Look at this cute boy!! It reminds me about my past life when I saw this cute boy took his Buffalo to the field!! Why?
Well, before I ordained as novice I was taking care of my fours buffalo and I really enjoyed being on the back of buffalo. I gotta write more soon!!
SMILING BOY
Back to temple
On the way back to the temple the monks just the stop and the way and bought some drinks, they really enjoy their since it's the weather was hot. It was nice to have cool drink!! Actually, monks are not allowed to have dinner!!
Traveling to a Cambodian temple by dirt bike
A family travels together in Cambodia. Special to the Daily/Luc PolsAsia
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of travel stories from local resident Luc Pols, who is traveling through Southeast Asia.
There are two choices to go to Preah Vihear, a private car/taxi for $450 for two days, a fortune here or anywhere in Asia for that matter, or by dirt bike for $50 per day.
Never even having been on a dirt bike before, and therefore absolutely not on one with a ’90s vintage suspenion —1890s that is, as I found out later — I still decided to give it a try for the 250 KM one-way ride. Yes, I know, one of these days I will grow up!
My tour guide for the last three times here, Mongkhean, volunteered to drive with me as the passenger and I was quite optimistic. That optimism didn’t last long, however. After about an hour-and-a-half, the bike stopped dead and neither Mongkhean or me, had a clue why. Someone helped us, but an hour later on “highway” 67 the bike did it again and we decided to have an expert look at it. Two-and-a-half hours and a whopping bill of $6.25 later we were off again. Unfortunately highway 67 is little more than a glorified cowpath with potholes the size of Volkswagens. We fell only once and luckily into a huge mud puddle and nobody was hurt, but I feared for my life on a number of occasions.
With all the delays we didn’t arrive at our destination until sunset and we had to postpone visiting until the next day. We stayed at an outrageously expensive (for the quality) guesthouse at $10 per room per night, without breakfast, but with a mosquito net.
I survived the night and early the next morning we drove the last 7 KM up a slope with grades of up to 20 percent and arrived at Preah Vihear in a very heavy fog. We first checked the border, which is now closed, with about a thousand Cambodian troops throughout the jungle and I assume the same number of Thai soldiers across. I could only see a large militairy camp on the other side, but I couldn’t cross. There was barbed wire strung up along the crossing and we all hoped that nobody fired the first shot, because that could start a full scale war here. As a matter of fact, Cambodian soldiers are not allowed to carry their weapons, they are all stored in their tents, for fear of the mixture of alcohol and firearms! I only saw one soldier with a rifle over his shoulder. I talked with some of the soldiers and while the atmosphere seemed to be relatively relaxed, you could feel the tension.
Here is some of the background. That piece of land, including the temple at Ta Moan avbout 134 km from here, has been a bone of contention between Cambodia and Thailand for more than 100 years, but in 1962 the International Court of Justice in the Hague ruled in favor of Cambodia. All was quiet until July 6 of this year, when UNESCO declared the temple here a World Heritage Site. All of a sudden tensions flared again and soldiers from both sides were dispatched to the area. A a matter of fact, there are still about a dozen Thai soldiers camped at the temple monastery there and when I asked why they had not been expelled, people just shrugged. Strange.
But here is a fact and you can decide as to who is right or wrong. In 1935 Thailand put the temple at Ta Moan on its heritage list, renovated it, maintained it and constructed a road there (also to Preah Vihear). While nothing was ever said or done by the Cambodians for more than 70 years, the UNSCO declaration changed all that and now they claim the territory as theirs and want the Thai out. There are no “roads” to the temples from the Cambodian side of the border, while the Thai have constructed beautiful asphalt roads there. So, who is right? You decide.
So, is the sight worth visiting? First of all, it is not Angkor Wat by any stretch of the imagination, but if you have the time and the inclination, the ruins are interesting.
However, do it only from the Thai side, not from Cambodia until they have constructed a road, which might take upwards of 10 years, if then. If you decide to go, check two things — find out which of the two countries the temples are located in when you go, and, if they’re in Cambodia, make sure the border is open.
