Thailand. Buddha made of gold. Gold sculptures: ancient and modern products
Perhaps one of the luckiest people in history was a crane operator from Bangkok who, in May 1955, had to move a three-meter tall plaster statue of Buddha from its temporary storage location to Wat Traimit. And while doing this, he... missed her!
It’s hard to imagine what the unfortunate crane operator was dreaming of before the morning when cracks were to be discovered on the statue. To make matters worse, it rained that night, which would have further deformed the plaster.
It must be remembered that in this case they were saved by their Hebrew colleagues. However, they are terribly ungrateful. How vengeful is envy! For more information, remember Daniel's chapter 2, which we analyzed in the previous topic. It is a pity that those who hold religious truth are always a minority compared to those who hold false and false ones. There were only three Jewish men who did not participate in idolatry. . The "sinister accusations" were powerful. They were practically accused of disloyalty and treason for not worshiping the gods of Babylon.
When the abbot examined the cracks the next morning, he noticed a shine under the outer layer. After the rest of the plaster was removed from the figure, it was found to be made of pure gold.
Today the statue is housed in a separate building of Wat Traimit, a popular Thai landmark, and yes, it does look impressive. Its height, as already mentioned, is 3 meters, and its weight is 5.5 tons.
The accusers reminded the king that he himself had put them to work in the province of Babylon. And despite this, they did not pay attention to the king's mandate. They implied that Jews are ungrateful people who despise the king and his authority. It is worth asking: Why were three Jewish friends present at the dedication of the statue, knowing that they could not worship images, statues or idols?
The children of God may, as far as possible, comply with the demands of the king or any human authority, without compromising their religious principles!
- The king demanded to be present.
- This was something they could accomplish.
- The king demanded to bow to the statue: this was something they could not do.
But main feature The Golden Buddha is not its massive size, but its brilliance. This statue sparkles and shines like no other golden object in the world. This is likely due to the fact that the statue is made from 18 karat gold (75% gold alloy) rather than 24 karat gold (100% gold alloy), which is an order of magnitude dimmer.
And where was Daniel in this story? But there are several possibilities. He could be sick or on a trip. He may also have received special permission from Nebuchadnezzar not to be present at the dedication of the statue. Perhaps the king wanted to avoid an unpleasant moment, knowing Daniel's integrity and loyalty to his God. Remember that Daniel explained the dream and its correct interpretation in the previous chapter. Daniel will never accept this statue with his false religion and prophecy. We also know that Daniel was still faithful to God because of the story of the lion's den in a later chapter.
The image of Buddha embodied in this statue is a striking example of the Sukhothai style. This sculpture from the medieval kingdom of Sukhothai is considered by many to be the most graceful and elegant sculptural personification of Buddha.
Nebuchadnezzar had Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego appear before him with anger and anger. They immediately appeared before the king, who offered them a second chance. This shows his high degree of tolerance, because such deliberate and willful disobedience would have been enough for other kings of his time to immediately close his death.
But the three young men bravely responded to King Nebuchadnezzar, saying: There is no need for us to answer you on this matter. Behold, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and from your hand, O king, he will deliver us. How disappointed the king must have felt. He adapted them for three years into his “University of Babylon,” he changed their names; but he could not change his heart or mind, since the opinion and attitude of the Jews and their devotion to God were inappropriate.
It is assumed that the sculpture was cast between the 13th and 14th centuries, which corresponds to the time frame of the rather short existence of Sukhothai. As the Burmese conquerors continued to invade Thailand, it was decided to cover the golden statue with plaster to prevent it from falling into the hands of the conquerors.
Most likely, the statue remained unnoticed in the ruins until the beginning of the 19th century. The kings of the dynasty began to furnish the temples of their new capital, Bangkok. Many statues from temples from the kingdoms of Ayutthaya and Sukhothai were brought to the new temples in Bangkok. Some are very similar to similar works in Istanbul.
These young Jews made a decision. They were people of word and conviction. For them, “Yes” was “Yes” and “No” was “No”. Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful man of his time, the man who dominated the world, could not dominate these three young men, nor his own spirit. Frightened by unlimited power, Nebuchadnezzar could not stand disobedience and contradiction, he was filled with irrational anger and lost his mind. It was so hot that the executioners, very strong men from the Babylonian army, were killed by fire while carrying out the task of throwing the Jews into the burning furnace.
