snowleopard

There was a murder here last night, two men arguing over a woman ( no I don't know either) she was there by the way, a gun was pulled and two shots fired.

One man dead the other in police custody and she is looking for a new boyfriend or two.

So what you might ask?

People are getting shot, stabbed, poisoned etc . everyday of the week here.

This is for any budding Rambos' out there, before to steam in like you do back in your own country think about just how many firearms there are here and the Thai mans mind when he has had a drink or two.

If you do you might be in with a chance of seeing your own country again.

It looks like the Realm's gunslingers are right on the mark and can score quite well.

They have been blasting away happily for years now;and,in the year of 2000 they could proudly brandish a bronze-medal ranking spot in the "Marksmanship's World Series"!

What an amazing achievement in that competitive big league!!

All are Welcome to admire the fun,skill,beauty and grace displayed by the adept players of this great bloodsport,which includes-among others-the separate disciplines of... armed self-defense,ambush-assassinations,extra-judicial killings,witness-silencings,jealousy-shootings,revenge-slayings,armed duels and,of course, the "no-bounds held" fun-sniping competition,where hitting innocent by-standers and hapless passers-by can also be helpful in scoring valuable points!

The sniping event is a "must see" if you dare to be a spectator!

If you've got the guts and wanna join in,then just bring your "Saturday Night Special" to the scene.

Happy hour starts from 6 p.m.!Blast and get blasted!(pun )

"Now,Let the Games Commence..."!

Murders committed with firearms

1.South Africa 31 918 (year 2000)

2.Columbia 21 898 (year 2000)

3.THAILAND 20 032 (year 2000)

4.U.S.A. 8 259 (year 1999)

5.Mexico 3 589 (year 2000)

6.Zimbabwe 598

7.Germany 384

8.Belarus 331

9.Czech Rep. 213

10.Ukraine 173

Nevertheless,I think that the streets of Bangkok are very safe compared to big cities in Euorope and the U.S.!

I feel safe strolling around at nights and I've been doing that for years without problem.

Based on personal observations from having lived in several countries and from following the media,I gather that incidences of crime against strangers seem to be much lower in Thailand than in the West.

I would guess that it's mostly business deals having gone sour and family quarrels spinning out of control that account for the high number of firearms' killings in L.O.S.!

The perpetrator and the victim are usually acquainted beforehand.

In Thailand,it appears like you must be properly introduced first to the "Grim Reaper" who's later gonna become the bane of your life;while in the West it might be a total stranger popping up out of nowhere to pop you!

Of course,the common phenomenon of hired hitmen (มือปืน) in the Realm are exempted from falling into the above category.

My two cents' worth survival tip for survivalist residents of Thailand,

"For protection,keep only one loaded gun with the safety catch on hidden away at a safe place in the house;and no people"!

Remember the old adage,"People kill,not guns"!

With these precautions,if you manage to shoot yourself dead anyway,then you can blame nobody for your death!

Not even yourself!

Cheers.

Snowleopard.

Ronald Reagan Dies At 93

I wonder how they could tell?

Ronald Reagan's heart stopped beating and he officially ceased to exist on June 6;but,at that point,he had already been close to brain-dead for at least ten years!

Maybe partially so even during his last few months in the Oval Office!

His two nemeses of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's got him long ago!

I was living state-side when "Ronbo Reagan" overshadowed Jimmy Carter in the election of 1980 and then took the helm.

I can still remember how Reagan's win somewhat depressed me because I've always been a Democrat-never G.O.P.!

At first I didn't really like the "Gipper" that much;but,he soon began to kinda grow on me in incremental steps due to his great communicative abilities,which,by the way, were only recently surpassed by the one and only master communicator!

Namely the man from Hope,"Hill-Billy-Boy" Clinton himself!

My change of heart might have been because I began enjoying Reagan's incessant source of anecdotes and well-adapted movie lines which he could shoot out during speeches and interviews.

One defining moment for me might have been while I was observing his tough cowboy demeanor when he unaided walked into the hospital,with a stiff upper lip,after he'd taken a slug in the lung from John Hinckley's gun in the assassination attempt of 81!

He acted out his role as the nation's president in a manner that only an averagely intelligent but very dedicated B-actor from Hollywood can,when following the script in his head and playing out his part!

The acting president!(a pun extraordinaire )

He will go down in history as the second most influential president in the world who had a hand in,and can actually claim some credit for,having ended the Cold War!

The greater president of that period in world history was undoubtably President Mikhail Gorbachev who paved the way with his glasnost and peristroika reforms.

Reagan's silliest quotes:

1)"Trees cause more pollution than automobiles do."

2)"My fellow Americans. I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes." (He thought the microphones were off.)

My favorite "Gipper" quote:

"Roses are red,but violets are blue;

stay out of El Salvador,and out of Poland too!"

What a coincidence that he passed away on D-Day.

R.I.P.

Snowleopard.

But I have heard from others on cruising sailboats that AVON SKIN SO SOFT was the best mosquito repellant in the world,so maybe you could get some and try it on the kid.

How much does Avon pay you for plugging their stuff?

Unattractive skin even to mosquitos!

Snowleopard.

A fence would be a good idea to separate the Thai Muslim areas from the other part of Thailand and to grant some autonomy to that dangerous region of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat. It would help a lot to separate Islam and Buddhism and to clarify, where the Moslems have something to say, and where they have nothing to say. Might be a first step for a peaceful solution.

Johann

You are too late Yohann, Cheerless and Fearless Leader has already decided to fence off Malaysia. Like many, many of his ' good ideas ' nothing has, as yet, happened. He's primarily an idea's man.

Like many, many of his ' good ideas ' nothing has, as yet, happened.

He's often on the fence nowadays,isn't he!?

Is he too busy mending his own fences?

Snowleopard.

(Now some geeky person can fill in the full name of Bangkok... )

With complimentary translations included for dessert!

krungthep mahanakorn

The great city of angels,

amorn rattanakosin mahintara yutthaya mahadilok phop

the supreme unconquerable land of the great immortal divinity (Indra),

noparat rajathani burirom

the royal capital of nine noble gems, the pleasant city,

udomrajaniwes mahasatharn

with plenty of grand royal palaces,

amorn phimarn avatarnsathit

and divine paradise for the reincarnated deity (Vishnu),

sakkatattiya visanukam prasit

given by Indra and created by the god of crafting (Visnukarma).