Due to the fact that the bike broke down, there was no time to visit the temple at Ta Moan and I spent the last day visiting the Angkor National Museum in Siem Reap. Admission was $3 for Cambodians and $12 for everyone else! I am leaving for Malaysia tomorrow and I’ll have more for you next week.
Have a travel essay you’d like to share with Vail Daily readers? E-mail High Life Editor Caramie Schnell at cschnell@vaildaily.com.
One voice against land disputes
Some residents, victim of a land dispute in Rattanak KiriCambodge Soir
09-10-2008
150 communal representatives from 15 different provinces met in Phnom Penh, Thursday 9 October, in order to assess the numerous land disputes which are affecting the Kingdom. Wearing a blue karma, they marched through the streets of the capital to spread their message.
Some of them, coming from eight different provinces, decided to file joint complaints, denouncing the illegal forest cutting and the land theft committed by high ranking personalities or private enterprises.
In front of journalists and different NGO’s, Seng Sok Heng, spokesperson for those communities, explained that it was important to denounce the land conflicts with one voice. “Several complaints were filed with the local officials in the villages, but no resolution has been reached. We thus decided to file a complaint together in order to show our worries to the government.”
Five provinces have already filed a joint complaint in June 2008, but Seng Sok Heng adds that the Ministry of Agriculture has reacted in the case of only one dispute concerning Kampong Cham province, but without sending anybody on the spot in order to find a solution. “The local authorities are threatening us and indicting us. Some protestants were arrested”, reveals the spokesperson. Kek Galabru, President of Licadho, a human rights NGO, also denounced the violence and the threats to which the protestants fall victim during these land disputes.
The representatives of the communes of Rattanak Kiri, Mondol Kiri and the provinces of Kratie and Preah Vihear have highlighted the problem of the deforestation and of the alteration of their environment. According to them, the fault lies in the hands of the developers who are taking advantage of the “ignorance of the residents”. “They encouraged us to sell our land which now belongs to private companies”, points out Romchang Tveng, living in Rattanak Kiri.
Sai Teang, from Kampong Cham, deplores the fact that one day the landless farmers might not be able to make a living off farming any more. In Kampot province, the villagers aren’t allowed any more to fish in an area which belongs to a private company since 2007, says Kem Da. “We were promised some development, but today we can’t do our jobs any more”, she complains.
A representative from Oddar Meanchey, Chhum Keout, tells about the difficulty to obtain information during a dispute, “the local authorities are only concerned about their own personal interest”. He believes that the most remote villages are the most affected and he invited the journalists to travel to those places and witness by themselves.
Ung Chamroeun
09-10-2008
150 communal representatives from 15 different provinces met in Phnom Penh, Thursday 9 October, in order to assess the numerous land disputes which are affecting the Kingdom. Wearing a blue karma, they marched through the streets of the capital to spread their message.
Some of them, coming from eight different provinces, decided to file joint complaints, denouncing the illegal forest cutting and the land theft committed by high ranking personalities or private enterprises.
In front of journalists and different NGO’s, Seng Sok Heng, spokesperson for those communities, explained that it was important to denounce the land conflicts with one voice. “Several complaints were filed with the local officials in the villages, but no resolution has been reached. We thus decided to file a complaint together in order to show our worries to the government.”
Five provinces have already filed a joint complaint in June 2008, but Seng Sok Heng adds that the Ministry of Agriculture has reacted in the case of only one dispute concerning Kampong Cham province, but without sending anybody on the spot in order to find a solution. “The local authorities are threatening us and indicting us. Some protestants were arrested”, reveals the spokesperson. Kek Galabru, President of Licadho, a human rights NGO, also denounced the violence and the threats to which the protestants fall victim during these land disputes.
The representatives of the communes of Rattanak Kiri, Mondol Kiri and the provinces of Kratie and Preah Vihear have highlighted the problem of the deforestation and of the alteration of their environment. According to them, the fault lies in the hands of the developers who are taking advantage of the “ignorance of the residents”. “They encouraged us to sell our land which now belongs to private companies”, points out Romchang Tveng, living in Rattanak Kiri.
