sand paintings are made for a specific purpose. they're usually immediatel
y destroyed after that purpose is fulfilled. in the case of your anecdote, it's understand
able why they'd laugh, as the unexpected destructio
n of the mandala is symbolic of the impermanen
ce of the world, and their laughter is a recognitio
n of it.
such a thing is alien to the People of the Book, especially Christians and Muslims. history and existence for both is fixed at one event: the Crucifixio
n of Jesus or the revelation of the Koran, given directly to Mohammed (from Allah) via his angel.
there are times i feel the extreme reaction towards Koran-burn
ing might have been cultural as well as religious. Mohammed constantly extolled the virtues of learning and literacy, exhorting Muslims to "Seek knowledge, even as far away as China". the Koran itself was collected sometime after his death; it was a very precious undertakin
g among people who may have been nonliterat
e or preliterat
e. while a good deal of Islam did spread by the sword, there was also a blossoming of knowledge, in that they preserved the works of the ancients and spread them throughout the empire, learned from others and made their own contributi
ons, which still define a large part of our present culture.
however, like the Chinese Empire and the present US, they began to think they knew everything
; with nothing left to learn from others. this signalled the downfall of the Muslim Empire, as it now threatens to do the same to us.
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