The Great Brahma Statue…
Mar 23rd, 2006 by Lillian
…in Krungthep Maha Nakorn ( or Bangkok) was smashed to pieces a few days ago. The Phra Phrom or The Brahma God is revered by all Thai Buddhists and for many people has been a central place of worship. The desecration of this Statue is similar to what the Taliban did in destroying the ancient Buddha’s in Afghanistan. Its a terrible loss for Thai Buddists.
The man who did this was punished right on the spot. He got beaten to death. Apparently the vandaliser was mad or mentally ill. ( will be hard to find out now that he is dead)
Talking about murder, in Afghanistan Rahman who became a Christian a while ago, is being charged with death penalty. By Islamic, Muslims who convert to another faith and refuse to return to Islam, may be put to death. He too is being called a mad man and if found to be mentally unfit, Islam would have ‘no claim to punish him’ and charged would be dropped.
I really hope that he will be set free and there another step will be taken towards religious freedom in Afghanistan.
What strikes me, not an incredibly deep thought but both men are called mad….
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Gosh, both stories are so sad:(
Well, religions and religious symbols had been sensitive spots through out the ages….don’t really know what I want to say on it, but that’s just about sums it up. :p
I don’t think both stories are sad, I think they are outrageous. The two men that killed the Thai guy are now back at work, I mean come on, they murdered a man! What right have they got to that to another person, whether he is mad or not?
And in Afganistan sentencing a guy to death because he converted to a different religion? That’s possibly even more outrageous. Like His Words said in his post today, imagine if we did that to christians that converted to islam, the muslim world would be going bananas, demonstrating and burning effigies of this and that.
The world, I tell you, is nuts.
Erawn is not quite a place of “worship” - it’s a imported (into Buddhism) diety that people pray to when they want something to go their way. Which, really, is a very selfish way of viewing religion. By imported I mean that Buddha was a Hindu, himself, but the Thai branch of Buddhism has thought to add Buddha’s gods in, as an afterthought, unlike other forms of Buddhism which do not.
The loss of the statue - and lets face it, it wasn’t a hugely historic thing, it was just a symbol. It’s not like it was handed down through the ages is nothing compared to a cold blooded murder. it is NO WAY comparble to the loss of ancient relics. Indeed it was made of plaster and commisioned in 1955! If you must must compare, imagine someone smashing a crucifx made in 1950.
It’s dispicable that all you hear from the Thais are how this is such a bit of bad luck and so on, for the country, the government and for themselves. Noone cares that two idiotic thais beat a man to death and, in all likelyhood, will get away with it.
Utterly disgusting, these people who gloss over that little point.
Also, just as a point, both men actually *do* have a history of mental illness. I’m not saying anything, just wanted to say that people are not calling them “mad” for what they have done, but for their history.
I agree that its terrible, unacceptable the man got killed on the spot. As for a place of worship- isn’t a place where people go to pray, a place of worship? I don’t think calling its fair to call someone who wants to be a christian and not muslim - mad. History doesn’t qualify a person or nation for being mad… OH, ofcourse that would make all humans mad. Bit harsh….
You missed both my points.
The shrine ad the diety is to do *solely* with asking for things frrom a selfish point of view. While this is some form of worship, it’s hardly the “you are my one true god” form of worship, is it? Since when was religion to do solely with what you get out of it.? Remember, when there are degrees of god, there are degrees of worship.
The Afghan guy was not called mad because of his conversion. He was called mad because is wondering if he is mentally fit to stand trial because of some of his actions. In effect, this judge may be attempting to save his life.
Him,
what is so selfish about asking something from a deity like phra prom? is it selfish for a barren woman to pray for fertility? is it selfish for a son to pray for his mother’s heatlh? Is it selfish for a student to ask for successful admission to a good university??
you cant view theravada buddhism like you view christianity or any other religion for that matter. it’s way more complex than that.
having said that. the phra phrom statue might not be an ancient relic. but it had character, like most other famous statues do. a crucifix on the other hand, is a crucifix. smashing a 1950s crucifix is not comparable to decapitating phra phrom. try lopping off christ the redeemer’s head and see how the brazilians treat you.
It’s horibble the fate of the dead person. I’m not trying to justify the murder of the person who did that to the phra phrom statue. It’s wrong. it’s clearly outrageous that his death is a result of the overreaction over the destruction of a buddhist plaster statue. the blatant reminder that lasts, everthing is impermanant, the very teaching of buddha himself. it IS outrageous that the killers walk free.
But thats not a reason to attack the thai buddhist faith. Or to belittle a place of worship held in high regards by the thai ppl.
thats “nothing lasts*”
Saeng.
I don’t find the notion of a please-give-me diety selfish (well I do, actually, but that was not my point), that’s not what I meant. What i was referring to was the Thai attitude. So many quotes I have read from general people have been moaning about how they can not ask for stuff at the shrine anymore. I haven’t heard anyone say that perhaps it was a shame someone was killed. No, everyone is more worried that they can’t beg for rewards anymore. Religion should be more than a crutch to fulfill your personal needs, but this incident shows exactly how people are viewing it. But it’s nothing new, the buddhist idea of doing good things to gain personal credit - as opposed to doign them to help someone else - is also incredibly selfish.
Really sad.
Maye it is best they were pronounced “mad” or other “sane” people may do crazy things.
I do believe it was an over-reaction to have killed that man. It wasn’t a good thing. I’m sure they didn’t mean to - but they got carried away with the mob mentality, the immense heat, their emotional reaction to the desecration. (Or maybe they were just bad guys to begin with.)
If you’ve stopped by to see the Grand Hyatt Erawan corner, it’s really a huge deal…sorta like the King’s statue in the park. It is a sacred place. I’ve had people from all over - Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia tell me how they were having a tough time in their lives - and they had specifically flown to Bangkok to pray at that shrine. (They’re not Thais.)
But it definently wasn’t Buddhist-like to kill the guy. (Nor Christian-like.)
Him
Please dont get it wrong ,saeng words are full of righteous and he does feel sorry for that killing, I dont think its right to say that thais go to pray for rewards from the LORD PHRA PROM .
It just shows how naive you are to bring this subject up , you are behaving like a pre school kid , “I’m not saying anything” ,”well I do, actually, but that was not my point” so childish words , what a pity that readers have to bare with it , you are truly selfish , _ I m not saying anything …….