King Rama III, carrying out large-scale reconstruction and construction throughout the city, decided to install a golden statue in the Wat Khunaram temple. In 1931, Wat Traimit became abandoned. The statue remained in temporary storage until 1953, when it was moved to Wat Khunaram.
Today, the Golden Buddha remains an important Buddhist shrine and a true national treasure of Thailand.
What did the king do with his rage, ordering an oven to heat 7 times more than usual? Instead of provoking more terrible death, which apparently was his intention, he provoked the opposite in his irrationality. That is, a faster death, due to the fact that the executioners died when they only approached the oven.
For a more intense and hot fire, what was more impressive was the miracle that was about to happen. But a lot was gained because of the truth! . Nebuchadnezzar wanted the three Jews to experience the pain of the fire. This terrible inquisitorial instrument of torture and death was an invention of Babylon to threaten, punish and eliminate "heretics"; to the dissidents of the Babylonian universal faith; those who did not want to accept false adoration. Other Jews had already been roasted by the King of Babylon.
A legendary Indian spiritual teacher who lived in the late 6th and early 5th centuries BC, Siddhartha Gautama is one of the most revered figures in Buddhism. He was born into the family of a king and experienced luxury and bliss, and then gave up everything and went to wander and meditate. At the end of his life he became a real Buddha, that is, “awakened and comprehended the truth.” In India, Laos, Tibet, and Thailand, temples were dedicated to him and statues were erected.
What a difference true worship makes! He invites us to a service of free, voluntary, and intelligent worship. King Nebuchadnezzar was shocked and said: Didn't they throw three people into the fire? They answered the king: It is true, O king. Everyone has forgotten the adoration of the statue!
All attention was paid to the miracle that was happening before his eyes. The fire was under the control of a supernatural being because it did not touch the young people, but only consumed the ropes with which they were tied. The king describes the room as "like the son of the gods."
And he was absolutely right, because it was the son of God, Jesus Christ, who came to save and vindicate his faithful followers who stood firm against idolatry. Nebuchadnezzar had no doubt that he was not denying what was happening. Interestingly, the three friends were so happy in the presence of the Fourth in the fiery furnace that they had just come out when the king asked them to. It was also the king who ordered them to enter the furnace of fire, and the king had to invite them again to leave him.
In the Chinatown of Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, there is a relatively young temple of the golden Buddha - Wat Taimit.
There are always a lot of visitors there. Gifts are brought to the temple and numerous donations are made. The Buddha statue installed in it, even in the semi-darkness of the room, shines unusually - it is made of pure gold. Its height is 3 m and its weight is 5.5 tons. The pupils of the Buddha's eyes are made of black Thai sapphires, the whites of the eyes are made of pearls. No one knows the name of its creator, the exact date of birth is unknown. The statue was discovered purely by accident...
It doesn't matter if we are in the fire of persecution. The point is that we are with Christ, and he is with us. Also in our trials, sufferings and tribulations, if the “fourth” accompanies us, that is enough for us! Jesus Christ tells us: Do not be afraid that you are going to suffer.
This was the faith of these faithful and courageous boys. They believe in the resurrection and eternal life in that eternal and divine kingdom which God promised in the prophetic dream of the previous chapter. At that time, each nation had its own gods. Victory over a nation was considered to mean that the gods of the defeated nation were unable to save it. Since the Jews were conquered by the Babylonians, they spoke contemptuously of the God of the Jews, blaspheming. Now, finally, Nebuchadnezzar admits that it was not his success over the Jews, but it was because of his sins that God allowed them to enslave Babylon.
For the temple under construction in Bangkok, they decided not to make a statue of a new Buddha, but to use an old one from among those located in the historical park of Sukhothai. They chose the largest statue. It was all covered with a layer of painted cement, but the features of Buddha were clearly visible in it.
