[Buddha-l] Wealth vs. compassion

[Jo]

On Behalf Of Christopher Fynn
Sent: Sunday, April 22, 2012 11:26 PM


>...
> I never saw trash-picking going on in Nepal though, where ofttimes the  
>overflowing dump bins just seem to acquire more and more.
> ...

I suspect it may be that the trash in Nepal either gets picked over before
it ever reaches the dump - or that people there don't throw away anything
worth picking.
_______________________________________________

Could be, I've not been there since 1987.  

I WAS there once, right after Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip had paid a
royal visit. The place had been really spruced up--those colorful struts on
the temples had been repainted, streets swept, and the garbage dumps
disappeared. (In those days the "dumpster" bins per se hadn't reached Nepal
as yet. So garbage dumps were piles.) 
On a later visit, I saw piles of it everywhere--on sides of roads, out in
the field where houses had been built with their piles behind the houses.
There is a huge area behind walls and near some temples right in Kathmandu
old town but sorry I don't recall the name of the area-- where garbage was
dumped to the point that it filled up that entire yard. On my last visit in
1987, I noticed in Kathmandu old town that the painted architectural
features had faded, the temples looked unswept, run-down-uncared-for, and
the dumpsters in use on road sides were overflowing.
Every single colleague of mine and friend who'd gone to Nepal over the years
has reported the same about their laissez faire attitude to trash.
 The king never did anything about setting up a working garbage/trash
disposal system right up until his demise.  I'd guess the current government
hasn't either. (If they have done, please advise.)

The Rato Macchendranath rathayatra is now being prepared. Maybe the place
will be spruced up for that. I saw its tower when I was first in Nepal, in
1976, in Pathan-- it's "baby tower" ratha of Minnath was also there,
following behind.  For the Newari Buddhists, Rato Macchendranath is
Avalokiteshvara, or Loknath. See an impressive scroll painting of
Macchendranath's temple here:
http://www.asianart.com/exhibitions/rma/gallery3/3.html  

Here are 3 photos of the Rato Macchendranath tower wagon; start at this link

http://tinyurl.com/7hnappf  
and see the next two. (Lots of good photos on this website by the way.)
This yatra starts moving on the full moon day of Baisakh (aka Wesak in
Thailand); this year it's May 6th.

Joanna