Jawnie

Doubt is definately a hinderance here...

The quote by Jawnie looks like he is quoting Mahayana stuff. Theravada does allow for Arahant in one life time, but extremely difficult. Stream-entry in this lifetime is a far more reachable goal and one we should strive for.

Theravada sees the goal as Nirvana, not as enlightenment. Buddhas are enlightened and we do not have to become Buddhas to reach Nibanna. Boddhisattas are just Buddhas in training and do so for unimaginably long periods of time.

Fabianfred is correct, the Hinayana path can lead an individual to completely extinguishing their karma, faults, suffering, etc.,, to personal liberation, thus escaping the wheel of rebirth or reincarnation. This is not not full enlightenment, though. The Mahayana ideal allows one to achieve enlightenment and part of that path is to postpone or give up personal liberation in order to remain within the six realms to assist other beings in alleviating their own suffering. It is sort of a "requirement" for achieving full enlightenment. It is this process that is said to take "three uncalculable aeons"; the Tibetans posit one aeon at roughly 13 billion years. And, yes, Tibetan text say the number of bodies we each have possessed would form a mountain larger than Mt. Meru.

There is a story of the Indian master Asanga, who spent 12 years in a cave. After the first 3 years he had no results from his practice so he decided to leave. On his way out, he met a man with a huge, thick iron rod, about six feet long, and he was rubbing it with a piece of silk. When asked what he was doing, the man said he was making a needle. This inspired Asanga to go back to his cave. After three more years of meditation and no progress, he left again. This time he met a man who had a feather and jar of water. He was pouring water the side of a mountain and wiping it with the feather. When asked what he was doing, he said the shade from the mountain was blocking the sun from his field so he was getting rid of the mountain. This inspired Asanga to return to his cave. Finally, after 12 years in the cave, Asanga achieved realization and it became clear to him that those incidents were to remind him that the path is long and difficult, requiring a lot of patient endurance.

Every Buddha has to be born as a man...since otherwise people will believe he can do things because he is superhuman.

However he is more than just a normal man, because he has been perfecting himself as a Boddhisatva for innumerable aeons...which is why when he was born he proclaimed that there was no being his superior in any of the 31 realms....quite true.

At what age and development did he make the proclamation?

Was he enlightened at the time?

Does this mean that if any of us haven't been a Boddhisatva in former re births, we are precluded from enlightenment in this life?

The movie Groundhog Day was very insightful and comes to mind.

A man was stuck in time, repeating the same day with the same people, only he was able to remember each day that went before.

He would make mistakes and over indulge, but eventually improved his interactions until true love and care for others was perfected.

At the time of Buddha's final human rebirth, he had been on the Bodhisattva path for many aeons, as fabianfred said. The history of some of the Buddha's previous lives are recorded in the Jataka stories. Buddha was a highly realized spiritual being when born into his final birth. But, he had not achieved the full and complete enlightenment of a Buddha. This is what I've read but it's way too advanced for me to really know.

The sutras talk about ten levels of Bodhisattvas, the tenth being a fully Enlightened One. Reaching the first level is extremely difficult and time consuming to reach (we are talking lifetimes here). It is not a matter whether a person is "precluded" from Enlightenment. I don't think such a concept even applies. One is either enlightened or they are not; there is no external thing that could exclude one from enlightenment. As is typically mentioned here, whether one achieves enlightenment is completely up to the individual. However, I don't believe the Therevada form of Buddhism allows for enlightenment in one life time; I think Theravada allows for enlightenment after "Three Immeasureable Aeons"....there could be further distinctions. For example, I'm not sure that Bodhisattva is a Theravada ideal, but rather a Mahayana ideal. It is only Vajrayana Buddhism that allows for Buddhahood in a single lifetime. If you are a Theravada practioner destined to reach full and complete enlightenment in this lifetime, you probably already know it.

Interesting headline: "Nirvana".

Being sent on your way via cremation or any other ceremony doesn't imply nirvana, which is an unconditioned state accessible only to those who have become completely unattached to the craving that leads to greed, anger, delusion and all their secondary effects.

