Hollywood Buddha..

[Pepe']

I have been attempting to practice Buddhism for thirty years now. Along with that I have been strict vegetarian for thirty years now as well.

Believe me it ain't been easy for a former 200 pound Italian construction worker from New York, but I do try.

When I started practicing medicine 14 years ago a buddy of mine from "Philly" who had just moved to San Diego commented, " How nice it is to see you practicing medicine." "Your specialty used to be taking people apart, now you're putting them back together."

People can change.

Kwiz

Until you come to the point where you atleast begin to realize that there is no country, no religion, no race. It is all an illussion according to the Buddha.

Just people with different egos, time and circumstance, perhaps you'll begin to realize that we are actually all the same.

It's really only a matter of time that separates us.

Tolerance, compassion, enlightenment

[chonabot]

On a lighter note , nice to see ol Kwiz back and seeing some interesting discussion/ranting on TV , makes a change to the usual insipid <deleted>.

Kwiz you old nutter!

For the records , about 18 months ago me and Kwiz went at it , culminating in me offering to "meet" him in Bkk , now we are more polite , I miss your posts Kwiz!

btw I still believe only native English speakers should..........

[Jeff1]

Dickie ,

Whats wrong with American money ? at least it's all the same size 

And I have never seen another country turn any of it down

Jeez! Context is everything. I was led to believe that US cash funded the film, even though the rest of it was foreign-driven.

You need to lighten up, m'thinks.

Dickie sir ,

It was " light " and an attempt at humor . Notice the smiley face .

Im sorry I did not word it correctly for you to think it was anything more than kidding around . OK ?

[markt]

btw I still believe only native English speakers should..........

.....Speak English like the natives........?

[sriracha john]

When I started practicing medicine

I always have to chuckle when I see that phrase "practice medicine".....

[Dickie]

Dickie ,

Whats wrong with American money ? at least it's all the same size 

And I have never seen another country turn any of it down

Jeez! Context is everything. I was led to believe that US cash funded the film, even though the rest of it was foreign-driven.

You need to lighten up, m'thinks.

Dickie sir ,

It was " light " and an attempt at humor . Notice the smiley face .

Im sorry I did not word it correctly for you to think it was anything more than kidding around . OK ?

Ah, fairy snuff. I thought you were still in rampage-mode.

[Jeff1]

Nah , im pretty much done here .

See you on a different thread .

Take care ,

Jeff

[Limbo]

Err... What's your point with the poor Dickie?

However, Phoney DID know better but, as you (in my opinion) accurately stated, he definitely wants to appear as strong as Maggie. The bit about the British not making it is a bit odd as we invented Iraq in the first place!

Dear Dicky, it is already several days ago I wrote it. I actually don't remember.

Maybe that I wanted to express my sympathy for somebody who's tax-money is used to possibly murder people (in case you pay tax in Britain).

Seen from the moon you would be an accomplice.

[Limbo]

It's considered "cool" to hate America & Americans these days but I don't give a flying <deleted>!

MR. Boon Mee, this is an excellent occasion to replace the Thai national flag, behind which you are cowardly hiding, with the stars and stripes.

And when doing so, so might accentuate the ceremonial aspect of this act by humming your national anthem.

[Limbo]

It's considered "cool" to hate America & Americans these days but I don't give a flying <deleted>!

MR. Boon Mee, this is an excellent occasion to replace the Thai national flag, behind which you are cowardly hiding, with the stars and stripes.

And when doing so, so might accentuate the ceremonial aspect of this act by humming your national anthem.

This MR. Boon Mee and this MR. Spee are hiding behind Thai national flags.

Normally Americans, at least when they are not anyhow protected by the invisibility and anonymity of the internet, use the Canadian national flag for this purpose.

Journalists, backpackers, working force, they all have been sewing and glueing the Maple Leaf on their clothes and luggage since the war in Vietnam.

Some out of fear, some out of shame.

It would be interesting to hear the motives to choose the Thai national flag.

Go ahead gentlemen!

