Thai man smoking in the temple on Pattaya Tai!

[Jeremia Juxtaposed]

On 3/24/2018 at 4:12 PM, joeyg said:

if you're coming into the harbor you follow the marker buoys or wind up on the rocks.  You don't make your own way up to navigate.  Anyway my understanding has always been to choose a path and try to follow it, not invent one.

The only way they knew where to place the buoys was by people making their own way and ending up on the rocks.......

 

Get over what you saw. Maybe you have just hit some rocks yourself, so put your own marker buoy down and carry on to your destination in the way you choose.. 

[lamyai3]

14 hours ago, Ulysses G. said:

Hindu concepts of God might.

At the time the prevailing religion in India was Brahmanism, Hinduism hadn't yet really developed. Buddha went in a diametrically opposite direction than orthodox religion to explore the nature of the self... within Buddhist philosophy the idea of a personal God is somewhat absurd. 

[lamyai3]

48 minutes ago, joeyg said:

I've read his books.  They're very good.  However "a wise man can even learn from a fool." And it wasn't a monk that was smoking it was one of the top guys in the temple. Although I know At many temples many of the monks do smoke now. I don't smoke.  It's not a distraction to me it's a lesson, and illustration of the philosophy. What happens when you don't follow strictly you can see the results.

It could equally be said that it's  inevitable that things like this will happen when people do follow the rules strictly, due to the foibles of human nature. One lesson that might be learnt from this is that any organised religion is a breeding ground for hypocrisy, the world over. 

[gk10002000]

The thought manifests as the word;

 The word manifests as the deed;

 The deed develops into habit;

 And habit hardens into character;

 So watch the thought and its ways with care,

 As the shadow follows the body,

 As we think, so we become.

[jenny2017]

4 minutes ago, gk10002000 said:

The thought manifests as the word;

 The word manifests as the deed;

 The deed develops into habit;

 And habit hardens into character;

 So watch the thought and its ways with care,

 As the shadow follows the body,

 As we think, so we become.

“You cannot travel the path until you have become the path itself.”

[poanoi]

On 3/24/2018 at 4:00 PM, joeyg said:

 Buddha was a man/human being before he attained Nirbanna/Perfection.

 

same as me

[Jeremia Juxtaposed]

2 minutes ago, jenny2017 said:

“You cannot travel the path until you have become the path itself.”

"You cannot see the truth until the box is empty" - Castle Creek - Philosophy in a box

[jenny2017]

5 minutes ago, Jeremia Juxtaposed said:

"You cannot see the truth until the box is empty" - Castle Creek - Philosophy in a box

Or a Message in a bottle.

[thaiguzzi]

On ‎3‎/‎24‎/‎2018 at 8:48 AM, geriatrickid said:

Tobacco contains intoxicating drugs and contaminants.

The 5th Precept says no willful consumption of intoxicants.

 

I would go one step further  and say that the  precept that compares the body to a chariot and that  humans have an obligation/duty to stay healthy and to do no harm to their body says no tobacco.  Tobacco does harm and damages general health.

 

If someone wants to    get around the issue,  he can. He may think he has found a way, but in his heart he knows he is wrong and the same as a junkie addicted to yaba. Smoking is a weakness and is self destructive. Not appropriate behavior for enlightened peopel.

Give it a rest will ya.

People.

[ChiangMaiLightning2143]

I was approached in Chiang Mai by a foreign monk in robes and asked to buy cigarettes from 7-11. He said the Thais won’t sell to him. (There is nothing in Buddhist teachings that expressly prohibited tobacco as far as I know). I hate tobacco smoke more that anything in the world and it is worse than terrorism and gave
My father early cancer of but I felt like I could not refuse so OK, “ Your reverence, please don’t smoke so much “

I bought cigarettes! I forget brand

He gave me his name card and a small amulet.
Phra Dhammatsyo “Papa Monk”

[Enoon]

3 hours ago, joeyg said:

I"m not upset at all.  Just shoched I've never seen it before in any religious facility.  Like I said I prefer to follow Buddhism if that's OK with you, "you do not have to follow a religion, without inventing a new one. "  What does that even mean makes zero sense.

 

Do not concern yourself with gold leaf, wristbands and blessings.

 

Do not concern yourself with what that person over there is doing.

 

Do not concern yourself with institutions.

 

When you remove all the hay from the haystack you will be left with the needle.

 

 

[Damrongsak]

Buddhist temple ... reminds me of the hilarious temple scene in "Hot Shots".  Search Youtube for "Hot Shots: Part Deux (and Charlie Sheen) predicts the future".  Too funny to directly link ... wouldn't want trouble.  The stuff happening in the background starting 1:42 - priceless.

[Ulysses G.]

6 hours ago, lamyai3 said:

At the time the prevailing religion in India was Brahmanism, Hinduism hadn't yet really developed.

I'm sure you know that is debatable. Lots of contrary views about exactly what Hinduism was and when it started. More scholars that I have read are of the opinion that Hinduism came first.

Edited March 28, 2018 by Ulysses G.

[lamyai3]

18 minutes ago, Ulysses G. said:

I'm sure you know that is debatable. Lots of contrary views about exactly what Hinduism was and when it started. More scholars that I have read are of the opinion that Hinduism came first.

