RandomSand

You can park for free outside the shops, 20 meters before the border, when doing a quick in/out at the Hat Lek / Cham Yeam border.

I've done it myself, with a hire car parked up on the Thai side, but I went with my g.f so the rental car wouldn't be left alone with myself out the country.

Thanks for clarifying. To be clear, I see nothing in the text that suggests the "counterfeit things" mentioned are mental factors or aspects of mind. Furthermore; I did not say that "Mental Factors" are not part of mind.

My point is to highlight, that if all phenomena arise from the basis of mind, then an irreversible destructive process would not have been mentioned (counterfeit things won’t be able to reach into the primal mind, because the bridge making the connection will have been destroyed).

note: I can't formulate an complete argument on this subject using Buddhism because I don't think that Buddhism is a complete and correct philosophy.

I comprehend that my point probably isn't entirely clear but this is because the paradigm from which I wrote is probably very different to how you understand these things to be.

So in summary, the mind exists, but it's the counterfeit aspects of mind which bring about illusion.

Ajahn Chah's comment doesn't say anything about "aspects" of mind.

...Nor does it say these "aspects" (counterfeit things) are specifically "of mind".

There is a radically different viewpoint.

The text which you posted (quoted below) describes "counterfeit things" as not being able to reach the mind because a connection has been destroyed.

In other sutras it is said "Buddha cut the root of consciousness".

Buddha states: "Luminous, monks, is the mind. And it is defiled by incoming defilements."

Ajahn Chah's comment:

The mind is something more radiant than anything else can be, but because counterfeits – passing defilements – come and obscure it, it loses its radiance, like the sun when obscured by clouds.

Don’t go thinking that the sun goes after the clouds. Instead, the clouds come drifting along and obscure the sun. So meditators, when they know in this manner, should do away with these counterfeits by analyzing them shrewdly... When they develop the mind to the stage of the primal mind, this will mean that all counterfeits are destroyed, or rather, counterfeit things won’t be able to reach into the primal mind, because the bridge making the connection will have been destroyed. Even though the mind may then still have to come into contact with the preoccupations of the world, its contact will be like that of a bead of water rolling over a lotus leaf.

Leave me out of it. This argument about illusion is with yourself.

There doesn't even need to be a "mind" for illusion to happen. Quantum physics shows that the properties of matter change state upon observation**. The traditional Buddhist view, afaik, is that Maya (material reality) is the illusion par excellence.

**There's a extremely profound implication, regarding the nature of enlightened-beings, which follows-on from the second two sentences.

(double post)

Yes, and of course the Buddha would not have spent so much time defining, developing a psychology, and teaching how to train the mind if in fact it was/is an illusion.

That's not a very good argument.

There's billions of people all over the world toiling to earn money.

An invention (an illusion) which itself has no inherent value other than for whatever it can be exchanged for.

Likewise it may have been worthwhile for "the Buddha" to promote a doctrine of "the mind" even if mind was/is an illusion.

Actually; there are a great number of sutras where it's stated that the mind is an illusion and does not exist. I will find some and quote if you'd like ?

Yes please.

It's good to see somebody else understands illusion = does not exist.

Having gone though many sutra PDFs (looking for quotes) it does seem that Buddhism proposes a doctrine of mind.

What I find interesting is how a human being (Siddhārtha Gautama) can relay doctrines of what lays beyond death whilst still alive on this Earth.

For example: Although we can can say that mortality is experienced; it does not necessarily follow that a non-mortality cannot be experienced.

From the binary perspective of mortality we can easily label non-mortality as "non-existent".

The reverse side of this binarism, and the doctrine of Buddhism, is to label mortality as "non-existent".

Obviously we can see that: There is material form.

And according to Buddhism; There is Mind.

So in reply to the OP who asked: "What does Buddhism have to say about the creation of the universe?"...

I think it's important to realize the bible talks about a spirit/matter dualism. (i.e "And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters").

However; Buddhism talks about a mind/matter dualism. Of course, if some aspect of sentience (mind) creates reality then the old "chicken and the egg" problem is not fully addressed as long as that "mind" is dependent on matter to function.

Also, I don't know if you're aware but, scientists now know that matter is created by electromagnetism, the nuclear forces, orbital rotation of celestial bodies... not really by "mind". I mean; did anyone say "let this box of weetabix turn into a block of pure gold by the power of mind" and it actually happen ?

If you can believe that a global-uber-mind creates reality, although it obviously doesn't, then maybe you can also stretch your imagination to considering that the Buddhist concept of "mind" is actually the spirit-realm.

Okay! You've given some good examples which are worthy of discussion. First I'll point out that I do not dismiss something as being of no consequence because it's an illusion. This is an illusory assumption of yours, or a misinterpretation of what I've written.

Clearly you and I have a different understanding of what it means to say something is an illusion.

If I have a nightmare involving a monster I will understand that the monster is a creation of the mind and is therefore an illusion, this is synonymous with saying that the monster does not exist.

I will not say that because the mind creates an illusory monster that the mind is an illusion, ie that the mind does not exist. It's just nonsense, and it's not Buddha Dhamma.

Actually; there are a great number of sutras where it's stated that the mind is an illusion and does not exist. I will find some and quote if you'd like ?

I found a reply on another forum which quotes the Pali Canon's Agganna Sutta on the subject of Devas (Angels in Buddhist cosmology?) and their devolution into human form.