[Coffee Dude]

Of course the OP being a Buddhist will understand that the Lord Buddha did teach agaisnt idolitry, the worhip of the Budha and the image of the Budha runs contrary to his teachings.

So while the OP, and others, might complain of the portrauyal of a Buddha image in such a mannor, purists imn the Buddhist faith might, perhaps with more validity, complain that there is an image of Buddha at all.

I agree.

Touching the head is a Thai and possibly other cultures form of disrespect for all people. It has nothing at all to do with Buddhism (which as stated above doesn't condon the worship of dieties [common in Thailand]). Many cultures have insults that seem strange to other cultures.

Example: Venesuela, to indicate a measurement of length using the tip of the thumb and the index finger... is an insult. Measurements are indicated by using the side of the hand at varying lengths up the hand or arm. The thumb and index finger are used in the measurement of certain unmentionable body parts only. This is something I didn't know when I first went there.

So it is very easy for someone from a totally different culture NOT to know all of the insults in all of the cultures of the world.

I must admit, when I first came to LoS, I didn't know that it was a bad thing to ruffle a childs hair (touch their head). A very simple gesture of compassion in my culture. Or use my foot to point to something on the ground.

I understand the outrage from cultures where this is seen as an insult. I can also understand the powers to be in those cultural areas to disallow the presentation of said movie in those areas.

But with all due respect to the Frenchman who made this movie, Sri Lanka was probably not his target audience and not a great deal of research went into the custom and culture of that audience. You can't really expect an artist? to know all of the customes of the all of the cultures of the world. Can you?

Coffee!!!

[plachon]

btw  I still believe only native English speakers should..........

.....Speak English like the natives........?

C'mon, don't get him started lads. Just when he's got this little rave off his chest, you want to go and poke a stick in this wasps nest? ######, who knows, you may even get old Mrentoul outta retirement on the subject. whatever happened to him - wonder if he's still on the Pidgin Post, or got sacked for spending too much time on Thaivisa Forum?!

[Santini]

Lets have Mrentoul back, ill agree there!

I wonder if the cock still keeps him awake at the crack of dawn

[Axel]

Of course the OP being a Buddhist will understand that the Lord Buddha did teach agaisnt idolitry, the worhip of the Budha and the image of the Budha runs contrary to his teachings.

Interesting point guesthouse.

Now what should a true Buddhist do, when a tourist couple in a shop outside a temple discusses to buy an image?

You hear often something like "Come on Dear, he looks so cute, let's buy it, will fit perfect on our coffee table..."

No offense intented from my side but sentences like this you hear all the time.

Wouldn't it be fair to ask the shops not to sell any image or figurine to any non-believer?

[Dickie]

Normally Americans, at least when they are not anyhow protected by the invisibility and anonymity of the internet, use the Canadian national flag for this purpose.

Journalists, backpackers, working force, they all have been sewing and glueing the Maple Leaf on their clothes and luggage since the war in Vietnam.

Some out of fear, some out of shame.

I didn't know this! I have in the past advised yanks that, in the event of possible claret, claim to be Canadian firm but calmly and ask "I thought we were on the same side?", but I never thought it would be bad enough to stick someone else's flag on your pack!

I'm actually starting to feel a bit sorry for you lot.

No, really, I am!

[kat]

It's considered "cool" to hate America & Americans these days but I don't give a flying <deleted>!

MR. Boon Mee, this is an excellent occasion to replace the Thai national flag, behind which you are cowardly hiding, with the stars and stripes.

And when doing so, so might accentuate the ceremonial aspect of this act by humming your national anthem.

This MR. Boon Mee and this MR. Spee are hiding behind Thai national flags.

Normally Americans, at least when they are not anyhow protected by the invisibility and anonymity of the internet, use the Canadian national flag for this purpose.

Journalists, backpackers, working force, they all have been sewing and glueing the Maple Leaf on their clothes and luggage since the war in Vietnam.

Some out of fear, some out of shame.

It would be interesting to hear the motives to choose the Thai national flag.

Go ahead gentlemen!