Sai Teang, from Kampong Cham, deplores the fact that one day the landless farmers might not be able to make a living off farming any more. In Kampot province, the villagers aren’t allowed any more to fish in an area which belongs to a private company since 2007, says Kem Da. “We were promised some development, but today we can’t do our jobs any more”, she complains.
A representative from Oddar Meanchey, Chhum Keout, tells about the difficulty to obtain information during a dispute, “the local authorities are only concerned about their own personal interest”. He believes that the most remote villages are the most affected and he invited the journalists to travel to those places and witness by themselves.
Ung Chamroeun
Arguing couple split up by sawing their house in half
Financial costs associated with a legal seperation prompted the husband and wife to literally divide their house in two
ACOUPLE in Prey Veng province has simplified the messy legal task of divorce by literally sawing their house in two, according to local officials.
The house, situated in Cheach commune, Kamchay Mea district, was divided into two parts on Thursday after the couple who owned the property decided to separate following an argument.
Cheach commune chief Vorng Morn said the couple did not separate over anything "big", only the small problem of the husband feeling his wife had not cared for him when he became ill.
"His wife said that if her husband got sick and stayed at home, she was made to pay for his medicine, but if he stayed at his parent's house, she wouldn't have to pay. So they separated," he said.
"We tried to persuade them to think clearly before they did this because they had been married for nearly 40 years," Vorng Morn added. "But they did not listen."
The couple also decided to divide their land into four parts; two for their son and daughter, and two for them.
Side-stepping the law
Divorce has become an increasingly convoluted legal process in Cambodia, with couples now required to go through their commune chiefs who often pressure them to stay together. It can also cost a lot of money in informal fees.
Pok Chhon, deputy governor of Kamchay Mea district, said the couple should have followed the law.
"We tried to persuade them to deal with the problem through the law, that they should go to the commune office to negotiate and if they cannot settle the problem they can continue to provincial court," he said.
But Prak Phin, a lawyer from Legal Support for Child and Women (LSCW) in Prey Veng province, said that dividing a property was legal if both parties were in agreement."
But it does not mean that they are legally divorced," he said. "If in the future they have any disagreements, the provincial chief will not be responsible, as there had not been a judgment from the court."
How to do Mindfulness Meditation
In my last column I discussed why mindfulness is essential to spiritual practice, for no matter what spiritual tradition we follow, we must have a mind that is able to stay in the present moment if our understanding and experience is to deepen. Now I would like to talk about some aspects of the actual mindfulness practice.
In mindfulness, or shamatha, meditation, we are trying to achieve a mind that is stable and calm. What we begin to discover is that this calmness or harmony is a natural aspect of the mind. Through mindfulness practice we are just developing and strengthening it, and eventually we are able to remain peacefully in our mind without struggling. Our mind naturally feels content.
An important point is that when we are in a mindful state, there is still intelligence. It’s not as if we blank out. Sometimes people think that a person who is in deep meditation doesn’t know what’s going on—that it’s like being asleep. In fact, there are meditative states where you deny sense perceptions their function, but this is not the accomplishment of shamatha practice.
Creating a Favorable Environment
There are certain conditions that are helpful for the practice of mindfulness. When we create the right environment it’s easier to practice.
It is good if the place where you meditate, even if it’s only a small space in your apartment, has a feeling of upliftedness and sacredness. It is also said that you should meditate in a place that is not too noisy or disturbing, and you should not be in a situation where your mind is going to be easily provoked into anger or jealousy or other emotions. If you are disturbed or irritated, then your practice is going to be affected.
Beginning the Practice
I encourage people to meditate frequently but for short periods of time—ten, fifteen, or twenty minutes. If you force it too much the practice can take on too much of a personality, and training the mind should be very, very simple. So you could meditate for ten minutes in the morning and ten minutes in the evening, and during that time you are really working with the mind. Then you just stop, get up, and go.
