15 February 2007
How much do we need the truth to live peacefully? Phra Farang does not mention this question directly in his book but somehow his approach towards Brahmanist-Animist rituals in Buddhism causes him to discuss this question. He sees the monks going to villagers’ houses to bless a newly-bought motorbike, a car or even a washing machine. He knows that these kinds of rituals are not part of Buddhism. Buddha himself denied all sorts of superstition. He struggles between the ontological truth and pragmatist truth. As I have discussed in my previous blog religions evolve same as living organisms do. Social practicalities joins to the content of religions very quickly and soon later it becomes impossible to differentiate the original teaching and the practical solutions of people.
In Thai Buddhism (or Theravada) there are so many practical solutions which make people’s faith stronger and by these solutions, people’s devotion becomes stiffer. Phra Farang’s solution to this contradiction is simple. He uses common Thai attitude and says “My Peln Rai”. Although the things done by Buddhist Monks are not the truth taught by Buddha himself, it makes people satisfied with their religion and for only this reason it can be excused. This solution can be considered as the victory of pragmatism. Or in the sense of utilitarianism, moral worth of an action is solely determined by its contribution to overall utility (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilitarianism) But pragmatic solution may be also dangerous for the keeping the religion in people’s hearts. Same pragmatism can also work in the way to keep people stay away from religion and stop them to seeking for truth.
As a person who has studied Math, Education and some philosophy at university, I have absolute respect for the ontological truth. By this term I mean the truth which does not depend on daily benefits of certain people and certain parts of community. It can be changed, improved, modified, denied or even abolished. That what makes relativism fits to reality. There is no truth which everybody can accept but there are truths which can be found common in almost all communities of the world. The scientific truth is actually what the future needs only. However the truth usually hurts because not everybody in the society can bear the burden of the truth. Most of the people are happy without the truth because what they believe and what they have learnt from their ancestors are good enough to make their life easier. The why do they need truth? What for? It only brings unnecessary arguments, fights and even blood. Because some people think that their truth must conquer the whole world, we had many wars in the past and still having similar wars in many parts of the world. For example it is not easy to accept that our lives –or lifetime of our souls- are finite and one day we will be nothing as we were nothing before our birth. People like to believe another life so that the injustices and miseries in this life will be balanced by a better life conditions. The only way to make people believe that there is no infinite life is strong science education. When people start to think with scientific reasoning and do not accept any knowledge without having a strong evidence people will be free of religious rituals. However it seems very difficult for today’s conditions. Because of this difficulty I agree with Phra Farang’s solution of “my peln rai”. It does not solve it but tolerates. So people are happy and monks have something to do. Although even monks don’t believe that a blessed airplane is likely to have a crash same as another airplane which has not been blessed, they do it to keep their statue quo and satisfy people’s needs to some extent.
Besides this book I would like to mention about yesterday. It was Valentine’s Day. I had an e-mail from a friend saying things about my ignorance on Valentine’s Day. I have to say that Valentine’s Day means nothing to me. It is neither part of my culture nor J's culture. I did not send any greetings to anyone yesterday because I do not celebrate Western inventions. It is more or less a commercial celebration. For me everyday is Valentine and I don’t need a special day to remember the people I care for. I even don't understand the reason why Thai people like to celebrate anything from West. Interestingly, in Thailand almost 10%of population is Muslim but I have never seen a Buddhist Thai celebrating any Muslim holidays. But they celebrate almost all Christian holidays. Then the people say "Thai people are easy going and celebrate anything" are making a mistake. Because like many other places in the world, Thai people also celebrate what the dominant power of the world imposes them to celebrate. Christmas, Valentine, Halloween etc... Western type of consumerism and cultural imperialism spread everywhere in the world and I don’t want to be part of it. I have never seen foreigners living in their own country celebrate Loy Krathong or Song Kran. Can you imagine young people in London or Amsterdam celebrate Loy Krathong? Why not? Because we celebrate not the one which are beautiful but the ones come from dominant culture. That is why I reject Valentine's Day and anything related to it. I do celebrate Muslim holidays because I am from Turkey. I also celebrate New Year because it is a new beginning. Other than these, nothing is special to me and I am just ok with answering the people with a smile who greet me. That is all…
Yesterday was very ordinary for us. We had dinner at home, read our books in silence, watched an interesting movie on TV (a strange and complicated love story) and did some evening walk around our apartment… Nothing was special, nothing was worth to mention…
Today is the last day at school. Then Tet starts. I will be in HCMC tomorrow playing tennis in the morning and spending my afternoon reading/writing. On Saturday, we will take the bus to Dalat. I also want to see how Tet celebrations go on Friday evening. If it is possible, I will post some pictures as well…
How much do we need the truth to live peacefully? Phra Farang does not mention this question directly in his book but somehow his approach towards Brahmanist-Animist rituals in Buddhism causes him to discuss this question. He sees the monks going to villagers’ houses to bless a newly-bought motorbike, a car or even a washing machine. He knows that these kinds of rituals are not part of Buddhism. Buddha himself denied all sorts of superstition. He struggles between the ontological truth and pragmatist truth. As I have discussed in my previous blog religions evolve same as living organisms do. Social practicalities joins to the content of religions very quickly and soon later it becomes impossible to differentiate the original teaching and the practical solutions of people.