Cheers.

Snowleopard.

You use 'come from' far too much

I never used "come from"!

I used "seems to come from" which makes a world of a difference for a discerning reader!

when you just mean 'is related to'.

How do you know what I mean when you obviously don't even want to comprehend my post correctly without trying to cause semantic misunderstandings "accidentally-on-purpose"?

So what is the purpose of your comments comparing various Indo-European tooth words? They are well known to be related. The only loanwords you mentioned in this group are Thai ทันต์ and the English compounds of Latin dent-. Were you merely commenting that the similarities were clear? 'Seem' is often used as a short way of saying 'but I may be mistaken', and that is how I took it once I decided you were not playing word games.

The fang/peace family is real enough, or at least Pokorny has it in his masterwork under the entry pa:k^, pa:g^. (Unfortunately, this link goes down for days at a time.)

You didn't really address any of my hypotheses!

The connection with Thai ฟัน is not obvious. The word occurs throughout the Tai group, and the meaning 'tooth' is about the 21st most conservative when it comes to preserving its usual word across the generations. As the -n- in 'fang' is an infix, the resemblance begins to look like mere coincidence. But I looked hard for a way you might be right, though my bet would be that you are wrong. A more modern reconstruction of Pokorny's *pa:g^ is *paHg^, where the -Hg^ is a common enough ending in roots that it is suspected to be a suffix, indeed one that was in origin the independent root *Hag^ 'lead, drive', as in Latin agere > English agent, action.

It is generally accepted that Thai ฟ and ซ were originally voiced, partly because they are deliberately modified forms of the Indic letters for 'b' and 'j' (roughly as in judge), and partly because of the tones they are associated with.

Why do you think Thai ฟัน and English fang are related?

Were there any other hypotheses in your posting?

'Seem' is often used as a short way of saying 'but I may be mistaken', and that is how I took it once I decided you were not playing word games.

(You know you were mistaken in your first assertion of my using "come from" in my other post;and now it's the word "seem" you attack semantically)

First you interpret a word in your own conveniently subjective way so you can get exactly the semantic meaning you desire;and then you project that definition onto me and try to claim that it's mine and that you know exactly what I meant to say!

Are you trying to put your words into my mouth so you can argue against them easier!

Get your own bearings straight,will you!

Why do you think Thai ฟัน and English fang are related?

Re-read my first post in this thread and the following info in this post and then you might see why!

You could begin by commenting on where the 3 different Thai words for tooth seem to have come from in your own opinion and why you think they aren't related to fang or tooth in English!Or if you do think they are somehow related, then how that relationship came to be!

A)FANG,CANINE TOOTH=ฟันเขี้ยว(fun keeoo)

B)TOOTH= ทันต์ (thun); ฟัน (fun),and now ทนต์ (thon)!

Here is some additional information.The third Thai word for tooth =" ทนต์ " can mean two different things!

1.ทนต์ (thon)=tooth

2.ทนต์(thon)=tusk;ivory (งา, งาช้าง)

Now let us take one more look at the Indo-European origins of 1)TOOTH=ทันต์,ฟัน,ทนต์;and then of, 2) FANG= ฟันเขี้ยว ;so we can establish that they are in fact two etymologically separate words.

Then we might get ourselves a working hypothesis for our further enlightenment!?

1.TOOTH

English=TOOTH;German=ZAHN;Swedish=TAND(pron=tund);Thai=ทันต์, ฟัน,ทนต์=THUN,FUN,THON;French=DENT;Spanish=DIENTE;

Tooth Etymology Middle English, from Old English toth. See dent.

WORD HISTORY:Eating, biting, teeth, and dentists are related not

only logically but etymologically; that is, the roots of the words

eat, tooth, and dentist have a common origin. The

Proto-Indo-European root *ed–, meaning “to eat” and the source of

our word eat, originally meant “to bite.” A participial form of *ed–

in this sense was *dent–, “biting,” which came to mean “tooth.” Our

word tooth comes from *dont–, a form of *dent–, with sound changes

that resulted in the Germanic word *tanthuz. This word became Old

English tOth and Modern English tooth. Meanwhile the

Proto-Indo-European form *dent– itself became in Latin dens (stem

dent–), “tooth,” from which is derived our word dentist. We find a

descendant of another Proto-Indo-European form *(o)dont– in the word

orthodontist.

Tooth=Dent

dent-

DEFINITION:Tooth. Originally 1d-ent-, “biting,” present participle

of ed- in the earlier meaning “to bite.” a) O-grade form *dont-.

tooth, from Old English tOth, tooth, from Germanic *tanthuz.

b)Zero-grade form *dt-. tusk, from Old English tUsc, tUx,

from Germanic *tunth-sk-. c) Full-grade form *dent-. dental,

dentate, denti-, denticle, dentist; dandelion, edentate, edentulous,

indent1, indenture, trident, from Latin dns (stem dent-), tooth. d)

O-grade variant form *dont-, ultimately becoming odont- in Greek.

–odon, –odont, odonto-; ceratodus, mastodon, from Greek odn, odous,

tooth

2.FANG

English=FANG,CANINE TOOTH;German=FANG;Swedish=GADD;Thai=ฟันเขี้ยว FUN KEE-OO;French=CROC;Spanish=COLMILLO

Fang Etymology

ETYMOLOGY:Middle English, booty, spoils, something seized, from Old

English. See pagI.

OTHER FORMS:fanged —ADJECTIVE

Indo-European Roots

ENTRY:pag-

DEFINITION:Also pak-. To fasten. Oldest forms *paG-, *paK-, becoming

*pag-, *pak- in centum languages.

Derivatives include fang, peace, pact, palisade, and travel.

1. Lengthened-grade form *pak-. fay1, from Old English fegan, to fit

closely, from Germanic *fogjan, to join, fit. 2. Nasalized form

*pa-n-g-, also *pa-n-k-. a. (i) fang, from Old English fang, feng,

plunder, booty, from Germanic *fangam, *fangiz; (ii) vang, from

Dutch vangen, to catch, from remade Germanic verb *fangan; (iii)

newfangled, from Middle English *-fangel, taken, akin to Old High

German -fangolon, to close, from Germanic *fangln, to grasp.

