So: where's the bike?

Yeah. There should be a picture of the bike here. Plus one of me with the obscenely big stormtrooper helmet. But it's raining cats and dogs and for all I know elephants today. A thundurous monsoon is watering some plants and blowing away some others. A picture of a guy in a helmet getting wet next to a motorcycle cover just isn't the same. So hang tight and hang loose. Pictures are coming. Hope they're not of the under water variety...

Komt ie dan heh

Tijd voor een politiek-update vanuit bananenland. (Tering: hij post in het Nederlands! Gelukkig. Hij kan het nog). Hier in Khon Kaen alles wel. In Bangkok daar en tegen... Ik zeg (niet dat ik een expert ben) dat er iets belangrijks is gebeurd gisteren. Nou moet je weten dat het hier al een maandje of wat zachies rommelt. Militair coupje, Grote Man weg, iedereen in rep en roer, nieuwe grondwet gelul, wat partijen verboden, internet pro en anti campagnes, welnietwelnietwelniet noodtoestand, welnietwelnietwel verkiezingen in december en dan nu dus maar liefts vijf(5!) soorten demonstraties in Bangkok. Het bijzondere is niet dat die er zijn, maar ook dat we daar in de media van horen. Vooral van nummertje vijf.

Nummertje 1: minst interessante, want dat is de pro militaire junta demo. Beetje zielig.
Nummertje 2: bende politiek geladen monniken (want dat kan blijkbaar) die willen dat het Boeddhisme officieel de staatsreligie wordt.
Nummertje 3: types die niet blij zijn met welke groep dan ook, behalve dan dat ze vol achter de koning staan.
Nummertje 4: Aanhangers van de voormalige Grote Man en zakkenvuller, die vinden dat ie terug moet komen (om onduidelijke redenen).
Nummertje 5: (en nou wordt het interresant) de vrienden van het Verbond Voor Thaise Democratie.

Hoe Nummertje vijf er nou precies insteekt is mij onduidelijk, maar die hebben tegen de militairen geroepen dat ze binnen drie dagen in overleg willen zijn met de leiding omdat ze anders demonstraties gaan doen die een stuk minder gezellig en nog massaler gaan zijn. Natuurlijk wordt de noodtoestand weer overwogen en is elke derde persoon die je in Bangkok tegenkomt stiekem 'n soldaat. Ik zeg dus: excalatietje. En nou niet dom zitten lachen als ik het mis heb. Ik lach dan namelijk uit pure opluchting heel hard mee... Die 4 anti-groepen bijelkaar zijn een hele hoop Thai.

Update: Blijkbaar wordt de tom yam toch weer eens niet zo heet gegeten als ie wordt opgediend. (HUH?! Tom yam NIET heet?!) Maar het kan natuurlijk ook zijn dat de voltallige oppositie toevallig net allemaal een duikongeluk gehad heeft.

Stop

We have put a down payment on our motorcycle yesterday. Not because we don't have the money. Then why not take it home? Well,we needed more official pieces of paper of course. Although our work permits and passports clearly state who we are, where we live, where we work and what exactly that work is, we need an extra letter from the Immigration office certifying that they feel pretty certain we actually live and work where stated and that we've been a good boys and girls and sleep with our hands above the covers. This is Thailand.

Also Thailand: someone at the school knows someone who's someone at the Department of Motor Vehicles. That means we can apparently go over there with this person and meet this someone who will then issue both a motorcycle driving licence and a car driving licence. Provided that we pay 1000 baht a pop. And provided that we show up with the appropriate papers. Man, does that work permit see a lot of action! Mind you, we need the come out in full force with the 1 inch pictures and a health cert as well. I'll believe it when I'm holding the licences and I am not followed by cars with sirens and flashing lights or something:)

Dharma if you do/dharma if you don't (2)

*Long post alert* Should have kept my big mouth shut. Brought it on myself. Here we go...'What is Buddhism?' Holy cow... I can't answer that. But I can tell you what's at the core and point out some common misunderstandings.

1) There is suffering, but luckily if we recognise that, there is a way (The Way) to end it and to experience a state of endless well being and happiness.

2)The Way is called the eightfold path, consisting of Right View, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Diligence, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration. One brings forth (and is interconnected with) the others.

3) Everything is impermanent: everything changes, even from one moment to the next.

4) There is no self: the division between you and me, or you and tree is an illusion. You inter-are with everything. You (like everything) consist of non-you elements.

5)There is a ground of being, a substance of all that is: Nirvana (not the band). It is the extinction of all notions. Birth, death, being, non being, chair, hate, frying pan...all these concepts, all those words do not represent reality in its ultimate essence. But we can touch that essence if we are mindful.

Of course there is more to it, but on the other hand this is it. No more. End of story. Short and sweet. Badibadabe-that's all folks.

But for all the simplicity these core teachings are often misunderstood. Because of the emphasis on 'suffering' the teachings are sometimes seen as pessimistic.

Others emphasise the 'emptiness' often mentioned in Buddhist texts and spend hours and hours trying to be empty. But empty just means empty of a separate self and has nothing to do with nihilism, thinking of 'nothing' and white furniture.

Then there's the most important rule of Buddhism. It can be found in the Snake Sutra and it's often forgotten or left out. It tells the world not to get caught in any teaching, even Buddhism itself. So:

6) Any teaching/concept is like a poisonous snake: if you handle it you've got to be very careful not to get bitten.

OMG

Thanx Basso and Robster for verifying that my blog is still out there. I just visited it by proxy. No problems. But it also means I and everybody else in Thailand probably still don't see the blog. Weird. Could I actually be censored? C'mon now. That was a joke you guys. Cut it out already! Flip the switch, value=true, give me a break...

The Invisible Blog-trick

Alakazaam! And then my blog was gone. No smoke and mirrors. On the other hand: I have asked some of the Duchies and they could actually see the new layout. So there is something fishy going on. I'm trying to find out what exactly right now. Is it a freak code error? Cyberterrorists? Thai Censors? Or just one of those forgot-to-plug-it-in-things?

Time for an episode of Spot The Blog. See this blog? Post a comment already!

Stay tuned!

Dharma if you do/dharma if you don't (1)

'So what is it like, living in a Buddhist country?' I somehow got (and still get) that question a lot. At first I could not really answer that. Yesyesyes, Buddhism seems to be present in everything here. Sometimes it's beneath the surface somewhere. Sometimes it's right there in your face. But after a year in Isaan my answer would have to be 'Sometimes I'm not so sure I'm in a Buddhist country at all.'

Here's why. First of all: what is a Buddhist country anyway? It's got a whole bunch of branches just like any major religion. Second of all, in Thailand and in Isaan especially, Buddhism is heavily influenced by various superstitions, ancestor worship, voodoo-like rituals, Brahmanism and so on. Some of it quite compatible, some of it not so much so at first glance. One day I might list those here. Not today though.

What gets me about Thailand has more to do with the branch-thing. You had the Buddha and then the monks spread the word to the south, everything ended up in Sri lanka and moved into Thailand by way of...well anyway, in the end you get Thai Theravada Buddhism. And a lot of people struggle with what that means nowadays. According to some senior monks it is has become more of a belief system than a way of life. More of a religion than a practise. And who can blame some Thai for being a bit confused if you also put all the Chinese, Indian and hilltribe (and Western!) influences in the mix? Not me.