rychrde

It's so sad isn't it. The Chinese took away the Panchen Lama... Why can't these amazing people keep their beautiful tradition? What was the name of that film about the little boy the monks found in America and took him to Tibet to become a Lama?

I became a good friend of the Prachin Lama's head monk whilst in Nepal some years back and he assured me the Prachin although Kow Towing to the Chinese was still at heart a true Tibetan and in regular contact with the Dalai Lama forwarding a lot of important information

So, you are exposing a Tibeten spy ring involving high officials right here on ThaiVisa?

Bravo!

Chownah

That was my first thought!

So many Tibetan masters are in the West as they see this as being the best way to secure the long-term future of the teachings. the seeds grow slowly, all too slowly.

rych

The purpose of this heightened awareness is like when a scientist puts something under a microscope, you see things broken down to the smallest level, you observe whats really happening, and when you see that you understand the experiences you have in your day to day life much more clearly.

Exactly... so the penny may one day drop on Dawkins. The spiritual sciences are experiments on the self. The problem here is that the spiritual sciences are not yet regarded as sciences. I had a long debate at the Royal Society with one of the scientists on the platform about this. Can't remember her name, actually can't even remember the name of one guy who half defended me. Anyway, it's a technical problem - will let you know if I solve it and get published.

None that I know of arrive at that state as a result of personal psychic injury incurred by exposure to western notions of God.

Actually, psychic injury is exactly what catholicism can induce. I recall having to deprogram myself because despite being an infidel I still had rituals that were hard to shake off - pretty similar to breaking hypnotic suggestions. I had actually taught myself to meditate, with some success, before I ever came across Buddhism. Wish I'd had a master when I was 8, that would have been really useful. So don't tell me I have to respect everyone's beliefs.

rych

I'm a Buddhist yet find myself agreeing with Dawkins on pretty much every count, except his claims that you can't be a real scientist, and religious.

I differ from him in so far as he has OMITTED consideration of Enlightenment or other genuine spiritual goals, and has only attacked religion as a social institution, and for being less able to describe say, evolution or biology, as well as he can.

So to go back to the real question here - can a Buddhist be an atheist ?

I agree, Dawkins says nothing about the spiritual science that underpins buddhism (and hinduism and taoism). Yes, there are faith rituals in all three religions that take into account people's capacity for belief, but without their spiritual scientific core they would end up like our batch of monotheisms.

I don't like the words atheism and agnosticism. One is a belief in no-God, so a belief. The other literally means without-knowledge which rather charitably means that believers have knowledge - they don't, they have a belief.

My favourite word that is etymologically correct is infidel - without faith.

Can I be an infidel Buddhist? yes, easy. Take the spiritual science and leave the cultural baggage outside. I am happy to have found tibetan masters who are willing to teach in that way.

and btw science is not a faith. Before boring me with the law of induction, the law starts with statements of facts. Faith has no facts and therefore cannot step on the first rung of the inductive process.

The real key to all this is what validity do we give to what people believe. Religious beliefs are metaphysical speculations given the erroneous status of statements of facts. At least scientific metaphysical speculations are admitted as such.

being an infidel Buddhist in Thailand is quite hard - this isn't Tibet (or rather, pre-chinese Tibet). Apart from attending births, marriages and funerals, the feeling I get from Thais is that there is very little spiritual help forthcoming apart quoting from texts - a shoulder to lean on but not a ladder to climb up.

rych

on a side note to turn this around. does anybody believe that stuff where jesus was supposed to be influenced by buddhist teachings? is this just a wild idea off the internet, akin with the OP, or is there any substance to this claim?

I don't think so. I just think there so many similarities in the teachings on our behaviour. Doing good and trying to live a good life etc.

i looked into this a bit further today, while there no archeological evidence linking jesus with buddhism, there were denfitely buddhist missionaries sent west towards greece and egypt from about 250BC by asoka, an indian monarch.

there seem to be alot of books and articles that make the case for this idea, but there does not seem to be any archealogical evidence. however it is certainly very interesting, and i think agreat deal more plausible than the article in the OP.

