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Teenage Tibetan novices in the Himalayan refugee camp of Bir..JPG)
Tibetan monks debating in Bir..JPG)
Monks in Bir rehearsing a ceremonial dance..
Firstly, some good news. My main website www.pantau.org has been unblocked by the Chinese authorities, however, the 35,000 Chinese Internet Police officers still don’t like my weblog which is still not accessible from mainland China. The bad news: statistics show that people prefer to read stories of my experiences in India, rather than Thailand.
What can I do? Move back to India and leave my family behind in Bangkok?
Today, I had a long discussion with a Tibetan monk who is in Thailand to give some teachings on Buddhism. On Friday night, I met him in his casual clothes in a Bangkok gay club (not illegal) as he wanted to experience what it is like to dance (which is also not illegal as monks are allowed to dance). As he considers himself gay, he felt more comfortable in a gay club, however, he had no intention to have a romantic encounter as he has vowed to be celibate.
It was in that club where we agreed to meet for dinner on Sunday night. Just seeing him in his maroon robe made me feel homesick. Between 2000 and 2007 I have been surrounded by men and women dressed in maroon robes atop a Himalayan mountain and my life was very different from the kind I live right now.
There are many things I like about living in Thailand, but there was something unique about living in the Himalayas, and I miss that uniqueness more and more.
My friend asked me whether I was happy in Thailand. A long silence ensued before I said, “I am blessed. I have a roof over my head, food in my stomach, and people who love me.” And then I burst out into tears. “Sorry, it’s hormonal,” I responded. “I am experiencing menopause and my hormones are screwed up.”
With the economic crisis affecting almost everyone in the world, I have nothing to complain about, apart from the fact that people don’t buy as many books as I want them to do.
I was also very happy in India because my life was as simple as a life could be. In addition, I was surrounded by people who were even so much worse off than me that I was always in a state of gratitude. Just walking through India I always realised how blessed I was that I wasn’t born in an Indian family that was so poor, they had to sell me to a Bombay pimp who would lock me up in a box and only let me out if I had to service a client. Blessed by the fact that my parents never made me into a clay-pot-child (more on the clay pot children in a future post). Blessed that I wasn’t like the begging spider boy who would be pushed around on a cart through the streets of Dharamsala by his parents (more on spider children in a future post). Blessed by the fact that my life could have been so much worse.
Yesterday I read an article about what it takes to be happy. It was written by an American for an American audience and the factors that lead to happiness he brought up surprised me. The way to happiness for the average American is so much different from the way to happiness for the average Tibetan.
Still, people tend to think that more money, bigger car, bigger house, better job, more success can lead to happiness (but they forget that even the richest Hollywood stars have their therapists and spend a lot of time in rehab).
They still think that external factors are the cause for happiness rather than a cultivated state of mind. Stories of poor people who get a break and make it big do way much better than stories of rich people who choose to give all up to live as a hermit. I think that is why my book Pantau in India isn’t doing very well in the USA. That book describes the opposite of The American Dream.
Last night, my Tibetan friend and I watched a film called The Secret. It’s about the formula of how to attract what you want. And again, the speakers (American spiritual authors) in that film were talking about attracting love, car, money, house, job et cetera. One of the participating speakers that I actually admire (an American author called Neale Donald Walsch) joined the club and spoke similar words. I was disappointed as his “Conversations with God-books” are so good and even appreciated by Tibetan monks.
I agree. Money is good in our current world, as without, your life stinks. In Thailand there are more prostitutes than streetlights because of poverty. I agree; if I had zero money in my pocket, I wouldn’t be smiling either.
Thai women and men attach themselves to foreigners with money, just to get a bit a financial security and to support their poor families. Though Thais are less poor than Indians, Thais are unhappier and more materialistic than Indians. Indians tend to be content with a lot less. No Indian (apart from the occassional beggar) has ever asked me for money, but in Thailand it is the opposite. Speaking to a Thai for 15 minutes will automatically lead to him or her asking me for money, even if he or she walks around with a fake Louis Vuitton bag.
A few weeks ago, I went to a top hospital in Bangkok after reading that Reiki-treatments on hospital patients tend to help them recover more quickly. I am a third degree Reiki therapist with plenty experience. So I asked the hospital management if they were interested in my services.
“We don’t believe in….what? Reiki? We give our patients pills and perform surgery.”
I was shocked.
Hence, over the next few weeks, I am going to post some stories about my experiences with Reiki, I will tell you about the clay-pot-children of India, the spider boy in Dharamsala and the Art of Happiness.
