The 38 Blessings Of Life

[solid]

Hi all,

It seems like many of people here are still trying to understand Thailand and its people. Here is a few things you can see how good Buddhist Thais' perspective in life is. I use "good Buddhist Thais" beacause not all Thais are Buddhist (which is fine) and many Thais who claim they are Buddhist aren't really good Buddhist (just want to make it clear).

The reason I bring this up is beacause most of Thais base their life on Buddhism teaching, although it's kinda fading away nowaday in big cities. So you might understand something like... why do I have to support my wife's family and such?

If you think you already understand Thais and if you want, you can try some of these yourself. It will definitely make your life better AT LEAST in Thailand.

Or if you don't really care what I mentioned above, you can just listen to the music. Come on, you can dance with me.

Just read along the subtitle (it's a Thai music video with English subtitle)

here's the link:

http://www.jabchai.com/main/view_joke.php?id=7767

Aftert you have watched it, please tell me which one you like the most and which one you don't like the most. I just want to how Farangs think.

ps. the reason I didn't put this thread in Buddhism section is because I don't want to see it as a religious but a way of life/cultural thing, although Buddhism itself is a way of life already. If one of the mods want to move this thread to Buddhism, please feel free to do so.

[frikkiedeboer]

Hi all,

It seems like many of people here are still trying to understand Thailand and its people. Here is a few things you can see how good Buddhist Thais' perspective in life is. I use "good Buddhist Thais" beacause not all Thais are Buddhist (which is fine) and many Thais who claim they are Buddhist aren't really good Buddhist (just want to make it clear).

The reason I bring this up is beacause most of Thais base their life on Buddhism teaching, although it's kinda fading away nowaday in big cities. So you might understand something like... why do I have to support my wife's family and such?

If you think you already understand Thais and if you want, you can try some of these yourself. It will definitely make your life better AT LEAST in Thailand.

Or if you don't really care what I mentioned above, you can just listen to the music. Come on, you can dance with me.

Just read along the subtitle (it's a Thai music video with English subtitle)

here's the link:

http://www.jabchai.com/main/view_joke.php?id=7767

Aftert you have watched it, please tell me which one you like the most and which one you don't like the most. I just want to how Farangs think.

ps. the reason I didn't put this thread in Buddhism section is because I don't want to see it as a religious but a way of life/cultural thing, although Buddhism itself is a way of life already. If one of the mods want to move this thread to Buddhism, please feel free to do so.

i do not practice bhuddism, and couldnt get any benefit from the link, as i cant read thai, even though it interests me. i have to agree with you that we farang will never understand thais until we understand their religion. the very little that i have managed to learn about bhuddism (although i will never practice it-it goes against almost all the principles i believe in), has at least answered a lot of questions for me.

as farang, in addition to being taught the basics of being a good human being, we are taught self-reliance, assertiveness, open-mindedness, awareness of our surroundings, to know the value of money, etc. we are taught to face problems head on, and find solutions to them. we stand up for our rights and don't allow others to take advantage of us, or invade our space. we are taught that respect has to be earned, and is not simply a right. all this is necessary because without these tools, we would never survive in our societies. we have to make our own way, be agressive, pro-active, or we become victims and fail in life. when we fail, there is nobody to pick us up, feed us, or share with us. if we are lazy, or don't want to put in the effort, we fail. there are consequences for our actions, and we pay dearly for any wrong decision we make.

i have come to understand that in thailand, many people manage to survive without having learned any of these lifeskills, and perhaps it is possible to get away with it in rural thailand, but thailand is changing, as you said, in the big cities people are not following this lifestyle, and it is because they have been forced to learn the skills, and to apply them in order to survive.

please understand that i am not criticising the way thais live. that they manage to live like this is admirable,i am simply pointing out that for a farang , it is almost impossible to live this lifestyle, and actually survive, and because we had to fight for our right to survive, we have difficulty understanding why,when told we now have to support a whole thai family who never, in our eyes, made the effort or bothered to learn the skills, and apply them, in order to make their own way in life.

i think that the thais probably have as hard a time understanding us as we do trying to understand them, and the more i learn, the more confused and frustrated i get. i now think i KNOW why, but i will never UNDERSTAND why. we live on different planets.

frikkie.

[Aussietraveller]

Whilst i am not buddhist, I found the words interesting. (there are English subtitles)

I have made note of then for those that do not want to go to the link.

I personally agree with 25 of these (how many i practice is another story), especially number 1...

1 - Stay away from Fools

2 - Keep the company of Sages

3 - Worship individuals worthy of our worship

4 - Live in an Appropriate Neighbourhood

5 - Possess past merit

6 - Practice Righteousness

7 - Be Scholarly

8 - Be Creative

9 - Be Disciplined

10- Practice pleasant speech

11- care for ones parents

12- care for ones children

13- support ones spouse

14- do not procrastinate

15-practice charity

16- Practice the Dhamma

17- support ones relatives

18- Earn right livelihood

19- Abstain from all misdeeds

20- Abstain from Alcohol

21- do not be heedless

22- be respectful

23-be humble

24- be content

25- show gratitude

26-listen to the dhamma

27-possess perseverance

28- be open to constructive critism

29-respect Bhuddist monks

30- converse about the dhamma

31- practise religious austerity

32- practice chastity

33- Understand the 4 noble truths

34- seek the path of enlightenment

35-practice equanimity

36- abandon melancholy

37- possess a clean mind

38- possess a cheerful heart.

[a2396]

If this so-called religion means something to you fine. To me, it is a half-baked & shallow philosophy. Most Thais I know pay little or no attention to many of these points. As for providing any basis for ethical standards, it seems pretty hollow.

[ace]

I have no desire to be critical but in reality how many Thais base their lives on those 38 precepts, or even 19 of them!?

Actually I find the temples here to be wonderful, the good they do for the communities is amazing and they deserve a lot more credit or karma than do the government in the lives of most here.

But the written teachings and "guide to living" do not seem to be relevant in day to day reality.