(i)–(iii) all derivatives of Germanic *fanhan, to seize; b.

compact1, impact, impinge, spinto, from Latin pangere, to fasten. 3.

Root form *pk-. a. pace2, pax, pay1, peace; appease, pacific,

pacify, from Latin px, peace (< “a binding together by treaty or

agreement”); b. pact, patio, from Latin pacsc, to agree. 4. Suffixed

form *pak-slo-. a. pale1, palisade, pawl, peel3, pole2; impale,

travail, travel, from Latin plus, stake (fixed in the ground); b.

probably Latin pla, spade: palette, peel2. 5. Lengthened-grade form

*pAg-. a. pagan, peasant, from Latin pAgus, “boundary staked out on

the ground,” district, village, country; b. page1, pageant, from

Latin pAgina, “trellis to which a row of vines is fixed,” hence (by

metaphor) column of writing, page; c. propagate, from Latin prOpAgAre,

to propagate (< “to fix before”; prO-, before, in front; see per1);

d. pectin, pegmatite; Areopagus, mastopexy, from Greek pEgnunai, to

fasten, coagulate, with derivative pagos (< *pag-o-), mass, hill.

Definition of Fang

NOUN:1. Any of the hollow or grooved teeth of a venomous snake with

which it injects its poison. 2. Any of the canine teeth of a

carnivorous animal, such as a dog or wolf, with which it seizes and

tears its prey. 3. A long, sharp, pointed tooth, especially a canine

tooth. 4. The root of a tooth or a pronglike division of such a

root. 5. A fanglike structure, especially a chelicera of a venomous

snake.

OTHER FORMS:fanged —ADJECTIVE

Considering the above information,I think it is plausible that the word "tooth" is related to ทันต์,ทนต์(thun,thon);while the word "fang" is related to ฟัน ;but I will keep an open mind on the matter because I realize that the jury is still out on this one!

If you are sure of the contrary ,please provide some valuable information to back that up;but don't just say you bet I'm wrong because you looked so hard!

Anybody else who wanna throw their two cents' worth into the discussion,are also welcome to do so!

Cheers.

Snowleopard.

You use 'come from' far too much when you just mean 'is related to'.  Sometimes its use is to be licensed, when the relationship is not mother-daughter but aunt-niece, and the mother is ill documented or undocumented.  Examples of this licence are Sanskrit-Pali, Classical Latin-French, and 'Anglo-Saxon'-English.  (By 'Anglo-Saxon' I mean the standard, West Saxon pre-conquest form, as opposed to the Anglian, more precisely East Midlands, form that prevailed post-conquest.)  I think Old High German and Modern German is another such acceptable pair.

I think the ฟัน - "fang" link, presumably implicitly Proto-Tai *van v. Pre-PIE **pen-h2eg, is unlikely, but I'm not sure.  I suspect the 'n' in 'fang' is merely an infix rather than the remains of the original root.  What are the theories on the origin of Proto-Tai *v?  One of the difficulties is that there are few serious theories connecting the Daic languages with the Nostratic languages.  Even Austronesian-Nostratic links are thin on the ground.

You use 'come from' far too much

I used "seems to come from" which makes a world of a difference for a discerning reader!

when you just mean 'is related to'.

How do you know what I mean when you obviously don't even want to comprehend my post correctly without trying to cause semantic misunderstandings "accidentally-on-purpose"?

You didn't really address any of my hypotheses!

You're not running from something now,are you?

As for the rest of your post,it's just a futile attempt of grandiloquent sophistry and it doesn't further our etymological understanding one single iota,but rather it gives us a cue as to where you,yourself,"come from"!

Cheers.

Snowleopard.

I think the claim that Thai fan (ฟัน) and German Zahn 'tooth' are related might have a very simple explanation.

Thai than (ทันต์) and German Zahn 'tooth' are related. Suppose someone wrote, "Thai tan 'tooth' is related to German Zahn." Now, my pocket dictionary does not list ทันต์

Both the words ฟัน and ทันต์ are Thai for tooth!

I think ฟัน is probably related to "fang"; while ทันต์ is more related to tooth!

The English word "fang" seems to have come from the Old High German word "fang" which means "seizure"(to seize prey with the teeth)and earlier it was probably the Latin word "pangere=fasten"which in turn was derived from Sanskrit "pans" meaning "noose"!

(Apart from "fasten",Latin "pangere" seems to be akin to both the word"peace"and the word "pact"too!Fasten the peace with a pact! )

On the other hand, the word "tooth" seems to have come from the Old High German word "zand"

Before "zand" there was probably the Latin word "dent" which we today use in "dentist and dentistry".

"Dent" seems to have been preceded by and come from the Greek word "odontos" from which we get "odontology"!

Fang means เขี้ยว in Thai;and, เขี้ยว can then be translated back into English as canine tooth!

The definition of เขี้ยว is:

ฟันแบบนี้คือฟันแหลมคมสำหรับฉีกเนื้อเมื่อกินอาหารอยู่ ฟันพวกนี้อยู่ระหว่างฟันหน้ากับกราม=

This kind of tooth is pointed and sharp.It is used for meat-eating.These teeth are located between the front teeth(incisors) and molars.

"ทันต์"(tooth) as it is used in the word "ทันตแพทย์"(dentist) sounds even closer to the Swedish word "tand" than the German zahn!

The Swedish word "tand" which means "tooth" would in fact be pronounced the same as its Thai counterpart without the "garan"mark above ต!

ฟัน can also be used with the word "doctor" to mean dentist!

Tooth doctor=หมอฟัน=dentist=ทันตแพทย์!

Cheers.

Snowleopard.

Lioneric Posted on Tue 2004-06-01, 01:08:31

  Weather you are Christian, BUddhism, MUslim,Jews

Weather or whether?

Christian, BUddhism, MUslim,Jews etc is from a same haven and earth

Christians,Jews and Muslims are looking for a safe HAVEN in HEAVEN by appeasing an imaginary deity they've created by themselves and for themselves!

The faithful Judeo-Christian-Islamic believers created their "Big-Daddy" in the sky long ago to instill false security during life;and in the hope for eternal life in Paradise after death.There life is promised to be easy forever!

It's a little like the analogy of a lonely kid who is creating his imaginary friend who will always listen to him and grant all his wishes;or maybe like a Santa Clause with extended "holiday-season" power all throughout the year!

