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Pinkapop In reply to SafetyKunG [2017-04-10 09:16:13 +0000 UTC]

i done the same in every years

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bakki In reply to Phonetiva [2015-04-13 03:49:01 +0000 UTC]

When the time come I will do loi krathong i think.

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Phonetiva In reply to bakki [2015-04-14 05:42:43 +0000 UTC]

I do look forward to it, if you do.  ขอบคุณค่ะ

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bakki In reply to ak399 [2015-04-13 03:48:38 +0000 UTC]

oohh
What's the comparative buddhism course like?

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ak399 In reply to bakki [2015-04-13 14:47:17 +0000 UTC]

There's lots of reading and in-class discussion. So far we've followed the history of the various schools of Buddhism through India, Tibet, China, and Japan. We've also looked into Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos, and other eastern populations, but we haven't yet reached commentary on modern-day Buddhism or it's appropriation by western countries. Sometimes we practice meditation or figure out koans. Mostly our discussions compare and contrast how different branches might react differently to important issues and situations. It's a lot of work, but it's not too hard, just time-consuming. And it's really interesting too.

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bakki In reply to ak399 [2015-04-14 03:10:45 +0000 UTC]

That's pretty nice.
I wish buddism class in thailand would be more comparative and discuss about the actual effects on modern day. Buddism class here is mandatory in every single year of highshcool. But mainly focus on its teaching and history in a myths and religious way, barely anything from other view such as social impact and history.
Kinda weird that the better buddism classes are provided outside of thailand. 

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ak399 In reply to bakki [2015-04-14 03:26:55 +0000 UTC]

That reminds me, the Thai teacher made note that it was very strange coming to America and meeting so many people who not only weren't Buddhist (were Christian, Muslim, Jewish, etc.), but that there were a great number of people who didn't identify with a religion/were nonreligious. She said that from birth pretty much everyone is definitely Buddhist. I suppose the educational system there enforces that idea. I'm sure we're not getting as in-depth with mythology and religion as the schools in Thailand, but it's very interesting to contextualize where certain stories and beliefs came from and how they shaped societies/societies shaped them. Maybe it's possible for a Thai person to take online comparative Buddhism classes from universities in America or other countries? It is kinda weird, especially being much closer to other countries with large Buddhist populations, it would be important to know their variations of Buddhism.

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bakki In reply to ak399 [2015-04-14 08:02:42 +0000 UTC]

Well Buddhism here is more of cultural/social thing more than religion thing so If you are born in thailand and your parents aren't non-buddhist (meaning they won't try to make you non-buddhist) then you will almost automatically think you are a buddhist since it's the social norm and it barely requires you to be actually religious comparing to other religions. 

Comparing with Japan where lots of people do lots of shinto/buddism activities as cultural thing but most people identify themselves as non-religious even if they do those thing more than thais.  So yeah I believe that thai's culture and education kinda make them identify themselves as Buddhist whether they are religious or not. 

I think most thais aren't interested in such comparative or analytic classes because it will include criticizing the religion and challenging some beliefs/effect of it. 
It's hard to talk bad about something or even question it when you are in a room full of people who like that thing (even if you are completely correct).
And it's not like buddhism here have that strong beliefs for us to talk about in the first place, most of them are just "do good, don't do bad, be peaceful".
Those kinda renders people here to not question or care much about the variations outside the main type in thailand.

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