tc101

I have been to Samui in July and can say the weather was the best ever, not too hot and a nice sea breeze. There's no problem with maleria, but I made sure I had a visit to the doctor for all the 'usual' suspects. Tetanus, polio, hepatitus, typhoid - just to be on the safe side. Most last for ten years so it's worth it.

Have a good time.

Typhoid only last 2 years I believe. Double check that.

So back to The Apprentice… is it good , is it representative, is it America?

It is representative of one very shallow materialistic status conscious side of America. I am American and I hate this side of our society.

I read lots of stuff here from younger people retiring to Thailand, and it seems to me that there is hardly anyone posting here over 60, or what we would think of as normal retirement age. Is this just because they don't post on this message board, or because when people get older they return to their home country?

This is topic drift, but since you obviously know something about electronics, do you know where I can get a cell phone jammer shipped to the USA or find instructions to build my own? These are illegal in the USA now, but I would still like to have one. There are little units you can carry with you, and any time you are in a public place and don't want to listen to someone shouting into their cell phone you can discreatly turn on your unit and it jams all the cell phone signals near by. I see ads for them on the internet, but all in foreign countries that will not ship them to the USA. I can not find instructions on how to build one.

Hi Guys,

Just been viewing some pic's here and on the web and came across some vintage pic's of the entertainment scene back in the 1980's. From the pic's and the comments I gather it was less mainstream and commercialized than what it is today. Can someone maybe paint a picture on how it differs from today? Eg. How were the women, entertainment districts and any other aspect that has dramtically changed in the past 20-25 years?

Some of the comments made were the usual "those were the good ol'days" type but really, other than the drinking and womanizing, has it really changed?

Would like to hear from those that experienced it.

Saleen

I was in Thailand for about a month in 1977. I was traveling around Asia. I had been in India and Sri Lanka for about a year. Thailand seemed like paradise in comparison because you could get hamburgers and ice cream.

I haven't been back since then so I can't compare it to today, but from my reading here I can tell you a few things about how it seems to have changed.

I have been reading a thread about how bad the noise is now, and I don't remember a noise problem back then.

There was plenty of prostitution. Thailand had been the big place for Vietnam soilders to go on vacation. The vietnam war had ended and sexual tourism had not taken off yet and I think that left a huge prostitution industry without enough customers.

In 1977 no one had heard of AIDS. Herpes existed but was rare. Anything you got could be knocked out with anti biotics.

There were lots of interesting characters in Thailand. There were spiritual seekers who had spent time in India and were in Thailand checking out Buddhism. Also lots of drinking and drugs and people destroying themselves in that way.

I hope to come back sometime this year, so then I will be able to tell you more about how it is different.

There's no noise of any kind in the mooban I live. People have these problems if they live on "public" land - anyone can do whatever he wants because he owns it. Not so in moobans.

What is a mooban?

There was an excellent article on this in a recent issue of Tricylce.. not the last one but I think within the past year. Called something like "Breaking the taboo on Enlightment" or "Enlightenment, the last taboo" or something liek that...anyhow I found the article extremely helpful, altho I can't seem to put my hands on it right now.

Here is a link to the article on line, but you have to be a subscriber to read the whole thing:

http://www.tricycle.com/issues/tricycle/14...rview/39-1.html

Sheryl I agree totally with your post. Talking about inner experience honestly and humbly is probably a good thing, but everyone needs to be careful for the reasons you mentioned.

This noise problem sounds awful. More and more as I read over this board I wonder why anyone from the west lives in Thailand. I read about terrible heat, noise, air polution and crime. What is the attraction? Is it just the women?

I was there 30 years ago and liked it and have recently read about the great cheap medical care and low cost of living and have thought about retiring there. Also I am attracted to Buddhism, so that is a plus.

But the more I read here, the worse it seems. Why do you live there? Tell the truth. Is it all about the women?

Is this a major problem everywhere, or are there other folks here who have found peaceful quiet hotel rooms and rentals in Thailand?

I met the DL, and I think he is enlightened. How do I know? I don't. He had a special kind of aura that was detectable. I've met many yogis who have had this same aura - to be in their presence is amazing.

I have had the same experience with several yogis. It is amazing. It has had a major effect on me. I don't know if it means they are enlightened though. Muktenanda apparently had this very powerful effect on lots of people, but he did lots of really bad things.

By the way, when asked, the DL says that he is not enlightened. Would an enlightened being lie about this? I don't know.

This is one of the hardest things to grasp, but the most important, in Buddhist teachings. A quote attributed to Buddha, " The external world is only a manifestation of the activities of the mind itself". Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, a splendid Thai monk wrote,"A Buddha is an enlightened individual, one who knows just what is what (knows things just as they are) and so is capable of behaving appropriately with respect to all things." A physiscist, Sir James Jean wrote, "The universe can best be described as consisting of pure thought." What does this all mean? I have been trying to understand this for years now. It may mean simply that, an understanding of the nature of the mind and reality may free one from suffering and rebirth. That would surely qualify as enlightenment. But like I said, I've been trying to understand this for years.

