Has Living In Thailand Made You More Willing To Believe In Ghosts?

[solent01]

JG, some people are reseptive and others are not, don't worry about it, I can tell you many storeys, as I am sure you can tell me. Just let the sceptics say what they want to say, but the truth is you hardly ever see if you don't feel, once you feel you know to look.

[kmart]

Re: my earlier post, take a look at these photos and tell me what the round light thingies are. They aren't raindrops or flecks of dust, btw....

that's it!!!! I'm completely convinced ..... totally changed my mind................NOT!

This kind of banal stupefaction onely confirms my suspicions about people who believe in this stuff all the more!

Thanks for the benefit of your wisdom, Solomon. But its "onely" (sic) a bit of whimsy. Thanks for posting though.

[November Rain]

When it affects their every day lives its hog wash and age has nothing to do with being stupid there's no fool like an old fool so they say. You could argue that in another universe the moon is made of cheese the world is flat it may well be. Believe what you can proove and dont make up dumb stories involving ghosts when there is no proof.

Can you prove anything? Science is based on inductive reasoning which is a [belief/i] that because something happened a limited number of times before it will happen again. Science is made up of theories not proofs.

Well Id rather have inductive reasoning than no reasoning at all and the ability to reproduce something at any given time rather than years of superstitious claptrap which has not been recreated at a given time.

When a ghost can be produced time after time at a given time Ill re think until then along with the flat earth and cheesy moon Ill stay sane and happily buy any cheap murderers house fly on the 13th and walk under ladders which I do most days anyway.

Does snow exist? Yes. Can you make a snowflake fall at will? Do wild birds exist? Can you control whether they fly over your house, or not? If you cannot control nature, which visibly exists all around you & you see every day, why do you insist on controlling something even more tricky to pin down, before you'll accept it may exist?

None of us that have seen ghosts are insane. I'm actually surprised at some of the members that are saying they have, as I'd have never have thought some of them would have put themselves up for ridicule like that. The difference seems to me to be that those of you that don't believe in ghosts or psychic phenomena, just "don't believe". We, who have seen them "know". Those who are dismissing the idea of ghosts can't "know", because, just as it can't be proved, according to your science, it can't be disproved, either.

[Jet Gorgon]

Excellent, NR.

I don't think they've figured out alot of manmade stuff either. How about the pyramids, Stonehenge, the Mayan temples?

[BigSnake]

No, never have believein Ghosts, it's these live fools in 3tons auto driving 200kph that scare the heck out of me.

[sukanyacondo]

Excellent, NR.

I don't think they've figured out alot of manmade stuff either. How about the pyramids, Stonehenge, the Mayan temples?

Yes just requires a fair amount of people working together.

You can at least create snow which puts you half way there. I have never said we had, or if we would ever have all the answers but would you rather believe unrepeatable stories seen by people who may or may not have been under the influence possibley of alcohol or late at night with limited visibility where your own eyes cannot be trusted 100% and even I would not trust my own senses.

I know sometimes when Im driving the car and think about an event in my life for a split second the reality of whats around me dissapears and my brain creates that moment inside my mind and it seems quite real I feel I am there and the surrounding reality dissapears. I believe this is how hypnotism works.

This is how I think peoples experience of ghost "encounters" occur and seems the most reasonable account to me.

To say dead people "linger" about is the least possible explanation and yes it cant be disproved but then I could say to you billions of light years away from here is a man with 16.5 heads and again you could not disprove or proove this ? Its more about the possibilities of proof.

I also have many problems with the sheeer amount of people over the years who have died there would be so many ghosts you'd be falling over them, how about all the concentration camps victims? Pol Pots victims, all the folk who have died since birth, animal "ghosts".

I have another problem with the believers saying " if we dont feel" these "ghosts" almost as if we have some deficiency.

No I cant proove anything and like the other poster said neither can you however I would rather dis believe until I see a better expalnation than mans wanting to believe that there is more to life than being born and dieing.

When a nation as a whole tends to believe in ghosts its worrying. You could say the people that worship the snakes is not hog wash if you are going to accept this.

Two peope standing in the same room have the time pass differently for them, same as a day lasts a long time for a child, there are many things still impossible to explain but to create something such as dead peoples spirits? what exactly is a spirit?

At the end of the day like you said nothing can be certain but in my opinion "ghosts" are brain induced fantasies as indeeed may be everything around us I mean am I really typing on a laptop now or is it all just a fantasy similar to the matrix movies and only "real" for that person rather than real and reproducable for others to see??