Firstly, some good news. My main website www.pantau.org has been unblocked by the Chinese authorities, however, the 35,000 Chinese Internet Police officers still don’t like my weblog which is still not accessible from mainland China. The bad news: statistics show that people prefer to read stories of my experiences in India, rather than Thailand.
What can I do? Move back to India and leave my family behind in Bangkok?
Today, I had a long discussion with a Tibetan monk who is in Thailand to give some teachings on Buddhism. On Friday night, I met him in his casual clothes in a Bangkok gay club (not illegal) as he wanted to experience what it is like to dance (which is also not illegal as monks are allowed to dance). As he considers himself gay, he felt more comfortable in a gay club, however, he had no intention to have a romantic encounter as he has vowed to be celibate.
It was in that club where we agreed to meet for dinner on Sunday night. Just seeing him in his maroon robe made me feel homesick. Between 2000 and 2007 I have been surrounded by men and women dressed in maroon robes atop a Himalayan mountain and my life was very different from the kind I live right now.
There are many things I like about living in Thailand, but there was something unique about living in the Himalayas, and I miss that uniqueness more and more.
My friend asked me whether I was happy in Thailand. A long silence ensued before I said, “I am blessed. I have a roof over my head, food in my stomach, and people who love me.” And then I burst out into tears. “Sorry, it’s hormonal,” I responded. “I am experiencing menopause and my hormones are screwed up.”
With the economic crisis affecting almost everyone in the world, I have nothing to complain about, apart from the fact that people don’t buy as many books as I want them to do.
I was also very happy in India because my life was as simple as a life could be. In addition, I was surrounded by people who were even so much worse off than me that I was always in a state of gratitude. Just walking through India I always realised how blessed I was that I wasn’t born in an Indian family that was so poor, they had to sell me to a Bombay pimp who would lock me up in a box and only let me out if I had to service a client. Blessed by the fact that my parents never made me into a clay-pot-child (more on the clay pot children in a future post). Blessed that I wasn’t like the begging spider boy who would be pushed around on a cart through the streets of Dharamsala by his parents (more on spider children in a future post). Blessed by the fact that my life could have been so much worse.
Yesterday I read an article about what it takes to be happy. It was written by an American for an American audience and the factors that lead to happiness he brought up surprised me. The way to happiness for the average American is so much different from the way to happiness for the average Tibetan.
Still, people tend to think that more money, bigger car, bigger house, better job, more success can lead to happiness (but they forget that even the richest Hollywood stars have their therapists and spend a lot of time in rehab).
They still think that external factors are the cause for happiness rather than a cultivated state of mind. Stories of poor people who get a break and make it big do way much better than stories of rich people who choose to give all up to live as a hermit. I think that is why my book Pantau in India isn’t doing very well in the USA. That book describes the opposite of The American Dream.
Last night, my Tibetan friend and I watched a film called The Secret. It’s about the formula of how to attract what you want. And again, the speakers (American spiritual authors) in that film were talking about attracting love, car, money, house, job et cetera. One of the participating speakers that I actually admire (an American author called Neale Donald Walsch) joined the club and spoke similar words. I was disappointed as his “Conversations with God-books” are so good and even appreciated by Tibetan monks.
I agree. Money is good in our current world, as without, your life stinks. In Thailand there are more prostitutes than streetlights because of poverty. I agree; if I had zero money in my pocket, I wouldn’t be smiling either.
Thai women and men attach themselves to foreigners with money, just to get a bit a financial security and to support their poor families. Though Thais are less poor than Indians, Thais are unhappier and more materialistic than Indians. Indians tend to be content with a lot less. No Indian (apart from the occassional beggar) has ever asked me for money, but in Thailand it is the opposite. Speaking to a Thai for 15 minutes will automatically lead to him or her asking me for money, even if he or she walks around with a fake Louis Vuitton bag.
A few weeks ago, I went to a top hospital in Bangkok after reading that Reiki-treatments on hospital patients tend to help them recover more quickly. I am a third degree Reiki therapist with plenty experience. So I asked the hospital management if they were interested in my services.
“We don’t believe in….what? Reiki? We give our patients pills and perform surgery.”
I was shocked.
Hence, over the next few weeks, I am going to post some stories about my experiences with Reiki, I will tell you about the clay-pot-children of India, the spider boy in Dharamsala and the Art of Happiness.
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Personally, I think the major flaw in Western Society is the importance given to Materialism. Spiritual happiness cannot be quantified, packaged, sold or truthfully advertised.
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