Dickie, I appreciate your sentiment, but Limbo seems to be another person that is generalizing something he has seen in a couple of people to mean all Americans.

I don't wear any flags at all, because I am not a nationalist. I have never denied my origins to anyone (although after Abu Ghraib I did have strong urges to renounce my passport), but I never lie about where I'm from. Neither do any of my friends when they travel. I feel that if I am going to travel, than I have to travel as who I am, because that is the challenge of travelling. There are many different people in America.

[kat]

Normally Americans, at least when they are not anyhow protected by the invisibility and anonymity of the internet, use the Canadian national flag for this purpose.

Journalists, backpackers, working force, they all have been sewing and glueing the Maple Leaf on their clothes and luggage since the war in Vietnam.

Some out of fear, some out of shame.

I didn't know this! I have in the past advised yanks that, in the event of possible claret, claim to be Canadian firm but calmly and ask "I thought we were on the same side?", but I never thought it would be bad enough to stick someone else's flag on your pack!

I'm actually starting to feel a bit sorry for you lot.

No, really, I am!

Sorry, this was the quote I meant to include with my above post.

[Dickie]

Of course the OP being a Buddhist will understand that the Lord Buddha did teach agaisnt idolitry, the worhip of the Budha and the image of the Budha runs contrary to his teachings.

Interesting point guesthouse.

Now what should a true Buddhist do, when a tourist couple in a shop outside a temple discusses to buy an image?

You hear often something like "Come on Dear, he looks so cute, let's buy it, will fit perfect on our coffee table..."

No offense intented from my side but sentences like this you hear all the time.

Wouldn't it be fair to ask the shops not to sell any image or figurine to any non-believer?

Not so much a rant on my part, more of an irritated observation.

If all these religions claim that their religion is for all mankind, which they do, then why shouldn't their religious books or icons be made available to everyone, regardless of belief. So the Buddha ends up on the coffee table? It'll probably stay there, but maybe someone will see it, think "Buddha. Wonder what that's all about?", read up on it and become a Buddhist thus spreading "the word".

Seems a bit narrow-minded to think "Buddha only for Buddhists ".

[Axel]

Interesting theory Dickie.

You mean it is not a sacrilege to use one as paper weight? All my visitors might become converts.

[chonabot]

Lets have Mrentoul back, ill agree there!

I wonder if the cock still keeps him awake at the crack of dawn

You mean he still calls his doot " Dawn" ?

[markt]

Lets have Mrentoul back, ill agree there!

I wonder if the cock still keeps him awake at the crack of dawn 

You mean he still calls his doot " Dawn" ?

Not his......

[Spee]

MR. Boon Mee and this MR. Spee are hiding behind Thai national flags.

Go ahead gentlemen!

It's a <deleted>' avatar for chrissakes, not some symbolic meaning of life!

Give it a rest willya?

[chonabot]

Lets have Mrentoul back, ill agree there!

I wonder if the cock still keeps him awake at the crack of dawn 

You mean he still calls his doot " Dawn" ?

Not his......

You mean Erco's arse is called Dawn?

[Dickie]

Interesting theory Dickie.

You mean it is not a sacrilege to use one as paper weight? All my visitors might become converts.

Heh-heh!

Still, I would think not sacrilege because, as you're not a believer (are you?), the image means nothing more than something nice at which to look. If you were a believer then it probably would be. Similar concept to burning the national flag which, IIRC, is illegal in the US. However, Ol' Glory can vanish in a puff of smoke in the UK and no crime committed, unless half the building goes with it.

[siam]

This itself proves my point why I said "Shame on all Americans". Coz all of you have thought same thing.. That is to defend this movie..and to tell me it is just another incident done by one person..and for posting this..I am Anti American..

Americans don't infuse old statues from other cultures with the same "spirituality" that is common here. You may think that's "culturally insensitive", but then you're being culturally insensitive if you don't at least TRY to understand American culture before you criticize it.

