hookedondhamma

E W O.. where is china is that? Cool photos!

I agree!

I think that the mind is a powerful thing. Not saying ghosts aren't real, but when I see my friends joking around about the 'pi dum' in front of their little sister, she probably will one day see that ghost.

Aquine bird flu?

Crust Asian Flu?

Lololol good one!

Miss Farm Girl explained it really well; likewise so did Muay.

Have you tried moving into a Wat?

If its directly in the neighbourhood the noise is constant with laypeople visiting throughout. If it is in a more rural area one can't escape the morning wake up call/maw laam music (blasting from the speakers and often the same tune everyday), or the karaoke from a couple kilos away at night until early morning wake(itchy ear song, the allergy song, ban hao, etc.) A few quiet ones but one really has to search them out.

The OP made me Lololol

The Thai scale is nowhere near that in western tonal harmony. As they delve into non-traditional Thai music, like that of the west, the younger generations are picking it up though. Also at the music depts at the universities.

But i do know what you mean, i always keep a set of earplugs with me.

Generous edit.

if you have a pimple on your face you work on removing it, fixing it.

you dont however forget about the beautiful the head it sits on, worse still you do not remove the head.

Think you are ''missing'' a few points to satisfy your conviction. Stuff told me by a Thai speaks volumes. Sure, nothing in life is perfect but really don't like seeing the poor going without, thinking somehow they will win the lottery or their problems will be solved by giving what little they have.

Often the locals don't have a clue either. Gossip is big here, I am sure you know that.

It also runs in the order of monks as well, so one must be careful where they decide to ordaine and or practice. If I had 1 baht for every little morsel of nintah that has come across my ears, I could be chalerm's monetary rival.

Special ?

One has a rather special house at the temple by the lake I go cycling too.

He is very protective of it and has a gate with a sign saying no entry, although there is still plenty temple grounds I thought people could visit.

Shame I can't read Thai.

He's even got his on pier now for boats, it is no longer in it's original place where people liked to feed the fish from.

I wonder how many millions all that lovely teak it cost ?

Anyway it's a lovely day out up there for families, it must be considering how many go there and donate money.

so the teak really bothers you,ok.

No, it's the use of denotations and payment for blessing etc that is then used for self serving purposes. Merit Making in Thailand is generally the complete opposite of the philosophy/practice of Karma as it is again utilised for consciously self serving purposes, the Sangha would/should know this, yet perpetuate the practice for generating money.

Their must be monks in Thailand that practice traditional Theravada Buddhism without the corrupt practices of many, it would be good to know the names of a few Wat where this holds true.

There are many but they are mostly located in Isaan. Temples in central Thailand tend to be more about studying books, etc.

The thing is most people dwell more on the bad than the good. It seems to be the norm. So for every few good monks there is one not-so-good, but the actions of one wipe out the rest. For those who practice rightly though, these views don't affect them, as the realize that is the nature of the human mind.

The temples you will find these monks at are the ones with very little amenities, no tvs, in some cases no electricity, and the amount of monks will be few, as it is not very 'sanook' to live like that. Sign of the times.

Good thing there are no women living in the Wat.....Wait a second....who are all those ladies in white?

Those are maechis, women who undertake a certain number of precepts. Often they are very experienced meditators. Some live at the temple, some live at home, some have their own areas.

As for monks, the term basically means beggar.

Almsbowls are also known as begging bowls.

As for the op, as long as you are happy in life is all that matters. Whether you follow a system or other is up to you, but the more you go probing into someone else's choice of life, the more miserAble you probably will be. This is because it is their life and their choice; anything you assume about is not from direct experience, and is likely to be far from the truth.

I thought a 99% Buddhist country would show more respect to nature and animals.

I'm not Thai, but am a woman, so I'll irespond.

I also get sick of all the Thai women I meet saying to me, "Ohhh your skin is so white. I will trade my skin for yours!" It saddens me when my Thai friend's daughter (who is 6) tries to make her face white with powder and family members will actually tell her it's too bad that she's so dark skinned. Talk about growing up with low self-confidence. Of course, many people say it in jest...but still.

Has a lot to do with "class." If you're :Hi-so, then you should have white skin...but that's not always the case. I assume it's the same way in places like India, etc, where they follow the class system very seriously. Personally, I am kind of relieved they like white skin here in a way, because I hate tanning (sunburns, ouch!) One my my falang friends tans all the time, and she is going to get old way too soon! Not to mention, skin cancer...

Whenever my students at school tell me they want my white skin, I tell them that I think their dark skin is beautiful (which it really is) and they are always shocked when I say that.

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~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Repost this if ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ you are a beautiful strong black woman ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ who dont need no man ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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Yeaaahhhh .... Noooooooo ....

Just back from the afternoon with the Monks.

We couldn't leave before 12.30 as that is when they had finished their meal.

I've read the comments above and some genuinely deserving of a reply ...

if just to place them in the context of what we shared today.

Can't do it now though and will respond in the morning.

Our trip today was to show some of the nature of my area.

The first photo from today ...

LR DSCF9470.jpg

Socks and sandals - OMB

Yep, socks and sandals.People wear them when they are cold, or whatever other reason . And don't forget, monks are people, too. You should check out some of the photos from the temples in England. They have sweatshirts sometimes to stay warm.

The smiley was there to indicate a lighthearted comment. My real issue with the monk's attire is that he seems to be carrying some sort of phallus under his left arm.