Im sure yuor minds wont change as will mine until I have mroe tangible evidence same as "God" believers, its an endless debate as you know.

[November Rain]

Fair enough, sukanyacondo. I can understand that you would want proof before you believe in something. I feel pretty much the same over religion.

I have no idea why we aren't tripping over ghosts. My personal belief is that very few linger here, most pass on to the next place (wherever that may be), but I have no idea whether I'm right. I also only have my personal views on your other questions, again no idea if I'm right or not.

I also understand how you have objections to "believers", for want of a better term, saying that "non-believers" don't "feel", as if it is a deficiency. It must be the same as how I feel when "non-believers" question my sanity, say I was drunk or that it was some form of hallucination or reality trip.

I have had so many experiences that there is no doubt in my mind that there are "more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy". I am not insane, I do not have hallucinations & I have spent most of my time on this Earth stone cold sober.

[Nibor1945]

Re: my earlier post, take a look at these photos and tell me what the round light thingies are. They aren't raindrops or flecks of dust, btw....

that's it!!!! I'm completely convinced ..... totally changed my mind................NOT!

This kind of banal stupefaction onely confirms my suspicions about people who believe in this stuff all the more!

Oy! Don't mock the afflicted.

[sukanyacondo]

Fair enough, sukanyacondo. I can understand that you would want proof before you believe in something. I feel pretty much the same over religion.

I have no idea why we aren't tripping over ghosts. My personal belief is that very few linger here, most pass on to the next place (wherever that may be), but I have no idea whether I'm right. I also only have my personal views on your other questions, again no idea if I'm right or not.

I also understand how you have objections to "believers", for want of a better term, saying that "non-believers" don't "feel", as if it is a deficiency. It must be the same as how I feel when "non-believers" question my sanity, say I was drunk or that it was some form of hallucination or reality trip.

I have had so many experiences that there is no doubt in my mind that there are "more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy". I am not insane, I do not have hallucinations & I have spent most of my time on this Earth stone cold sober.

You know I really enjoy some of the topics here and admit I cant explain or even begin to understand and same as you base many things on personal experiences. I really do wish I had seen or experienced what you have.

[sukanyacondo]

Oh My (insert name of higher being here) I have just seen that my "member" has grown. Ah well at least the wife will be pleased!!!

[sukanyacondo]

I do believe in other life forms and ufo's but doubt any visits here?? would you really come all this way without saying hi??? You could argue we are such a warring planet it would only make things worse? imagine how dangerous we could be if we could travel thru space to other worlds, or if this program was run by the Thais???????? eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek just kidding Thais who are here

[solent01]

I do believe in other life forms and ufo's but doubt any visits here?? would you really come all this way without saying hi??? You could argue we are such a warring planet it would only make things worse? imagine how dangerous we could be if we could travel thru space to other worlds, or if this program was run by the Thais???????? eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek just kidding Thais who are here

They have and they did say Hi, but we killed them........

[qwertz]

I do believe in other life forms and ufo's but doubt any visits here?? would you really come all this way without saying hi??? You could argue we are such a warring planet it would only make things worse? imagine how dangerous we could be if we could travel thru space to other worlds, or if this program was run by the Thais???????? eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek just kidding Thais who are here

They have and they did say Hi, but we killed them........

Because we didn't understand "§$%&ß" ("Hi" in Martian)

[Naam]

JG, some people are reseptive and others are not, don't worry about it, I can tell you many storeys, as I am sure you can tell me. Just let the sceptics say what they want to say, but the truth is you hardly ever see if you don't feel, once you feel you know to look.

your avatar tells it all

[Jingthing]

Science is my "religion" and I haven't seen any convincing scientific proof that ghosts exist. I'm not curious enough to seek it out either. Does anyone have any? I don't consider phunny photos proof. So living in Thailand hasn't changed my beliefs in ghosts, but since moving here I do wonder if there is a greater spiritual power behind karaoke.

[lannarebirth]

No, I am not more willing to believe in the existence of ghosts. As for mass brainwashing, yes. Yet another way to shackle the minds of these lovely people.

Sorry lannarbirth but I disagree. Ghosts, if you believe in them or not, provide meaning for many peoples around the world. It is easy to claim that people who think differently are brainwashed. It is another way of saying that others are obviously mad or bad because they don't think the same way as us. These are just words of comfort that we give ourselves to protect our own ideas which we are not willing to examine.

My point is they don't independently believe in ghosts. They have been programmed to think in this way. It has done nothing to open their minds to a greater awreness. Instead it has addled their minds. They live according to an irrational bekief system that has no bearing on real life. How do these beliefs differ from the bogey man that you were told lived in your closet, or the Easter Bunny?