It is said by many that Luangta Maha Bua had in fact attained this level of non-attachment, but no one in fact knows this.

And if Luangta Maha Bua had reached this stage of freedom from craving he would have attained nirvana before he died. On his death, his passing would be parinirvana, or parinibbana, the term used in Thai Buddhism.

surely this is just the cremation of his mortal coil and unrelated in every sense as to whether he achieved Nirvana or not?

Donations given at the funeral totalled more than Bt330.5 million in cash and cheques, plus about 78 kilograms of gold.

How can they send all this stuff to Nirvana?

I am confused I thought the gold was being donated by the deceased Monk.

Can one be in a state of nirvana and have a fortune at the same time.

that being the case I am ready. Send the money.

There is an out-of-date and mistaken notion that one must be poor to be enlightened or that one can't have a lot of money - that wealth and spiritual attainment are mutually exclusive. As I said, this is out of date and mistaken. There's a lot of reasons why a spiritual leader will have a lot of money, the main reason being that devotees traditionally provide financial support to a leader's organization. This is to support the person's activities and undertakings. Many religious leaders command vast wealth and resources with the Pope being the first to come to mind...there are others. The real question is how the leader handles the money and wealth and where does it end up. So, the question is not "why did Luangta Maha Bua have so much money?" but rather, what did he do with it? Now, the question is, "what will become of the wealth donated upon his passing?"

I would think that anything that would enable people to walk to their destination instead of taking a taxi would be beneficial to global warming. Anyone who has used the Skywalk from Siam BTS station to Chid Lom station would know how much more enjoyable that is to competing with steet vendors, beggars, motorcycles, light poles, broken tiles, phone booths, etc. The seemingly inflated cost is the only objection that bears merit, in my opinion.

Hmm, keep in mind that the walkway will be more polluted than the street, at least where the skytrain is overhead trapping all the gasses at about a little above head level. Brilliant

I've used the present Sky Walk dozens of time, and the air quality is significantly better than at street level with all the cars and motorcycle traffic. In case you haven't noticed, both sides of the Sky Walk are completely open allowing fresh air to constantly flow through. There is absolutely no "trapping" of any gasses. There may be good reasons to oppose the expansion, but the trapping of gases is not one.

Without any scientific evidence to support your claim of "no trapped gasses", that is just a conclusion reached solely by your nose. I'd say just the opposite, based on my nose. The area quality on the sky walks is bad, also, just not as bad as on the sidewalk directly below. I'd be willing to bet a lot of money that my nose is more correct than yours if anybody bothers to check air quality in these areas.

As a matter of fact, air quality checks and comparisons should be included as studies before the new sky walks are built. Air quality should be checked on the street level, on the existing sky walks, and in areas of street where the sky walks are proposed. Care to wager?

A good start might be taking a bulldozer through places like Pattaya. Round up all the bargirls on the streets. Quality tourists don't flock to Thailand for ladyboys and the sex industry.

I'd drive a buldozer through your house first....not everything in Pattaya is to do with sex.

No, you are right. But the point remains Pattaya effectively advertises as Thailand as the knock shop of Asia. And that image will overide anything else you try and do to promote the place.

Image isn't everything, but it is an important first step.

No serious discussion of improving the "quality" of tourists in Thailand can exclude the topic of prostitution. Prostitution in Thailand is markedly different, it is of higher quality than most places. This is because, as we know so well, a funky looking old white guy can come here and live out a fantasy life/vacation with young Thai girl who will act like she's always been his girl friend. I believe that type of prostitution is fairly uncommon, in any case, is the cheapest here in Thailand. So many guys come here for that because they simply can't get it anywhere else, certainly not in any western country to the extent, availability, and quality here in Thailand. So, to improve the quality of tourists, get rid of the easy availability of high quality, sweet, wonderful, beautiful young Thai girls - or at least, teach them to not be so sweet and accommodating. I am not advocating this, but, as I said at the beginning, no serious discussion on this topic can exclude prostitution. I'm not advocating a dramatic change or crackdown, just making an observation. Perhaps if the government made it illegal for men to date someone more than 20 years younger than they, there could be a change in quality of tourists. That's not going to happen and I'm not saying it should.