In Thai Buddhism (or Theravada) there are so many practical solutions which make people’s faith stronger and by these solutions, people’s devotion becomes stiffer. Phra Farang’s solution to this contradiction is simple. He uses common Thai attitude and says “My Peln Rai”. Although the things done by Buddhist Monks are not the truth taught by Buddha himself, it makes people satisfied with their religion and for only this reason it can be excused. This solution can be considered as the victory of pragmatism. Or in the sense of utilitarianism, moral worth of an action is solely determined by its contribution to overall utility (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilitarianism) But pragmatic solution may be also dangerous for the keeping the religion in people’s hearts. Same pragmatism can also work in the way to keep people stay away from religion and stop them to seeking for truth.
As a person who has studied Math, Education and some philosophy at university, I have absolute respect for the ontological truth. By this term I mean the truth which does not depend on daily benefits of certain people and certain parts of community. It can be changed, improved, modified, denied or even abolished. That what makes relativism fits to reality. There is no truth which everybody can accept but there are truths which can be found common in almost all communities of the world. The scientific truth is actually what the future needs only. However the truth usually hurts because not everybody in the society can bear the burden of the truth. Most of the people are happy without the truth because what they believe and what they have learnt from their ancestors are good enough to make their life easier. The why do they need truth? What for? It only brings unnecessary arguments, fights and even blood. Because some people think that their truth must conquer the whole world, we had many wars in the past and still having similar wars in many parts of the world. For example it is not easy to accept that our lives –or lifetime of our souls- are finite and one day we will be nothing as we were nothing before our birth. People like to believe another life so that the injustices and miseries in this life will be balanced by a better life conditions. The only way to make people believe that there is no infinite life is strong science education. When people start to think with scientific reasoning and do not accept any knowledge without having a strong evidence people will be free of religious rituals. However it seems very difficult for today’s conditions. Because of this difficulty I agree with Phra Farang’s solution of “my peln rai”. It does not solve it but tolerates. So people are happy and monks have something to do. Although even monks don’t believe that a blessed airplane is likely to have a crash same as another airplane which has not been blessed, they do it to keep their statue quo and satisfy people’s needs to some extent.
Besides this book I would like to mention about yesterday. It was Valentine’s Day. I had an e-mail from a friend saying things about my ignorance on Valentine’s Day. I have to say that Valentine’s Day means nothing to me. It is neither part of my culture nor J's culture. I did not send any greetings to anyone yesterday because I do not celebrate Western inventions. It is more or less a commercial celebration. For me everyday is Valentine and I don’t need a special day to remember the people I care for. I even don't understand the reason why Thai people like to celebrate anything from West. Interestingly, in Thailand almost 10%of population is Muslim but I have never seen a Buddhist Thai celebrating any Muslim holidays. But they celebrate almost all Christian holidays. Then the people say "Thai people are easy going and celebrate anything" are making a mistake. Because like many other places in the world, Thai people also celebrate what the dominant power of the world imposes them to celebrate. Christmas, Valentine, Halloween etc... Western type of consumerism and cultural imperialism spread everywhere in the world and I don’t want to be part of it. I have never seen foreigners living in their own country celebrate Loy Krathong or Song Kran. Can you imagine young people in London or Amsterdam celebrate Loy Krathong? Why not? Because we celebrate not the one which are beautiful but the ones come from dominant culture. That is why I reject Valentine's Day and anything related to it. I do celebrate Muslim holidays because I am from Turkey. I also celebrate New Year because it is a new beginning. Other than these, nothing is special to me and I am just ok with answering the people with a smile who greet me. That is all…
Yesterday was very ordinary for us. We had dinner at home, read our books in silence, watched an interesting movie on TV (a strange and complicated love story) and did some evening walk around our apartment… Nothing was special, nothing was worth to mention…
Today is the last day at school. Then Tet starts. I will be in HCMC tomorrow playing tennis in the morning and spending my afternoon reading/writing. On Saturday, we will take the bus to Dalat. I also want to see how Tet celebrations go on Friday evening. If it is possible, I will post some pictures as well…
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