It was decided to restore the statue on site. Exposed to the yard, it stood for a long time under a tropical downpour. When they began to load the sculpture into the back of the car, it fell off and fell to the ground... But it didn’t break, only a few wet pieces of cement flew off from it. And a miracle happened - metal began to glow in their place. When the workers began to carefully free the statue from the rest of the cement, under it, to their great amazement, they discovered that the Buddha statue was in excellent condition and made of pure gold. She was brought to Bangkok and placed under protective custody.
The king acknowledged that God had given them into his own hands, not because God lacked power. Therefore, Nebuchadnezzar forbade the Israelites to speak about the evil of God. Recognition of the true God did not give Nebuchadnezzar the civil or moral right to again impose the threat of death. Well, remember that God never forces the conscience. But it was the emotional character of the king of Babylon that fell from one extreme to the other.
Remember that three young men responded courageously to King Nebuchadnezzar by saying: Behold, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning furnace of fire; and from your hand, O king, he will deliver us. Obviously they didn't want to die. But they chose to die before sin and betrayal of their loving Creator.
Subsequently, scientists established that the brought sculpture was cast in the 13th century - then the capital of Thailand was the city of Sukhothai. In the 18th century, when hordes of Burmese enemies approached Thailand, the treasures had to be hidden. And the golden Buddha was covered with one layer of cement, followed by another... The statue was saved from the Burmese, but they themselves forgot about it. And in this cemented form it stood for over two centuries.
God's children know that God can deliver us miraculously, but he doesn't always do it, and he shouldn't do it. This is his divine and providential decision. But we know for sure that God is always with us, “every day, until the end of the world”! Shadrach, Meshach, and Abnego fell into the furnace of fire, not knowing whether they would die or survive miraculously. What they knew was that they were faithful and obedient to God until death.
They undoubtedly remembered their ancestors, who were miraculously delivered from the hand of Pharaoh when God intervened, unleashing the famous 10 plagues on Egypt, opening the sea, and destroying the enemy army. Of course, they also remembered the miraculous liberation of Jerusalem from the hands of the Assyrians. But they also reminded the faithful prophet Uriah, who condemned the crimes of the wicked king Joachim and God, allowed him to be executed.
Initially, in early Buddhism there were no temples or images of Buddha. Being enlightened and having comprehended the truth, Siddhartha Gautama opposed the creation of his material images. He was against the worship of statues, against the possession of all kinds of goods.
In early Buddhism, instead of the Buddha, his various symbols were depicted: a wheel, a lion, a sacred tree. But at the beginning of our time, images of Buddha as a man began to appear. This was facilitated by the widespread spread of Buddhism in other countries and the enrichment of the Buddhist religion with material values.
Remember the Lord Jesus on Mount Gethsemane. The answer was his death on the cross of Calvary for his love of humanity, to open the way to repentance and forgiveness of our sins. That's why he sometimes allows death or miraculous salvation their children to give special testimony.
Desmond Doss was a Christian who kept God's 10 Commandments and rested on his holy Sabbath, prayed, and studied God's Word. During World War II, he enlisted with the Americans as a nurse to help the wounded in the fight against tyranny. He could go to war to save the wounded, but without weapons, because he would never kill a person. As he knelt down to pray before falling asleep, his companions threw their stout boots at him, mocking his faith. He was taken with his unit to Japanese island Okinawa.
So gradually images of Buddha began to be placed in temples - first in the form of small figurines, and then huge sculptures. The Enlightened One sat, as a rule, in the lotus position, his left hand resting calmly on his leg, and his right hand pointing to the ground.
Everything in the statue is symbolic, everything is full of religious meaning, and believers, when they look at it, try to guess the will of the Buddha in order to be imbued with them.
Only 200 people remained from his unit, and he was the only porter alive. The Japanese made their counterattack, wanting to take the same key location and position themselves in front of the Americans. When Desmond Doss arrived with his unit, a terrible and savage confrontation ensued. Within minutes they had suffered nearly a hundred casualties, and the 55 men who were still able to move descended for cover. Solo Doss remained in his post. He began to search for and rescue the wounded. Almost unbelievably, it helped 75 men find shelter that day.
It took several hours, during which he found himself in the crossfire of rifles, machine guns, mortars and artillery salvos. The enemy battalion, consisting of hundreds of men, tried for hours to kill one ardent Christian and could not even harm him.