As someone else said, lots of people come here for the relaxing lifestyle and the change of pace, the marvelous culture (Thailand is NOT a cultural wasteland - maybe Bkk is, but that's a different topic) and environment...not for the ladies. There should be tee-shirts or special passport stamps for those tourist because they know and love the real Thailand, but nobody knows or recognizes them amongst the crowd of all the other tourists.

A good start might be taking a bulldozer through places like Pattaya. Round up all the bargirls on the streets. Quality tourists don't flock to Thailand for ladyboys and the sex industry.

In these straightened times, that'd be a huge mistake though it makes sense as a long-term target. Fact is: 'Upmarket' Western tourists aren't travelling much at the mo; Sextourists always travel. It's not an ideal situation or long-term fix, I know. But tourist money is tourist money, and Thailand (like everywhere else) is desperate for said money right now.

The first thing to do might be to define what a quality tourist is. I would assume that one of the key factors is how much is spent and, according to a poll on another site catering specifically for pattaya more than 50% of members are spending more than 5k baht a day and this figure rises to over 75% if you look at spends of over 4k baht a day.

I am not sure how this would compare to how much other types of tourist are spending and in other areas but it this income is not something that can be ignored.

A quality tourist is someone whose shirt has a collar and whose fashion style is something more sophisticated than putting on the first thing he steps on when getting out of bed in the morning.

"Anti-Global Warming Association"

Who does this organization actually represent? What is their real agenda? What do elevated walkways have to do with Global Warming?!

The elevated walkways that already exist are a fantastic way to avoid street level pollution- I look forward to their expansion.

This project is a perfect example and metaphor for how the government and the developer elites are literally abandoning everyone else to the streets. A great way to get away from the street-level pollution? Great for whom, may I ask? Great for the politicians and developers because they become more and more inter-dependent for their money and careers. Great for the middle and upper class shoppers because they can literally "rise above" and step over the lower classes who are abandoned to the pollution and chaos on the street below. I mean, what about dealing with the pollution on the street level? Your solution is to simply create a separate place for the elites to totally avoid the masses and vendors. What's up with that? This will just create more choked, polluted streets while allowing people with money to avoid it. It also gives politicians something to congratulate themselves for while partying with their developer cronies using the public's money earned through huge and expensive public works projects.

While I think the concept is good, Bkk missed the opportunity to make these improvements at the street level a long time ago. As quaint and enjoyable as the street vendors may be, there are simply too many now. Bkk also has lost the opportunity to regulate their numbers. Regarding more elevated concrete structures, it appears to me that Bkk planners always overbuild these structures by approximately 2xs -they are twice as big as need be. This is especially true for the new City Line stations - they are massively overbuilt. Of course, the contractors love this and so do the designers and engineers because they make tons of money they shouldn't be. So I expect to see the new, and massively over-built but poorly designed, sections of skywalk. They are really just for pedestrians, improvements at the street level would be best, then. But, Bkk officials just can't grasp that concept - they've abandoned the street - with encouragement from those who will profit from the design and construction.

This is a really interesting discussion to me. I'm a new English teacher (one year teaching experience). I've got a CELTA certificate which I worked very hard for in the US, (at a private school in San Francisco) a couple of years ago as part of an overall plan to teach English in Asia. I've got a Bachelor Degree from way back (not education), a legal assistant certification from not-so-far back, and lots of professional work experience in the US. I'd love to get out of Bangkok, it's too hot and crowded.

It seems, from what is being said, that CM might be an alternative but I'm wondering about the things being discussed here. I'm not a back-packer or part of the armpit crowd (lol) and want to stay in Thailand for a few years. Where does one get a list of CM schools?

