Mon People of Myanmar

[Nagarjuna]

Dear All,
The Western media has been going berserk in its coverage of the
refusal of the military junta to accepting post Nargis Cyclone aid
from the Disaster Management Specialists.
While the news coverage of Myanmar is increasingly acquiring shades of
Zimbabwe coverage, I found it interesting to investigate briefly the
issue of the Mon people from a Buddhist perspective.
Mon Information page of University of Albany : http://www.albany.edu/~gb661/
http://www.myanmar.com/people/mon.html
http://www.monnews-imna.com/mon.php

From Wikipedia on India, Myanmar and Mon People :
Myanmar

A neighbor of India, Myanmar was naturally strongly influenced by the
eastern part of Indian territory. The Mon of southern Burma are said
to have been converted to Buddhism around 200 BCE under the
proselytizing of the Indian king Ashoka, before the schism between
Mahayana and Hinayana Buddhism.

Early Buddhist temples are found, such as Beikthano in central
Myanmar, with dates between the 1st and the 5th centuries. The
Buddhist art of the Mons was especially influenced by the Indian art
of the Gupta and post-Gupta periods, and their mannerist style spread
widely in Southeast Asia following the expansion of the Mon Empire
between the 5th and 8th centuries.

Later, thousands of Buddhist temples were built at Bagan, the capital,
between the 11th and 13th centuries, and around 2,000 of them are
still standing. Beautiful jeweled statues of the Buddha are remaining
from that period. Creation managed to continue despite the seizure of
the city by the Mongols in 1287.

Regards,

Nagarjuna

[LightSpreader]

Ayubowan,
I have read your infomation and it seemed very familiar. It seems that
the British have sure left their trail around the world! And if Burma
isn't acceping aidfrom Disaster Management Specialists, then howcome
the christian organisation World Vision is there? (I personnaly think
that, the less they have to do with those so called AID DONORS, the
better.)
TS