bankei

When did you buy your Wii? I was in Japan last month and also brought a Wii back with me. It's now being modified by a shop I always use in MBK but the bad news is that the recent models like mine require a different type of Modchip that is closer to Bht 2500 in cost. (GCorners shop at Victory Monument comfirmed similar cost).

But it's OK as the total cost (6500 baht for Wii in Japan + 2500 mod cost) is still cheaper than buying the ones available here in Bangkok (circa 11,000 baht)

Hope this helps.

Hi Alchemist

I just bought mine a week ago. Cost was 25,000Yen which works out to be around 7,239B.

I was thinking of buying another one in Bangkok, chipped, to use in Australia, but I didn't realise they were so expensive there (11,900 for a Japanese one here http://www.gcorners.com/product/wii/wii.htm). It is hard to get a grasp of the multiple currencies.

It will still work out a bit cheaper buying in Japan and getting the chip in Bangkok. Thanks for pointing it out.

Does anyone know if a Japanese NTSC console play on an Australian PAL TV?

Thanks Firefoxx.

Bankei

Hi

I am currently living in Japan and have purchased a Wii console and a few games.

Being a dummy, could someone please explain to me, in simple terms, how I go about making the console play copied games?

I will be going to Bangkok next week, so can I just buy a chip while I am there, or does it have to be fitted?

What are the game prices like in Thailand, for both the proper games and the copies? In Japan they are costing about 5,000 yen = A$50 = B1500.

Thanks for your help

Bankei

Thanks guys

This is the one I was thinking of. the Thai title is ดอะเลตเตอร์ จดหมายรัก or Jod mai rak, literally "love letter", see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Letter:_Jod_Mai_Rak

On the way over to Thailand I watched a Thai movie on the plane. The Title in English was something like "Lover Letters". It is a love story about a Bangkok woman go meets a man up in Chiangmai area and they eventually marry. They have the perfect marriage until he is diagnosed with some sickness and then he dies. But before he dies he writes several love letters to his wife and has someone post them to her after he is gone. Very nice movie.

I have done a search but cannot find it.

Can anyone assist?

I watched the 'spring,summer,fall,winter....spring' one yesterday...

Mahayana in Korea is obviously very different to Theravada here..... the guy has sex whilst a monk... disrobes... then comes back as a monk

don't they have Paraccika offences then? Here he wouldn't be able to re-ordain.

They have the same 4 Parajika rules in the (2) Vinayas used by 'Mahayana' monks. A monk having sex is no longer a monk and cannot re-ordain. But remember this is just a movie however these things obviously do happen, with the monk keeping it a secret.

I was ordained temporarily in a Thai temple in the countryside. There is an expectation of the applicant giving donations and gifts to the monks present at the ordination, as well the family usually serves lunch after the ceremony. After disrobing I was also encouraged by my family to make a donation to the temple and gifts to particular monks who helped me out. I spent around 30,000 all up i think. I hear it is much more expensive in Bangkok. And being a farang, the monks where I ordained assumed that I was rich and expected gifts.

It is possible for 'poor' people to ordain without paying anything, but it seems social pressures encourage it - you would look like a tight arse if you didn't donate.

These days I hear they will not ordain anyone - there are restrictions in the vinaya as mentioned, but also some abbots are fussy about who they will take. some not accepting people with criminal records etc

The "What would Jesus do?" phenomenon in the United States was bad enough. Let's not go too far with this "What would Buddha Think?" trend.

There are already two books on this, by an American author:

What Would Buddha Do at Work? 101 Answers to Workplace Dilemmas by Franz Metcalf

and

What Would Buddha Do? by Franz Metcalf

!

Bankei

There are good and bad people in any religion or country. Some people selectivly follow the rules and ignore others, often justifying it to themselves somehow.

Bankei

When I was a monk we were 'chased' every morning by dogs. Being the newest monk meant I was at the end of the line. We had to walk past this very nasty big dog who used to come out barking furiously, but the monks just ignored it and went along. It came so close to me that I could feel its breath on my calf muscle. I was scared I was going to get bitten, so I ended up going with some other monks on a different route, but there were dogs there too - though they were less vicious. There is not much you can do as a monk.

This is my understanding of the issue.

Theravada Vinaya requires Bhikkhuni to be ordained by existing Bhikkhuni, including a Preceptor Bhikkhuni of 12 years standing. They are then ordained again by Bhikkhus.

The problem is that there is no existing Bhikkhuni of the Theravada Linegage.

The first nuns where ordained by the Buddha, as where the first monks. Since then the Buddha has laid down rules for ordinations. The first monk who had sex got away with it because there was no rule against it – we cannot use this as a precendent because rules developed later.

There are existing Theravada ‘Bhikkhuni’ but these people are not fully accepted because they are not properly ordained according to Theravada standards.

Firstly, the lineage is from a Chinese tradition. The Vinaya used is that of the Dharmaguptaka lineage. This is different to the Theravada, there are more rules, and even slight differences on the common rules.

