[Buddha-l] the Maitreya Project - once again...

[Jessica Marie Falcone]

Hi everyone,

I'm a lurker, so feel free to ignore this post.  Suffice to say, I wish
you all a happy new year. I've enjoyed reading along throughout 2008!

For those who may not remember, I am a PhD student at Cornell finishing up
my dissertation about the Maitreya Project.  As a practitioner of advocate
anthropology, I have tried to help other FPMTers understand that their
giant Maitreya statue should not be build at the expense of the
livelihoods and farmlands of roughly 2000 Uttar Pradeshi village families.
 My studied opinion after having spent a few years doing research on the
topic is this: the farmers are definitely getting a very raw deal, and
there is no excuse for the fact that they are being trampled in the
process.  I have circulated an e-petition asking the Maitreya Project
leadership to shift gears and commit to building their statue of
loving-kindness with more responsibility and mindfulness about the
side-effects their work is having on the poorest of the poor.  I believe
that such a commitment would benefit both the Kushinagari farmers AND the
Maitreya Project.

I am planning to send the printout of the e-petition to the Maitreya
Project very soon - at the beginning of Jan 2009.  I have 148 signatures,
and hoped to have at least 200. It is possible to sign anonymously. I'm
afraid that I'm not a very good activist, so I really haven't shared this
link as actively as I should.  If you would like to do so, feel free to
forward it on.  If you have any interest in either reading or signing the
petition then please do check it out:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/kushinagarsolidarity/index.html

May your 2009 be wonderful!

Sincerely,

Jess Falcone
Cornell University