Thailand and the Handof Budda
March 5, 1999
While my wife Pat and I were traveling through Southern Thailand, my brother Pete moved from Pattaya to the town of Ban Chang. His new residence is the Payoon Garden Cliff Condo, a large, 23- story, 220 apartment, condominium/hotel. It is a white, crescent-shaped building that faces the surf and the Gulf of Thailand. Since it is shaped something like an ear, it channels the soothing sounds of the surf up to our rooms on the sixth and ninth floors to help lull us to sleep at night. The shape also helps funnel the cooling sea breezes through the spacious, three-room apartments. Pete and his wife, Anne, seldom need to use their air conditioners, even in the tropical and humid heat that prevails in this part of the world. Pat and I rented one of the apartments, which overlook the gardens and swimming pool on the surf side of the building, and out the rear door has a commanding view of the mountains and small fruit farms. Apparently, many of the condos are owned by folks who live in Bangkok and come here mainly on weekends. Most of the time the lights of only three or four apartments can be seen in the evening and the place is mostly deserted. Along the beach, there are several hotels that are nearly deserted – the Thai economy is apparently suffering from the devaluation of the Baht. But it makes for great deals for tourists. We are paying only about $40 per night for this beautiful apartment.
To get a better view of the countryside, we all rode the elevator up to the 23rdt floor and by “accident,” met the owner of the whole building. She graciously invited us into her luxurious, spacious, penthouse apartment and served us fresh, very sweet mango slices. We took in the view and observed that their breakfast table was set with fresh crab and fruits, ready for breakfast. We excused ourselves and continued our exploration of the building. It is clear the Pete and Anne are “roughing it” here in Thailand.
Our trip back from Southern Thailand through Bangkok proved to be a considerable challenge to our skills of navigation and driving. Bangkok is reputed to be a city with some of the most congested traffic in the world. The diesel and gas fumes burn the eyes and lungs. Traffic jams can stop all traffic for long periods of time. But we planned to try to skirt the south end of town and avoid the most congested downtown area. Our map showed a new “ring road” bypass under construction. We were hopeful that it had been completed. It was not. The main highway into town was also under construction, so all the street signs had been removed. The traffic slowed and stopped. We would creep along at about three miles-per-hour and then stop awhile. We had been warned that traffic might be like this, so we were prepared with food, drink, and an air-conditioned car. If we got lost, we would do whatever it took to find our way – look for signs, ask information, search the map, etc. We drove on the frontage road that had no lines to divide the lanes. The traffic was chaotic, but I felt relaxed and somehow confident. Pat was only slightly distraught as she wondered about the choice made at the last intersection. At the first unmarked “Y” in the freeway, my intuition told me to take the right fork – it seemed to head in the right direction. At a toll booth, we paid 40 Baht and I asked the attendant “Pattaya?” and I pointed in the directions we were going. The attendant nodded, so we guessed that we were still headed in the right direction. The freeway wound through town then passed over a high bridge over the Chao Phraya River. Now the traffic was less congested and moving faster.
At breakfast at our hotel that morning, I had mentioned to the waiter that we were passing through Bangkok today, heading toward Pattaya. His only suggestion was that we look for the sign that leads to Bang Na. But once in the city many of the signs were “Bang” something’ and my memory was no longer certain of the “Na.” Pat became a little irritated with me for forgetting such an important name. But, for some reason, I resisted turning at the various “Bang” names until I finally saw the sign “Bang Na;” then I remembered. Fortunately, we happened to be in the right lane for the turn and in another half hour, or so were leaving the city for Pattaya.
In retrospect, I was never very nervous and was usually fairly confident in the driving decisions that were made. I wonder if some “higher power” was not giving me guidance. Could it be that the hand of Buddha had been on my shoulder all the time and he had silently been giving me directions while simultaneously calming my nerves? I can’t prove that Lord Buddha was sitting in the back seat with us, but then I can’t prove that he wasn’t there either. After all, I share some of the beliefs of Siddhartha Gautama, otherwise known as Buddha. We both share some iconoclastic tendencies. Buddha not only rejected much of the Hindu philosophy, but he also rejected the authority of the priesthood and sacrificial cults. As Buddha sat under a bo tree and meditated, he finally rose to higher and higher states of consciousness until he reached the state of enlightenment for which he was searching. I do most of my meditating in front of a laptop computer and only get sleepier with time. Enlightenment escapes me, but that is probably because my faith is insufficient.
Like Buddha, I recognize that there is considerable suffering in life. Buddha, however, believed that human existence is essentially painful from the moment of birth till death -- and death does not even bring relief because death leads to further life. Whatever happens, after death depends on ones “karma.” Your karma determines whether you are a human or a butterfly. Or it determines your beauty, intelligence, longevity, wealth and social status. So if you’re not really a good guy in this life, you may be reborn as an animal, a ghost, a denizen of hell or even a Hindu god. If Buddha is correct, then I am in some really serious trouble in my future lives. I will likely be reborn as a large Atlas moth and some entomologist will catch me with his net, kill me in a jar of poison and stick a pin through my dead body and mount me in a museum for all to see. If Buddhist ethics regarding the sanctity of wildlife prevailed, entomologists would spare my moth life and instead, I would be eaten by a drongo bird or something.
Along the highways of Thailand, we often see the consequences of the Buddhist beliefs. Some of the very large, tropical trees were saved from destruction because a Buddhist monk or nun wrapped the lower trunk in cloth so that the loggers were not willing to risk their karma just to make money.
If we could only quench the fires of greed, hatred, and ignorance, we might all attain the state of “nirvana,” which is a state of consciousness beyond definition. Seems like a reasonable goal. But if it were attained in all humans, who would be left to watch “soap operas.”
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