Bangkok 5

Hello Everyone,

Another reason that I needed to delay the WHY of what I like about Thailand was that I needed to re-read the book and find the words, ha ha ha.

This information comes from the book, "Thailand Fever". The two words of Thai that I like are greeng-jai and naam-Jai. Greeng-jai is defined in the book as "the feeling of her parents" Though there is no material obligation in the Thai up-bringing, there is Kharmically. In Thailand, the parents come first. The family is a strong unit. Everyone thinks of what everyone else is up to and how they can help. I may be making this stronger than it is, however, believe me when I say that it is VERY strong. One of the major causes of breakup between Westerners and Thai is with the Westerner his parents are on their own and will stay that way. Hopefully, one of his siblings will come forth and do the dirty work to get Mum/Dad into a nursing home.

In Thailand, a girl may become a prostitute with appreciation from Mum/Dad in order to send most of her income home to Mum/Dad. Or a bar girl, or a massage therapist or or or any of lots of jobs depending on what education and opportunities have come her way. When Westerner meets the lovely Thai and the start the relationships in serious "we are getting married" no matter how much the lady says that she will not be sending money to her parents or that money is needed for her parents or someone else is taking care of her parents . . . . sooner or later, the Westerner ought to expect the Parents to move in with them and be cared for by the supposedly RICH westerner. Well, you can see that this could be a problem eh.

Now, 20 years ago if I would have been in that situation, well, I was the typical westerner. I lucked out in that my Father passed quickly, and my sister took the job of taking care of Mum. I was a coward in that department. And admitedly have not even given really great thanks to my sister for having done the work that she did. Hmmm soon. Probably right after I finish this blog.

Now, Naam-Jai is about flow. That all of life ought to flow . . . here is a paragraph from the book:

You could say everything starts with naam-jai, literally "juice of the heart" or "flow of the heart." While independence is at the core of a Westerner's self-esteem and image, Thais judge themselves and others in Thai society primarily based on the degree to which they show naam-jai. Naam-jai is "generosity" a desire to give one's time, resources, and attentiopn to othes just for the good feeling it generates in both. A person who shows naam-jai will not ask for money or any kind of payment in exchange for her generosity. The Thai will even feel uneasy accepting a payment that is offered for her generoxity, because this suggests that she did it for the payment in stead of good will. Thais also show naam-jai each time they show concern for another's welfare

When Thais show naam-jai, they will not expect a direct return from the person they have helped, but Thais do believe that generous thought will bring them a reward in the long run. This is partially influenced by Buddhism.

OK, where I saw Naam-Jai the most was in the how all the people of Thailand move around on the streets. They flow. Especially the cars. If car a is leaving a safety space in front of his vehicle someone else will WILL head for it. Everyone seems to be in a hurry, yet I never saw anyone stressed out because they couldn't get into some hole. Nor did I see anyone stressing if a hole was taken.

Someone explained it like this to me. "I am honoured to allow you into this space that is in front of my vehicle. I hope that it makes your day better. My reward will come later. I am not doing this looking for a reward however. I am not looking for anything except to help those around me have a better life. I am staying in awareness of how I affect everyone around me where ever I am"

Now, if everyone and I do mean, EVERYONE works through their day, through traffic, Congestion, walking, Grocery store shopping, EVERY instance of meeting anyone EVERYWHERE . . . all of life flows and there is no need of horn honking. Why would anyone ever need to honk if they were honoured to be able to make a space for the other person rather than demanding to have the space. AWESOME huh.

Steve, pointed out to me another interesting point. Thais live and breathe Buddhism (and Animism) They are not looking for conversations from Westerners about how Buddhist are they. It is imbued into their very cells. They don't know anything else. Ajhan Nannadhamo once told me that while he was a Monk in North East Thailand he was shown a Bible that was written in Thai for the purpose of converting Thai Buddhists to Christianity. In that book, Christ was the son of a King and was a Prince with lots of Wealth in his early years. Ahhhh Christianity ain't it great how they twist the truth to convert people. The reason for this was that the Buddha before becoming the Buddha was the son of a King etc.

OK. Well, not much more to say. I have exchanged address information with Yupaporn the Traditional Thai massage therapist. I am attempting now to get a letter translated. Then sent to see if we can mail back and forth. I will be advertising for a local tutor to is native Thai so that I can learn the language. Then we will see.

Currently the Big thing that is next is that I am off to Fiji to learn how to do the Oneness Blessing 2-10 May. Cost is over $6000 with air fare included. Airfares were cheaper, but timing was off. Our local cheapy airline ran 3 specials for Fiji starting in January for return flights for less than $700 with a few nights in Fiji. Well, now the flight will cost over $1000 by the looks of it. Oh well, ha ha ha.

I am doing, OK financially for this. However, I will be in the hole a few thousand and all saving wiped out. How important is this Oneness Blessing to me? Everything that I own and more. It is my future. It is my life.

After that. Then I will save up and return to Thailand to explore more. Both the land and by then I may be in conversation with Yupaporn and we will see what happens along those lines.

I will keep everyone informed as I have always done thorough this blog or in private emails.

peace

gene

may you all be well and happy