Google

Yeah, a Google search was helpful. Since no one responded with any kind of list (I didn't expect there would be one, but the question needed to be asked.) Google it is. I'm in CM now looking for both housing and jobs. I'm getting some negative feedback on the job scene, both here and from others. It seems CM is over-saturated with English teachers and that it's a bit of a crap shoot to get hired. One person said his friend gave up after two months and found a job elsewhere in Thailand. I'm being told to stay in Bkk (which makes sense) or go to smaller towns. Of course, hitting the pavement and being patient and persistent is a good approach, too, but not completely reliable in CM, it seems.

I visited Punna on Soi 6 today and got somewhat different information. I was told they have a six month minimum rental period and that units start at 30,000. Of course, I was somewhat surprised by this; I even had my suspicion that they were quoting this to scare me off. In any case, they referred me to Baan Thai which fronts Nimman. Road but has an entrance on Soi 6 as well so is within walking distance of Punna. Because the lease was too long and too expensive, I didn't even look at a Punna room. Maybe I'll go back to see what they look like, anyway.

Baan Thai is the opposite of Punna in that they rent for a minimum of one month and units are priced between 3,000 - 5,200 bht. All units are furnished, except for linens. I looked at a unit which was on the sixth (of eight) floors. It would be completely adequate for me for one month even though quite spartan, as is the entire building interior. Wifi is available throughout the building but there are no laundry facilities on-site. If I decide to make the move to CM, this is probably were I'll land first.

One other place I stopped at but did not see a room was the Green Palace Hotel. It was recommended to me and is about a 10 minute walk from Punna/Baan Thai and across Nimmen. Road. They rent daily only for 460 bht a day, so ten days is 4,600, etc., and would rent for one month at 12,000. They didn't have any rooms available but I'll go look at one sometime. I liked the immediate neighborhood as it's two blocks away from Nimman. Road and thus doesn't feel so chaotic.

I think this area would be a great place for Foxontherun to land, frankly. I understand the poster who said to avoid Huey Kaew Road as it is a busy thoroughfare with zero curb appeal. There are large residential buildings on HK Road where she might rent, but would probably find herself walking around the corner to Nimman. Road to hangout. Nimman. Road, as others have said, is a walkable, pedestrian- friendly street with tons of shops and restaurants - I even saw two Starbucks along one relatively short stretch. It is highly commercialize and was very congested when I visited, which may be way some people object to it; one could easily forget how deep you are into Thailand because there are so many foreigners and western- style accommodations. But, I also noticed that once you get off on Nimman. Road a block or two, the neighborhoods become much more appealing, the pace slows down, and there's lots of great looking, open-air restaurants, large and small, tucked away in the neighborhoods.

Just my $.02.

]d

quote name='nikster' timestamp='1297242396' post='4207517']

Hey - Punna is easy for 25k - definitely check it out!

There's a few other new condo developments in CM, but I don't know anything about those. Maybe somebody else can recommend them. A friend lived at Punna and he was pleased. He had a 2 bedroom for 20k I think.

Water costs very little.

Electric varies greatly though - when you rent, make sure to check the electric rate. The local rate is about 3 Baht but all condos add a bit to that. Some charge 4 baht (Kantary Hills for long term, for example). Others charge 7 baht or more. That's a bit of a trick IMO - they'll rent you a place with air con for cheap, but then charge 7 baht per unit (KWH) for Electricity so you end up paying a lot more in the end. One thing to watch out for.

We were in the Kantary Hills 2 bedroom apartment and made good use of 4 air con units, paid about 5000 baht / month at a rate of 4 Baht / unit. Depends on the time of the year though - now, in winter, it's hardly necessary.

This is a really interesting discussion to me. I'm a new English teacher (one year teaching experience). I've got a CELTA certificate which I worked very hard for in the US, (at a private school in San Francisco) a couple of years ago as part of an overall plan to teach English in Asia. I've got a Bachelor Degree from way back (not education), a legal assistant certification from not-so-far back, and lots of professional work experience in the US. I'd love to get out of Bangkok, it's too hot and crowded.