Often we just plop ourselves down to meditate and just let the mind take us wherever it may. We have to create a personal sense of discipline. When we sit down, we can remind ourselves: “I’m here to work on my mind. I’m here to train my mind.” It’s okay to say that to yourself when you sit down, literally. We need that kind of inspiration as we begin to practice.
Posture
The Buddhist approach is that the mind and body are connected. The energy flows better when the body is erect, and when it’s bent, the flow is changed and that directly affects your thought process. So there is a yoga of how to work with this. We’re not sitting up straight because we’re trying to be good schoolchildren; our posture actually affects the mind.
People who need to use a chair for meditation should sit upright with their feet touching the ground. Those using a meditation cushion such as a zafu or gomden should find a comfortable position with legs crossed and hands resting palm-down on your thighs. The hips are neither rotated forward too much, which creates tension, nor tilted back so you start slouching. You should have a feeling of stability and strength.
When we sit down the first thing we need to do is to really inhabit our body—really have a sense of our body. Often we sort of prop ourselves up and pretend we’re practicing, but we can’t even feel our body; we can’t even feel where it is. Instead, we need to be right here. So when you begin a meditation session, you can spend some initial time settling into your posture. You can feel that your spine is being pulled up from the top of your head so your posture is elongated, and then settle.
The basic principle is to keep an upright, erect posture. You are in a solid situation: your shoulders are level, your hips are level, your spine is stacked up. You can visualize putting your bones in the right order and letting your flesh hang off that structure. We use this posture in order to remain relaxed and awake. The practice we’re doing is very precise: you should be very much awake even though you are calm. If you find yourself getting dull or hazy or falling asleep, you should check your posture.
Gaze
For strict mindfulness practice, the gaze should be downward focusing a couple of inches in front of your nose. The eyes are open but not staring; your gaze is soft. We are trying to reduce sensory input as much as we can. People say, “Shouldn’t we have a sense of the environment?” but that’s not our concern in this practice. We’re just trying to work with the mind and the more we raise our gaze, the more distracted we’re going to be. It’s as if you had an overhead light shining over the whole room, and all of a sudden you focus it down right in front of you. You are purposefully ignoring what is going on around you. You are putting the horse of mind in a smaller corral.
Breath
When we do shamatha practice, we become more and more familiar with our mind, and in particular we learn to recognize the movement of the mind, which we experience as thoughts. We do this by using an object of meditation to provide a contrast or counterpoint to what’s happening in our mind. As soon as we go off and start thinking about something, awareness of the object of meditation will bring us back. We could put a rock in front of us and use it to focus our mind, but using the breath as the object of meditation is particularly helpful because it relaxes us.
As you start the practice, you have a sense of your body and a sense of where you are, and then you begin to notice the breathing. The whole feeling of the breath is very important. The breath should not be forced, obviously; you are breathing naturally. The breath is going in and out, in and out. With each breath you become relaxed.
Thoughts
No matter what kind of thought comes up, you should say to yourself, “That may be a really important issue in my life, but right now is not the time to think about it. Now I’m practicing meditation.” It gets down to how honest we are, how true we can be to ourselves, during each session.
Everyone gets lost in thought sometimes. You might think, “I can’t believe I got so absorbed in something like that,” but try not to make it too personal. Just try to be as unbiased as possible. Mind will be wild and we have to recognize that. We can’t push ourselves. If we’re trying to be completely concept-free, with no discursiveness at all, it’s just not going to happen.
So through the labeling process, we simply see our discursiveness. We notice that we have been lost in thought, we mentally label it “thinking”—gently and without judgment—and we come back to the breath. When we have a thought—no matter how wild or bizarre it may be—we just let it go and come back to the breath, come back to the situation here.
Each meditation session is a journey of discovery to understand the basic truth of who we are. In the beginning the most important lesson of meditation is seeing the speed of the mind. But the meditation tradition says that mind doesn’t have to be this way: it just hasn’t been worked with.
What we are talking about is very practical. Mindfulness practice is simple and completely feasible. And because we are working with the mind that experiences life directly, just by sitting and doing nothing, we are doing a tremendous amount.
Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche is holder of the Buddhist and Shambhala lineages of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. He has received teachings from many of the great Buddhist masters of this century, including Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Penor Rinpoche and his father Trungpa Rinpoche. In 1995 he was recognized as the incarnation of the great nineteenth-century Buddhist teacher Mipham Rinpoche.
Meditation Camp
Walking meditation!! Get up early morning and walking up to the top of mountain. It was cold morning that's why some monks covered the tower on their robes. We really enjoy walking in the morning because it's help us to stay way from the cool weather. Many of us don't like sitting meditation in the morning, we might fall a sleep while practicing meditation. We rather do walking meditation it keeps us awake and more aware on our steps.
Actully, I really enjoy the course since I had a chance to learn and share new experience with all friends. I was not a good practitioner during the meditation retreat because what I have learnt here at the camp it was the same to what I have been practcing in my daily, however I enjoy being with friends and sharing the new ideas.
^^The abbot of Wat Thaton was very nice and friendly when we first arrived there, he offered us a tour around his temple and explained about the place and backgournd of the temple. He was great and kind that offered us accommodation during the retreat and all the food^^.
Anyway, one thinng that still fresh in my mind was breakfast or lunch time. Every lunch time, we have to stand in line and wait for the portion one by one, it was really great everyone have the same amount of rice and food. I had great time there I wish I could stay at the camp more longer!! Smling !! No worry about homeworks within ten days
Well, meditaiton is very importance in our daliy life to do meditation is to be free from worry and trouble, it could help us to have happiness in life not in terms material or money but by looking inside happiness which is our true home-body. The more we live in mordern world is progress in terms of material and wealth, the more mental development is required in terms of spiritual wealth. Everyone can try just five minutes a day after one week we can see the change within ourself!!
Peace
Road Safety, first assessment concerning the Pchum Ben festival
During the Festival of the Death, a highly important religious celebration for the Cambodians, hundreds of thousands of car and motorbike drivers travelled on the roads throughout the Kingdom. The lack of respect of the Traffic Law and the ignorance of the rules of conduct by the drivers has led to numerous traffic accidents, despite a glowing report from the authorities.
The Pchum Ben holidays took place from Saturday 27 September until Tuesday 30 September. In Phnom Penh, four serious accidents were registered by the police. They resulted in the death of two people and seriously injured four others. According to Tin Pra Seu, in charge of the road safety, these numbers are good because lower than the ones of last year. “This is thanks to the fact that the police was better prepared and also because more people travel by car instead of taking the motorbike to go to their native village”, he explained. In Kampong Cham, on the road to Phnom Penh, which is one of the most dangerous in the Kingdom, eight accidents were registered by the police during these holidays, with three deaths and sixteen injured. For Chhay Koson, deputy commissioner of the provinces, “this year’s increase in numbers of accidents is above all due to the behaviour of the youth with little respect for the traffic rules”. Finally, in Siem Reap, five accidents led to the death of three people and injured twelve others, amongst which five seriously. Thang Sakun, traffic office director for the province, was relatively satisfied. “Even if we have one more death than last year, the number of accidents is decreasing. There were 12 in 2007. This is probably thanks to the traffic campaign”, he explained.
However, these are not definitive numbers because they only take three provinces into account. More detailed statistics should be available through provincial hospitals and public services.
The Pchum Ben holidays took place from Saturday 27 September until Tuesday 30 September. In Phnom Penh, four serious accidents were registered by the police. They resulted in the death of two people and seriously injured four others. According to Tin Pra Seu, in charge of the road safety, these numbers are good because lower than the ones of last year. “This is thanks to the fact that the police was better prepared and also because more people travel by car instead of taking the motorbike to go to their native village”, he explained. In Kampong Cham, on the road to Phnom Penh, which is one of the most dangerous in the Kingdom, eight accidents were registered by the police during these holidays, with three deaths and sixteen injured. For Chhay Koson, deputy commissioner of the provinces, “this year’s increase in numbers of accidents is above all due to the behaviour of the youth with little respect for the traffic rules”. Finally, in Siem Reap, five accidents led to the death of three people and injured twelve others, amongst which five seriously. Thang Sakun, traffic office director for the province, was relatively satisfied. “Even if we have one more death than last year, the number of accidents is decreasing. There were 12 in 2007. This is probably thanks to the traffic campaign”, he explained.