Secondly, this lineage is considered, by some, to be broken. There was a period (maybe more than one) in Chinese History when the link from preceptor to student was broken. Even initially, there were many procedures that were missed, or ignored by the early Chinese Bhikkhuni.

Thirdly, there is a difference in language of the Vinaya used. During the ordination procedure, what language do these Dharmaguptaka Theravada Bhikkhuni use? If Pali, are they chanting the Pali rules or the Dharmaguptaka rules?

Forthly, those Theravada Bhikkhuni’s, or at least some of them, have not met the requirements of either Vinaya when ordaining further Bhikkhuni. Eg. There is a requirement for the senior preceptor to have 12 years as a full Bhikkhuni before ordaining others. There was at least one ordination in Sri Lanka where this did not happen. Any ordaination of a monk under these circumstances would be invalid.

Theravadins seem to be much more concerned with maintaining strict adherence to the Vinaya when ordaining. Eg. King Mongkut (before he was King) reordained about 20 times because each time he was not convinced he the prceedure was done entirely correctly.

My view is that it is not really possible to revive the Theravada Bhikkhuni lineage technically, but that some of these minor procedures should be overlooked. However, those ordaining should do it correctly in line with the Vinaya as far as possible.

I should also point out that Vinaya lineage and philosophical belief do not mecesarily need to match. Nuns could ordain under the Dharmaguptaka lineage, but accept Theravada teachings.

Sorry to jump in here, but a thai monk gets given free travel!? I've seen them pay with money for trips on buses and airplanes, or do they get a travel allowance granted by the abbot?

The free booze thing... I didn't know that. Do the head monks not keep tabs on the new monks to keep them in line?

It sounds like the children are running the temple and the adults are just whistling away the hours!

Monks get free travel on the local buses. If they want to travel further, they need a ticket. But I believe they are given discounts. Thai Airways gives generous discounts too.

In the temples, the head monks generally do not keep tabs on the younger ones too closely. They are 'important' and often travel, accept invitations etc, so are frequently absent. Lower level senior monks look after the newbies, but generally new ones are fairly free to do what they like - as long as it is not too unusual.

I rented a beautiful apartment in Ratchada area, on the subway. It was 5,500B per month, partially furnished.

Internet was 500B per month.

Utilities roughly 500B.

Cable TV was about 500B too I think.

Food can vary greatly depending on what you eat - 30B per dish and up.

same with transportation,

Bankei

So, here are my questions for you; what do you mean by a beautiful apartment, as this is highly subjective?

How big was it? Did it have a kitchen? Was it a studio or a 1 bedroom? Was it a modern building or a place about to fall down? Did it have a balcony? Did it have a Western style bathroom with a tub? Did it have a Western style kitchen or just a hot plate? What year was this - because prices have spiked horribly in the last 2 years?

For 5,500 baht, I would think you were living in a 35sqm or smaller studio, with a Thai style stand up shower and toilet combo and no kitchen, in a bare bones building with no pool, no gym and no security door.

If I am wrong, I will start looking for a new place in Ratchada tomorrow.

Hi

Sorry for the Late reply.

My place was rented early last year. It was a studio, no kitchen, but had a balcony. I had a kitchen sink setup on the balcony with room for cooking etc out there. The bathroom had a shower with a western style toilet. The main room had a wardrobe, bed, TV cabinet (but no TV) and table and chairs included, and the room was airconditioned. I am not sure how big the place was, but enough room for a lounge, table and double bed with plenty left over. The complex had a pool and a gym, and security doors with security guards stationed outside 24hrs. The building was modern too.

I think we should expect a certain behaviour from monks. They should follow the major vinaya rules, and behave in a 'monk-like' manner.

We would expect police to behave in a certain manner - not breaking the laws they are enforcing, accepting bribes etc. The same with Doctors, we would expect them to be qualified and follow proper medical proceedures etc.

If monks cannot behave as monks, they shouldn't ordain. eg. if they wish to drink, they should remain laymen. I assume they ordain for the easy lifestyle. As long as you can refrain from sex, then they can usually get away with most of the things they were doing as laymen, and they get paid a lot more for doing a lot less.

I rented a beautiful apartment in Ratchada area, on the subway. It was 5,500B per month, partially furnished.

Internet was 500B per month.

Utilities roughly 500B.

Cable TV was about 500B too I think.

Food can vary greatly depending on what you eat - 30B per dish and up.

same with transportation,

Bankei

About a year ago, I was checking in a Bangkok airport, economy class, for a British Airways flight to Sydney. Nearby was the business class line, and there were four monks checking into business class on the same flight. They were accompanied by an Asian non-monk, also going business class. I will presume that they were not given free upgrades to business class, or they would have first checked in, in the economy line, like the rest of the "great unwashed", like me.

I do not know if the monks' temple/temples paid for the expensive tickets, or if someone else did, but it just looked bad to me. Economy tickets are about $700 for a roundtrip, and business class has to be a minimum of $3,000 for a roundtrip, maybe as much as $5,000. So basically, that's easily two or three THOUSAND dollars for EACH of the monk's, that otherwise could have gone to maybe help the poor, temple upkeep/repairs/utilities, or even buy cigarettes for the monks. There is no way I can justify anyone paying that money for business class tickets for monk travel, for any reason.

