I designed the site and am the chair of the organization. It
begin about 40 years ago, we had a paper newsletter up until
2003. It is beginning to be replaced with this site.
As I said it is a work in progress. There are "gaps" but I am
working on it. Since I am working alone on it, I cannot give
it all the time I would like. I do not get paid for it, but
hopefully it will attract students to the field in some small way.
Membership is free.
There are many new stories coming out everyday about the
Erawan Shrine (San Phra Phrom). The latest reports suggest
(and these have been confirmed by a few people I know close to
the investigation) that the "deranged man" was Muslim. The
Thai gov't apparently does not want to fan the flames of anger
by reporting this. Other reports suggest Taksin was behind it
because he wants to replace the sore of the shrine with his
own amulets and Khmer yantras. It is very sad that a man was
killed.
A students of mine is writing his thesis on this shrine. Now
he has a lot more work to do! More info. will come out on this
soon I have heard.
jm
---- Original message ----
>Date: Sun, 26 Mar 2006 13:14:27 +0700
>From: "Eisel Mazard" <Parajanaka@...>
>Subject: [palistudy] Iconoclasm & Heresy in Bangkok
>To: palistudy@yahoogroups.com
>
>Hi Justin,
>
> (1) I had seen this website before, but didn't know that
you were
>affiliated with it.
>
> (2) There are big gaps in the text provided on the
web-page, e.g., a
>missing page when one clicks on "Membership"; however, at
least in
>theory, this would be an association that I'd like to be a
member of.
>I hope it isn't expensive; perhaps you'll send me details
off-list.
>Do you have an "Unsalaried Palicist" membership rate?
>
> (3) An interesting landmark in the history of Thai
Buddhism: a man
>smashed the famous golden Brahma image near Siam Skytrain
Station (in
>front of the Erawan hotel) --and the offending iconoclast was
>summarily beaten to death (!) on the spot by devotees of the
statue.
>The coverage in the _Bangkok Post_ seems suspiciously vague
(as with
>so many things in Thai polity); the paper suggests that the
iconoclast
>was "mentally deranged" (unlike the people who beat him to
death?),
>and does not specify how many devotees participated in
reducing him to
>a red puddle on the concrete in the ensuing outpouring of
rage. This
>is the sort of thing that is supposed to "never happen" in Thai
>Theravada Buddhism's opinion of itself; but I would also be
interested
>to know if the iconoclast had a political or religious
motivation for
>the act. The Bangkok Post did review the origin and history
of the
>statue --it was minted in the 1950s to allay the fears of
construction
>worker that the site was haunted.
>
>E.M.
>
>
>
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
______________
Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
2617 Humanities Building
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
909-827-4530
justinm@...