Ancient Statue Reveals Prince Who Would Become Buddha

[sonamdhargey]

I found this article about ancient statue found in Afghanistan. In the ruins of a Buddhist monastery in Afghanistan, archaeologists have uncovered a stone statue that seems to depict the prince Siddhartha before he founded Buddhism.

The stone statue, or stele, was discovered at the Mes Aynak site in a ruined monastery in 2010, but it wasn't until now that it was analyzed and described. Gérard Fussman, a professor at the Collège de France in Paris, details his study in "The Early Iconography of Avalokitesvara" (Collège de France, 2012).
Apparently Afghanistan has a long history with Buddhism.

I wonder how true it is?

[Jessie Fong]

Dear Sonamdhargey

In your post, you did not mention how old is this ancient statue; thus there is no way to tell if it was before Prince Siddhartha's time or it was carved after He became enlightened.

PLease provide more details about the article you read or give us a link to it.


Thank you.

[sonamdhargey]

Dear Jessie,

Thanks for informing. I left out the source of the article.

According to the researcher (Fussman), based on a bronze coin found nearby, Fussman estimates the statue dates back at least 1,600 years. Siddhartha lived 25 centuries ago.

Based on the iconography of the stele, particularly the pipal leaves, Fussman believes the prince is Gautama Siddhartha Sakyamuni, who is said to have achieved enlightenment, become a Buddha — someone of divine wisdom and virtue — and founded the religion of Buddhism. This stele shows him at an early moment in his life, when he has yet to start his fateful journey of enlightenment.

Fussman said that this stele supports the idea that there was a monastic cult, in antiquity, dedicated to  Siddhartha's pre-enlightenment life. This idea was first proposed in a 2005 article inthe journalEast and West by UCLA professor Gregory Schopen. Schopen found evidence for the cult when studying the Tibetan version of the monastic code, Mulasarvastivada vinaya.

Source:http://m.yahoo.com/w/legobpengine/news/ancient-statue-reveals-prince-become-buddha-135830200.html?orig_host_hdr=news.yahoo.com&.intl=US&.lang=en-US