It seems, from what is being said, that CM might be an alternative but I'm wondering about the things being discussed here. I'm not a back-packer or part of the armpit crowd (lol) and want to stay in Thailand for a few years. Where does one get a list of CM schools?

This is all incredibly helpful to me, also. I've been in Bangkok for three months and don't like it but want to stay in Thailand. Bangkok is too hot and busy for me so everyone says to check out Chiang Mai. Good news to me as I visited CM about six years ago but without eyes toward moving there. I'll be trekking the CM this week and have noted many of the places and thoughts mentioned here.

One bit of advise I'd like to add to is that I live in an area of Bangkok that is very "Thai." This has everything to do with the fact that I don't have the same budget as Ms. foxontherun. In any case, there's nothing particularly wrong with it being very Thai but it means services that westerners are accustomed to are more difficult to find. That includes real language problems at the closest mall just trying to find a bookstore, photocopier, batteries, etc. The choice of restaurants in my current area is limited - it's basically street food or KFC/Micky Ds. That may work for a two-week vacation, but not as a resident. I must travel 30 minutes on public transportation to visit somewhere with a variety of foods, eg, Siam Paragon food court.

As a UK citizen, she doesn't need a visa and can avail herself of the visa exemption, as others have said. Someone said she should just get a visa, which is not bad advise, either. With the visa exemption, she'll need to leave Thailand every 30 days so if she is in Thailand for two months, she'll need to leave once and then re-enter using the same visa exemption. I've entered three consecutive months utilizing the visa exemption and never been denied boarding in the third-party country because I didn't have an onward ticket. I did have to leave Thailand at the end of each 30 days and then re-enter Thailand. No one seems to know how many visa exempt entries a person can make before immigration questions your Thailand status and/or refuses entry using that exemption. As I said, I did it three times in a row with no problems or questions.

Frankly, the two provisions are somewhat contradictory: one requiring an onward ticket vs. an open-ended stay on the visa exemption. Hence, all the confusion on this point. If she will be here two months, she'll need to leave once using the exemption. A visa in not a bad idea in that case since it will allow her to stay two months without the need to leave. If she'll only be in Thailand a few days or a couple of weeks, she won't need the visa and can just 'show up' in Thailand and claim the exemption at passport control. It's really simple. Of course, getting a visa is simple, too, but not worth the effort of running around in Colombo, I'd say.

I'm a US citizen living in Bangkok. This is my first tourist visa after being in Thailand for three months on the visa exemption. I flew into Vientiane on Thai Air. The airport is small and low-rise with the immigration section a short two-minute walk from the plane. Visa-on-arrival was popular and everyone was processed quickly, in about 10 minutes. Most people paid with US dollars, but I was able to pay in Thai baht (1,400). Once I had the Laotian visa, I walked to the immigration agents, who are in the same room. There were no lines and I waited only a minute or two. I was processed through into Laos within 15 minutes of walking off the plane.

I arrived at the Thai consulate a few minutes after 9:00 am the following morning. I shared a taxi with an Israeli couple who were turned away the previous morning and not allowed to submit their applications as consulate staff said they had too many applications for that day.

Approaching the processing area, it looked really busy, with lots of people. This being my first time, I eventually figured out I needed a queue number. I walked to the machine where a visa agent was pulling numbers and had a small stack in his hand. I gave him a "what the hell" look, so he gave me his lowest number, #208. I looked at the queue counter and they were processing #14 – freaked me out a little.

I went to the window anyway and the guy looked at my application and pointed out what was missing; he told me I still needed to wait. I was really worried that I'd be there for hours, but pretty soon they started racing through the queue numbers – maybe they were batch processing agent visas. In any case, the counter was jumping over large chunks of queue numbers. My number eventually came up. I submitted my application and did NOT have to provide any information about my current financial status (which I had with me) nor did I need to show an onward plane ticket out of Thailand (which I did not have, anyway).