Xmas gifts galore every day!

All these fictional figures are,of course,imaginary creations of the human mind!

Belief in god is transferred from one generation to the next by indoctrination and classical conditioning onto the "tabula rasa" minds of innocent children with the religious impressions of their community!

Genuine Theravada Buddhists seek inner peace themselves by trying to attain enlightenment and by doing good deeds during life.

No god is needed for Theravada Buddhists because karma is their law of cause and effect!

If there's a paradise for Buddhists,then that is an inner heaven without any fictional god or external master who's judging people's actions with the dichotomy of good or bad and then sending them to Heaven or Hades accordingly!

If Buddha born in America he will looks like Everlis Persely, Why? is to suit the local taste,to be one of them the local people only will understand HIs teaching.

"You ain't nothin' but a hound-dog crying all the time.Well,you ain't never caught a rabbit and you ain't no friend of mine"!

Yeah,baby!The truth and meaning of life gleaned from Elvis's rock 'n' roll lyrics!

A gleam of hope is shining through the Dukkha darkness into our minds!!Elvis lives!

Q:"Where have you been Mr Presley"???

A:"Errr...hmm...I used to be kinda dead there for a while folks,but now I'm back so... let's twist again like we did last..."!

Resurrection of his body or only revival of his music?

Same as Jesus Christ, Do we know where is our cross is? Jesus always says carry your cross and follow me ,He doesn't mean we have to buy a wood cross or a nice earing from Italy to follow Him. We have been wrong too for so many years. the real meaning is we have a cross inner self,but where?

The inner cross that you,and most of us,are carrying around is called "Dukkha" in Buddhism.Dukkha means suffering.

You can get rid of your Dukkha-cross by understanding the "Four Noble Truths" in Buddhism and by traveling the "Noble Eightfold Path", all alone by yourself without any help from a savior!

No need to follow Jesus or begging some non-existent god for help by compulsive praying and ritualistic worshipping while some obsessive religious thoughts and worries are tormenting the mind

If you're curious,check out my thread re the "Philosophy of Buddhism"!

It's totally up to you because I don't really care whether you do or not!!

Let you measure your right end finger to other left side of your finger end,it's the same as your height. Your right ear to your left ear with a string and it's same as your center fore head to your chin. I can't tell you the excet point center of human and center of Univers. All the religion in World are talking the same Center point

Ancient architecs used the beautiful objects in the natural world for humanly designed objects!

Those architects observed beauty in nature and interpreted it as being devine inspiration for their art.

Their perception of nature having been created was entirely due to the fact that their ignorant minds had been saturated with the notion of a creator-god and religion!

The beautiful proportions in nature were measured and calculated into a mathematical formula by Fibonacci in the 13th century!

The Fibonacci series is 1,1,2,3,5,8,13 and so on...!

This is the Fibonacci series ratio,or the "Golden Proportion",which is 1 to 1,1618 (or 0,618 to 1)and can be found in all beautifully symmetrical shapes!

This apply to the human body as well as architectural designs such as "Parthenon,Acropolis and Pantheon"which were designed by man out of love for his own symmetrical body!

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"!

Originally,these are probably evolutionary designs that came about through natural selection as well as sexual selection.

A beuatifully symmetric human being is advertising to the opposite sex,and vice versa,that he/she is healthy and probably has very good genes for well-adapted offsprings which,of course,come about from being able to mate successfully!

Genes coding for symmetry survive while asymmetric genes become extinct!

No need for a divine watchmaker to create designs.

Gravity and natural selection give us the natural designs we see around us today;and humans design their own man-made objects!

I can't tell you the excet point center of human and center of Univers. All the religion in World are talking the same Center point?

Until only some 300-400 hundred years ago,the authoritarian Catholic Church still used their dogma in order to brainwash its ignorant believers into believing that the Vatican was the centre of our universe!

The Roman C. Church has now revised that position due to empirical evidence provided by Galileo Galilei,Kepler,Isaac Newton and other enlightened scientist who want to know the truth and can't accept stupid dogma from ignorant theists.

There is no centre in our universe unless you want to create an imaginary one yourself for feeling psychologically safe.

By accepting things on blind faith, you're giving up your investigative power on the way and obsequiously start licking the boots of priests,mullahs,rabbis and other lackeys who claim to be powerful servants of an omnipotent,omniscient and omnipresent god.

The universe is continuously expanding at an ever accelerating speed so there's no centre point.

Everything moves away from everything else!

There might have been a centre-point of energy in the universe some 10-15 billion years ago.

At the time of the hypothetical "Big Bang" that is!

PLs don't argue weather have egg first or chicken first. It's all the center point who create everything in the beggining and religion who helps us to understand the beggining

PLs don't argue weather have egg first or chicken first.

I've got a simple and insightful answer to your chicken and egg problem!

Q:What came first?The chicken or the egg?

A:Neither one of them did;because the rooster just had to come first!

Cock-a-doodle-dooo!Get it?

The center of the human is in the head but where? we can lost our both arms or legs but not our head. We can change to a plastic heart,so it's not the heart or removed half the brain and still survive, so where??Welcome to twilight Zone!!!

There are two definitions of death!Namely heart or brain dead!

A brain-dead person still has a heart-beat but he's a vegetable now;and he's basically dead if not aided by life-supporting machines and compassionate fellow human beings.

Without them,he would be dead in a heart-beat!Excuse the pun!

It's when the centre that controls the heart is still intact that the heart can pump away a little.

When some vital neuron areas in his brain are inevitably destroyed due to oxygen deprivation,he cannot wake up and become normal again.

In physiology,there is no resurrection of cells destroyed by necrosis!

Praying to a "fictional god" for miracles won't help him;but if the doctors were wrong in interpreting his CAT-scans and gave the incorrect diagnosis,then there's still minute hope for an awakening from the coma!

If the brain is irretrievably desroyed,then imaginary souls can't take possession and heal the injured person!

Cheers.

Snowleopard.

i've been hearing this word  ( บรรดา ) a lot lately, especially on the radio,( news and current affairs programmes )

and i cant figure out the meaning. i rarely hear it in conversation.

My trusty dog-eared Haas dictionary gives the following definition: "N. elegant, all, all of, the totality of.

