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[ATTACH=CONFIG]120555[/ATTACH] Different views doesn't mean a different truth! Is not the TRUTH that we all are after. If you see the truth as any object and you imagine 2 people are describing this object from the left side or the back side would you description not be different even thought it is the same object!?
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[h=1]Burma's monks call for Muslim community to be shunned[/h] [h=3]The Buddhists have reportedly tried to block humanitarian aid getting to ethnic group Monks who played a vital role in Burma's recent struggle for democracy have been accused of fuelling ethnic tensions in the country by calling on people to shun a Muslim community that has suffered decades of abuse. In a move that has shocked many observers, some monks' organisations have issued pamphlets telling people not to associate with the Rohingya community, and have blocked humanitarian assistance from reaching them. One leaflet described the Rohingya as "cruel by nature" and claimed it had "plans to exterminate" other ethnic groups. The outburst against the Rohingya, often described as one of the world's most oppressed groups, comes after weeks of ethnic violence in the Rakhine state in the west of Burma that has left more than 80 dead and up to 100,000 people living in a situation described as "desperate" by humanitarian organisations. As state-sanctioned abuses against the Muslim community continue, Burma's president Thein Sein – credited by the international community for ushering in a series of democratic reforms in the country and releasing political prisoners such as Aung San Suu Kyi – has urged neighbouring Bangladesh to take in the Rohingya. "In recent days, monks have emerged in a leading role to enforce denial of humanitarian assistance to Muslims, in support of policy statements by politicians," said Chris Lewa, director of the Arakan project, a regional NGO. "A member of a humanitarian agency in Sittwe told me that some monks were posted near Muslim displacement camps, checking on and turning away people they suspected would visit for assistance." The Young Monks' Association of Sittwe and Mrauk Oo Monks' Association have both released statements in recent days urging locals not to associate with the group. Displaced Rohingya have been housed in over-crowded camps away from the Rakhine population – where a health and malnutrition crisis is said to be escalating – as political leaders move to segregate and expel the 800,000-strong minority from Burma. Earlier this month, Thein Sein attempted to hand over the group to the UN refugee agency. Aid workers report ongoing threats and interference by local nationalist and religious groups. Some monasteries in Maungdaw and Sittwe sheltering displaced Rakhine people have openly refused to accept international aid, alleging that it is "biased" in favour of the Rohingya. Monks have traditionally played a critical role in helping vulnerable citizens, stepping in to care for the victims of Cyclone Nargis in 2008 after the military junta rejected international assistance. Many have been shocked by the response of the monks and members of the democracy movement to the recent violence, which erupted after the rape and murder of a Buddhist woman, allegedly by three Muslims, unleashed long-standing ethnic tensions. Monks' leader Ashin Htawara recently encouraged the government to send the group "back to their native land" at an event in London hosted by the anti-Rohingya Burma Democratic Concern. Ko Ko Gyi, a democracy activist with the 88 Generation Students group and a former political prisoner, said: "The Rohingya are not a Burmese ethnic group. The root cause of the violence… comes from across the border." Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, said: "We were shocked to have [Ashin Htawara] propose to us that there should be what amounts to concentration camps for the Rohingya." Ms Suu Kyi has also been criticised for failing to speak out. Amal de Chickera of the London-based Equal Rights Trust, said: "You have these moral figures, whose voices do matter. It's extremely disappointing and in the end it can be very damaging." The Rohingya have lived in Burma for centuries, but in 1982, the then military ruler Ne Win stripped them of their citizenship. Thousands fled to Bangladesh where they live in pitiful camps. Foreign media are still denied access to the conflict region, where a state of emergency was declared last month, and ten aid workers were arrested without explanation. [/h] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/burmas-monks-call-for-muslim-community-to-be-shunned-7973317.html?origin=internalSearch
