Thailand Thread

[*Robert* 2]

T.O. went to Buffalo. And Tony Romo is a crybaby.

Go Bears! We got Jay Cutler who-hoo

(btw - Danny is a Dallas lad too... you guys could all have a festive time together down there)

EXCUES ME?!!! T.O. was the damn crybaby, and I’m glad the arrogant SOB is gone!!! Tony Romo is the MAN!!! The Bears only WISH they could have a QB like him! BTW, I do like the Bears, and all the other Chicago teams, EXCEPT the White Sox, because most of my family was born there!

Not to sure about Danny, but after that photo he posted of Chada wouldn't mind meeting her.

[scandal 951]

Not to sure about Danny, but after that photo he posted of Chada wouldn't mind meeting her.

That's a default #### kicking. I'll take it like a man.

Here ya go : :bonk:

Hey, I've told Danny on more than one occasion that Chada is one seriously hot girl.

I don't think he minds when told that

I don't think she does either

[*Robert* 2]

I live in Irving (Las Colinas) My office is 1000 yards from my apartment. I used to live in Plano. My good friend was an HR manager for TI at DFAB (whatever the hell that means) They transferred her to KL right before I left Thailand. Kind of a bummer.

I work at the Texas Verizon HQ now. Put in my 8 and go home. No more crazy trips to Pakistan and Bangladesh for me.

I know Las Colinas well... definitely the "high sco" area! Mostly just drove past it on my way to DFW, but they have some nice restaurants and of course the championship PGA golf course there!

DFAB, if I'm not mistaken, was down near Central Expressway and I-635, and was the "D" Fabrication lab for SC (Semiconductors).

When I lived in Plano, I was just west of Central Expy and north of Spring Creek. Loved that area, and the Bavarian Grill!

[daboyz 36]

I live in Irving (Las Colinas) My office is 1000 yards from my apartment. I used to live in Plano. My good friend was an HR manager for TI at DFAB (whatever the hell that means) They transferred her to KL right before I left Thailand. Kind of a bummer.

I work at the Texas Verizon HQ now. Put in my 8 and go home. No more crazy trips to Pakistan and Bangladesh for me.

I know Las Colinas well... definitely the "high sco" area! Mostly just drove past it on my way to DFW, but they have some nice restaurants and of course the championship PGA golf course there!

DFAB, if I'm not mistaken, was down near Central Expressway and I-635, and was the "D" Fabrication lab for SC (Semiconductors).

When I lived in Plano, I was just west of Central Expy and north of Spring Creek. Loved that area, and the Bavarian Grill!

Yeah that's the place. 635 and Central. The Byron Nelson is coming next month. Big party!!

[daboyz 36]

Nice article:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion...ksin-went-wrong

[scandal 951]

All right, since this thread has just become a ridiculous "Isn't Texas cool" bit of drivel, here's an attempt to get us back on track.

In a different thread somewhere else in VJ-land, Robert recently found himself discussing Pinays vs. Thais with a guy who has a PI fiancee. Robert wrote the following (not realizing that Big Brother <ahem> was watching):

The deciding factor for me between PI and Thailand is religion. I am not a Christian, and I have very strong view concerning Catholicism, which as you know, is so dominant in the Philippines. I prefer the Buddhist way of life, and the easy going lifestyle of the Thai people.

So, here's me on this subject --

I'm with you 100% on that, Robert. I guess you could say my faith is 'lapsed-Jewish'. When my first marriage went south and I started the whole deep personal introspection thing about what do I really want to do with myself to pick up the sorry-a$$ pieces of my life, I determined that (a) I wanted to get the hell out of Dodge (i.e. Israel) and back to the US or Canada (b ) I definitely wanted to get back into a healthy, positive relationship, as quickly as possible (c ) I had no interest in another (sic) "nice Jewish girl" like my first wife (d ) I had no personal use for any of the organized religions of the world and didn't really see myself cohabiting with anyone who identified themselves seriously as Jew, Protestant, Catholic, Muslim, .... (e ) I knew (and know) relatively little about Buddhism, other than it is much more philosophy than religion, (f ) I've always had a thing for Asian girls, so if I was gonna start all over, might as well start with what I like .