The reality is that I waited only about 20 minutes to submit my application. I had written in "Double / Multiple Entries" on the application, but the guy said there are no multiple entries and scratched that out, "double entry only," he said. He then directed me to the next building to get my collection receipt. Again it looked like it was going to be a long wait because the queue number was at #40 and I still had #208. This line went quickly also and within 10 minutes, I had my collection receipt. The total time I was inside the Thai compound was slightly over one hour.

The following day, I returned at 1:30pm and got in a line of about 40 people. The line moved quickly and I was out of there with my 60-day, double entry visa in about ten minutes. All is well.

I'm into my third month of a visa exemption stay. That is, I've entered three times without a visa. I've left Thailand at the end of each 30 days, going on small 2-4 day trips before returning. To date, I have not been asked to show an onward flight from Thailand. I was asked once, in Hong Kong, and I explained that I don't want to leave Thailand and that I want to work and stay in Thailand for a long time. They processed me through without futher comments or questions. There is no stated limit to the number of times one can enter for 30 days on the exemption status. It seems weird to be able to continue indefinitely and leaving every 30 days is getting to be a hassle; next trip out, I'm getting a tourist visa.

Regarding outbound immigration, I've had good and bad experiences in the last three months. The good one means I went through in about ten minutes. The bad one was that it took exactly one hour to get to the desk and I missed my flight. All of the desks were not open and operating and it was mid-day as I had a 1:00pm flight time. Honestly, it took exactly one hour. As others have mentioned, the Thai Citizen line was a breeze for them. My airline rebooked me on a flight later that same day at no cost.

Yes, there were airport employees chatting with agents while processing passengers; nor were all of the desked being used; maybe only 3/4 of them. I can understand being short on personnel especially if the amount of passengers fluctuates a lot. Otherwise, agents would often be there with nothing to do. On the other hand, no effort was made to identify whether passengers were being made late to the point of missing flights. The airport could make some efforts here.

Don't you think it would be important or relevant if it all were true? What if doing bad things really did send you to a tortuous and burning hell for millions of years? Or, if doing virtuous things sent you to an blissful Buddha field for just as long? If this was really true, wouldn't you then think it relevant and important?

By my questions the name of the Topic maybe better should have been Buddha and former lifes

Beats me.

I've never really see it as important or relevant.

Why do you need to know?

As others have said, one of the hallmarks of a Buddha or an enlightened being is that they recall, completely, all of their past lives. Unitl then or until we have our own experience, our understanding of both topics in provisional, at best.

While Buddhism discusses past lives extensively, especially the Vajrayana, it doesn't help much to "believe" in past lives or karma. I find it more immediately helpful that those teachings can inform my experience in such a way as to motivate me toward positive actions and away from negative ones. That way, if there is such a thing as karma, mine will be good, and if there are multiple lifetimes, my next one will be better. In the meantime, I'll be happier in this lifetime because I'm performing positive actions.

When discussing the topics of karma and reincarnation, it is helpful to recall the Two Truths: conventional truth and ultimate truth. Conventional truth says we are born, we live, and we die; and that much useful knowledge can be gained from the passage of this experience. Ultimate true says none of this ever happened. Part of our tasks as Buddhists and practitioners is discover the knowledge and wisdom inherit in both truths.

My general thoughts are this: everything you've ever heard or read about karma is true. Moreover, Tibetan teachings say that everything in your life is karmically determined: your family, your friends, your wealth, your status, the country and society you are born into, the physical environment you live in, even the availability and quality of food and water where you live - literally everything, is karmic.

With regard to reincarnation, unless you've had your own experience with it, it's difficult to know for sure about past lives. How many of us can remember what we were doing on this day one year ago? Five years ago? Ten, twenty or 30 years ago? In fact, huge gaps exist in our memory of our current life time, so it is little wonder we remember nothing prior to it.

I'd also suggest asking around and checking the internet for Buddhist masters giving public talks in Bangkok. These happen regularly. By going to them, you'll hear basic teachings since the public talks are geared toward the general public and usually cover the basics. You will also meet lots of other Buddhists and will quickly get to know people in the various networks and centers in Bangkok, Thailand, and beyond. While Thailand obviously has Thai Buddhism, I'd suggest listening to talks given by Tibetan teachers who also come to Bangkok regularly. Tibetan Buddhism is well respected and lots of Thais and foreigners practice it.

