cm das

Hi everyone. I'll be heading down to BKK soon to look for a full suspension bike (it seems none of the shops in Chiang Mai actually stock these bikes - I could order one but for some reason I want to actually sit on, if not ride, a bike before I drop more than 50k Baht on it). Can anyone recommend a shop or an area of BKK with several shops where I might find a selection of different makes & models? Or a shop that comes especially recommended for any reason? I've checked the list of shops on Bicycle Thailand but for my particular question, and given my unfamiliarity with BKK in general, it's not that helpful.  I'm not partial to any particular company really, just looking for a good bike at a decent price. Thanks.

I'm interested in therapeutic bee stings (apitherapy) to treat arthritis. Has anyone heard of a place that offers apitherapy in Chiang Mai? An old friend of mine in the US has had excellent results using this approach. And yes, I'm looking for a clinic or similar place with experience in providing this treatment, not just any old guy with a bees' nest in his yard.

Yes, I know I can find streams online & yes, I know that the game starts pretty early. I'm wondering though if anyone knows of a place in town that's going to show the NFC championship game live. I'd rather not sit home alone in front of my computer.

Can anyone recommend a teacher or school for beginner level Japanese lessons? I'd prefer private tuition but I might be willing to join a group class if it's a good fit. Thanks.

We're all familiar with critiques of animistic elements in Thai religion as "un-Buddhist". Lately though I've been pondering how Buddhism and animism can not just co-exist (e.g. one is spiritual, the other magically mundane) but how they might actually harmonize with each other. My thinking on this was spurred by a close encounter with a venomous snake on my land in Chiang Dao. I recently wrote a blog post that's an exploration/defense of this idea of Buddhist animism. Below are some key excerpts. The whole article can be found at http://tripleharmony...dental-animist/

I'd love to hear any comments, questions or critiques.

"Animism generally gets a bad rap among those who hold to “higher” religious beliefs. It’s seen as a primitive, simple form of religion, where immaterial beings like supernatural personalities inhabit the world and exercise their powers according to whimsy, or in response to the deeds, good or bad, of people that come onto their turf.

It’s this kind of mundane & superstitious quid pro quo that draws criticism. People look at Thai religion, with all its amulets, tattoos, exorcisms and blessings, and say “That’s not Buddhism.” And to that extent, it’s not. But could something deeper and more subtle also be going on, cloaked in animist plumage? Is it possible to consider nature’s “spirits” as something other than fickle fairies, at turns either friendly or frightful? I think so.

My experience with the blue krait, along with a couple of similar encounters, has led me deeper into the notion of honoring the spirits. I considered: what is the root meaning of ‘spirit’ but ‘breath’, and what is breath but that which animates? And animation occurs by the constant exchange of elements between our bodies and the environments around us. So then, we can think of the spirit of a place as its breath, as its dynamic expression of life, all life that flourishes there. In this sense, the snake was indeed an emissary of the local spirit, and seeing it that way carries neither dumb superstition nor the cold objectivity of scientific materialism but rather a deep, meaningful sense of connection and appreciation. And the blue krait was more than that – it was a reminder that even small parts of the environment can hold great power over us, even the power of life and death.  So by honoring the snake, or even the spirit of the land in the abstract, we can step outside ourselves and acknowledge the greater interconnectedness of which we are but one part. We can humble ourselves, not like a fearful servant before a capricious master, but with an attitude of compassion, gratitude and wonder in the face of the world’s creative, dynamic, organic and holistic evolution. These realizations – of interdependence, of the limits of a fixed notion of “self”, of humility, of the dynamic nature of existence – all fit with the Buddhist teachings quite well. So animism need not be a branch of alien superstition grafted onto a Buddhist trunk. With the right attitude, active respect for the spirit of life around you can be a means towards cultivating the qualities that are at the very heart of Buddhist practice.

There’s an old Buddhist line that says “Intention is karma.” Honestly, I think in many cases that is too simplistic but here it’s instructive. Two people approach a spirit house with offerings of candles, incense, flowers and food. One prays fervently for success in love and business. Another expresses his awareness of and kinship with all life in that place, whether subtle or gross. He sees this offering as another chance to cultivate the heavenly qualities of compassion, loving-kindness, sympathetic joy and equanimity.   The karma of the first surely keeps him tied to the world and its tormenting cycles of desire & suffering. The karma of the second points embodies that supposed contradiction – Buddhist animism – and points towards coolness, peace and awakening. It’s in this sense that I guess I can call myself a newfound animist, an accidental animist, and I’m sure I’m not alone in taking this approach. So next time you see someone making offerings to the spirits, think twice before you leap to accusations of superstition. There may be something else going on."