Just back from the afternoon with the Monks.

We couldn't leave before 12.30 as that is when they had finished their meal.

I've read the comments above and some genuinely deserving of a reply ...

if just to place them in the context of what we shared today.

Can't do it now though and will respond in the morning.

Our trip today was to show some of the nature of my area.

The first photo from today ...

LR DSCF9470.jpg

Socks and sandals - OMB

Yep, socks and sandals.People wear them when they are cold, or whatever other reason . And don't forget, monks are people, too. You should check out some of the photos from the temples in England. They have sweatshirts sometimes to stay warm.

Considering some embassies are targeted for terrorism across the world I think there is no harm in being cautious.

I'm British but I see this as a yank bashing thread. Not even quite sure what the OP is trying to achieve?!

His bridge has been destroyed, and needs a place to stay ... Hence this thread ...

<deleted> is an estuary accent?

Google's to the rescue: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estuary_English

My god! That is interesting! Maybe they hear 'choo' instead of 'two'??

Can you cook an egg on her?

Lol I cannot.

When you find the issue please let me know, as I am in the same boat as your wife.

Perhaps people have been watching too much Television. Episodes ofThe Simpsons and Family Guy cartoons have been shown recently which depict Hitler and Nazis in the context of a funny show so why shouldn't people here follow their lead. (perhaps that's where the idea came from)

I hope that the TV posters who claim that these incidents result from Thai people's igorance of the world outside Thailand don't come from the US given that my experience there showed that a lot of people couldn't identify the difference between Taiwan and Thailand to give but one example of the average person's worldly knowledge. Another hilarious example was the American University student who was asked on a recent quiz show " the city Bangkok is located in Europe. True or False?" He passed and lost $100K

I think this OP is more of an example of creative journalism than a real concern to tourists. One of those funny fillers that they tag on to the end of the news on days when not much happens

Seems like eo many posts that hover around staying on topic, go off-topic ever inching towards Thai-bashing. Ok, I guess that can be normal of Thai Visa ... but these posts often mention the US or other Western country in a snide way. Seems like a few people have some sort of pent up resentment. Remember folks, Bush and o'Reilly do not represent the thought processes of the American people, no matter how hard you strain to throw out an insult.

Wow, this article! Mr. Kotler, you hansum man ...

I wonder why the women did not report to the police after the attack. Perhaps, there is something more than the surface of this video.

In my opinion that's no matter what happened there before beating... There is no reason for beating someone like that... And I can't even imagine how man can do this... Few men was hitting this woman like she was some kind of great threat which need to be eliminated... Horrible story

Idiots know no bounds. Besides, if it's 'sanuuk' why not?

*rolls eyes*

Such a shame how these lowlifes help tarnish the image of males in Thailand. Such a shame their fathers didn't aim for the mouth instead.

Yep, I meant Dhammayut. I notice the the older monks try to keep it going, but it doesn't seem to be catching on with the younger generation, the exception being those studying for the pali exams.

The yellow book i finished transcribing into correctly romanized pali last year. But there were complications in my getting it available to a wider audience. Caution tells me not to even think about releasing it via email due to the problems that can spring from it.

As for chanting differences, Mahan. uses Thai sounds for their chanting,; ex Put-tho, twee (for the sound of the t or th with the dot under it) while there. uses Indian pronunciation, Bud-dho, along with labial and dental, nasal sounds etc. Of course many monks here in both sects use Thai sounds, but there are a few around who still follow the original pronunciation before the before Thai language pronunciation shift came into occurrence.

A monk who ordained new in the there. Sect told me he prefers the Maha. pronunciation, as the there. makes him feel uneasy.

Some case endings are also switched when chanting between the two sects, and i noticed that when visiting maha. Temples, they chant in stopped form, while there. Chant without pauses - but this varies as well. While in Chiang Mai last year I had the opportunity to go and hear a very respectes monk chant the abhidhamma matrix, and I was lucky to have a recorder there as it was completely uknown to my ears. I believe it was a maha. Temple, though he was trained in Lanna culture so the difference was astounding.

I would be very interested in your book.. do you need some help financially getting it printed?

I am currently on my way to loei but will email when i can get to a computer .

Edit. op i will send you a pm

April fool's came early huh?

Edit: darn Scotto beat me to it

The yellow book i finished transcribing into correctly romanized pali last year. But there were complications in my getting it available to a wider audience. Caution tells me not to even think about releasing it via email due to the problems that can spring from it.

As for chanting differences, Mahan. uses Thai sounds for their chanting,; ex Put-tho, twee (for the sound of the t or th with the dot under it) while there. uses Indian pronunciation, Bud-dho, along with labial and dental, nasal sounds etc. Of course many monks here in both sects use Thai sounds, but there are a few around who still follow the original pronunciation before the before Thai language pronunciation shift came into occurrence.

A monk who ordained new in the there. Sect told me he prefers the Maha. pronunciation, as the there. makes him feel uneasy.

Some case endings are also switched when chanting between the two sects, and i noticed that when visiting maha. Temples, they chant in stopped form, while there. Chant without pauses - but this varies as well. While in Chiang Mai last year I had the opportunity to go and hear a very respectes monk chant the abhidhamma matrix, and I was lucky to have a recorder there as it was completely uknown to my ears. I believe it was a maha. Temple, though he was trained in Lanna culture so the difference was astounding.