As a follower of the teachings of the Buddha, I am really disappointed by the over-reaction of the Buddhists on the issue of the Taliban regime's destruction of the Buddha statues in Afghanistan. My thanks to Charles F Moreira ([#1] Voices of outrage that were silent before [/#], March 9) for pointing out the pitfalls of the approximately 2,000-year Buddhist culture of idol worshipping.

Idol worshipping is a blatant 'affront' to the teachings of the Buddha. Thought I am not a leader of any Buddhist organisation, but for the spiritual development of Buddhists, I have, time and again, either through writings or via Q&A; sessions in some Dharma (the Truth) talks, questioned some leaders' rationale, validity and practicality in condoning the practice of idol worship.

Idol worshipping has contributed more harm than good to the teachings of the Buddha; Buddhist minds cling to the Buddha statue, but not his teachings, for spiritual refuge. The Four Noble Truths taught by the Buddha, which set for us to see clearly the reality of the world and not be deceived by the myth, have gone down the drain. Instead, myth, culture and ceremony have attracted more attention.

No wonder many Buddhist youngsters are turning away from Buddhism and converting to other faiths. Others feel ashamed to be identified as a Buddhist. They would rather be called a 'free thinker' or 'atheist' than a follower of the teachings of the Buddha.

Sulak Sivaraksa, a well-known Buddhist human rights activist, has rightly said that if Buddhists want to redirect their energies towards the true teachings of the Buddha, of wisdom and compassion, they should limit and discourage the people from focusing on the ritualistic aspects and put more emphasis on the essential humanistic aspect of Buddhism (he calls it "buddhism with a small 'b'"). For example, the many points raised by Charles, and MGG Pillai ([#2] The Bamiyan Buddhas and the Taliban [/#], March 5) should be the main concern of Buddhists and they should not shed tears, as now, over stone statues.

The Buddhists' goal is not to quarrel with other religions on frivolous issue, but to develop human beings with inner strength and moral courage. If one can achieve that by the faith of Islam, Christianity or any other religion, let him or her do so. Why fuss over the destruction of the Buddha statues?

We should be thankful to the Taliban's tenacity to demolish the statues. It helps the world to be aware that Afghanistan had once upon a time achieved a great civilisation under the deep influence of the teachings of Buddha for almost two thousand years. On the other hand, it is also a lesson to the Buddhists to ruminate on the cause of the demise of Buddhism in Afghanistan, as well in the Malay Archipelago and other parts of the world. Perhaps the destruction of thousands of statues in Afghanistan may enlighten us on this. So save the tears and decipher the clues now.