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On Monday, Tatyana Zherebtsova, Deputy Minister of Culture of Zabaikalsky Krai, told TASS that restoration began of a statue 16-metres-(53-feet) in height of Maitreya (Mongolian Maidari)… a future incarnation of the Buddha. Craftsmen are restoring the sculpture, kept since 1940 at the Leningrad Museum of the History of Religion, with them making the missing elements. The entire project will cost 51.4 million Roubles (5.9 million Renminbi. 60 million INR. 946,000 USD. 1.1 million CAD. 1.17 million AUD. 774,000 Euros. 610,000 UK Pounds). She said, “The statue is in the Agin Datsan “Choyde Chenbo Decheng Lhundubling” (Abode of Spontaneous Realisation of Great Bliss) in Amitkhasha near Chita… the largest Buddhist monastery in modern Zabaikalsky. Federal Target Programme (FTsP) “Culture of Russia” (2012-18) funds the repair work, with a planned completion in 2015. This year, the plan allots 25.7 million Roubles (2.95 million Renminbi. 30 million INR. 473,000 USD. 550,000 CAD. 585,000 AUD 387,000 Euros. 305,000 UK Pounds). In 2015, we’ve budgeted the same amount”.
Sources at Agin Datsan clarified that, simultaneously with the restoration, Buddhist lamas would perform sacred rituals to animate the Buddha statues. They’ll place “Shun” inside the sculpture… sacred objects endowed, according to believers, with special spiritual power. As a rule, these objects include prayer-mantras, various grasses, herbs, juniper branches, and “Satsa”… small clay offerings in the form of stupa-suburgans. The monks pay particular attention to “Srogshin”… a cedar bar decorated with Buddhist prayers. As canonical texts state, without such blessings, the whole procedure is useless. The quadrangular pillar has a sacred significance, for the Tibetan word “Srogshin” means “tree of life” or “world tree”. Buddhists say that this particular Shun animates the statue. Bair Tsympilov, the rector of the datsan, said, “The Srogshin is ready. It’s made of Alkhanai Cedar; it’s about 16-metres-tall”.
Some Details of the Buddha Statue at Agin Datsan
Agin Datsan bought the Maidari statue in 1889, Chinese masters made it. In 1940, the Leningrad Museum of the History of Religion acquired the statue. By the time that scholars arrived in the datsan, the figure was in a bad state, damaged, apparently, in a search for valuables stored inside. In the 1990s, the state returned the fragments of the unassembled sculpture to the Buddhist community, and in 2008, the Agin Datsan built a separate shrine for it. A source at the datsan said, “At the same time we built the shrine, we invited masters to engrave the surface of the statue, but a detailed study found that we only had about 15 percent of the fragments. As far as we can tell, most of the original statue is irretrievably lost”.
All over the world, Buddhists revere Maitreya as the successor of Śākyamuni Buddha. The faithful believe that he would incarnate in a very difficult period for mankind and the light of his teachings would pull them out of the darkness of error and vile passions. In the sacred sutras, Maitreya Buddha’s advent would usher in a reign on earth of happiness and joy, life expectancy would reach 84,000 years, and the world would be under the rule of a Chakravartin… a Buddhist just ruler.
24 November 2014
ITAR-TASS
http://itar-tass.com/sibir-news/1593216
Voices from Russia 
Lavrov Proposes Conference on Christianophobia… He Sez Russia Looks After the Interests of Christians in the World
Tags: chrisitanophobia, Christian, Christianity, Coptic, Coptic Church, coptic orthodox christians, coptic orthodox church, Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, diplomacy, diplomatic relations, Egypt, Ivica Dačić, Orthodox, Orthodoxy, Patriarch Tawadros, persecution, Persecution of Christians, political commentary, politics, Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, Pope Tawadros, Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria, Russia, Russian, Russian diplomacy, Serbia, Sergei Lavrov
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After meeting with Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić, Foreign Minister S V Lavrov said that Russia offered to host a conference next year to combat Christianophobia, saying, “In the coming year, we propose to organise a conference to combat Christianophobia within and through a series of meetings, similar to those which took place this year on anti-Semitism and Islamophobia”.
19 December 2014
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At a meeting with His Holiness Pope and Patriarch Tawadros Sulaymān of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, Foreign Minister S V Lavrov stated that one of the Russian Federation’s main foreign policy objectives was to see that no one limited the rights of Christians, saying, “Relations between our churches go deep into history and became one of the foundations for the development of relations between Russia and the Middle East and North Africa. This is our common heritage… however, in re culture and history, the present and future of this region is alarming”. Lavrov noted that Russia appreciates Patriarch Tawadros’ contribution to efforts to prevent a disaster in the region and to his work in preserving inter-religious peace, saying, “We’re delighted to hear your assessment of the political efforts to calm the situation in the Middle East and North Africa. One of our foreign policy objectives is to see to it that no one limits the rights of Christians”. In turn, Patriarch Tawadros observed that he long dreamed of visiting Russia, as he had read Russian theology and literature, saying, “I learned a lot from Orthodox theology, Russian literature, and fairy tales. I’m grateful for Russian leadership in supporting Egypt”. At the same time, he said that the situation of Christians in some Middle Eastern countries is dire, pointing up, “Some groups use violence against the people. Christians are victims of violence in these countries. However, the situation in Egypt changed significantly for the better after 30 June”.
29 October 2014
ITAR-TASS
http://itar-tass.com/politika/1659495
Read more:
Oppression of Christians in the Middle East
Editor:
Russia stands up for oppressed Christians… the USA stands up for oppressors… whether they’re Saudi Wahhabis, Afghan semi-Talibans, or Ukrainian Uniate murderers; it stands for those who oppress and kill confessing Christians. Fancy that… that puts the bloviations of Marie Harf and Jen Psaki in a new light and it shows Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz up as consummate hypocrites and poseurs. Never trust an “Evangelical” or those who associate with them… one of our bishops called them “Christian atheists”… that’s so true! I’ve never seen a group more grasping and impious… whilst they mouthed pietistic platitudes with ingratiating smiles on their faces! None dare call it deceit… the Devil isn’t called the Father of Lies for nought.
BMD