Re: Lampang (more words)

Tadao Miyamoto,

Thank you for this note:

> Here is a small piece of information on wearing footwears.
> Regardless of the sects they belong to, all the monks in Thailand go for alms-gathering without
> wearing any footwears.

I believe I have seen more exceptions-to-the-rule than examples proving the
rule --thus I was surprised in Lampang.  In Northern Lao, I assume they
invoke "the Avanti exception" allowing monks in cold/mountainous climates to
wear boots whenever they need to (due to mud, etc.).

> Lampang used to be a quiet city when I was studying at Wat Tamaoh, which was almost
> 30 years ago.

It has changed a great deal in 30 years --whether that change is for the
better or for the worse, is a matter of opinion.  "Change in empirical;
progress is ideological"; the more time I spend in "Teso-Lotus Thailand" the
more I see the advantages of the Uttarakuru --i.e., sleeping on the ground
as a nomad with no possessions, etc.

Until that time ... I've just noticed a job posting for a teacher in a
remote village in Boten province ... no electricity, no communications ...
almost Uttarakuru!

E.M.

--
A saying of the Buddha from http://metta.lk/
View Streaming Dhamma Video http://dharmavahini.tv/
Better to swallow a red-hot iron ball, (which would consume one) like a
flame of fire, than to be an immoral and uncontrolled person feeding on the
alms offered by people.
Random Dhammapada Verse 308