Often encountered in writing and formal speech such as official announcements when talking about large identifiable groups such as "all teachers" or "all students." Like most words indentified as "elegant" Thai, it is rarely heard in informal speech. But then with my life in Thailand I am taken aback when I hear people say "thaan ahaan" instead of "kin khao."

My trusty dog-eared Haas dictionary gives the following definition: "N. elegant, all, all of, the totality of.

I think this definition is quite good.It's used as a noun!

The meaning is like,"of all in a group","in the whole of","in the totality of", etc.

Similar words and synonyms are,ทั้งหลาย, ทั้งปวง, ทั้งสิ้น, ทั้งหมด,and a few others.

It could be used as in this example!

จังหวัดกรุงเทพมหานครมีพลเมืองมากที่สุดเป็นอันดับที่หนึ่งในบรรดาจังหวัดของประเทศไทยทั้งหลาย=

Greater Bankok has the largest population of all the "changwats" in all of Thailand.

Cheers.

Snowleopard.

If I'm not mistaken, Buddha was also known for his good sense of humor. Wisdom can come in many forms, even a joke.

-Drew

I think it was either the wisdom of the Buddha himself,or maybe Confucious who once gave us this great insight,

"If you wanna meet beautiful Buddhist nurse,first you gotta be patient"!

Cheers!

Snowleopard.

US Marine survives 9-storey fall

Tough as nails, but badly injured

PATTAYA: -- The old adage that the US Marines are tough proved somewhat true last week when PFC Reginald Williams fell from his 9th floor room at the Welcome Plaza Hotel.

Over 6,000 US military personnel are in Thailand for the annual Cobra Gold training exercises in Sattahip and Korat. The training maneuvers ended May 27.

Through his drunken haze,he might have spotted the enemy outside the window,gotten paranoid and decided that the maneuvers were still on?

Once a U.S. Marine by training and conditioning,always a Marine!

GERONIMO!GERONIMO!

"I wanna be an Airborne Ranger,and...

I wanna live a life of danger"!

Snowleopard.

(snowleopard @ Mon 2004-05-24, 00:57:35)

These are the Buddha's last words when he lay down to die at Kuchinagara some 2500 years ago!

The Buddha said to his followers:

"I remind you that all things are impermanent-I advise you to take refuge in yourselves and the Dharma,the teachings...Do you have any questions?"

Nobody had any questions.Everybody was silent!

So the Buddha continued. . .

"Everything that is born is subject to decay.Since there is no external savior,

it's up to each of you to work out your own liberation...These are my last words."

Then he passed away.

A lot of Buddhists and others see Buddhism as a religion;but the Buddha probably didn't intend so himself!

In my interpretation,I think the tolerant Theravada Buddhism is the closest a religion can come to Atheism!

First,let's try to understand the meaning of the word "Dukkha"(ทุกขะ)!

Dukkha is an old Pali word which means at least three things in English simultaneously!

Namely unsatisfactoriness,imperfection and impermanence.Dukkha is sometimes translated into English as simply "suffering".

Buddhism is not pessimistic;eventhough,it might appear to be so at first.This image might be because Buddhism begins with trying to help us understand the cause of our own suffering;so that we can then understand the suffering of the whole World.

On a greater level,all problems among humans in the whole World stem from Dukkha(unsatisfactoriness).

According to Buddhism,the truth of Dukkha being the cause of all human problems holds true,whether be they political problems, social problems,economic problems,greed,quest for power and dominance,strife,conflicts and wars... or what else have you!!

How about religious problems?

Christianity,Judaism,Islam and all of Theism is Dukkha now,isn't it!

We were all natural born Atheists before some of us got brainwashed with religion!

Cheers.

Snowleopard.

An introduction to the philosophy of Buddhism.

Please do bear in mind while reading this post that it is only my own humble attempt to interpret this great philosophy

First,let's try to understand the meaning of the word "Dukkha"(ทุกขะ)!

Dukkha is an old Pali word which means at least three things in English simultaneously!

Namely unsatisfactoriness,imperfection and impermanence.

Dukkha is sometimes translated into English as simply "suffering".

Buddhism is not pessimistic;eventhough,it might appear to be so at first glance.

This image might be because Buddhism begins with trying to help us understand the cause of our own suffering;so that we can then understand the suffering of the whole World.

Buddhism says that on an individual's personal level,all his problems come from Dukkha.

Dukkha is the conflict arising from the struggle between man's desires and the environmental constraints that prohibit their fulfillment.

If the desire in his mind can be temporarily slaked by a successful action,then this success will soon give rise to new and even stronger desires that will in turn prompt for more action.This cycle continues until the desire becomes so strong that it cannot be fulfilled successfully!

For example,if man desires to do somthing that is allowed within but isn't allowed outside of the parameters of natural laws;then,the energy left lingering in his mind from the frustration of this unfulfilled desire creates Dukkha,or suffering.

Man's limited power over nature is,of course,due to his not being an omnipotent superman and because there's no supernatural deity who can help him with the miracles he needs when he really needs them!

Suffering is the absence of the things one loves;and,suffering is the presence of the things one hates!

On a greater level,all problems among humans in the whole World stem from Dukkha(unsatisfactoriness).

According to Buddhism,the truth of Dukkha being the cause of all human problems holds true,whether be they political problems,social problems,economic problems,

greed,quest for power and dominance,strife,conflicts and wars... or what else have you!!

Buddhism doesn't deny that there exist a lot of happiness in human life but it says that even at the very time we are feeling completely happy,we are also worried about this blissful feeling deep inside of our beings...

That anxiety can be:

Will my happiness last?How can I hold on to my happiness?Do I really deserve to be this happy?

Suffering(Dukkha) begins with confusion as to who or what we really are!

We perceive our "selves" with the idea of an "ego";but this ego is only an abstract entity and nothing solid or concrete.

The insecurity and bewilderment begins right here with the attachment to our impermanent ego.

The more we cling to our ego and believe in its permanence,the more alienated we become and the more we will suffer.

We aren't even consciously aware of some of the natural suffering which all of us have already encountered in our lives,and we live in denial of many other types of suffering we are experiencing.

For example,we don't remember the suffering and pain of our being born into the World and then trying to adapt to a hostile environment outside of the safe womb;we treat illness in our bodies as if the body is our enemy who's now fighting a war against us;and we behave as if old age and death might just be a rumour that doesn't really concern us because it happens only to others.