See, Americans just don't have a long history of "statue-worship". Our landscape is not dotted with shrines and statues from centuries-lost cultures. Sure we have statues of Jesus (and YES, of course nobody would sit on Jesus's head), but those statues are usually relatively new and on church property, so part of the reason nobody would sit on them is because they'd have to climb up the side of a church wall to get to the statue.

The original Americans did have,I do believe they had their own shrines and religion too ,

Welcome your comments Pudgi?

Or did you overlook that part of history?

[kwiz117]

How many of you have balls to come out and use one single identity in this forum.. ?

[Boon Mee]

MR. Boon Mee and this MR. Spee are hiding behind Thai national flags.

Go ahead gentlemen!

It's a <deleted>' avatar for chrissakes, not some symbolic meaning of life!

Give it a rest willya?

Spee~

He just wishes he had one as cool!

[rod_kalashnikov]

I have been attempting to practice Buddhism for thirty years now.

I'm thirty years into my second attempt. My first time around was a failure. This time around is better, but I still have a long way to go. I still have a demon walking in my shadow.

People can change.

When I first hit Thailand in 1960, Buddha (to me) was some fat old Indian dude who had invented a religion. I had no respect for any religion ... I thought they were all crocks of shit. I was sixteen years old ... and what I didn't know wasn't worth knowing.

This Buddha character was everywhere in Thailand. Every house, every shop, every bar, no matter how poor, had its own shrine. Everyone wore an amulet of some sort, ranging from expensive solid gold and jade Buddha images all the way down to just a piece of string. Wais and offerings and burning incense everywhere you looked. Everyone respected the Buddha. Everyone except me.

I lived with a former prostitute twice my age named Pornthip for a while. She should have been a nun ... she radiated such goodness. After I spectacularly made a complete prick of myself in public, she introduced me to the Lord Buddha. The way this Buddha guy expected me to behave was the exact opposite of everything I was, but somehow it seemed to make sense, so I stuck with it. As my attitudes changed, I found people who actually enjoyed being in my company ... not because I had a shitload of money or because they were afraid of offending me, but because I was treating them with politeness and respect.

When Pornthip and I went our separate ways, I took what she'd taught me with me. I did well for a few years. Controlling my rage. Maintaining my dignity. Trying to hurt no-one. Trying to help those I could help. Treating people with respect. Then I stepped off the path and went back to being a bad mother######er ... and it took me many years to find my way back.

It's really only a matter of time that separates us.

Time brings about change ... but the more things change, the more they remain the same.

Years ago, statues of the Lord Buddha were respected religious objects, found only in Buddhist households, or museums. Today, Buddha statues are "in" as ornaments and household decorations worldwide. They have no significance ... no meaning ... no purpose except as conversation pieces. A monk once explained it to me this way: "The essence of the Buddha is not in the statue, but in the faith of those who gaze upon it. Without faith, the statue is merely a lump of wood or stone carved to look like the Buddha."

Today, I have a heavy plastic prism containing a three-dimensional laser-cut image of the Lord Buddha as a paperweight on my desk. Thirty years ago I would have considered such blatant commercialism a disrespectful use of the Buddha's image ... but nowhere near in the same ballpark as sitting on the Buddha's head, which I still consider extremely disrespectful today.

Thirty years ago, sitting on the Buddha's head in my presence would have got you a severe biffing. That's a very "un-Buddhist" reaction, I know ... but back then, I knew no better. Today I understand "why" disrespect for the Buddha made (and to some degree, still makes) me so angry. What I don't know is whether or not I could control that anger in a highly disrespectful situation like someone sitting on the Buddha's head. Perhaps I still know no better.

An old monk told me in Saigon, in another life, "If all men were like the Lord Buddha, the world would not need men like me. In time, I will become like Him. If all men were like me, the world would not need men like you. In time, you will become like me." It's a nice thought ... but I don't think I'll live that long.

[kat]

Rod, you're an epic. I'm glad you're back

[Axel]

rod_kalashnikov

phantastic piece of writing. First I was very amused. Second time reading it I believe you deeply understand where others fail.

In between the lines I read that you found to yourself.

Keep on going. but you do not need a third time.