Buddhist monks find happiness in flooded Bangkok!!

DaltheJigsaw

http://i.imgur.com/Q7uay.png

ThailandTom

It is not just the monks, you should see the general thai population. The tragic affects are there to be seen, the loss of life, the loss of food and homes, but you see people in boats smiling, people driving bikes through floods laughing, kids swimming and playing in the flood waters. They seem happier here with the flood situation than most of the people I know back home in the UK on a normal day.

Amelia

I think it is natural for people to have great access to their humorous side when disaster strikes. It helps to heal.

DaltheJigsaw

I think it is natural for people to have great access to their humorous side when disaster strikes. It helps to heal.

Yea, but this is different. I think...

DaltheJigsaw

It is not just the monks, you should see the general thai population. The tragic affects are there to be seen, the loss of life, the loss of food and homes, but you see people in boats smiling, people driving bikes through floods laughing, kids swimming and playing in the flood waters. They seem happier here with the flood situation than most of the people I know back home in the UK on a normal day.

Yea, true!

ThailandTom

It is different, the thai people are so laid back with everything that they just plod along in life and often have a laugh at the same time. Can you imagine if this happened in NYC or London, the people would be acting in a different way I am sure. I have a youtube video actually of the 25th when the flooding was not so bad as it will be today and the next few days.

SattvaPaul

It is not just the monks, you should see the general thai population. The tragic affects are there to be seen, the loss of life, the loss of food and homes, but you see people in boats smiling, people driving bikes through floods laughing, kids swimming and playing in the flood waters. They seem happier here with the flood situation than most of the people I know back home in the UK on a normal day.

That says it everything, why I want to move to Asia from UK. I think it would be healthier to live there. Do you agree, @ThailandTom?

ThailandTom

Healthier, hmm lol. It depends how you look at it. The food is better as it is fresher, but there are certain aspects to life in south east asia that you would have to get use to as it is still not as devoloped as the west. But all in all, I would prefer to live in S/E Asia over the west hands down, even now with this crisis. I feel more at home here than I ever did as a young adult in the UK.

SattvaPaul

I can only envy you and hope one day I'll be able to get over there!

Hanzze

There are two things we easy get trapped when seeing people smiling in South East Asia:

Wrong fearfullness and joy
IGNORING THE TRUTH



Here, the boy facing the lion does not fear it because he is not aware of the real danger. The lion represents the defilements of greed, anger, ignorance and lust as well as birth, old age, sickness and death. The young man is incapable of appreciating the danger confronting him because in his ignorance he still clings to the overt sensory perceptions of form, sound, taste, smell, and touch which are the bases for unsatisfactory experience. In contact to this state of ignorance, the figure above does realize life’s perils. Having comprehended these elementary causes, he points them out to the young man who still persists in ignoring the truth.

Right fearfullness and joy
BHANGANANA AND BHAYANANA



The lower half of this picture is an allegory on the knowledge consisting of the contemplation of the dissolution of all forms of existence (bhanga-nana). This is the second stage of insight-knowledge. The picture shows a wise man meditating upon a corpse. Here, the aspirant ignores the rising aspect and devotes his mind exclusively to the aspect of cessation in order to discover, more profoundly, that all things are continuously ceasing. The top part of the picture illustrates the knowledge of fearfulness (bhaya-nana), or insight derived from concentration upon the fearfulness of all compounded things (sankhara).

The three thieves stand for the three states of existence (bhava); kamabhava, rupabhava and arupabhava or sensual existence, the existence of subtle form, and formless existence all of which are fearsome, impermanent, unsatisfactory, and devoid of soul or self. They are not therefore to be desired.

(Sensual existence includes:

Human birth and animal conditions which are well-known to us, besides a number of other states, all woeful such as those of hungry ghosts and of the hell-wraiths which of course are normally invisible. Also found here are the six celestial heavens of sensual pleasure.

In the second state of existence are the various level of Brahma-worlds corresponding to attainment of mental absorptions (jhana) beyond the rage of sensuality in which form is very subtle.

The formless types of existence correspond to the formless attainments (arupa-smapatti) in which there is only the experience of subtle mentality (nama), beyond the range of any sort of body (rupa).

Birth into all these states is governed by the kamma or intentional actions of the individual. All these states of existence, heavens and bells are impermanent.)

BHAYANANA (BY OTHER ARTIST)



This picture also illustrates the theme of the knowledge of fearfulness but is by a different artist. Here the boy (or the immature person) is frightened by the lion while above the aspiring monk, (who stands for the mature person able to face unwelcome but true facts) realizes the fearsomeness of all compounded things.

from "Teaching Dhamma by pictures" by Buddhadasa

-----
Both are very next to each other in South East Asia while between is the whole practice of Dhamma.
Actually there are less places where we can observe nature like it is without to much synthetic. But this places will disappear soon.

*smile*

ThailandTom

Don't envy me or anyone for that matter, not a wise thing to be doing. Also, there is a good saying you may want to keep in mind, ''if you have sh*t in your pocket, where ever you may go it will always smell.''

People and places very rarely turn out in the way we expect them to, so try not to build this place up into a fantasy land, it is only my personal opinion of liking it here, my own sister said she would not be able to live here under pretty much any circumstance.

Expect the un-expected, and if I was you try coming on a long holiday first if you have not done so already, it could prove to be a wise thing to do

SattvaPaul

Agreed.

Cinorjer

I agree. In Korea, once you look past the wonderful, friendly people, you see that with no social security or unemployment benefits or food stamps, it's easy to end up starving to death or being thrown into the gutter in your old age if you don't have a family able and willing to help.

And everyone in Korea wanted to know if I was ever caught in one of those many high speed car chases and shootouts they are sure fill our cities, from the Western law and order TV dramas they are hooked on.