Svenn

I was kidding about the scarf

I'm assuming the Tak Bai (seashore) border crossing is safer than Sungai Golok?

I sure hope they cut out all the ghastly vegetation there when they develop it and pave most of the area, or at least cover it with lawns with pinwheels and statuettes...  let's not forget a large parking terminal for the buses and food courts.  I think they should also take out the bodhi tree that's there and replace with a plastic, more durable one... with portraits of their majesties on top of course.

jazzbo, on 2011-01-07 17:03:07, said:

Is it really worth it though?  By sticking to the same airline you are forced to pay higher prices for those 3 or 4 RT fares that you could have gotten for cheaper had you used other airlines.  By the time 3 RT flights have been bought, the excess you paid for them could total up to that 4th free flight.  I dunno, I could be wrong.

I just bough m'lady a $1030 flight RT from bkk to seattle for a couple weeks from now, on Delta with actually only one quick layover.  I don't think they get much cheaper than that anymore... the days of $800 RT to bkk are gone I think.  I had to pay like $1300 last summer.

Edit:  btw, you guys are always talking about promos... I haven't ONCE found a promo on ANY website or anything, so I don't get it... I always just end up using kayak.

greetings troy,

in my personal opinion, which of course you may dismiss, the popular conception of zen being taught through various disciplines like martial arts, farming, or engine care   is tenuous at best; it's more of a concept that arose in the 1960's, and among 18th century Japanese aristocrats, rather than a truly Zen practice.  The vast majority of Zen literature focuses on inner activity within one's own mind, often without even a teacher (or a teacher who gives very little instruction ).    

While I believe that the Zen and Theravada 'awakenings' are one and the same, samyak-sambodhi, others here disagree, and might laugh at the idea of a Thai farmer having a zen awakening.  I think it possible, but very unlikely, much less so the probability of you ever even finding such an individual.  I applaud your idealism, but you might be better meditating where you live currently, which I know seems depressing, and reading up on ancient, authentic Zen texts rather than modern books or rather than trying to find a teacher in this modern world of frauds.

I have my own way of approaching it, which you may consider or ignore as you please, which basically is that one needs to let go of one's fundamental notions of self and ownership of thoughts, rather than mechanically try to continue mindfulness all the time.   You can't always be mindful, it's just not psychologically possible for a human brain designed evolutionarily to wander in the African savanna.  What you can do however is constantly detach yourself from viewing the straying-and-focusing of your mind as the product of your 'self.'   The mind is going to do what it wants to do, just let it go... if you find that all of a sudden you're watching TV and slouching on the couch with a beer, don't suddenly think 'oh, I have lost mindfulness', just observe what happened, without necessarily 'you' being the one doing the observing, and try to re-focus.   The part of the brain that focuses on mindfulness, I believe, is much more subconscious than most people realize...  you could be flaming drunk and in a bar fight and still have that aloft observer, way in the back of your mind, observing dispassionately what your body and brain is doing.

Anyway, in my personal opinion the key above all is to just remain resolute, will is more important than what you're specifically doing with your mind... I'm reminded of a Zen quote:

"Throughout the twelve periods of the day, be like a cat trying to catch a rat, or like a hen holding her chicks under the wings; be ever on the alert, and do not let any intermission take place.  While you have not yet attained a penetrating insight, be like a rat gnawing at the coffin; do not let yourself be sidetracked.   If you keep on like this, the time will certainly be yours when you will be awakened."   -Mozan