Buddhism strive for enlightenment and awareness.

It is when the self-important ego doesn't interfere with the mind that we can experience moments of total immediacy and insight.

All people have occasionally experienced some short fleeting moments of enlightenment.These moments can happen at any time without warning.It's when the mind is not preoccupied with memories of the past or with fantasies of the future that these here-and-now glimpses of insight happen!

The Buddha says,"The end of suffering (Dukkha) is enlightenment,Nirvana";and that,"Enlightenment cannot be described,only experienced"!

It's a little like if you were to describe the workings of computers theoretically to stoneage people!

All of us human beings can deal with our personal Dukkha in four different ways,

1.Denial of its existence

2.Resignation and passive acceptance that Dukkha can't be removed

3.Camouflage of Dukkha by using pompous sophistries

4.Go to war against Dukkha with the possibility of exterminating it

The Buddha chose to take a stand against Dukkha!

First by understanding it thoroughly,and then by finding a way to deal with it successfully!

He tried various methods,including some really bizarre stuff ,and after six years' of experimentation,he finally sat down under a "Bodhi" tree at the bank of the Neranjara River,in what's now called Bodha Gaya,India.

He was dead-set determined not to move his own suffering butt away from that very spot until he'd got it completely right!

The real truth!

During his meditation,the Buddha,or Bodhisatta as he was called before enlightenment,was sitting crosslegged and entered upon and dwelt in the four meditative absorptions.

These four meditative absorbtions is a step by step process in reaching the enlightenment which is called "dhyana" in Sanskrit.

While doing this,Bodhisatta Gautama was applying himself to "Mindfulness on in-and-out Breathing".

This breathing technique is called "anapanasati=อานาปานสติ."

When he had wholly understood the Four Noble Truths,he spoke these words of victory,

"Knowledge and vision arose in me;unshakeable is my deliverance of mind.This is the last birth,now there is no more becoming,no more rebirth"!

This is what the Buddha found out...

The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism=ความจริงอย่างสูงสีประการ

1.First Noble Truth Is:"Life is suffering"

(i.e.unsatisfactoriness,imperfection,impermanence;=Dukkha)

( ทุกข์หรือความไม่น่าพึงประสงค์ นี้คือทุกขะ=Dukkha)

2.Second Noble Truth Is:"Desire for life gives rise to suffering in endless

successions" !

(i.e. cause and birth of Dukkha)

(นี้คือเหตุเกิดแห่งทุกข์=Cause of Dukkha)

EITHER you cannot be what you want to be,cannot be togehter with the people

and things you like and love,or cannot get everything you desire in life;

OR you are forced to be something you don't like to be,or you must be with

people and things you dislike and hate.

These desires are really taints and defiling impulses called "asavas"(อาสวะ)!

3.Third Noble Truth Is:"The ending of desire will end suffering" (Dukkha)

(นี้คือความดับทุกข์=Extinguishing Dukkha)

4.Fourth Noble Truth Is:"How to end suffering by following "The Noble Eightfold

Path" in life."(i.e. The middle way)

(นี้คือทางดำเนินถึงความด้บทุกข์=The path to extinguishing Dukkha)

The Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism

=ทางสายกลาง (มัชฌิมาปฏิปทา) มรรคมีองค์ 8 ที้ประกอบด้วย...

A.The Wisdom Group (กลุ่มปัญญา=Panna Group)

1.Right Understanding (ปัญญาเห็นชอบ)

2.Right Thoughts (ความดำริชอบ)

B.Virtue Group (กลุ่มศิล=Sila Group)

3.Right Speech (วาจาชอบ)

4.Right Action (กระทำชอบ)

5.Right Livelihood (เลี้ยงชีวิตชอบ)

C.Concentration Group (กลุ่มสมาธิ=Samadhi Group)

6.Right Effort (ความเพียงชอบ)

7.Right Mindfulness (ระลึกชอบ)

8.Right Concentration (ตั้งใจชอบ)

These three groups with their 8 methods are not isolated from one another but are in fact integral parts of the same path.This path has eight lanes which are travelled simultaneously through life!

Crystallized into its true essence,the above would mean something like this,

a.The giving up of all evil

b.The cultivation of all good.

c.The cleansing of one's mind.

d.The Buddha teaches us to abstain from evil and do good which is the function of "Sila",the code of conduct taught in Buddhism.

That "Sila"code of conduct is the above mentioned "right speech","right action",and"right livelihood"!

This "Sila" code of conduct in life is not merely a negatively passive prohibition in order to abstain from doing bad things;but it's also a positively active affirmation to do good deeds(tham bhun=ทำบุญ)

It's like making a life-long career by building a road paved with good intentions and good deeds for the wellfare of all mankind.

These moral and ethical principles aim at making life safe,promoting unity,making society secure,and building harmony and good relations among people.

The three goups-Virtue,Concentration,and Wisdom with their 8 paths-function together for one common goal.

That goal is "Deliverance of the Mind"(เจโตวิมุติ=ceto vimutti)!

Through the genuine cultivation of one's mind and through the control of both physical and verbal actions,purity is attained!

It's through self-exertion and self-development,and never by praying to and petitioning a god,that the "rookie wannabe" disciple will attain and secure freedom.

The 4 truths discovered and 8 ways taught by the Buddha is his "Damma"(ธรรม)

The "Damma" Doctrine and Discipline (พระธรรมกับพระวินัย)

The Buddha never claimed that he was a god,lord or master.He made clear to his disciples before he died that he did not want to control the order of monks (i.e.the Sanga=คณะสงฆ์).

He told them that there is no external savior and they should only follow the Noble Eightfold Path and find their own way!

Buddhism's doctrine is the teaching to free people who choose to follow it by their own free will.

(Very different it is from the hierarchical structure with submission to an almighty god who must be prayed to and pleased in order to gain salvation.This is found in the Judeo-Christian-Islamic religions,where things are usually taken by faith alone because the followers are told so by dogma!)

The following are some quotes from Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) that show he didn't claim to have any supernatural powers or devine connections!

a.The Buddha says,

"Man must himself by his own resolute efforts rise and make his way to the portals that give upon liberty,and it is always,at every moment,in his power to do so.Neither are these portals locked and the key in the possession of someone else from whom it must be obtained by prayer and entreaty.That door is free of all bolts and bars save those that man himself has made"!

b.Buddha says,

"The doctrine and the disciplines which I have set forth and laid down for you,let them after I am gone be the teacher to you"!