One of the main aims of buddhism is to open the mind to greater awareness. The Buddha believed in ghosts and they are often mentioned in the Pali cannon. I personally don't find Buddhism to be an irrational belief system but instead that has a great bearing on my life.

I believe that we have all been programmed to at least some degree unless we are an enlightened person. It is much easier to see this in other people then it is ourselves. Many people forget this and in my opinion this is why wars start.

Respectively, Paul

Your original question was ""has living in Thailand made you more willing to believe in ghosts". I answered no, but should have added it has not made me less willing either. I did go on to add that the way Thais have been programmed to believe in ghosts is crippling to the way they view the world IMO. Now we're talking about Buddhism, which to my way of thinking is another subject but I'll try to address your preachy post.

One of the Buddha's chief tenets was "Do not belive in what I say just because I said it. Test and see for your self." This I try to do in my life, as I hope you do. I don't subscribe to every word I have ever read with regard to Buddhist dogma, simply because I am Buddhist. I am Buddhist because, number one, it most closely mirrors how I had chosen to live my life anyway. It has also introduced me to teachings and practices that have allowed me to immeasurably improve the quality of my life.

With respect to the Buddha possibly being wrong, The Dalai Lama has said, that Buddhists are seekers of truth, therefore if future information or science proves something in Buddhism wrong, Buddhism will change.

Here's an interesting article wherein the Dalai Lama talks about science and Buddhism:

http://www.tibetoffice.org/en/index.php?ur...2&well_id=2

Respectfully,

Ken

Sorry, if my post seemed 'preachy' to you. I was only pointing out that the previous posts were just your opinion and you have admitted as much yourself.

My point is that just because it seems to you that the Thais have been brainwashed to believe in ghosts in a 'crippling way' may not be how they view it. A crippling belief in comparrison to what? Is a belief that we live in an impersonal world where actions have no consequences less crippling? Right or wrong those around the world who can appease their ghosts are being active in response to the worlds occurences and this must give them a feeling of empowerment.

The fact that you have made reference to the kalama sutta points to the fact that you have misread my post, I was not telling you what to believe or not to believe. I was only suggesting that possibly it is better not to hastily condemn other's beliefs unless you are 100% sure they are wrong. I think if you reread the kalama sutta you would see that this is in the spirit of this teaching. Maybe I am wrong.

While it is not possible to question the Buddha himself. It is possible to question his disciples who usually believe in ghosts. More importantly my own personal practice points to this possibility.

I think you could get many people to agree (ghost believers and non believers alike), that a human being would appear to be greater than the sum of it's impermanent physical parts. Whether you want to call that unknown element a spirit, soul, life force, chi, an electric charge, metaphysical energy, mind, whatever, that's up to you. Of all the infinitely possible manifestations of that energy, it being an identified spirit seems to me the least likely. That's my problem with Thai ghost culture. They take the least likely possibility and embrace it to the greatest possible extent. That to me is delusional.

[solent01]

JG, some people are reseptive and others are not, don't worry about it, I can tell you many storeys, as I am sure you can tell me. Just let the sceptics say what they want to say, but the truth is you hardly ever see if you don't feel, once you feel you know to look.

your avatar tells it all

Up to you, each to thier own.

[AlexLah]

To the OP, my answer is no.

Being in some country where many people believe in ghost does and did not change my believe that there is some kind of energy active after you die.

I do not call them ghost.

I just recently (2 years ago) came to this believe.

Before I never ever even wanted to think about it, untill.....

I was called by my mother that my father was in hospital for a check up as he was very sick.

This was on wednesday and she told me he will go for MRI and CT scan the following day.

On Friday I called to find out the result and my mother told me he had cancer and was very ill.

On Saturday I travelled to BKK from SG as I had to do a training on Monday.

At that time me and my family did not know how severe his illnes was and that is why I told them , OK after I finish my training I will come to Holland.

Sunday evening my brother called me and told me my father was very sick and he told me to come back to Holland as fast as I could becouse he thought my father was not going to make it very long.

Ok on Monday I made travel arrangements to go back to SG and from there to Holland.

I took first flight back to SG on Tuesday and on that flight I experienced some very weird dream.

I woke up on the very time my father died ( I checked that after I landed).

I called my brother and told/asked him if my father died at that time and he confirmed.

Ok when in Holland whe did the funeral and I had to go back as my company only gives one day leave for that.

Once I got back in SG I had a very bad dream.