This does not have to be hard to grasp. Even from a simple scientific point of view. Everything any of us experience we experience in our own mind. Light is reflected from an object we are looking at. The light comes in through the lense of the eye. It hits nerves on the back of the eye, goes through to optic nerve to the brain, and then in the brain is the experience of seeing the object. You can never really be certain that there is actually an object out there though. You might be dreaming or hallucinating or be in the Matrix. All you can ever know for sure is your own experience. All you can ever know for sure is the mind.

hmmm It is spiritually inappropriate to claim "enlightenment" and is actually forbidden in the precepts I believe.

I don't know what the precepts say about this, but I think it is a good idea for people to talk about their state of mind, what dharma practice has done for them, and so on, and if someone gets enlightened I think it would be useful for them to talk about that.

How are we going to know if any of this stuff works if we don't talk about what it does for us? How are we going to know anything about enlightenment if people who get enlightened don't talk about it? If enlightened people don't speak directly about this, then all we are left with is legends, hear say, guesses, and theories.

Both

Maybe I should have asked "Which would you read first".

Of course, I could just be a simple minded fool as well.

Congratulations. One of the most profound spiritual revelations in my life was the simple calm knowledge that I am an idiot.

Amazon USA has all three, but Life as a Siamese Monk is only available used and costs $70, so it is between Phra Farang and Venerable Father. Which would you recommend most?

There is no agreed upon definition of enlightenment. Some poeple think of enlightenment as a permanent state of perfection, others think of it as a temporary glimpse of something that is beyond time. Some schools say everyone is already enlightened but they just don't know it.

So depending on your definition, I could answer the original question "Does Anyone Know Of Any Enlightened Men?" in lots of different ways.

In another discussion someone recommended a biography of a foreign Buddhist monk in Thailand. I made a note of the book and read about it on Amazon but now I can't find it. Can someone tell me the name of the book? Also, please recommend any other books about the experiences of foreigners who come to Thailand to study Buddhism.

Thanks for the info. This sounds very encouraging. I want to come to Thailand soon and see for myself what it is like. I wish it wasn't so hot and I wish it wasn't such a long plane ride, but I guess I will just have to learn to deal with those things.

I am not rich by any means but I am doing quite well with my currency plays. It paid for my new house. People can predict currency moves and that is why there are forex traders around. If you know what you're doing, you can make money.

Congratulations. However, I remain skeptical. Some people make money. Some people lose money. George Soros, one of the smartest currency traders on earth has at times lost huge amounts of money when he bet wrong.

I don't know you or know how smart you are, but I think it is misleading to suggest there is easy money to be made in currency plays. It is just like the stock market. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. If you have had recent wins you feel like a genius, but in the long run, you win some and you lose some.

Congratulations on your accurate prediction. However, keep in mind that if anyone could accurately predict the future values of currencies they would be very rich. Some of the best financial minds on earth are constantly trying to make these predictions, and half the time they are wrong. If you made a good guess and invested some money on that guess then I congratulate you, but don't count on your ability to be correct on a regular basis.

Since I do not know the future direction of currency valuations, I believe in diversifying. As other posters have pointed out, Everbank may not be the best way to do this. I buy stock and bond mutual funds that invest in all the world markets and get currency diversification that way.

I agree predicting currency futures is one of the hardest proffesions,but the time frame & coorporate greed are not in their favour.I'm no forex guru,but the subject is the current US$ & certain cicumstances dont seem to favour it,just my observation,I think I would be going short or implacing putts when the US$ is concerned.If I was a gambling man I would be ploughing it into gold rather then the US$.

That all makes sense to me, but it also made sense to me 15 years ago when the same problems existed and I bet that the dollar was going to go down. I lost money on that bet. There are so many variables in the world economy. It is beyond my ability to predict. I just diversify into all major currencies and stock markets with diversified international stock and bond funds.

What about Chaing Mai? Is it just as hot as Bangkok, or cooler?

second chaingrai

if you like the cold weather ,its very cold this morning

just getting the tailend of a storm somewhere.

you can get everything else you ask for here as well

Thanks for the info. I guess I'll be coming there first. I am going to check out Thailand for retirement. Everything I read about it sounds good except the hot weather. I see there is a Chaingrai forum here, so I will go there to learn more.

What major city has the coolest weather in Thailand? By "Major City" I mean a place where I will meet other english speaking retires, get high speed internet, be able to buy books in English, and join a health club where I can exercise.

Congratulations on your accurate prediction. However, keep in mind that if anyone could accurately predict the future values of currencies they would be very rich. Some of the best financial minds on earth are constantly trying to make these predictions, and half the time they are wrong. If you made a good guess and invested some money on that guess then I congratulate you, but don't count on your ability to be correct on a regular basis.

Since I do not know the future direction of currency valuations, I believe in diversifying. As other posters have pointed out, Everbank may not be the best way to do this. I buy stock and bond mutual funds that invest in all the world markets and get currency diversification that way.

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