To avoid misunderstandings:

Like so many people i am interested in buddhism.

And in many other things.

I am looking for guidance in putting the first steps.

Many others - i am sure - are in the same situation.

To me, the first steps would be: understanding the essentials, explained to me in everyday language.

No need for details, or subtle thoughts, no formal references to writings or revered people.

Only essentials.

So that i can decide whether or not to continue my search in this direction.

Thanks for the effort.

There is no short cut, if you want to be a Buddhist. At minumum, you will need to take refuge with a Buddhist master. After that, it is up to you.

No, you can not "believe what ever you want", you must follow the Buddha's teachings. "Believing whatever one wants" is a perversion of the Buddhist theory that 'all experience is open' - they are not the same. It is not inventing hot water again. It is you, taking your first steps on the path. Others are ahead of you already.

If you want guidance, find a recognized and legitimate Buddhist master and study Buddhist sutras and tantras. If you are in Bangkok, there are masters teaching regularly around town. If you want to find a teacher, you will.

At the most basic level, "Buddhist" just means a follower of the Buddha. To what extent a person follows the Buddha's teachings is up to the individual. There's no official minimum requirement and I doubt anyone would ever ask you to prove you're a Buddhist.

Sorry, but that sounds like i can believe whatever i want.

And of course, i am free to believe whatever i want.

But i am looking for guidance.

I guess i am looking for a shot cut? I do not want to invent hot water again.....

Can you tell me: What do all buddhists have in common?

Next i will be able to decide whether that can apply to me.

Or to search in a different direction.

Please believe i am searching for a direction in my life, i am not being argumentative.

I was very interested in this thread but am now totally confused and have absolutely no idea what anyone is talking about.

Refuge, noble truths (can't decipher them), eightfold paths, enlightenment, etc etc.

The words and explanations mean nothing to me. What is a guy to do, sit down and think of the inner self or something, whatever that means. I don't know whether finding enlightenment is to meditate about my next golf game or when to go and have a beer. I don't know what enlightenment means or how to even start the search.

Would it be possible for someone to explain, to a complete numbskull what it is you are talking about.

What is a path to enlightenment

How do I even know if I'm even thinking of the right thing whilst searching, will I have a eureka moment?

Are there certain things like, be kind to fellow man, don't covet money, riches, neighbours wife etc, don't eat dead cow, only masturbate once a week etc.

Is there any guidance or path to find such things?

I'm totally confused as what has been described so far means absolutely nothing to me.

Part of the difficulting in explaining Buddhism is that often it is undertaken from the point of view that Buddhism is simple; there is an assumption for many people that Buddhism is simple. It is not - and the informed responses here give an indication that it is not simple. For example, you want to walk to the store and buy a news paper, and so this is what you do, you simply walk to the store, buy the paper, and return home. Simple, right?

Not so fast. Actually, an immense amount occurred prior to your trip to the store but you didn't notice or think about it. First, you had to have a place to live. In order for that to happen, you have a job. In order for you to have a job, you went to school, etc. So, before you even get out the door to buy the paper, an immense amount of activity has occurred that you don't notice or think about. The example continues. Let's say you live on the fifth floor of your building. Well, where did that building come from? There was an immense amount of activity prior to your arrival in your apartment: someone earned the money, bought the land, planned and constructed the building, etc., before you even got there. Then there's the walk to the store which includes the street. A city had to plan and build those streets; the cars were invented, manufactured, sold, driven... And the store itself, a 7-11 perhaps. 7-11 is an US corporation started decades ago. So much went into getting that 7-11 up the street from your flat in order for you to buy your newspaper.

Taken together, the totality of your experience just buying a newspaper is quite staggering, but you didn't notice or think about it.