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A long read for us TF'ers, but it's a good one. Most of us have probably already read these at some point. Refresh your memories. This came up in a meeting today. We were wondering what values we plan on offering to the world, and a lot of them came from the eightfold path. I certainly don't live by these, but I do try for most of them...at times. I struggle at most of them as well. Anyway, I'm not sure if I should have made this a journal, or whether much discussion will come of it. Regardless, it's a good thing to review: The Noble Eightfold Path [TABLE] [TR=bgcolor: #EBEBEB] [TD=bgcolor: #FFFFFF][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #EBEBEB] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #CCCCCC] [TD][/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #CCCCCC] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #CCCCCC] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #B2B2B2] [TD][/TD] [TD=align: center][/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #B2B2B2] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #B2B2B2] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] The Noble Eightfold Path describes the way to the end of suffering, as it was laid out by Siddhartha Gautama. It is a practical guideline to ethical and mental development with the goal of freeing the individual from attachments and delusions; and it finally leads to understanding the truth about all things. Together with the Four Noble Truths it constitutes the gist of Buddhism. Great emphasis is put on the practical aspect, because it is only through practice that one can attain a higher level of existence and finally reach Nirvana. The eight aspects of the path are not to be understood as a sequence of single steps, instead they are highly interdependent principles that have to be seen in relationship with each other. 1. Right View Right view is the beginning and the end of the path, it simply means to see and to understand things as they really are and to realise the Four Noble Truth. As such, right view is the cognitive aspect of wisdom. It means to see things through, to grasp the impermanent and imperfect nature of worldly objects and ideas, and to understand the law of karma and karmic conditioning. Right view is not necessarily an intellectual capacity, just as wisdom is not just a matter of intelligence. Instead, right view is attained, sustained, and enhanced through all capacities of mind. It begins with the intuitive insight that all beings are subject to suffering and it ends with complete understanding of the true nature of all things. Since our view of the world forms our thoughts and our actions, right view yields right thoughts and right actions. 2. Right Intention While right view refers to the cognitive aspect of wisdom, right intention refers to the volitional aspect, i.e. the kind of mental energy that controls our actions. Right intention can be described best as commitment to ethical and mental self-improvement. Buddha distinguishes three types of right intentions: 1. the intention of renunciation, which means resistance to the pull of desire, 2. the intention of good will, meaning resistance to feelings of anger and aversion, and 3. the intention of harmlessness, meaning not to think or act cruelly, violently, or aggressively, and to develop compassion. 3. Right Speech Right speech is the first principle of ethical conduct in the eightfold path. Ethical conduct is viewed as a guideline to moral discipline, which supports the other principles of the path. This aspect is not self-sufficient, however, essential, because mental purification can only be achieved through the cultivation of ethical conduct. The importance of speech in the context of Buddhist ethics is obvious: words can break or save lives, make enemies or friends, start war or create peace. Buddha explained right speech as follows: 1. to abstain from false speech, especially not to tell deliberate lies and not to speak deceitfully, 2. to abstain from slanderous speech and not to use words maliciously against others, 3. to abstain from harsh words that offend or hurt others, and 4. to abstain from idle chatter that lacks purpose or depth. Positively phrased, this means to tell the truth, to speak friendly, warm, and gently and to talk only when necessary. 4. Right Action The second ethical principle, right action, involves the body as natural means of expression, as it refers to deeds that involve bodily actions. Unwholesome actions lead to unsound states of mind, while wholesome actions lead to sound states of mind. Again, the principle is explained in terms of abstinence: right action means 1. to abstain from harming sentient beings, especially to abstain from taking life (including suicide) and doing harm intentionally or delinquently, 2. to abstain from taking what is not given, which includes stealing, robbery, fraud, deceitfulness, and dishonesty, and 3. to abstain from sexual misconduct. Positively formulated, right action means to act kindly and compassionately, to be honest, to respect the belongings of others, and to keep sexual relationships harmless to others. Further details regarding the concrete meaning of right action can be found in the Precepts. 5. Right Livelihood Right livelihood means that one should earn one's living in a righteous way and that wealth should be gained legally and peacefully. The Buddha mentions four specific activities that harm other beings and that one should avoid for this reason: 1. dealing in weapons, 2. dealing in living beings (including raising animals for slaughter as well as slave trade and prostitution), 3. working in meat production and butchery, and 4. selling intoxicants and poisons, such as alcohol and drugs. Furthermore any other occupation that would violate the principles of right speech and right action should be avoided. 