Perhaps it was because I was having too much fresh air in Chaiyaphum two weeks ago. Ever since I got back, I seemed to have lots of doubts and getting quite sarcastic. I am not sure if I am confused between complacency and equanimity, and between self-improvement and public responsibilities.
Here is an example. I came up with a satisfaction survey form for a dhamma camp; the questions are on what activities they like, when mentioning the dhamma camp, what they think of, what we should include in the next event, what improvement we should make, and what messages they'd like to tell the staff. One of the monk staff commented that we should have a question that asks participants what they could do by themselves right away!?! I know it is a valid and insightful comment, but self sacrifice works on some things, like collecting trash or cleaning, but not everything. Many flaws come from how the camp was organized and run, and the only option that participants had is to join or not to join. So if we actually want them to take parts, we have to ask them what they think and not just guesstimate it.
By the way, thanks to these 100+ survey responses, I feel much more hopeful about Thai youths. They do offer generally more constructive and thorough comments than adults. Saying things like, I love it, I like it, blah, blah, blah, are nice pads in the back, but it isn't really informative.
Anyhow, I have great respects for this monk, and I like him a lot personally. I wonder if the camp staff had actually ever collected response data on participants. In Thailand, people are so darn polite that when unsatisfied, they just keep it to themselves (I'm not "Thai" at all in this regard). So if we don't explicitly ask them, how would we assess our performance? Because of the praises (How could anyone, beside me, outwardly complain about the free event that involves monk and nun staff?), we can just remain complacent and turn blind eyes on what we can do to make it better.
This is just another example that supports my general observations on Thai people that we make decisions solely on our gut feeling, and we don't really consider empirical data or real hard facts. Just because we have been doing it for ten years doesn't mean that it is as good as it can be. The bitchy side of me did mused it with a monk staff like I was so disappointed, ทำมาสิบปีได้แค่นี้เหรอ. And for this, he chuckled.
The phrase that seems to go around in Thai Theravada Buddhist circle and gets cited a lot is that one should improve oneself first, the rest of the society will get better as a result. It sounds great if I'm doing well because things work out for me, and I am not being taken advantages of. But what if I am evicted from the land that I have lived since I was born because I don't have a legal title deed and other rich landowners want it? Taken to the extreme, this belief is similar to what some of my friends said: poor people remain poor because they are lazy.
I doubt if, without awareness and self examination, dhamma practice and even some teachings can leave us being too shut in, inflexible and boneheaded in the name of equanimity. To me, it is challenging to do what I can and say what I think should be said. If things don't go the way I want them to, then so be it; at least I have tried. I know that I'm definitely not a Bodhisattva and I sometimes get irritated and frustrated, but that is also part of growing up, a learning experience and ultimately a dhamma practice in itself.
Here is an example. I came up with a satisfaction survey form for a dhamma camp; the questions are on what activities they like, when mentioning the dhamma camp, what they think of, what we should include in the next event, what improvement we should make, and what messages they'd like to tell the staff. One of the monk staff commented that we should have a question that asks participants what they could do by themselves right away!?! I know it is a valid and insightful comment, but self sacrifice works on some things, like collecting trash or cleaning, but not everything. Many flaws come from how the camp was organized and run, and the only option that participants had is to join or not to join. So if we actually want them to take parts, we have to ask them what they think and not just guesstimate it.
By the way, thanks to these 100+ survey responses, I feel much more hopeful about Thai youths. They do offer generally more constructive and thorough comments than adults. Saying things like, I love it, I like it, blah, blah, blah, are nice pads in the back, but it isn't really informative.
Anyhow, I have great respects for this monk, and I like him a lot personally. I wonder if the camp staff had actually ever collected response data on participants. In Thailand, people are so darn polite that when unsatisfied, they just keep it to themselves (I'm not "Thai" at all in this regard). So if we don't explicitly ask them, how would we assess our performance? Because of the praises (How could anyone, beside me, outwardly complain about the free event that involves monk and nun staff?), we can just remain complacent and turn blind eyes on what we can do to make it better.
This is just another example that supports my general observations on Thai people that we make decisions solely on our gut feeling, and we don't really consider empirical data or real hard facts. Just because we have been doing it for ten years doesn't mean that it is as good as it can be. The bitchy side of me did mused it with a monk staff like I was so disappointed, ทำมาสิบปีได้แค่นี้เหรอ. And for this, he chuckled.
The phrase that seems to go around in Thai Theravada Buddhist circle and gets cited a lot is that one should improve oneself first, the rest of the society will get better as a result. It sounds great if I'm doing well because things work out for me, and I am not being taken advantages of. But what if I am evicted from the land that I have lived since I was born because I don't have a legal title deed and other rich landowners want it? Taken to the extreme, this belief is similar to what some of my friends said: poor people remain poor because they are lazy.
I doubt if, without awareness and self examination, dhamma practice and even some teachings can leave us being too shut in, inflexible and boneheaded in the name of equanimity. To me, it is challenging to do what I can and say what I think should be said. If things don't go the way I want them to, then so be it; at least I have tried. I know that I'm definitely not a Bodhisattva and I sometimes get irritated and frustrated, but that is also part of growing up, a learning experience and ultimately a dhamma practice in itself.
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