There comes a time, Vasettha, when, sooner or later after a long period this world contracts. At a time of contraction, beings are mostly born in the Abhassara Brahma world. And there they dwell, mind-made, feeding on delight, self luminous, moving through the air, glorious—and they stay like that for a very long time. But sooner or later, after a very long period, this world begins to expand again. At a time of expansion, the beings from the Abhassara Brahma world, having passed away from there, are mostly reborn in this world. Here they dwell, mind-made, feeding on delight, self-luminous, moving through the air, glorious and they stay like that for a very long time.

At that period, Vasettha, there was just one mass of water, and all was darkness, blinding darkness. Neither moon nor sun appeared, no constellations or stars appeared, night and day were not yet distinguished, nor months and fortnights, nor years and seasons; there was no male and female, beings being reckoned just as beings. And sooner or later, after a very long period of time, savory earth spread itself over the waters where those beings were. It looked just like the skin that forms itself over hot milk as it cools. It was endowed with color, smell, and taste. It was the color of fine ghee or butter and it was very sweet, like pure wild honey.

Then some being of a greedy nature said: "I say, what can this be?" and tasted the savory earth on its finger. In so doing, it became taken with the flavor, and craving arose in it. Then other beings, taking their cue from that one, also tasted the stuff with their fingers. They too were taken with the flavor, and craving arose in them. So they set to with their hands, breaking off pieces of the stuff in order to eat it. And the result was that their self luminance disappeared. And as a result of the disappearance of their self luminance the moon and the sun appeared, night and day were distinguished, months and fortnights appeared, and the year and its seasons. To that extent the world re-evolved.

The journey by train takes 3 hours and 40 minutes, apparently,.. and that's just the Bangkok - Pattaya leg.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_enema

Coffee enemas can cause numerous side effects, including infections, sepsis (including campylobacter sepsis), severe electrolyte imbalance, colitis, proctocolitis, salmonella, brain abscess, and heart failure. If the coffee is inserted too quickly or is too hot, it could cause internal burning or rectal perforation. Long term use of coffee enemas can lead to malabsorption of fat, fat-soluble vitamins, and calcium.

The use of coffee enemas has led to several deaths as a result of severe electrolyte imbalance, hyponatremia, dehydration, pleural and pericardial effusions. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ruled that study participants must be warned of the risk of death from coffee enemas in studies that use them

Make them bear the cost of their own dishonesty...

Make them buy the fuel out their own pockets and they can claim it back as an expense.

If they use too much fuel (i.e claim too much) tell them they're not efficient at their job and will have to find another.

If they complain about theft of fuel; tell them to report it to the police

You'll need digital tachographs on all vehicles to properly implement this... but only to keep tabs on fuel efficacy.

Have a bullet proof written company policy on all this so they have some rules to work to and know what to expect.

Coming up.....the guy who considers himself upmarket for using Mach 3 razorblades, who shaves every day and proudly claims to make each and every blade last a whole month. Presumably more than a month in February. I might just ask him.....

Minimalist tip: Oil the blades after using them, stopping rust, and keeping the edge sharp. You can also sharpen the blade by running the razor backwards down a piece of denim... although the safety rails on modern razors interfere with this.

Pizza Company - consistently the best pizza from a pizza chain in the world, among the ones i have tried in the world anyway!

Poor excuse for a pizza. Good laugh, though. They must have Korean "pizza experts" come up with these new ideas.

Actually a vegetarian from "Nick The Pizza" is half way towards a decent pizza, and a reasonable compromise, if you hate the micky-mouse pizzas from the national chains.

"Tuna special" from Nick's is my "go to" pizza,.. not sweet or "cakey". It was put on the menu after I ordered it so many times :-)

I did have a chicken one and never again but the two mentioned above are good solid pizzas.... can't go wrong.

Pages just a little wavy?

Try ironing the pages on a low heat setting.

As you come down Pattaya klang, just before the traffic lights onto 2nd road, there's a barbourshop on the left with female staff. Not expensive.

Cable cut seems to have been fixed, I am getting 215 Ping to France now with 3bb 0% packet loss

3BB -- AMS-IX has an impressive 200-210 ms ping.

Your france destination most likely routed via AMS-IX.

Cat has only 2Gbit AMS-IX and I get 250ms+, 300ms+, 400ms+ on my True connection via Cat --> AMS-IX

Problem is, not all Euro destinations peered via AMS-IX or other UK/FR links. One of my UK vps for example goes via CAT He.net USA connection to 3BB, while other goes via linx and 270ms. I get 240ms in True and it was 210 ms before.

I used to get 198-200 ms to bbc.co.uk but now it's 350 ms. But still getting 195 ms to LA and San jose

That is very fast. It's normally around 280 ms.

195 ms would be expected if using a Japanese VPN or proxy. So, the measured ping would only be JP - US part of the route even though you're testing in Thailand.

Why not have Suvarnabhumi for flights coming into the Kingdom and Don Muang for flights going out ?

It would instantly increase airport throughput by 100% in both airports because instead of arrivals AND departures there'd only be one of each.

Why the "genius" Thai planners didn't consider this is beyond me.

Yes all students should be told "Wake-up! you're living in a nanny state and you'll get the shock of life when you go overseas."

If she knows her fathers address then perhaps she could try writing a letter to start with.

Find somewhere nice, a cool building that doesn't get the midday sun, buy your motorbike, all this on a tourist visa...

BUT IN CAMBODIA

Then find someone who also lives in nice, cheap, building, and owns a bike....

BUT IN THAILAND

And then swap lives for 6 months of the year.

Should be very easy to arrange on this forum.

I'm surprised there isn;t already a dedicated sub-forum for this purpose!