6. Right Effort Right effort can be seen as a prerequisite for the other principles of the path. Without effort, which is in itself an act of will, nothing can be achieved, whereas misguided effort distracts the mind from its task, and confusion will be the consequence. Mental energy is the force behind right effort; it can occur in either wholesome or unwholesome states. The same type of energy that fuels desire, envy, aggression, and violence can on the other side fuel self-discipline, honesty, benevolence, and kindness. Right effort is detailed in four types of endeavours that rank in ascending order of perfection: 1. to prevent the arising of unarisen unwholesome states, 2. to abandon unwholesome states that have already arisen, 3. to arouse wholesome states that have not yet arisen, and 4. to maintain and perfect wholesome states already arisen. 7. Right Mindfulness Right mindfulness is the controlled and perfected faculty of cognition. It is the mental ability to see things as they are, with clear consciousness. Usually, the cognitive process begins with an impression induced by perception, or by a thought, but then it does not stay with the mere impression. Instead, we almost always conceptualise sense impressions and thoughts immediately. We interpret them and set them in relation to other thoughts and experiences, which naturally go beyond the facticity of the original impression. The mind then posits concepts, joins concepts into constructs, and weaves those constructs into complex interpretative schemes. All this happens only half consciously, and as a result we often see things obscured. Right mindfulness is anchored in clear perception and it penetrates impressions without getting carried away. Right mindfulness enables us to be aware of the process of conceptualisation in a way that we actively observe and control the way our thoughts go. Buddha accounted for this as the four foundations of mindfulness: 1. contemplation of the body, 2. contemplation of feeling (repulsive, attractive, or neutral), 3. contemplation of the state of mind, and 4. contemplation of the phenomena. 8. Right Concentration The eighth principle of the path, right concentration, refers to the development of a mental force that occurs in natural consciousness, although at a relatively low level of intensity, namely concentration. Concentration in this context is described as one-pointedness of mind, meaning a state where all mental faculties are unified and directed onto one particular object. Right concentration for the purpose of the eightfold path means wholesome concentration, i.e. concentration on wholesome thoughts and actions. The Buddhist method of choice to develop right concentration is through the practice of meditation. The meditating mind focuses on a selected object. It first directs itself onto it, then sustains concentration, and finally intensifies concentration step by step. Through this practice it becomes natural to apply elevated levels concentration also in everyday situations.
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Recently I discussed (on FB) with some Thai friends about gay monks in Thailand and someone said, I found the comment difficult to digest. I, personally don't see how gays monks destroy the religious. I don't think the lord Buddha forbids any gay to be come a monk. Buddhism in Thailand has been using in a very funny way for ages. How about those monks walking around with mobile phones? How about those fortune-teller monks? and so on. If we want to be square about this, should they be punished also? and in that case everyone should be punished because we all did something wrong according to the religious one way or another. Have a happy Friday... don't forget to pray!
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I know a lot of people, especially Thais, who believe in ghosts. I personally don't believe in them because of two main reasons: 1.) I believe in science 2.) I don't believe in religion I think religion plays a big part in people believing in ghosts. I also think that waaaay down deep inside a lot of this, it has something to do with a lack of education. I'm not saying those who believe in ghosts are stupid...far from it. My mother has a PhD and believes in ghosts. I know many brilliant people that believe in ghosts, but in the west it's usually the older generations that think they exist. My guess is that 99% of Thais believe in ghosts, and more than half of the western world believes in ghosts. Randomly...like now...I find this amazing. Most ghost stories begin like this: "I woke up and heard/felt something..." Moron...that's called a dream. You were half awake and scared yourself. I've done that before. I saw a ghost in my room once, but then realized that I had just woken up. Thus, it was a dream. If I were to see a ghost after being awake for more than an hour, I'd believe in them. Anyway, what are your thoughts on this ghost stuff. Is it true? Is it because educated and stupid people watch too much TV? Have you ever seen a ghost yourself? Tell me your experiences.