Even before Ashoka, Alexander encountered the gymnosophists (naked philosophers) in India. There is also some strong analysis now linking Pythagoras with hinduism. This is wholly textual rather than having any artefacts but many of the pythagorean rules of their brotherhood just seem very atypical of Greek thought but are astonishingly close to hinduism. Pythagoras was a contemporary of Buddha - maybe I can unearth a document saying they had lunch one day in Babylon.

I best keep quiet about Jesus

You know fellas I think we're going about this all wrong, we shouldn't try to discredit it rather work out how to use it to our advantage.

If the Buddha prophesied the coming of Jesus then obviously he's a prophet of God, right up there with the likes of Moses and John the Baptist.

So next time a Christian is on your case about following the ways of the devil you can whip out a copy of this pamphlet and provide proof you are following a prophet of God, may work with Muslims too.

Maybe this means we can have enlightenment and salvation too.

no, no, no, no no!! one sure-fire way to get rid of jehovah's Witnesses is to tell them you're a buddhist. If you whip out this text they will feel obliged to come round again!!

wait for the next rain and short-circuit the thing.

I suffer the same thing both in the village and the town. However, when we lived in a big city my thai wife complained about the noise of the traffic. I, having lived most of my life in a metropolis, don't notice traffic noises.

Thai chickens need to learn to tell the time. In the town we have an olde worlde town time-keeper who rings a cow-bell on the hour every hour after dark. he also doubles as the market security guard. strange place :-)

My local national park charges 20 baht for thais (I'm sure it was 20 and not 40), 400 baht for foreigners.

My thai friends are so embarrassed about this that we always go to the free waterfalls and free lakes. I end up spending the same money on fresh fish and everyone is happy.

btw the people not happy are those with restaurants and guesthouses right outside the national park entrance. Apart from tour groups they get zero customers.

rych

Even in "sunny" England they calculate 10 years as a maximum return for the solar power investment. Here it would be more likely 3 – 4 years to get investment back and a almost any Villa could be self sufficient after that:

What is your opinion on the case?

my [not so] humble opinion is that your economical and technical knowledge needs some brush-up. and that applies to both "investment return" as well as "any villa could be self sufficient"

Not everyone here is a physicist

also, there seems some confusion between solar panels for hot water and for electricity - these are two completely different things. For hot water, a black bin liner and a pipe will suffice!

For a good system producing quality AC current it isn't that cheap. But with Thailand's philosophy of self sufficiency it seems an obvious idea to install these for apartment blocks or even one central one per village. When lived in Pattaya saw one of the View talay projects include solar energy, so there's slight progress.

rych

Yes, a good link above.

Have in your mind exactly what you will do so your son gets out of doing military service.

Last week had an unpleasant funeral of a lad who was terminated by his fellows. On the same day another lad was happy to be back home having completed service. Don't risk it!

rych

no youv'e got it wrong ......all the "true brits"left when Thatcher was in power ,.....only now all the immigrants want to go back too!

Your way of the mark there mate: there is no difference between Thatcher/Blair/Brown - they all follow the same agenda. Do you really think they call the shots!

Maybe this will educate you: http://www.eutruth.org.uk/

The EU has, from the very start, aimed at becoming a superstate. Britain itself is already on that road by devolving powers to its constituent countries. Eventually, all countries will disappear and become provinces within Europe. This should also ease ethnic tensions between those provinces that currently feel they do not belong within their state. I think it is an interesting and unique experiment. My one reservation is the obvious reference back to the Holy Roman Empire. Just take a look at the EU flag - what does it say to you?

Anyway, back on topic, the UK is hugely expensive. It is like living in Europe's own Hong Kong. If you like that lifestyle, fine. If you live in London most people are running to stand still. Take the money from your inflated property and move abroad. The British are moving out, being replaced by the rest of the world. The only thing I miss in the UK is my fast ADSL internet. The dumbing-down of the country is, however, very sad to see. I used to teach in the UK and seems to me a policy with one aim. In the past about 5% of the population went to university. The policy is now that at least 50% have a tertiary education. The top 50% can in no way be as smart as the top 5%. It is cheaper to educate a student than to have them unemployed and claiming a host of benefits. Hence, low unemployment and worthless degrees. Simple.

rych

I hope the England players were watching the Scotland game just see what it means to play with passion.