However, these are not definitive numbers because they only take three provinces into account. More detailed statistics should be available through provincial hospitals and public services.
Dubai Group eyes Cambodia
The Phnom Penh Post
Cambodia's Leopard Group could manage investment from the UAE-based fund, with sights set on energy, agriculture and property development
DUBAI Group, an investment company managing more than US$40 billion on behalf of the emirate's ruler, said it may invest in Leopard Capital's Cambodia fund, the group's first investment in the Kingdom.
"We are interested in Cambodia,'' said Lim See Teik, a senior private-equity analyst at Dubai Investment Group, the asset management unit.
"There seems to be a lot of potential.''
The prospect of oil and gas development and political stability are luring foreign investments in Cambodia.
The Cambodian economy grew 9.5 percent a year from 2000 to 2007, the fastest pace in Asia after China.An official at the Finance Ministry said he had no details on the investment.
"I am unaware of the news, but if it materialises, we are pleased to welcome the investment," Hang Chuon Naron, a secretary general at the ministry, told the Post Wednesday.
Dubai Group has invested in other Southeast Asian countries, except for military-ruled Myanmar, Lim said.
The group bought a 30 percent stake in Malaysian bio-diesel company GBD Investment Ltd for $49.5 million in April.
"Cambodia is probably the missing link in the jigsaw,'' Lim added, declining to say how much Dubai Group will invest.
Cambodia ranked 166th among 180 countries in Berlin-based Transparency International's 2008 survey of perceptions about corruption. Myanmar was the most corrupt.
'Opportunities'
Dubai Group, which includes seven units with interests in asset management, conventional and Islamic banking, private equity and insurance, was set up as part of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum's plan to diversify Dubai's economy.
Leopard Capital has invested in a housing project in Siem Reap.
The fund has identified potential investments in agriculture, commodities processing, a fast-food restaurant, banks, power plants and hotels, promising returns of about 25 percent a year, Chief Executive Officer Douglas Clayton said.
Earlier investments will offer much higher returns, he added.
"There is no shortage of opportunities,'' Clayton said. "Here, there are too many deals and not enough money; the country's changed faster than the perception has changed."
Leopard Capital told Bloomberg News it is taking longer than expected to raise the targeted $100 million amid the global financial turmoil.
The fund has raised $12.6 million and is set to attract additional commitments following meetings with investors from 17 countries in Phnom Penh last week Clayton, said.
Tougher environment
"The fundraising environment for everyone is a bit tougher right now given the Western banking crisis, but there are still plenty of investors out there looking for safe havens of growth, and private equity in Cambodia is certainly one of the few in Asia,'' said Clayton.
Cambodia's stock market, scheduled to open by the end of 2009, will have a capitalisation of as much as $2.5 billion in 2014, or about 20 percent of the nation's gross domestic product, said Ken Stevens, chief investment officer of Leopard Capital. Leopard Capital plans to cash out of most of its investments through share sales in the local market.
"The key thing is the development of a capital market which has sufficient breadth and depth to allow exits from investments,'' Dubai Group's Lim said.
"That would be a key concern for us,'' he said.
No information on the investment was available on the Dubai Group's website, and a company spokeswoman would not confirm or deny Dubai Group's plans.
Ancestors' Day in Cambodia
In Cambodia, respect for elders extends beyond holding the door for old ladies. Even the dead get their due during Prachum Benda, also called Ancestors' Day or Festival of the Dead, which kicked off last weekend. Cambodian Buddhists believe that the deceased stuck in the spirit world need their help so families deliver food to monks in an attempt to reach the souls of their ancestors and friends by virtue of the monks' sermons.
Everything climaxes on the 15th day of the waxing moon during the tenth month of the Khmer calendar, called "Pheaktrobotr." This year, it falls on September 30.