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Link: http://forums.southparkstudios.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=46332 The Second Coming of Christ who is also the Antichrist has arrived! Eric Schmidt (CEO of Google until 4/4/2011) Me (the Second Coming of Christ & the Antichrist)
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Is there someone out there who can give me a reasoned counter-argument? -- Walking around Sukhumvit, et al, I often see someone carrying cages with birds in them. My understanding is that releasing the bird is good luck - you're giving the bird its freedom, so good karma for you. But thinking about this practice in terms of economics, it's bad karma for the person releasing the bird. Or? -If releasing the bird is good karma, imprisoning the bird is bad. -The reason the seller imprisoned the bird is because he knows someone like you will pay him to release it. -Therefore people that pay to release birds from the cages are providing the seller an economic basis for imprisoning more birds. -Therefore people that pay to release the birds, are actually the cause for the birds being imprisoned in the first place. -The seller is an instrument of evil acting on the purchaser's behalf. He's still evil, but a lesser evil than the person that asked for the imprisonment to be performed. Restated: People that pay to release the birds from little cages seem to be committing acts of bad karma, not good karma, as they're providing the economic basis for more birds to be imprisoned. Expected responses: -"You just don't understand Thai culture." -"You're attempting to apply a logical argument to religion; don't bother." -"You've insulted our religion, get out of the country." -The post is perceived as anti-Buddhist and deleted to avoid government intervention. -Random off-topic garbage -Personal attacks Unexpected response: A well thought out counter argument that explains to me how it is that releasing the birds is actually good for one's karma. Or is it just an empty, feel-good symbol with no real meaning? :twisted:
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Personally I think its a great idea. http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/God-Advertisements-Atheists-Get-Their-Own-Back/Article/200901115198322?lpos=UK_News_First_Home_Article_Teaser_Region_5&lid=ARTICLE_15198322_God_Advertisements%3A_Atheists_Get_Their_Own_Back
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With the almost final proof to the theory of natural selection being slowly legitimized is it really plausible to put your 'faith' in one of the following... Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism or any of the others for that matter? Discuss........................
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Some of you know that a woman in Florida named Terri Schiavo suffered brain damage and was on life support for 15 years. The doctors say she had no consciousness and her condition was grave. Her parents and her husband disagreed on whether or not she should be kept on life support. Schiavo died 4 months ago at the Pinellas Park hospice where she lay for years while her husband and her parents fought a right to die dispute. Now what would you choose if you were in Terri's condition?
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In between buying handbags or browsing the jewellery counters, shoppers in Thailand will soon also be able to get their daily dose of dharma under a plan to install monks in major department stores. Under the "meet the monk in a quiet corner" project, the Ministry of Culture plans to rent out space in stores throughout the country where shoppers can have a quiet chat with the clergy in a bid to bring people closer to religion, officials said. "People nowadays have no time to go to temples, only shopping malls. They can get closer to the religion if we provide the opportunity," the Culture Minister, Uraiwan Thienthong, was quoted as saying by the local media. Shoppers will be encouraged to participate in religious activities, and films or religious-themed comics will be available to attract younger participants. "We could campaign for religion in places where ... teenagers gather," said the Minister for Social Development, Wattana Muangsuk, on Saturday. Outspoken monk Phra Phayom Kalayano of Nonthaburi's Wat Suan Kaew, on the outskirts of Bangkok, seconded the plan, saying he would encourage monks to go every day to attend to the masses at the malls. Hm...now they are bringing Monks to the shopping Mall. If ppl are faithful to their religion, they should make time to go Temple....
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Sawadeeka Hi there, Can you please tell me about the Thai Gods? Do you know a good link that explains in detail about them? Who is Shivali? I have a necklace of a God that is carrying a dragon stick with a closed umbrella on the shoulders.... Do you know the name? Many Thanks
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Hello, I'm curious if any Thais have even thought of the situation that's happening in the Tsunami hit areas. Shortly after the tsunami, the Thai government decided not to accept financial assistance saying they can handle it. Yet money and aid has not been sent to many places. At this point in time, you have to wonder if it ever will. Now religion has entered the picture. Largely it is christian churches. These people are building houses and promising free education to those who "convert" to their religion. But not helping anyone else. Just wondering if you Thais have ever thought about the effects of this.
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is there a God? if not, what? the question has come up a number of times in other topics about religion and philosophy. post what you think here, if you're interested. if you disagree, keep it civil. i'm not going to post my opinion or beliefs, i'm not gonna commewnt on yours either. i'm just making a place to play for those who have something to say on the subject since it has come up a few times lately. i deliberately did NOT make it a poll, so people with alternative beliefs can toss their 2 baht in the pot.