Natural conclusion: start searching seriously for a compatible life partner in a Buddhist Asian country. Next step: which? China? Japan? Nah, not appealing for a number of personal reasons. Thailand came up on my radar scope very quickly. Philippines never even seriously registered primarily because of Catholicism.

Several trips to Land of Smiles, some active use of a few quality Thai websites to meet the "right" kind of person, and the rest is history.......

[ThaitoUSA 15]

Two nights ago, a friend and I were discussing current events in Thailand. He does not know too much about the country, but has taken an interest since my fiancée is from there. When speaking of Buddhism/Hinduism vs Judeo-Christian/Muslim, he noted how the latter appeared far more violent and confrontational, while the former was a bit more equanimous.

My expanation: Buddhism is more yin (feminine) and Western faiths are more yang (masculine). Eastern faiths are more spiritually oriented as opposed to being involved in worldy affairs. For example, the first tenant of Buddhism is to support all life, in all its forms (do no harm): It is a bit difficult to distort this principle for political expediency. Whereas, the Christian soldier who bears "the sword of Truth," could easily be twisted by misunderstanding to mean a literal killer in the name of God.

Neither is better nor worse, as they each represent a piece of the whole. The same analogy may be applied to political positions; the paternalistic "pull yourself up by your own bootstraps" independence vs the materal coddling state. A healthy balance makes the most sense, or as Buddha extolled "Follow the middle path."

[ThaitoUSA 15]

I was editing the last post but my time expired. To continue . . .

The Catholic church (or Episcopal for me) does not equate with the teachings of Christ, nor is the Sang-ha the same as those of Buddha. These institutions were formed on and based around those beliefs, but over the centuries through expediency, errors in transcription, misunderstandings, etc. have been eroded. The kernels of Truth remain pristine, however.

Support of all life.

Be honest.

Forgive transgressions.

Respect one's own life as others.

Self-improvement as a lifestyle.

Submission to a higher power i.e. the energy of life itself.

The truth of all these principles is universal; they exist indepedent of location or time. They are self-evident and cannot be proven: Truth needs no justification whereas falsehood usually is accompanied by a great deal of rhetoric.

Regardless of where on the spectrum anything or anyone falls, it is always most productive to support solutions rather than attacking apparent problems. Comprehension leads to greater compassion and a more benign view of the world.

[Niels Bohr 72]

I don't see Buddhism as feminine. If this was the case, Tai Chi is also feminine.

Buddhism is a way of life just like any other religion. In Hinduism and Buddhism history, there were not an event such as the crusades that happened forcing people into their religion.

Edited April 19, 2009 by Niels Bohr

[birch- phuk_beer 0]

I don't see Buddhism as feminine. If this was the case, Tai Chi is also feminine.

bullsheitt. now your barking up a tree i know about.

first of all, all things have yin and yang aspects to them. it depends what the qualifier is.

some say the earth is yang. Sure, yes is in comparison with the moon. With the Sun, Earth is yin.

Taijiquan my friend is not feminine. (or yin)

for the most part, 90% only "play" Taiji.....

Taijiquan is a martial art designed for battlefield fighting. not the bullsheitt fruit loop ####### you see people doing trying to get in tune with the cosmos and eating granola bars.

Thats great people do the dumbed down version trying to keep healthy, but not the original intention.

I've been traditionally trained in China from the family that began this martial art, and a 20th generation adopted family member.

[ThaitoUSA 15]

Yes! Tai Chi would also be a great example of the feminine, in contrast to kick boxing which is far more masculine. These terms masculine and feminine are not referring to gender roles, rather archetypes within human consciousness. In Jungian terms, the anima and the animus. Important to note that within men is the anima, just as the animus resides within the woman.

[birch- phuk_beer 0]

Yes! Tai Chi would also be a great example of the feminine, in contrast to kick boxing which is far more masculine.

wrong!!

