Budda Statue in Lebanon - Explanation Anybody?

** Correction: Buddha (hope I don't offend anyone :shifty

Oh man sooo cool! I bet it was erected by refugees fleeing toward lebanon who followed Buddhism. It is a common thing for the country to accept refugees since antiquity so I do not doubt it.
It is like the Zorastarian temple in Beit Mary. I wish I took a picture of it, but the town has a fire temple! So cool

Edit: Rabih, what are those two things standing right in front of the statue in the second pic?

I went researching for a possible legit answer.. came across this which I thought was interesting. Doesn't answer why it is there though

One man's bid to put Buddhism on Lebanon's map
By Christian Porth, The Daily Star, October 29, 2007

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- A veritable cornucopia of ecclesiastical beliefs, Lebanon is home to one of the most diverse religious landscapes in the world. The Lebanese Constitution officially recognizes 18 different religious groups, accounting for 98.7 percent of the total Lebanese population.
Among the many unrecognized religious groups in Lebanon, Buddhists represent a unique perspective, a dovetailing of East and West. They are a tiny community, however, comprising an estimated 0.1 percent of the country's population.

Enter Paul Jahshan, Lebanese Christian by birth, professor of American studies at Notre Dame University, world traveler, fluent in Chinese, and author of two books: "Henry Miller and the Surrealist Discourse of Excess," and "Cybermapping and the Writing of Myth."

In 2006, Jahshan established the Buddhist Society of Lebanon, and recently he created what he describes as a new school of Buddhist thought - "Progressive Buddhism" - in an attempt to provide a forum for Lebanese and other Buddhists.

"What we're doing with Buddhism is stripping it of a lot of its rituals, its more archaic principles, in an attempt to create a more modern and usable 21st-century Buddhist thought," Jahshan said.

Being a Buddhist in Lebanon is certainly an interesting proposition, but is there a Buddhist following in Lebanon? "I am sure that there are a lot of 'closet' Buddhists in Lebanon, but nobody has gone as far as openly professing it. Not that they would be persecuted or anything; it is just something that has not been done," Jahshan said on the Web site www.bsolleb.org. "Most Lebanese don't know what Buddhism is about, so it's relegated to the status of just another exotic religion of the East. It's a new thing to them," he added.

What is Progressive Buddhism? According to the society's Web site, "Progressive Buddhism is not a new fad. In it, there are no rituals, no conversions, no initiations, no sacred books, no chanting, no exotic foreign languages, no esoteric teachings, no secrets, no surprises.

Progressive Buddhism is only a convenient term ... to describe how the advice given by the historical Siddharta Gautama can be practically and usefully adapted to any contemporary environment with the aim of producing awakening. Progressive Buddhism restarts every time a historical change takes place and is therefore not tied to a person, time or place. As such, Progressive Buddhism is and should be constantly changing."

Buddhism is not a religion, said. Instead, "it is a way of life, a way of seeing things, a philosophy and mainly a psychological tool to attain enlightenment."

With themes of adaptation and awakening, perhaps the Lebanese, plagued by cyclical crises, may want to take a closer look at Progressive Buddhism.

The philosophy, Jahshan said, is about "knowing yourself and focusing on the present and also compassionately dealing with your fellow human beings."

Ramy H said:

Edit: Rabih, what are those two things standing right in front of the statue in the second pic?

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those things are two friends :rofl:, I just scratched them


Thanks for trying to help out, still I'm so intrigued with that particular statue in a some-what christian town. I didn't know that it was there, so imagine my shock as I was leaving the site of the cross and then glimpsed a Buddha statue on my left.

HAHAH Man.. the way you scratched them out made it look like two podiums with a bouquet of white fluffy flowers on it... thats why I was like.. why is there flowers on Buddha haha. Btw is there anything surrounding the statue in the area.. or does it look like you captured it - in the middle of nowhere?

That is crazy though... I wish we could compile a bunch of pictures of these interesting sites in Lebanon (ie. fire temples, Astarte statue, this Buddha statue etc) and have some historians analyze how they came too be. Clearly there is more than meets the eye in Lebanon's diversity and history.

My main goal is to do that next summer.. finds these random sites and actually have my camera on me for once lol

Maybe there is a plan for an islamic shrine too. In par with the coexistance theme. I think the statue was placed there recently..

^^ Im pretty sure it wasn't places there recently, look at the Buddahs face for example, it looks pretty worn out and aged

melkart said:

Maybe there is a plan for an islamic shrine too. In par with the coexistance theme. I think the statue was placed there recently..

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What do you mean? Are you being sarcastic?


Rami, I'm trying to find pictures that better show the location of the statue as opposed to it's surroundings.

here you go:

Thanks Rabih.... so random its location!

As an aside.. they should really forest those mountains. The brownish red dirt makes it look like sand dunes from far

Ramy H said:

Thanks Rabih.... so random its location!

As an aside.. they should really forest those mountains. The brownish red dirt makes it look like sand dunes from far

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u and i think alike....u should go to Israeli threads and see my posts...i look like a bot saying...needs more trees, need to to plan trees, etc etc, that or...needs renovation :lol:

The place is 1800 above see level, these hills are covered with snow 8-months a year.

Ahh okay.. .Didn't know that. Well they could still do it up with evergreens and cedars, they tolerate the snow amazingly. Even some dense wood deciduous trees like Oak would be fine.

Rabih said:

What do you mean? Are you being sarcastic?


Rami, I'm trying to find pictures that better show the location of the statue as opposed to it's surroundings.

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nope not being sarcastic, my understanding is that they built the cross as a sign of unity right? why would they build the cross so close to the budfdha statue. I am not sugesting anything I am opnly asking questions.

@ Abdallah I don't know anything about the statue, although it looks authentic it is possible that someone moved it and placed it there. I have never heard of budhist presence during Lebanon's ancient past.

Where's the big deal?

Luli Pop said:

Where's the big deal?

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the big deal is that the budhist statue looks ancient, meaning that it could have been placed there since ancient times. If that's the case than it proves their was travel and trade, cultural exchange, etc between Lebanon and the far east. as far as I know there isn't a single Asian artifact found in Lebanon. so this is very interesting indeed. we know that lebanon was part of the silk road, but the distance was too great for any one individual to make the long journey. not to mention hauling a stone statue with them.

^^ No big deal.

it's just because none knew about that before.

melkart said:

the big deal is that the budhist statue looks ancient, meaning that it could have been placed there since ancient times. If that's the case than it proves their was travel and trade, cultural exchange, etc between Lebanon and the far east. as far as I know there isn't a single Asian artifact found in Lebanon. so this is very interesting indeed. we know that lebanon was part of the silk road, but the distance was too great for any one individual to make the long journey. not to mention hauling a stone statue with them.

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lol nice theory melkart, looks like the ancients were good at pooring concrete slabs.
No here's one version of the story from a colleague of mine, Rita, a baskinta local:
it seems that this statue is the cleverest investment this baskinta man ever did, he installed this statue and he is collecting money from the donation box since throngs of Buddhist pilgrims have been visiting this site.
The whole thing is a sick scam. This guy ought to be imprisoned.

Too bad it's in such a poor shape, The graffiti desecration doesn't do it justice at all.. hno: