Afghanistan |
We
see, however, not only in populist Mahayana Buddhism, but also in
Protestant Christianity and reformed Judaism how much people fear and
condemn "good works," good deeds, in favor of mysterious "grace" (a
debatable and fuzzy term that seems to mean "results that have nothing
to do with your own deeds") or some higher good of pretentious complete
unselfishness.
Achieve actual unselfishness by becoming a stream enterer -- one who directly knows-and-sees anatta
-- rather than patting yourself on the back going around condemning
merit/good deeds. If one feels good for doing a good deed, do it again
and again; this is the historical Buddha's advice. The sutra concludes,
"That is what the Blessed One said. Gratified, the monastics delighted
in the Blessed One's words."
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