Why do England insist on trying to play a continental slow-slow-quick-quick-slow game when they haven't a clue how to do it? If they played like the premiership then they would be a force again. Frustrating... and often very dull to watch. But good luck to them on Wed. very very very lucky!!

Anybody know if the Liv v Ars game is on thai TV tonight? Someimes they show live games, and sometimes they don't! The thai TV websites I've looked at seem to be designed not to find their actual programme schedule. Clocks go back one hour today in UK so a 4pm start means 11pm here.

I know, I can go watch it in a bar on UBC, but the game will end around 1am and here in the sticks they may or may not stay open that late!

thanks

rych

Sorry mate it's not.

The only live football thai tv has got on tonight is AC Milan v Roma on channel 11.

Liverpool v Arsenal , ubc truesports 61 , kick off 11:00

Come on Liverpool !!!!!!!.

thanks

I was both shocked and saddened by your plea and would very much like to help.

I do however think there is a way for football and cricket to somehow help each other.

I can sponsor a cricket bat to the football team so they can beat each other over the head with it, and sponsor a football for the cricket team so they have something they can easily hit.

rych

Yeah I don't understand why Crouch came on so late. You could see Besiktas defence were crapping themselves once he was playing. Torres and Crouch up front for the rematch.

What's wrong with Rafa's decisions during matches? Subs always half an hour too late.

rych

Shame about Hyypia - let us not forget he has been a great player for Liverpool. Sadly football's grim reaper is tapping him on the shoulder.

have there been any players who have moved directly between liverpool and scum? Paul Ince moved to Liverpool via Inter. Re heinze, i think Gerrard made some comment about he'd rather chop off his arm than play for the scum. So sentiments are mutual.

Anybody know if the Liv v Ars game is on thai TV tonight? Someimes they show live games, and sometimes they don't! The thai TV websites I've looked at seem to be designed not to find their actual programme schedule. Clocks go back one hour today in UK so a 4pm start means 11pm here.

I know, I can go watch it in a bar on UBC, but the game will end around 1am and here in the sticks they may or may not stay open that late!

thanks

rych

This is the type of scientific analysis much favored by global warming believers. Astrology, dousing, palm reading are disprovable using scientific method, the large rocks are provable. Global warming is provable, but the cause is not. We have relatively recently (18,000 years ago) come out of a regular 100,000 year ice age period and are in a planetary warming period. The last inter-glacial period (about 125,000 years) peaked at 2 degrees warmer than at present. Therefore there is evidence to show warming is part of the natural cycle. And there are various issues with the theory, for example, what about the cooling effect of particulates? So although there is evidence, there's also a lot of bad science around.

Balderdash! There is plenty of evidence to show increased levels of carbon dioxide as a result of human activities is real and affecting the planet, such as the increased pH level of the oceans. To equate previous global changes in climate that were very gradual and allowed for some life adaptation with the current instant changes, geologically speaking, is ridiculous. The only scientists arguing against global warming are those funded by the large corporations who do not want to lose profits if people change their behavior patterns, specifically the big Oil companies, the same people who brought you the inconvenient non-truths of the Iraq war. The only media channel propagating the concept that the current global warming is simply a natural occurring climate change, the propagandist term that the oil companies prefer for global warming, is the Murdoch controlled global media channels, Murdoch the public apologist for his fellow ruling class members who want to keep the rabble stupid. One of their favorite faux logic tactics is the ad hominen attack, and we see the overspill in this thread as fellow apologists criticize even the Norwegians, a group of people I have found rather likable. You don't have to like Al Gore to see that his cause his just.

true. One of the world's largest oil companies, BP (British Petroleum), has for a few years tried to change its image in the UK with a new slogan, Beyond Petroleum. They will be ready for the change but only when the money dries up.

rych

At least they are getting the money up front. In the Uk we are promised everything to vote for the particular party then once elected they dont deliver and renage on all they promised and then we go and vote them in again!!

exactly!! I'd have voted more often given the right incentive

Apparently the author revised it and it's now available at http://www.buddhistische-gesellschaft-berl...enbuddhanew.pdf.

thanks

there is a farang on tv. todd- who appears to get allot of respect (well deserved) from the locals. http://www.toddeastwest.com/

i watch his culture show called 'Khun Prachauy' or "oh my god" anybody seen it?

