Violence in Bkk

Last time I was here, less than a year and a half ago, the yellow shirts (characterized as mainly urban intellectuals) took over the airport and forced the dissolution of the ruling party. This year, the red shirts (characterized as mainly rural laborers) are possibly doing the same thing. Last year, the yellow shirts protested 192 days before the government walked, this year, it's been about 30 days, though 30 days in 100-110 degree heat in the shade (and much of the time there is no shade!). Thousands of boiled brains and a generous serving of hot chili peppers Thai style, makes for one spicy somtom (a favorite dish of the Thai people consisting of crunchy strands of green papaya, raw green beans, dried shrimp, fish sauce, peanuts, palm sugar, lemon juice tomatoes, and of course lots of little red and green chiles). Throw in a healthy dose of 24/7 firey speechifying blasting through the streets of Bangkok as well as TV's and radios throughout the country, a group of mainly rural people who feel like they are getting a raw deal (though are doing quite well on the 1000 baht a day they receive to join the protest!), an ubber-wealthy, fugitive, ex-prime minister pulling strings from some secret location, a questionable military consisting of mainly rural folks themselves (many are called watermelons - green on the outside, red on the inside) and again, that somtom gets even spicier.

The above picture shows the consecutive headlines of the Bangkok Post from April 7 (There'll Be No Force)-today, the 11th (The Battle For Bangkok). Hmmm.

The picture is so very Thai, with the red shirts putting monks on the front line against the oncoming line of soldiers with shields. It would be very unlikely for anyone to cross a monk here in this devoutly religious Buddhist country. So, the military had their women go to the front lines. Since monks can't touch a woman (if they do, a very involved purifying ceremony must ensue), the monks retreated. Score one for the government.

There have been many strange moments like this in the stalemate leading up to yesterdays confrontation. People here are praying for peace. A lot of fingers crossed (actually they don't know what that means - I asked today), or the Thai equivalent.

There are no problems in Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is a predominently red shirt town. There have been no protests, no violence. Everyone happy happy, sabai, sabai. No prom-plem. Life goes on as normal. Songkran will go on as normal and people will celebrate and have a good time in the way Thai people do.

The only problem is in a small section of Bangkok, so even Bangkok is not a problem as long as you stay away from the protest sites. As horrible as yesterday was, it's magnified a million times by the media making it seem like the country is on fire. Maybe a millionth of the country is on fire. Something like that. And hopefully they come to a resolution shortly and move on. Time will tell. Let's all hope for a peaceful solution so all the protesters can come home to a dry shirt and some red pork and rice and take a little rest from the somtom!

Mary and Michelle in Thailand

Last fall two CSTM graduates, Mary and Michelle, headed off for Thailand to study with a very special and respected teacher called Pichest Boonthumme.
They've been keeping a blog together about their experiences.
Michelle writes:

As we spend more time in (Pichest's) space and witness and receive more interactions, we see that much more is happening energetically at Pichest’s than appears on the surface (in fact, this “other” work is often happening precisely at those times when one might have the impression that absolutely “nothing” is happening.)

I like this description...the idea that something is happening while it might seem like nothing is happening. You can see more pictures and read about their experience at: http://thaitravellers.wordpress.com/

Thailand Part 2

In his book, Bangkok 8, John Burdett write's this... at least I think he wrote it. He actually attributes it to a Professor Beckendorf, but I can't seem to find the reference so I am assuming Burdett wrote it. In some ways it's futile to explain the differences between west and east. But it's fascinating to try. I don't want to be perceived as just knocking western culture. There are problems here too. Big ones. Perhaps I'll get to them later. But for now, I thought this was a really interesting essay. It hits home to me in a general kind of way despite it's idealization. Perhaps it does to you as well. (By the way, the picture is actually some Balinese friends. And the rice on their faces is common during ceremonies.)

"Whereas your average Westerner does all he can to direct and control his fate, the latter-day Thai is no closer to adopting this attitude to life than were his ancestors a hundred or two hundred years ago. If there is any aspect of modern Thai psychology which continues to accept in toto the Buddhist doctrine of karma (so close to that Islamic fatalism often expressed by the phrase: It is written) it is surely in the conviction that que sera, sera. At first glance such fatalism may seem backward, even perverse given the dazzling spectrum of weapons Westerners now have in their arsenal against the vicissitudes of life; but anyone who spends much time in the kingdom quickly finds themselves questioning the wisdom, and even the sincerity, of Western attitudes.

When he has paid up his taxes, his life insurance, his medical insurance, accident insurance, retrained himself in the latest marketable skills, saved for his kids' education, paid alimony, bought the house and car which his status absolutely requires he buy within the rules of his particlular tribe, given up alcohol abuse, nicotine, extramarital sex and recreational drugs, spent his two week vacation on some self-improving (but safe) adventure holiday, learned to be hypercareful of what he says to or does with memeber of the opposite sex, the average Westerner may - and often does - wonder where his life went. He may also - and invariably does - feel cheated when he discovers existentially that all the worrying and all the insurance payments have availed him not a jot or tittle in protecting him against fire, burglary, flood, earthquake, tornado, the sack, terrorist activity, or his spouse's precipitate desertion with the kids, the car and all the spare cash in the joint bank account. True enough, in a kingdom without safety nets a citizen may well be brutally flattened by accident or illness, where a Westerner might well have bought himself a measure of protection, but in between the bumps a Thai still lives his life in a state of sublime insouciance. The standard Western observation is that the Thai is living in a fool's paradise. Perhaps, but might the Thai not reply that the Westerner has built himself a fool's hell?"

Thailand - Jai Dee

I've got a lot to say about my studies with Pichest this year. I've got a lot to say about my experiences with some other local Thai healers as well. However, before I do, I want to share a general feeling about Thailand and Thai people.

When Paul Weitz and myself were at Sunshine School speaking with Max, the director of the school, he said something that caught my ear.
He said, "There is a language problem here but it's not what you think. People here speak from the heart and it comes out differently from us westerners who speak from our head." He then gave me this Einstein quote that reads, "The intuitive mind is a sacred gift...and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift."

We came across this Thai way of thinking again a few days later when we met Ma Noi, a local traditional healer.
She has some land a bit north of the city where she and her husband live. She wants to give it to anyone who will use it to benefit the people who need help in her community. She wants no money for it. But she wants to make sure the people who take it can work with her and respect the spirit of the land. It was hard to take this in. This generosity. This complete lack of greed or want. We are conditioned in our culture to not trust this.
But when Pichest talks about giving and sharing, that you can't take it with you, he is speaking not just how he thinks people should behave, but what is necessary in order to be happy. That especially in the west, we want and want and take and take, but in truth, we can't take any of it.
And it only creates more suffering inside us as we try to hold onto things that ultimately are not ours. This is the mindset, the heartset of the people here. A people who can immediately sense if you have a good heart (jai dee).
And where the true measure of a person can summed up in that simple statement, jai dee.