Metropolitan Khmers flood out of the capital city of Phnom Penh to spend time with relatives at their homes in the countryside. There, they cook, pray, cook and pray some more. At the end, the hope is that loved ones received the Karmic boost they needed for reincarnation.
Gifts for ghosts
Believers pay homage to their deceased relatives, offering food, water and prayers for their quick release from purgatory and re-entry into the circle of rebirth at Phnom Penh's Wat Botum at 4am Thursday. Celebrations for P'Chum Ben - or the festival of the dead - began September 15 and will culminate early next week with many Cambodians travelling back to their home provinces to celebrate with family members. Water buffalo races end Cambodia festival
Thousands of Cambodians have converged on a northeastern village for an annual water buffalo race
VIHEAR SUOR, Cambodia (AFP) — Thousands of Cambodians converged on a village northeast of the capital Monday for annual water buffalo races which bring the country's festival for the dead to a close.
The races mark the last day of Pchum Ben, a three-day festival in which Cambodians believe their dead ancestors emerge to walk the earth. Prayers at Buddhist pagodas and offerings are made to ease the suffering of the spirits.
"I've been joining this race since I was 15 years old. I enjoy the thrill of riding the buffalo in front of so many people like this," said Chorn Khein, a 30-year-old farmer.
The 35 contestants took part to commemorate the Neakta Preah Srok pagoda spirit, said San Sem, 55, a farmer and one of three race judges.
"We want Neakta to look after our village and take care of our cattle so they don't get ill," San Sem said.
"Another reason for the celebration is that the villagers want to show off their own buffaloes," he said.
Vihear Sour village about 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of Phnom Penh began holding the race more than 70 years ago. It is followed by a traditional wrestling match.
The races mark the last day of Pchum Ben, a three-day festival in which Cambodians believe their dead ancestors emerge to walk the earth. Prayers at Buddhist pagodas and offerings are made to ease the suffering of the spirits.
"I've been joining this race since I was 15 years old. I enjoy the thrill of riding the buffalo in front of so many people like this," said Chorn Khein, a 30-year-old farmer.
The 35 contestants took part to commemorate the Neakta Preah Srok pagoda spirit, said San Sem, 55, a farmer and one of three race judges.
"We want Neakta to look after our village and take care of our cattle so they don't get ill," San Sem said.
"Another reason for the celebration is that the villagers want to show off their own buffaloes," he said.
Vihear Sour village about 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of Phnom Penh began holding the race more than 70 years ago. It is followed by a traditional wrestling match.
This Year, Costly Rice for Hungry Ghosts
In more than 5,000 pagodas, Cambodians offer tons of rice to wandering ghosts in early morning ceremonies.
By Pin Sisovann, VOA Khmer
Original report from Battambang province
29 September 2008
In the provincial darkness of an early morning last week, the traditional "Song of Crying Souls" blared from a loudspeaker lashed to a coconut tree. The song was a call to the "pret," ghosts condemned to hell who cannot walk the earth by day, to Russey pagoda, in Battambang province, to receive offerings of rice and sugarcane.
This time of year, during the Pchum Ben festival, relatives of the dead amass at pagodas like this one to throw rice to hungry ghosts. And this year, more than others, that ceremony is getting expensive. In the face of high prices and an estimated 25 percent inflation rate this year, devotees seem undeterred, throwing an immeasurable amount of rice in the dirt.
Around 300 people travel to Russey pagoda—one of more than 5,000 in Cambodia—each night during Pchum Ben, a 15-day Buddhist ceremony that culminates Monday and Tuesday.
Venerable Ratanak Pho, a senior monk at Russey pagoda, explained that the souls of criminals who have robbed or killed, or those who maltreated their parents or eaten monk's food before monks, will become pret. (An even worse hell is reserved for the souls of those who kill their parents, incite violence among monks, or, traditionally, shed the blood of the Buddha.)