I think the guy has lots of balls trying to make it on Thai TV. I'm sure he gets lots of shit, sometimes looks silly, but good luck to him, he may make it easier for others to follow. My brother was very briefly on japanese TV and it was really tiring not to live up to a stereotype.

rych

hmmm,no... nope that is not what Ive seen at all. When I almost died in a motocycle accident, about 40 Thai people pointed and laughed AT me (including police officers standing nearby). When I sprained my foot in a muay thai fight girls would imitate my limp and laugh AT me...... I pretty much came to the conclusion that Thai people like to laugh at others misfortune as they either cannot feel compassion or do not have the ability to put themselves in others peoples shoes. You really believe this is not true?

Damian Mavis

That is not typical Thai, that's human. If you go to the bottom of it, you always laugh at someone's misfortune.

I beg to differ on the Thais' ability to feel compassion. I my opinion, the do have a lot of compassion, even more than the average farang. The difference is how they express it.

On the role of farangs in Thai TV, I noticed that a disproportionate amount of "loog krueng" (mixed Thai) are among the movie stars. Thai people consider them as more beautiful than the typical Thai.

Me, for myself, I prefer the "typical" Thai beauty. But that's only me, and I am not the average Thai TV watcher.

Absolutely agree with you there Damian! Why, oh why are the Thais so OBSESED with the

'Westen' look that they employ so many Eurasians to promote their products? It seems that the Thais have a love-affair with white skinned, tall, skinny female actresses, at the expense of their OWN dark-skinned Thai female counter-parts. I love Thai women just for themselves, and not a copy of some Western 'ideal'.

YangYai.

This topic seems to surface regularly. I have come to the conclusion that it has nothing to do with white westerners. It is an accident that most westerners are white and that Thais prefer whiter skin. My reason for this? I was reading an old poem from the Rattanakosin period (I think if memory serves me right that's about 500 years ago) and the princess puts on whitening powder to make herself more beautiful. If anything, my guess is that this is a chinese thing rather than a western one. All of this rather lost in the mists of time, as every Thai I've asked has no idea why they wish to be whiter.

rych

slightly off topic here's my personal opinion: living in a corrupt environment makes life much easier if one is neither too stubborn nor too tightfisted.

agreed

just think of it as a form of direct taxation.

Thanks a lot everyone. Looks like I may have lucked out! I mean in having CAT services in a sleepy town like Sakaeo. The computer guy next door confirms CAT do have ISP services here, tho as I said, he swears by TOT.

I'll post here after I've gone in and spoken to them to see what they offer. They don't seem to overly advertise their ISP services, but I guess as a backbone provider (like Cisco) they don't really care who you go with.

rych

Yes.

But isn't everywhere? In the UK (and most of the first world) it is institutionalized - 40% income tax, 11% national insurance tax, another 11% if you have a company, 17.5% sales tax, 200% tax on petrol, and on and on... But when you want something done, best go private and pay again. Probably why we're expats!

Here it is more pay-as-you-go.

So why the question? did you expect a different answer?

Hi

any advice appreciated here. Am looking for a neurosurgeon, preferably with a specialization in epilepsy. I don't need a plain neurologist - have seen them and I know what needs doing. My previous medical care was in Chiang Mai, so could return there, but am now closer to Bangkok. I guess either city will be fine.

As we all know, hospitals may have a reputation but in the end its the individual doctor or surgeon that is most important. So although a long-shot am posting here to see if anybody has any experience of neurosurgeons.

At the moment I'm looking at Samitivej, Bumrungrad or Piyavate. Actually, for no other good reason than because they have decent English websites. However, I don't need a good webmaster, so there may be someone better outside these three. I also notice that some surgeons work at more than one hospital so the search is for a good neurosurgeon plus the right hospital.

thanks

rych