It is the same way with your mind, according to Buddhism. We want everything to be simple and everyone believes the mind is simple. But, it is not, this is why there are over 1,000 books, sutras, which are the direct teachings of the Buddha. If you've ever spent time looking through the sutras, you'll see they are quite detailed, covering a vast amount of topics, much of it very unfamiliar knowledge. The Buddha taught so much and we know so little about it. Buddha explained everything, completely. The sutras contain all the answers to all of life's problems and mysteries but they are so different from what we want or believe that they go unnoticed. Here is where all the terminology is comming from: suffering, enlightenment, karma, noble path, right livelihood, etc. Because, once you begin to study Buddhism, it is no longer the simple undertaking you assumed it to be.

This is where meditation comes in, and this is why 'simplicity", "calm", "peacefulness", "relaxation" become a central part of the discussion. In order for us to recognize that our experience is quite complicated and is the real cause of our problems, it is necessary to slow the mind down and observe experience and see how it does this. Meditation, breathing, yoga, relaxation are intended to slow the mind down so that we can understand our experience. Again, like the walk to the store, we missed so much of what was really happening. It's the same with our experience - because we are so busy with every day life: making money, having fun, judging, liking, hating, etc., that we don't know about our minds.

Once we can see how we cause our own problems, then we apply the Buddhist teaching which will make our experience be a source of happiness, not problems. This is exactly why there is "right effort, right thought", etc. The word "right" means "correct", the type of thought or effort that will lead to happiness. To answer "who says what is right?", the answer is: the Buddha says what is right, or wrong. This is why we call ourselves Buddhists, because we follow his teachings. It is not open-ended and takes a certain amount of dedication and faith.

So, one must be in the day-to-day experience to understand it. But, one must also detach from it, watching the experience at the same time. It's a dicotomy that one must learn to live with and even encourage. It's called "mind training" and mediation, breathing, visualization, yogas are all mind training.

Finally, the most important aspects of Buddhist experience can't be explained. Or, they can only be explained in ways that don't make rational sense. "Form is emptiness, emptiness is form. Emptiness is no other than form, form is not other than emptiness" for starters but certainly there are many, many more such teachings which can only be understood through examining experience and the mind through meditation, introspective techniques, and mind training, all of which are essential to Buddhism. They usually require a Buddhist master's explanation and guidance to be most effective.

You can always be denied entry, with or without a visa. Entry is upon discretion of the immigration officer.

Mario, your reply provides a big picture view of things - thank you. However, typically there is some predictabilty to these matters. That is, in an extremely high percentage of cases, a traveler with a valid visa (or exemption) can safely assume they will be allowed entry (even though, as you say, an immigration officer may exercise discretion to the contrary. Then, all bets are off) But usually a person can predict a successful entry. My question is whether there is a change in that predictability as the number of uses of the exemption increases by an individual. There may not be any change to the predictability since the Nov. 2008 Order eliminated the 180-day stay limitation. In fact, one might be correct to infer that Immigration has loosened the limits on stay for exempt entries. My question is on the practical level and concerns whether anyone has noticed a discernable "tipping point" in this regard.

There is, and was, no limit on number of visa exempt entry and the 90 day provision was abandoned several years ago. After 3 or 4 you may start to be asked why and if you are working.

I'm on my 3rd visa exempt entry. I want to stay in Thailand, get a job, a house, a wife, etc. At some point I'll need to change from the current status. Question: should I do this now, ie., move into the tourist visa track, or keep going on the exemptions? The law allows for 'multiple entries" and the provision limiting stays to 180 days in any year was dropped in the Nov. 2008 Order. It's inconvenient to leave every 30 days and makes me nervous that, at some point, I could suddenly be denied entry. Should I wait or get a tourist visa?

I have flown into Thailand three times in the last three months without a "forward" plane ticket. Only once did the airline personnel ask me about this upon check in. I replied that I don't have a ticket because I am planning to stay in Thailand and work there. She just shrugged and processed me through. Thai immigration in Bkk has never inquired, either. I'm in Thailand on the 'exemption' status.