Thai Forest Temples: Books Not Required; Internet? Pending…
Thai Buddhist ‘Forest Temples’ are not the saffron gilded air-conditioned temples of the cities and towns, but rustic temples of the woods, the outback and the heart, a tradition dating from a time when Thailand actually HAD forests and itinerant monks walking through them. This tradition dates back little more than one hundred years, but in that period of time has gained many adherents, both local and international, mostly due to the efforts of the late Ajahn Chah, who taught many foreign disciples, and set them loose upon the world…
‘Tam boon’ is the usual Thai term for Buddhist ‘merit-making’ and could just as easily be translated ‘doing good’, though that probably doesn’t convey the urgency with which most Thais accept the need for a showcase to display their gratitude, not simply submit silent offerings. The best deeds tend to be spectator sports to which all are invited, and many a belly is filled, spectacles and feasting more than introspection and fasting, which is a better goal for religion IMHO… (More …)
kc are discussing. 
Many people say they like Buddhism, but without all that pesky suffering that Buddhists keep talking about. “I’m just too happy to be a Buddhist,” is a common sentiment. Of course some of those people have already gravitated toward Zen, which is as close as you can get to Buddhism without the suffering, but still it’s there…
“Given that Being, Consciousness and Life are synonymous, presence means consciousness realizing itself or Life achieving self-consciousness…” – Eckhart Tolle
Is there an inverse proportion between spirituality and material wealth? Duh. How do you spell t-a-u-t-o-l-o-g-y? Let me repeat that again for you, one more time (ha!): “Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God”—Jesus H. Christ
Goodbye cruel world! It’s been good to know you, sorta’ kinda’ maybe you know, all your skyscrapers and automobiles and dark satanic factories and epidemics to boot, competing in the World’s Cup of Cruelty and the World Series of Savagery. Have we really learned anything in our five thousand years of civility, our ten thousand years of settlement? Not much, I reckon; the only things that change are that the weapons get bigger: the guns get longer and the fuses get shorter….
kc 7:18 pm on August 7, 2016 Permalink |
interesting, recently a COMMUNITY HELP GROUP, all men btw, came and helped me get the front yard/garden set to city specs. they do it for the glory of god, any and all gods, they do not discriminate against the gods nor the people requesting help. i wrote a letter to the editor, that they published, much to my surprise as it mentioned Islam. so, yeah, we’re learning, slowly but surely, to embrace all. for now, i am attempting to reteach r things he has long known, in this instance it has been 2 hours so far, how to turn on the electronic contol oven, by googling the manual and following instructions. this gives him an enormous amount of angst. I really believe that he is somewhat sexist his own self, by demonstrating that he is showing his inability to learn form me, or is it ageist. he has completed rejected the notion that he has any memory issues, and although 3 docs said no driving, he continues to drive, and continues to have car crashes. he may soon learn, but that time may come when it is too late. As the Animals sang in that fab Vietnam War protest song WE GOTTA GET OUT OF THIS PLACE, i must get out of here, to save what is left of my mind and spirit. wish me luck, adventure awaits me. fuck an electronic control oven, give me sticks and a way to start a fire, and i’m good.Glad that you are well, except for gout. i am fine, except for pain.
hardie karges 7:23 pm on August 7, 2016 Permalink |
Stay open, and hang tough…