German Team Discovers Buddha's SOUL BAG

German team discovers treasure inside Bamiyan Buddha

This photo taken on Oct. 8 shows a great-sealed small jute bag for Buddha's soul, which was discovered inside one of two giant statues in Bamiyan, Afghanistan

I wonder if this is a large discovery. There is not much on the story but it is good to hear that teams are still working and having success in Afghanistan currently - and that the Taliban didn't destroy everything.

Can anyone explain the idea of a soul bag? I've never heard of that before and I would imagine the soul couldn't be 'contained' so to speak in a hemp bag. Is this something particular to Buddhists?

home.kyodo.co.jp...

ColoradoJens

I don't have any comments at the moment. The 'soul bag' doesn't ring a bell.

I found the full article on another site:

German team discovers treasure inside Bamiyan's Buddha


[edit on 19-10-2008 by Lucid Lunacy]

I've read and practiced Buddhism for a long time now, and have never heard of a soul bag. I wonder if there's some Pali or Sanskrit word that's being translated badly? The Buddha didn't hold the idea of the "soul" in any case.

reply to post by ColoradoJens


The thing is that the Taliban dynamited the Buddhas of Bamyan back in 2001.

en.wikipedia.org...

They were intentionally dynamited and destroyed in 2001 by the Taliban, on orders from leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, after the Taliban government declared that they were "idols" (which are forbidden under Sharia law). International opinion strongly condemned the destruction of the Buddhas and was viewed as an example of the intolerance of the Taliban and of fundamentalist Islam. Japan and Switzerland, among others, have pledged support for the rebuilding of the statues.

Reply to Toromos

I had the idea that reincarnation was held as a belief by Buddhists. A mistranslated word/meaning seems to be probable. Thanks for the input - is this discovery of interest to you other than the soul bag?

ColoradoJens

[edit on 19-10-2008 by ColoradoJens]

It appears to be a Tibetan Buddhist tradition:

The interesting thing about this monastery is that all Tibetans must make a pilgrimage to this one, at least once in their lives. They feel that when they die, they all go to hell, and if they had put enough yak butter in the yak butter lamps in the monasteries during their lives, that they would have enough light for their souls to make it to paradise. But first their souls had to go to the Samye monastery. The souls then hang in a soul bag inside the monastery awaiting their return to paradise, and eventual reincarnation. So that the souls know where to go, the Tibetans must make a pilgrimage to the Samye monastery at least once. I asked my guide if the souls had to take the leaky boat across the freezing cold river.

source: www.russbo.com...

It may refer to a legend that he carried a soul bag.

Originally posted by ColoradoJens

I had the idea that reincarnation was held as a belief by Buddhists. A mistranslated word/meaning seems to be probable. Thanks for the input - is this discovery of interest to you other than the soul bag?

There are more then one school of thought within the umbrella of 'Buddhism', and believe it or not, have almost as much dissonance amongst themselves as Christian orthodoxy.

That said, in the worst kind of nut-shell explanation one could give, many Buddhists believe you reincarnate until you transcend. One could infer a soul-like quality from those ideas.

[edit on 20-10-2008 by Lucid Lunacy]

Reply to Lucid Lunacy & Byrd:

Thanks for that information - I am obviously ignorant but "discoveries" as such are always intersting as I love history and archeology. Appreciate the time everyone!

ColoradoJens