Certainly, it depends on how broadly you define Hinduism. Though this seems to be splitting hairs, since Brahmanism is an essential forerunner in the development of it, and was predominant at the time (1000-500 BCE), whereas classical Hinduism came two or three hundred years later. This is however getting away from your original assertion that Buddha was open to the idea of the existence of God, I'm not sure how you arrived at this conclusion? 

[joeyg]

4 hours ago, Enoon said:

 

Do not concern yourself with gold leaf, wristbands and blessings.

 

Do not concern yourself with what that person over there is doing.

 

Do not concern yourself with institutions.

 

When you remove all the hay from the haystack you will be left with the needle.

 

 

I agree.  However  a man/staff smoking in a large temple, in the middle of the day, in front of the congregation  was a first for me.  Ever seen it before?

 

[Ulysses G.]

17 minutes ago, lamyai3 said:

This is however getting away from your original assertion that Buddha was open to the idea of the existence of God, I'm not sure how you arrived at this conclusion? 

I don't think I said that. I said that the Buddha never - as far as I have heard - said that God does not exist. From what I have read, he avoided the subject.

Edited March 28, 2018 by Ulysses G.

[joeyg]

7 hours ago, jenny2017 said:

Sorry, I meant you do not have to follow a religion and you don't need to invent a new one.

 

   I've seen so many monks buying porn, then they got caught selling copies of them. Others who smoke and drink after they received their donations.

One made parties in his temple where teenagers could buy Jaba and other drugs and a few more.

I was born as a Roman Catholic, but I can't believe in that. When I moved to Thailand, Buddhism was really fascinating, but now I'm more an atheist. 

 

Yep. I was raised Catholic also.  seeing the Pope absolve 3000+ pedophiles is just bewildering to me.. I got involved with a child protection  NGO after I retired in India for 6 months.  It and the team members also turned out to be corrupt.  And I was almost killed.  Lucky to get out of there with my life. 

 

Atheist yeah i've been thinking about it...

[Ulysses G.]

4 minutes ago, joeyg said:

Atheist yeah i've been thinking about it...

Read about Deism. It seems to answer many questions about God to me. For example, why God allows evil and suffering to exist. However, not sure about the afterlife part.

[joeyg]

3 minutes ago, Ulysses G. said:

Read about Deism. It seems to answer many questions about God to me. For example, why God allows evil and suffering to exist. However, not sure about the afterlife part.

Yes I'm familiar with it.  Not sure about after life either...

[lamyai3]

1 hour ago, Ulysses G. said:

I don't think I said that. I said that the Buddha never - as far as I have heard - said that God does not exist. From what I have read, he avoided the subject.

It's no more relevant to his philosophy than whether aliens exist. As soon as you even begin to pursue this line of enquiry, the question of a creator God or an individual soul becomes quite irrelevant.

[Ulysses G.]

Sounds like a personal opinion and one that lots of people disagree with. 

Edited March 29, 2018 by Ulysses G.

[lamyai3]

1 hour ago, Ulysses G. said:

Read about Deism. It seems to answer many questions about God to me. For example, why God allows evil and suffering to exist. However, not sure about the afterlife part.

I'd switch out a couple of vowels and check out Daoism. Deism is the belief in a creator or a supreme being, quite the antithesis of Buddhism... Daoism is very much on the same page. 

[Ulysses G.]

I know what Deism is. That is why I suggested investigating it. For whatever reason, atheism does not compute for me.

[lamyai3]

9 minutes ago, Ulysses G. said:

I know what Deism is. That is why I suggested investigating it. For whatever reason, atheism does not compute for me.

I mentioned Daoism, not atheism.  You seem to be looking for answers to an Eastern way of thinking in Western philosophy... square pegs, round holes. 

[Ulysses G.]

1 minute ago, lamyai3 said:

I mentioned Daoism, not atheism.  You seem to be looking for answers to an Eastern way of thinking in Western philosophy... square pegs, round holes. 

I am not interested in Daoism. I am interested in Deism. That is why I brought it up. 

 

It is not Daoism and it is not atheism. It is belief in a God, but not a specific religion - makes much more sense to me.

[lamyai3]

14 minutes ago, Ulysses G. said:

I am not interested in Daoism. I am interested in Deism. That is why I brought it up. 

 

It is not Daoism and it is not atheism. It is belief in a God, but not a specific religion - makes much more sense to me.

I only mentioned Daoism since it's a whole lot closer to the philosophies of Buddhism, and a similar spelling 555. If Deism appeals to you, then go right ahead, but you're on a fool's errand if you're trying to fuse this with the approach of Buddhism. 

[Ulysses G.]

16 minutes ago, lamyai3 said:

I only mentioned Daoism since it's a whole lot closer to the philosophies of Buddhism, and a similar spelling 555. If Deism appeals to you, then go right ahead, but you're on a fool's errand if you're trying to fuse this with the approach of Buddhism. 

You keep interpreting my comments and motives incorrectly as an excuse for a pointless lecture - just saying.  

Edited March 29, 2018 by Ulysses G.

[lamyai3]

17 minutes ago, Ulysses G. said:

You keep interpreting my comments and motives incorrectly as an excuse for a pointless lecture - just saying.  

Then surely the onus is on you to clarify your comments. How can a belief in God (even in the absence of a religion) be compatible with Buddhism?