Thai Airways gives monks special discount tickets, special treatment and even upgrades.

In 25 years in Thailand I've never seen a monk asking for donations.

I am constantly being asked for donations by various monks - they ask for money, coke, jeans, t-shirts and one even asked me to buy him a motorbike!

It became so annoying that I just flatly say no and even had an argument with one monk (who smelt like wiskey) I told him monks do not need money and he replied that they did need money to buy things like cigarettes etc.

I would be pretty certain that this was a "lapsed" monk, or not one at all. Scam artists are not above donning a robe.

No, they are all legitimate monks, properly ordained at my local temple. However, the one that asked me to buy him a motorbike did later run off with a few hundred thousand B in temple donations, committing a parajika offence.

I was stopped last week driving a car and did not have my international drivers licence on me. I was let off with a 200B "fine".

In 25 years in Thailand I've never seen a monk asking for donations.

I am constantly being asked for donations by various monks - they ask for money, coke, jeans, t-shirts and one even asked me to buy him a motorbike!

It became so annoying that I just flatly say no and even had an argument with one monk (who smelt like wiskey) I told him monks do not need money and he replied that they did need money to buy things like cigarettes etc.

Hi Rikpa

Interesting reply. I agree that some 'Islamists' have done some terrible things. But so have Buddhists. Does this mean they are all bad?

I believe you are a Tibetanist, so take the situation in Tibet prior to the Chinese invasion for example. The Chinese propagandists have published many things about the cruel treatment the Buddhists used to inflict to other Budhists there.

Or, maybe you think all Chinese people are Bad because the Chinese Government has invaded Tibet.

As for the Islamists wiping out Buddhism in India, how is it that Jainism and Brahmanism have survived while Buddhism was wiped out?

I think it depends on what sort of loan you have.

In Australia there is HECS which doesn't have to be rapid until your income reaches a certain level. So this would be a like a grant as Bruce mentions. But if you have a loan with regular repayments, then that would go against the rule I would think.

You would also need to consider how long you will be ordaining. If temporary, then still having a loan would probably not pose a problem as you will be back in the working world soon to continue the repayments. When I ordained temporarily, I had many loans and I mentioned this to some monks and it wasn't deemed a problem.

But what happens if you intend to ordain for a short time, with your loans, but end up staying?

Hi Steve

When kneeling, some Thais chanting a few standard phrases like the namo tassa bhagavato... and the three refuges, Buddham saranam gacchami........ Then some chant some other short phrases that they may have memorised.

Some Thais will then even pray to the Buddha as a god and ask for help in worldly matters such as work, money etc

I don't think people pray to their ancestors, but they may often dedicate merit to dead ancestors - this is fairly common I think.

As for the feet, I think it is a show and respect or devotion. Feet are considered dirtly in Thailand, so cleaning someone elses filthy feet is something one would not normally do, unless their is great repsect. I have seen monks do this for respected senior monks

Hi November

Sorry for your loss.

Orthodox Theravada (The Pali Scriptures) teaches that there is no soul or self (sabbe sankara anatta). People are just made up of components like a chariot is made up of parts. On death everything disolves, but there is a continuation of the person with the last thought moments of one being conditioning the next. Like passing a flame along from one candle to another.

Theravada also teaches there is no intermediate state between death and rebirth - it is instantaneous. It seems Theravada was the only early Indian school to teach this with most others claiming there is an intermediate state. This has been made famous by the Tibetan Book of the Dead (Bardo Thodol) which discribes the 49 days between death and rebirth. The early scriptures are not really clear on the matter, and there is some scriptual evidence that there may be this state.

Anyway, what you will find in Thailand is that not many people or even monks are aware of what is in the scriptures. Most will probably beleive in the soul, and many think the soul hangs around the body until it is cremated. Even then many will beleive they are visited by dead relatives in dreams etc.

I was a monk briefly and a person in the village died and his corpse was brought to the temple. It was very interesting to see what happens. Many monks were rather scared of the 'ghost' being present and the temple dogs were howling all week. The young novices were scared shitless and couldn't be left alone!

A Tibetan Lama once said that these sorts of rituals are old Indian customs. When a visitor was received at someone's house, incence was lit to make a pleasant aroma, water was given to quench their first and flowers were presented etc. He said the Buddha was once asked how he should be received and he answered like a guest, and that is how the tradition started. Don't know if this is necessarily true, but is a nice story.

I too wrestle with the Dilema of how much to participate in these sorts of things. I have been with plenty of Thai's who just run around to temples lighting candles and incense etc. These Thais consider themselves devout, but I think they over do it sometimes and cannot see the point.

Bankei

I spent a short time as a monk in Thailand, and was surprised that once while sitting there with a shaven head, wearing robes, I was asked by another monk, who was even present at my ordination ceremony, if I was a Christian!