Edited April 19, 2009 by Birch-Beer

[scandal 951]

Two nights ago, a friend and I were discussing current events in Thailand. He does not know too much about the country, but has taken an interest since my fiancée is from there. When speaking of Buddhism/Hinduism vs Judeo-Christian/Muslim, he noted how the latter appeared far more violent and confrontational, while the former was a bit more equanimous.

My expanation: Buddhism is more yin (feminine) and Western faiths are more yang (masculine). Eastern faiths are more spiritually oriented as opposed to being involved in worldy affairs. For example, the first tenant of Buddhism is to support all life, in all its forms (do no harm): It is a bit difficult to distort this principle for political expediency. Whereas, the Christian soldier who bears "the sword of Truth," could easily be twisted by misunderstanding to mean a literal killer in the name of God.

Neither is better nor worse, as they each represent a piece of the whole. The same analogy may be applied to political positions; the paternalistic "pull yourself up by your own bootstraps" independence vs the materal coddling state. A healthy balance makes the most sense, or as Buddha extolled "Follow the middle path."

I don't think Buddhism -at least as it is practiced in Southeast Asia - has a much higher moral claim to being less violent or confrontational. I wish that were true, but I don't see it. First of all, just look at the present Yellow/Red shirt civil strife, police with tear gas and water cannon, etc. in Thailand. Peaceful? Non-violent? Secondly, look at Thai-Cambodian border dispute between two "Buddhist" nations over access to a supposedly peaceful shrine. Would the Buddha have sanctioned that violence in his (apparent) name? Third - look at the history of the leftist insurgencies in S.E. Asia during the French Indochina period (post war through early 60s), and then when the Americans got involved in Vietnam, culminating in the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Plenty of violence and confrontation between "Buddhists" during those years.

My favorite example however is Ayutthaya in the 18th century. On my very first visit to Thailand, I took a one-day tour of the ruins at Ayutthaya about 1 hour north of BKK. There are some incredible sites of Wats and palaces that in their day surely would have rivaled the magificent Wats in the Phra Nakhon area of BKK today (Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Pho, etc.). So, what exactly happened to Ayutthaya? Well as I understand the story, Ayutthaya was the capital of Siam for several hundred years up until Burmese armies descended from the north and smashed it to bits in the mid 18th century. They razed the temples, burned all the wooden teak structures and hauled away the vast amounts of gold-leaf as war spoils. They also desecrated and decapitated statues of the Buddha within the temples. Undoubtedly not a few human beings, including saffron robed monks, lost their lives in the process. All that's left are the ruins. So - here we have a Buddhist nation (Burma) invading militarily another Buddhist nation (Siam) and pillaging its sacred Buddhist shrines in a way that should seem familiar to any student of the Crusades, or the Holy Roman Empire (Charlemaigne), or... pick your favorite religion-inspired massacres of Christendom. There's plenty of "Sword of Truth" at play in the conquest of Ayutthaya.

It's often stated that ALL world religions have at their core a common Golden Rule "Do unto others as thou wouldst have done unto you". Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism - all bring a message of peace, tolerance, and good deeds. It's those who act to warp and corrupt that message and use religion in the name of horrific acts who should be blamed, and not the religion itself. Perhaps. I'm fairly ambivalent about ALL religions and see them as artificats of an early human history trying to come to grips with a complex universe out there. I don't think Buddhism necessarily holds a higher - or a lower - moral claim than all the others.

As I said, I really don't know very much about Buddhism. I know that there are different branches. The branch practiced in Thailand and S.E. Asia (Theravada) is distinct from that practiced in north India/Nepal/Tibet (Mahayana). Is Mahayana closer to that 'Golden rule' than Theravada? Not sure, but I doubt it. Humans are humans, everywhere.

[birch- phuk_beer 0]

It's often stated that ALL world religions have at their core a common Golden Rule "Do unto others as thou wouldst have done unto you". Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism - all bring a message of peace, tolerance, and good deeds.

islum?...tolerance?..thats a good one

[daboyz 36]

Texas is cool.