The Buddha repeatedly warns his disciples against shifting the burden from themselves to an external agency (savior,god or Brahman) and instead directs them to the ways of discrimination and research,and urges them to get busy with the real task of developing their inner forces and qualities.

Another aspect of the Buddha was that there was nothing esoteric and secret about his teaching and he was never secretive about anything he knew.He shared his knowledge freely and democratically with everyone and viwed other humans as equals who could become Buddhas one day,as he himself had become through enlightenment!

The Doctrine of Karma (กฏแห่งกรรม)

The karma in Buddhism is totally different from the one in Hinduism!

In Hinduism,both karma and rebirth are permeated with the notion of a self or soul which the Hindus call the "Atman"!

Buddhists categorically deny the existence and rebirth of a self like the "Atman"!

Karma is the law of moral causation!Basically,it is volition!

The Buddha himself says,"Volition,O monks,I declare is kamma""!(kamma=karma)

Volition is will.This "will" is a force,or factor,of the mind and karma is the action or seed!

The effect or fruit is called "kamma vipaka" (กรรมวิบาก).

Volitions may be good or evil,so actions may be wholesome or unwholesome according to the resuls they produce.

It's an endless play of action/reaction,cause/effect,seed/fruit that is in perpetual motion;and. it becomes a continually changing process of the psycho-physical phenomena of existence.It is called "bhava" (ภวะ).

Having willed,man acts through using body,speech and mind,and his actions produce reactions.

Man's cravings and desires give rise to deeds.The deeds produce results.The results bring about new desires and more craving.

This process of cause and effect,action and reaction is natural law.It's law in itself,without the need for a law-maker,or god!

Here we can see that Buddhists do not need an external agency or omnipotent god; like the Judeo-Christian-Islamic religions do need so badly.

The Judeo-Christian-Islamic believers have themselves created their omnipotent,omniscient and omnipresent gods who can punish everyone who has committed a sin by breaking some of the arbitrary laws of their particular god!

Buddhism says that man is always changing either for good or bad.This changing is unavoidable but man can control it by his will and actions.

"This is actually the universal natural law of the conservation of energy extended to the moral domain"!

The Doctrine of Rebirth (หลักคืดเกี่ยวกับการเกิดใหม่)

According to Buddhism,there is no life after death,or life before birth,independent of karma or volitional actions.

Karma is the corollary of rebirth;and,rebirth is the corollary of karma.

Birth precedes death,death on the other hand,precedes birth too;so,this pair accompany each other in unbroken succession!

Eventhough man comprises of a psycho-physical unit of mind and the matter that is the body,the mind or "psyche" is not a soul or self!

The "thing" that is reborn is not a a ready-made,permanent,enduring entity like a self but more like a force-or energy.

This "reborn force" is a dynamic continuum which is capable of storing up memories,not only of this life,but also of past lives!

My own personal thoughts on rebirth which is NOT really Buddhist in nature!

Frankly,I personally feel skeptical about the whole notion of rebirth and memories of past lives.I think that the only thing that survives after death of an individual specimen is his/her genes.After having been recombined and inherited,fifty percent each of the genes from both the deceased father and mother live on in the newly created body of their offspring.

In a sense,our bodies are only the vehicles used by our selfish genes so they can be reborn into the next generation!

When the body is used up and has gotten enough milage under the hood,the genes just throw it away on the junk yard and keep driving on in their new body-vehicle!

It's a little like a candle which has burnt down to the stump and then you transfer the flame onto a new candle so it can keep on burning while the old one gets extinguished!

My Personal Observations and Experiences of Buddhism as a Non-Buddhist Among Buddhists

Mainly due to insubordination and total lack of respect for the hypocrisy and superstition they call religion,I've been a misfit in most hierarchical communities around the World where I've tried to live!

But once I reached Buddhist Thailand,I felt like I fitted right into this tolerant and wonderful land!

Theravada Buddhists just smile and shrug their shoulders at my philosophical antics and Atheistic ideas.

If that's the way I wanna do it in life then it's okay by them.They also listen to me politely without being judgmental because they understand deep down that they too don't know the whole truth about life.

I tell them that I think life itself is much bigger than religion,and at least twice as ugly!

I don't believe in religion because I don't want to take anything on faith alone,and continue being an investigative free-thinker.

Be it the good,the bad and the ugly,I want the whole honest truth of life without lies!

What I love about Theravada Buddhists in Thailand is that they are so open-minded,compassionate,tolerant and that they don't take their religion too seriously!

During all my years in Thailand,nobody has ever tried to proselytize me into Buddhism!

That may be the main reason why I don't mind participating in their cute little rituals and beautiful ceremonies;eventhough,I'm an Atheist and free-thinker!

Cheers.

Snowleopard.

Good point, Johann.

But better explained by you, I have to say.

I do not think it's a good idea to open a can of worms,...

QUOTE (sonthaya @ Sun 2004-05-23, 20:27:47)

Yes, let's learn more about Buddishm, the only non violent faith I can think of........

I really like Buddhism but I'm not a Buddhist in the religious sense of the word!

A lot in the Buddhist philosophy is very insightful and I respect its wisdom a lot!

I would argue that Siddhartha Gautama (Sakyamuni Buddha) didn't want his philosophy to to become a religion!

These are the Buddha's last words when he lay down to die at Kuchinagara some 2500 years ago!

He said to his followers:

"I remind you that all things are impermanent-I advise you to take refuge in yourselves and the Dharma,the teachings...Do you have any questions?"

Nobody had any questions.Everybody was silent!

So the Buddha continued. . .

"Everything that is born is subject to decay.Since there is no external saviour,

it's up to each of you to work out your own liberation...These are my last words."

Then he passed away.

A lot of Buddhists and others see Buddhism as a religion;but the Buddha probably didn't intend so himself!

In my interpretation,I think the tolerant Therawada Buddhism is the closest a religion can come to Atheism!

I think that non-religion and non-attachment,without any brain-washing with the supernatural in order to be coerced into conforming to the superstitious mambo-jambo of one's community,is the real key to happiness!

I think having a discussion about Buddhism is great!

