let me start by saying ive got nothing against buddhism, i allways go to the temple for my blessing when im coming away to work,

its the lads you see in and around the villages doing the monk thing,, shaving there heads and eyebrows,

all there family and freinds behind the car dancing and drinking, just having a p,,s up,

and you know when its all over they will return to drinking and sitting around, maybe even getting some young girl pregnent and doing a runner,

whats that all about,???

jake

That's them doing their Monk-ey business mate

Let's move this over to the pub as I'm guessing we'll have a lively discussion here.

Topic Moved.

Makes me think of the Catholic approach to having one hell of a fun week, then popping in on Sunday to ask "Forgive me Father, for I have sinned....". ....Ah! Monday again....what will we do this week boys??

Same same everywhere!!

(Great to see you back, btw, Jake!)

Welcome back Jake, good to see you again, hope all is well .

thank you ,

yes alls good with me, im back in bonnie scotland for 4 or 5 months doing my bit to keep the country in electricity,,lol,

i was offerd a job in south africa just before i came away, but i like to come here,

jake,

thank you ,

yes alls good with me, im back in bonnie scotland for 4 or 5 months doing my bit to keep the country in electricity,,lol,

i was offerd a job in south africa just before i came away, but i like to come here,

jake,

Yes, it's a great wee country. I'm heading back to Scotland at the end of June, for one month for my son's wedding and to see my family, after that, I'll head back to the lunacy of LOS.

Hope your family are all well. Take care, mate.

OH! ....and by the way.... This was 06.30 in my local market.......

thank you ,

yes alls good with me, im back in bonnie scotland for 4 or 5 months doing my bit to keep the country in electricity,,lol,

i was offerd a job in south africa just before i came away, but i like to come here,

jake,

Yes, it's a great wee country. I'm heading back to Scotland at the end of June, for one month for my son's wedding and to see my family, after that, I'll head back to the lunacy of LOS.

Hope your family are all well. Take care, mate.

OH! ....and by the way.... This was 06.30 in my local market.......

Capture.JPG

Yes I do reacted to that when I was a newcomer. Plse try to understand Thailand and their culture. I do not understand especially much, but maybe you can consider that the monks in general are collecting food and money to keep their "thing" going in the temple.

When people are out of food, and suddenly in a desperate way of needing money (small money of course), they turn to their local temple and the monks will help them... My own wife told me that when she was young her father couldn´t supply food and shelter to his family, so they turned to their temple to get food on a daily basis.

Ordinary people here in Thailand give, just like we give "collect" in our churches... And they want to give most often in order to to good things... you know "Thai dee, dai dee"....and so on....

So there is a meaning behind that..... there is so much to learn before we trashtalk it...

Glegolo

thank you ,

yes alls good with me, im back in bonnie scotland for 4 or 5 months doing my bit to keep the country in electricity,,lol,

i was offerd a job in south africa just before i came away, but i like to come here,

jake,

Yes, it's a great wee country. I'm heading back to Scotland at the end of June, for one month for my son's wedding and to see my family, after that, I'll head back to the lunacy of LOS.

Hope your family are all well. Take care, mate.

OH! ....and by the way.... This was 06.30 in my local market.......

Capture.JPG

Yes I do reacted to that when I was a newcomer. Plse try to understand Thailand and their culture. I do not understand especially much, but maybe you can consider that the monks in general are collecting food and money to keep their "thing" going in the temple.

When people are out of food, and suddenly in a desperate way of needing money (small money of course), they turn to their local temple and the monks will help them... My own wife told me that when she was young her father couldn´t supply food and shelter to his family, so they turned to their temple to get food on a daily basis.

Ordinary people here in Thailand give, just like we give "collect" in our churches... And they want to give most often in order to to good things... you know "Thai dee, dai dee"....and so on....

So there is a meaning behind that..... there is so much to learn before we trashtalk it...

Glegolo

Glegolo,

excuse me mate,ive lived in the village in thailand for over 7 years, and if you read my OP again you will see i never mentioned the true monks,,

i said the thai youth doing the monk thing!

and as i said in my view its just an excuse for the all to have a piss up, because the boy who has shaved his head and eyebrows will in my opinion, not all maybe but most, will go back to riding his motor bike round the village at high speeds while drunk most of the time, and back to sitting around with there freinds drinking,

again ill say to you again i never mentioned the true monks,

thank you jake,

ive just read my op,, i never trastalked no monk

so on here read what they want to read,, have a good day

Glegolo,

excuse me mate,ive lived in the village in thailand for over 7 years, and if you read my OP again you will see i never mentioned the true monks,,

i said the thai youth doing the monk thing!

and as i said in my view its just an excuse for the all to have a piss up, because the boy who has shaved his head and eyebrows will in my opinion, not all maybe but most, will go back to riding his motor bike round the village at high speeds while drunk most of the time, and back to sitting around with there freinds drinking,

again ill say to you again i never mentioned the true monks,

thank you jake,

ive just read my op,, i never trastalked no monk

so on here read what they want to read,, have a good day

Yes I know what you wrote. I looked at the photo, and the first monk I did see on that photo was an adult monk... not a kidmonk.... So that is why I wanted to clarify what I have noticed and learned as well as you have...

Sorry for partly missunderstand you..

bye

Glegolo

Some folk aren't cut out for monkhood . I have an uncle who went in . It was his time and he was doing it for the family , but he was really just sobering up for a bit , I think . I used to go and see him at the wat , take him up some cigs and coffee , he just looked unrelaxed at the time . I think the term did him the world of good . There was no big piss up when he went in . When we have the monks round he is the one to take the initiative within the ceremony . He has a few pals , I think they look like Pigsy and Fishy and Monkey and Tripitaka .

From my understanding it is important for the young man parents....for their merit and also 'face' in their town or village.

I have attended a couple of these ceremonies and the last one was for our neighbors boy and I help with the preparations fro the party.

It maybe is a bit of a farce regarding the religious side of it,seeing as many times after the young man has done his spell at the temple he carries on with his wicked ways.

But for the parents, riding in the back of the pick up with their boy and taking him to the temple is probably one of the most important and proudest days of their lives.

This is what an Englishman with some experience of the Thai monkhood thinks:

http://www.thaibuddhist.com/an-interview-with-phra-farang/

You might try and read the book he wrote about some of the young monks he encountered as well:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/009948448X?ie=UTF8&tag=thaistudentonlin&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=009948448X

These young men, why would you deny them happiness while they are young?

Do you think it is a lack of sincerity they are feeling when you see them dancing?

There is too little dancing, maybe.

I do agree the following though:

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying; And this same flower that smiles today, Tomorrow will be dying A monk needs to enjoy life, too. Why deny these men the pleasures of life if this is really what they wish to be seeking? That is what it is all about.