I became my father, feeling all his feelings of confusion and fear and questions why me, I could hear all conversations between my family.

I could hear my brother telling the nurse to give some more morfine, I could see I (My father) was wearing some blue shirt.

So after I had those dreams I called my brother and mother to find out if what I dreamed was true.

My mother was shocked and asked me how did I know all of this as we never talked about that, same my brother.

It made me realise that after someone dies the (soul) energy is still active and is searching for contact to make sure we know that those who died are still sort of alive in a spiritual world and are there to watch you and help you in whatever way.

Kind regards,

Alex

[frikkiedeboer]

You probably believed the world was flat in a past incarnation, too. 555

are you insinuating that the world is NOT flat?

frikkie

[Jet Gorgon]

You probably believed the world was flat in a past incarnation, too. 555

are you insinuating that the world is NOT flat?

frikkie

Had boobs the last time I checked.

Edited May 26, 2007 by Jet Gorgon

[Bagwan]

Great post, especially the sentence I have highlighted. May I have your permission to use that quote in my TV signature? Attributed to you, of course!

Be my guest. You'll find me a better host than Thai officialdom.

[Dakhar]

no

[wilko]

Im not even religious, I gues I just don't belive in what I can't see. By saying this I don't want to argue with those people that had any experience like that before. but just never happend to me.

the problem is believing what you DO see.....

[MarcHolt]

As we all know many Thais are 100% convinced in the existence of ghosts. I learned the hard way the dangers of questioning these beliefs. One of the few arguments I had with my wife occured a few years ago and was due to my questioning of the existence of ghosts.

Have you found that you are now more willing to believe in ghosts than you were prior to coming to Thailand?

Better still, do you have any true ghost stories?

I am not 100% convinced of the existence of ghosts but if I had to choose would say they exist. I have no real proof though.

The jury is still out on whether they really exist, but I can tell you that strange things do happen here that can't be explained. Take a look at this story about a ghost at a tennis club I lived at years ago. I didn't believe in ghosts, but after this I'm not so sure?

http://holtww.com/holtblog/?p=137

[duratanium]

As we all know many Thais are 100% convinced in the existence of ghosts. I learned the hard way the dangers of questioning these beliefs. One of the few arguments I had with my wife occured a few years ago and was due to my questioning of the existence of ghosts.

Have you found that you are now more willing to believe in ghosts than you were prior to coming to Thailand?

Better still, do you have any true ghost stories?

I am not 100% convinced of the existence of ghosts but if I had to choose would say they exist. I have no real proof though.

I find it very strange that I have not seen one ghost in the time I have spent in Thailand, yet back in the U.K. I used to see them often.

Living in Thailand makes me wonder where all their ghosts are!!! I have considered that cremation might have something to do with it, but I am no expert on this.

[Nibor1945]

As we all know many Thais are 100% convinced in the existence of ghosts. I learned the hard way the dangers of questioning these beliefs. One of the few arguments I had with my wife occured a few years ago and was due to my questioning of the existence of ghosts.

Have you found that you are now more willing to believe in ghosts than you were prior to coming to Thailand?

Better still, do you have any true ghost stories?

I am not 100% convinced of the existence of ghosts but if I had to choose would say they exist. I have no real proof though.

I find it very strange that I have not seen one ghost in the time I have spent in Thailand, yet back in the U.K. I used to see them often.

Living in Thailand makes me wonder where all their ghosts are!!! I have considered that cremation might have something to do with it, but I am no expert on this.

Hi duratanium.

It's because we keep them under control with the "spirit houses" we have in our gardens,

even the unbelievers living in condos have a centralised one to protect them!

[wilko]

The jury's not out...it's the witnesses - - - they out to lunch!

[realthaideal]

"I hear voices,

They tell me to kill certain people.

I've killed three this week.

Up to now I haven't been visited by their ghosts."

Feaky. My ghost tells me it's ok to eat more sticky rice and hmu ping at midnight when I know I should just go to bed. In fact, makes me eat all kinds of things. Then drink a beer. Still, a benevolent ghost.

And on another note, I'm definitely more open to the idea of them. Traveling Phnom Penh ala the Killing Field and Tuol Sleng you can't help but feel ghosts or something there. Austhied may be right about that 4th dimension.

[sukanyacondo]

The jury's not out...it's the witnesses - - - they out to lunch!

GUFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFAWWWWWWWW WELL SAID THAT MAN/WOMAN/THING/GHOST

[Bardamu]

Hello, I find this topic interesting and at the moment i am researching a book about ghosts. Does anyone know of a haunted place in Chiang Mai where i might visit?