Buddhists are tolerant and don't attempt proselytization into their religion like adherents of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition always try to do!

I'm an Atheist and Evolutionist in addition to being a happy Heretic!

Cheers.

Snowleopard.

Are you in the right forum?  

Sorry!

"I once was lost but now I'm found"

Thanks for the directions,mate!

Cheers.

Schneeleopard.

your nick-name reflects your origins, but does this help?

Het leven het niet gemakkelijk, door god.

Nein, Axel, das hat mir leider nicht geholfen. Ich fuerchte, dass dein Deutsch doch wesentlich besser als dein Niederlaendisch ist...

Dutchy

Good, Dutchy.

But for the benefits of our international audience, translation, please.

Guten Tag!Wie geht's?

Ich bin nicht aus Deutschland aber Ich spreche Deutsch und habe es nicht vergessen.

Ich sprach Deutsch sehr gut aber Ich habe es nicht fur sehr viele jahren praktizieren.

Darf ich "Schneeleopard" vorstellen!

Das ist richtig!Ich heisse "Snowleopard"!

Behutsam fur Ich bin eine sehr grosse weisse Katze! Achtung!Achtung!

Tschuss!

Snowleopard.

No offense but what is a snowleopard doing in Thailand....?

Dutchy

Howdy Dutchy,

Looking for prey to sate and hopefully satiate its insatiable appetite!

It's an endangered species up in the north due to habitat loss and poaching!

Now it's found a survival niche with new hunting grounds down here in the Tropics and has adapted amazingly well to this "Amazing Realm".

This is mainly because of the enlightened Buddhists who say "Live and Let Live!

Hope this answer is good enough until I think of a better one!

Cheers.

Snowleopard.

Most folks have the wrong story abouyt Residency- and citizenship.  It is easy to QUALIFY to APPLY for residency - and they do have a quota of 100 per nationality per year.  But - they are EXTREMELY selective in actually approving residency - this year, only nine (9) non-Asians have made it to the final selection process - and those who made it have tremendous personal credentials here.  Most applicants apply several times before being approved - if ever. 

What is it about the selection process that makes it so difficult to get residency? On paper the requirements look pretty straightforward. If successful applicants have often applied several times, it seems to indicate the rejections were because of incorrect documents or procedure rather than being an unsuitable applicant.

I got mine on the first shot!

Of course,it was some years ago and I had to wait almost two years for the decision.

They might have played that waiting game in the hope of my throwing in the towel and giving up the fight!?

When they found out that I was a die-hard survivalist and non-quitter with lots of perseverance,it finally dawned on them that I probably belong here on the Realm's holy territory;so they acquiesced to my permanence!

All the power lies in the hands of the Ministry of the Interior so it doesn't help to petition the Immigration Bureau!

Aim at the bull's eye!

Cheers.

Snowleopard.

I am curious as to how many forgerers paid the appropriate fee/bribe of 2,500,000 baht and were allowed to export their forged passports

Only Err,Erratum and Errata-the three erratically errant errand mules-who were bailed out by their generous boss!

The Iraqi "Sodamn Insane" himself!

U. Bin L. should be rich and powerful enough to buy genuine ones directly from the State Department or print them in his own state-of-the-art printing office!

Snowleopard.

Great work chap's, what did Hofer do wrong, was the bribe to low? Thaimee.   

No, he talked to the guy at the counter, rather than the one in the back office.

(And he wasn't wearing a genuine Liverpool football shirt)

ChiangMai Thai

Why on earth didn't immigration accept the bribe? They could have seized the documents, scared the sh#t out of the guys and let them free. If they were Thai, surely immigration would accept half a million baht.

This case should be dealt with in the good old tolerant Thai tradition of the last century.

The bribe attempt was too open and blatant for the new hypocritical anti-corruption ways so prevalent in the Realm of today;so both the bribe money and counterfeit passports should be confiscated!

That money should then be clandestinely kicked-back and divided fairly and squarely among the players involved,and the fake passports could once again be smuggled out and resold by a competent agent!

The public should be shown how the foreigners are officially deported while they in reality all get return tickets and newly issued genuine passports from their embassies with real visa stamps in them,under the table!

They should be blacklisted and warned that they can't be back in Thailand for at least a month until the whole thing has calmed down and everything is forgotten and forgiven by all and sundry!

By this summer,they can once again be seen nursing their beers down in Pat Pong!

All's well that ends well!

Snowleopard.

Something went wrong when I added the reply!See the whole post further down!

Snowleopard.

Off with their heads!

That'll teach'em a lesson for life!

(Det var ord och inga visor )

Cheers.

Snowleopard.

My two Baht:

          Three westerners have just dirtied the image of foreigners in Thailand.  They're not the first, nor the last.  I think maximum sentencing applies here.  One positive note, they should speak Thai fluently when they get out.  (As hard as I've tried over the years, I'm not there yet.)

          Strange how this parallels the Abu Greib prison scandal.  A few bad apples spoil the entire shipment.

                                                    Michael Weldon

                                                    Udon Thani

I think maximum sentencing applies here.  One positive note, they should speak Thai fluently when they get out.  (As hard as I've tried over the years, I'm not there yet.)

I'm positively sure that this must be in grave violation of some of the myriad of laws in the Thai statute book,which are,by the way,also so conveniently contradictory that conviction in every case is practically ensured by the judiciary!

Your parole has now been officially and permanently suspended due to truancy!

Back into the slammer with YOU without further ado!

Now you'd better study for your Thai final or else...!

Snowleopard.

Also I wonder why kicking a ball all over the place is called "football" instead of Soccer. Somebody definitely has their English or game backwards and upside down!!!!!

I think the English has gotten "football" completely right after all!

By definition,real football should be played with the feet and no hands!

Handball is another sport altogether!

Americans have gotten the two games mixed up and now it's both "backwards" and "downside up" for them!

Question:"Why can't Americans play real football with any "sucks-cess" like the rest of the civilized World"??

Answer:"Americans can only play games where they're allowed to use their hands"!

Soccer is a pronounceable acronym which is derived from the altered words,"as(SOC)iation football";so,American soccer haters should not try to rationalize a concept and imply that the word soccer actually comes from "sucker"!

"Soccer players" grasp their football mentally during the game while "American football players" grasp their football physically!(pun )

Cheers.

Snowleopard.