thailand political situation

[effort]

today i read about bombing in one the districts of chiang mai, although it didnt work but it was a bomb.
Thailand political situation is getting worse, i think thailand is a good destination for practitioners and as things goes in this way thailand will loose its potential as a safe place to practice and also their economy thats based on tourism will be damaged.
i think that the king is a key figure in stability in thailand and the political horizon of thailand without him is so fuggy.

hope everything gets better in future.

[Ben]

For the sake of all Thais, I also hope the present crisis is averted.
May peace prevail!

Ben

[alan]

I'm all for peace, and hope it prevails.
But this political situation will continue as long as there are gross inequalities in Thai society. In other words, forever.
Did you know Thai media is state controlled? You can't trust the Bangkok Post.

[gavesako]

If you are interested in the Buddhist and Brahmin rituals which are part of the current struggles, they are described in detail here:

http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandal ... #more-8635" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Cittasanto]

The best place to practice is right here!

Thailand may have political problems but where doesn't? where is safe? where is the best place to practice?

by here in the first line I mean wherever we are, safety comes and goes, political unrest comes and goes, equality is an Ideal rarely present anywhere and once people see things as unequal they have a problem which never goes because they are always struggling to be equal, and for others to be equal.

[BlackBird]

The best place to practice is right here!

[effort]

The best place to practice is right here!

yes, but i'm still far from that state of mind.

[gavesako]

Ajahn Chah talking about the political problems in Thailand in 1979 and putting it in the broader context of Dhamma:
_______________________

The Buddha taught about the present. He didn't advise us to worry about what might happen in two or three years. In Thailand, people come to me and say, ''Oh, Luang Por, the communists are coming! What will we do?'' I ask, ''Where are those communists?'' ''Well, they're coming any day now,'' they say.

We've had communists from the moment we were born. I don't try to think beyond that. Having the attitude that there are always obstacles and difficulties in life kills off the ''communists.'' Then we aren't heedless. Talking about what might happen in four or five years is looking too far away. They say, ''In two or three years Thailand will be communist!'' I've always felt that the communists have been around since I was born, and so I've always been contending with them, right up to the present moment. But people don't understand what I'm talking about.

It's the truth! Astrology can talk about what's going to happen in two years. But when we talk about the present, they don't know what to do. Buddhism talks about dealing with things right now and making yourself well-prepared for whatever might happen. Whatever might happen in the world, we don't have to be too concerned. We just practise to develop wisdom in the present and do what we need to do now, not tomorrow. Wouldn't that be better? We can wait for an earthquake that might come in three or four years, but actually, things are quaking now. America is really quaking. People's minds are so wild - that's your quake right there. But folks don't recognize it.

Big earthquakes only occur once in a long while, but this earth of our minds is always quaking, every day, every moment. In my lifetime, I've never experienced a serious earthquake, but this kind of quake is always happening, shaking us and throwing us all around. This is where the Buddha wanted us to look.

But maybe that's not what people want to hear.

Things happen due to causes. They cease due to causes ceasing. We don't need to be worrying about astrological predictions. We can just know what is occurring now. Everyone likes to ask these questions, though. In Thailand, the officials come to me and say, ''The whole country will be communist! What will we do if that happens?''

''We were born - what do we do about that? I haven't thought much about this problem. I've always thought, since the day I was born the ''communists'' have been after me.'' After I reply like this, they don't have anything to say. It stops them.

People may talk about the dangers of communists taking over in a few years, but the Buddha taught us to prepare ourselves right now, to be aware and contemplate the dangers we face that are inherent in this life. This is the big issue. Don't be heedless! Relying on astrology to tell you what will happen a couple of years from now doesn't get to the point. Relying on ''Buddhology,'' you don't have to chew over the past, you don't worry about the future, but you look at the present. Causes are arising in the present, so observe them in the present.

People who say those things are only teaching others to suffer. But if someone talks the way I do, people will say they are crazy.

In the past, there was always movement, but it was only a little bit at a time, so it wasn't noticeable. For example, Sumedho, when you were first born, were you this size? This is the result of movement and change. Is change good? Of course it is; if there were no movement or change, you never would have grown up. We don't need to fear natural transformation.

If you contemplate Dhamma, I don't know what else you would need to think about. If someone predicts what will happen in a few years, we can't just wait to see what happens before we do anything. We can't live like that. Whatever we need to do, we have to do it now, without waiting for anything in particular to happen.

These days the populace is in constant motion. The four elements are in motion. Earth, water, fire, and air are moving. But people don't recognize that the earth is moving. They only look at the external earth and don't see any movement.

In the future, in this world, if people are married and stay together more than a year or two, others will think there's something wrong with them. A few months will be the standard. Things are in constant motion like this; it's the minds of people that are moving. You don't need to look to astrology. Look to Buddhology and you can understand this.

''Luang Por, if the communists come, where will you go?'' Where is there to go? We have been born and we face aging, sickness, and death; where can we go? We have to stay right here and deal with these things. If the communists take over, we will stay in Thailand and deal with that. Won't they have to eat rice, too? So why are you so fearful?

If you keep worrying about what might happen in the future, there's no end to it. There is only constant confusion and speculation. Sumedho, do you know what will happen in two or three years? Will there be a big earthquake? When people come to ask you about these things, you can tell them they don't need to look so far ahead to things they can't really know for certain; tell them about the moving and quaking that is always going on, about the transformation that allowed you to grow to be as you are now.

http://www.ajahnchah.org/book/Even_One_Word_Is.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[chownah]

My advise is to not worry about the present turmoil. I live here (granted I do live in a rural village far from the broo haha) and would have no qualms about traveling to Bangkok (the epicenter of the activity) and going about doing whatever was the purpose for being in The Place Where the Air is Never Clean. The "bombings" (there have been a few in the last month) seem to be all for show...I've never heard of anyone being hurt form any of them.....I'm probably going to Chiangmai next week and haven't given safety a thought except for the very real danger of driving on the highway.

Thais will go out of their way to avoid bothering a westerner so keep your head up and your eyes open and you should be able to stay out of harms way although transportation may be consederably slower at times.

chownah

[BlackBird]

That was a really good passage Bhante, really good.

metta
Jack

[jcsuperstar]

The best place to practice is right here!

yes, but i'm still far from that state of mind.

"While washing dishes, wash each piece relaxingly, as though each bowl is an object of contemplation. Consider each plate as sacred. Follow your breath to prevent your mind from straying. Do not try to hurry to get the job over with. Consider washing the dishes the most important thing in life. Washing the dishes is meditation. If you cannot wash the dishes in mindfulness, neither can you meditate while sitting in silence." ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

there is only ever right now

[gavesako]

Thai government concerned with monks' presence at Bangkok rallies
By Anasuya Sanyal, Channel NewsAsia, 31 March 2010

Thai government concerned with monks' presence at Bangkok rallies

http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php ... 44,0,0,1,0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[gavesako]

Not sure what these "red devils" are supposed to mean, but I notice a lot of amulets around their neck, some of them the typical kind but others look more like little human figures (?):

http://www.uppicweb.com/i/ix/img_21590.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Ben]

Thanks Bhante

They look like members of the Tasmanian branch of the Australian Labor Party.
kind regards

Ben

[alan]

The Place Where the Air is Never Clean.

Cough Cough. Bangkok is a mess.