Original report from Battambang province
29 September 2008
In the provincial darkness of an early morning last week, the traditional "Song of Crying Souls" blared from a loudspeaker lashed to a coconut tree. The song was a call to the "pret," ghosts condemned to hell who cannot walk the earth by day, to Russey pagoda, in Battambang province, to receive offerings of rice and sugarcane.
This time of year, during the Pchum Ben festival, relatives of the dead amass at pagodas like this one to throw rice to hungry ghosts. And this year, more than others, that ceremony is getting expensive. In the face of high prices and an estimated 25 percent inflation rate this year, devotees seem undeterred, throwing an immeasurable amount of rice in the dirt.
Around 300 people travel to Russey pagoda—one of more than 5,000 in Cambodia—each night during Pchum Ben, a 15-day Buddhist ceremony that culminates Monday and Tuesday.
Venerable Ratanak Pho, a senior monk at Russey pagoda, explained that the souls of criminals who have robbed or killed, or those who maltreated their parents or eaten monk's food before monks, will become pret. (An even worse hell is reserved for the souls of those who kill their parents, incite violence among monks, or, traditionally, shed the blood of the Buddha.)
At Russey pagoda, Battambang province, rice if offered to thousands of departed ancestors killed by the Khmer Rouge.These souls cannot eat from traditional alms plates, but must eat rice offerings from the ground, he said.
"We don't put the rice on plates to offer them because those whose souls are born as pret cannot eat food from plates or any clean material," Ratanak Pho said. This process is called "bayben."
Bayben is signaled to the pret by the sounds of drums, and at Russey pagoda, the howls of dogs accompanied pre-dawn drumming. People began to throw their rice-ball offerings on the ground, along with sugarcane and cakes.
Behind them walked five young boys, the hungry living. What the boys didn't get, the neighborhood dogs snatched.
One of those who offered rice was Ung Reaksmey, from a nearby village, who said he would spend seven mornings at the pagoda, making offerings to his grandparents, uncles and aunts, who all died nearby under the Khmer Rouge.
"We cook one can of rice to share among four or five or us," he said.
Across Cambodia, millions will follow this pattern, at a time when the price of rice has steadily risen, costing up to 3,500 riel, or $0.87, per kilogram, a rise that prompted an export ban by Prime Minister Hun Sen earlier this year.
Yang Sang Koma, director of the Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture, warned that people should reduce some of their bayben offerings this year.
"I think we should save rice from the ceremony, because we should feel sorry for the loss of rice," he said. "The production of rice is getting harder than before. Cambodian tradition holds that everyone should go to at least seven pagodas, but I think once is enough for the ceremony. It appears extravagant to go so many times."
If only 4 million of Cambodia's 14 million people threw bayben just once over the ceremony, it would amount to 250 tons or rice for ghosts.
"Everyone thinks it's a little, but if we add it together and multiply by many days, it would be too much," Yang Sang Koma said. "We should realize that at present, there are many people who starve and cannot buy rice to eat."
Such conservation might be a tough sell. During Pchum Ben, Cambodians make offerings of bayben because they are unsure if their loved ones have become pret. They throw rice just in case, and if their ancestors are not pret, at least some pret will eat.
"We don't put the rice on plates to offer them because those whose souls are born as pret cannot eat food from plates or any clean material," Ratanak Pho said. This process is called "bayben."
Bayben is signaled to the pret by the sounds of drums, and at Russey pagoda, the howls of dogs accompanied pre-dawn drumming. People began to throw their rice-ball offerings on the ground, along with sugarcane and cakes.
Behind them walked five young boys, the hungry living. What the boys didn't get, the neighborhood dogs snatched.
One of those who offered rice was Ung Reaksmey, from a nearby village, who said he would spend seven mornings at the pagoda, making offerings to his grandparents, uncles and aunts, who all died nearby under the Khmer Rouge.
"We cook one can of rice to share among four or five or us," he said.
Across Cambodia, millions will follow this pattern, at a time when the price of rice has steadily risen, costing up to 3,500 riel, or $0.87, per kilogram, a rise that prompted an export ban by Prime Minister Hun Sen earlier this year.
Yang Sang Koma, director of the Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture, warned that people should reduce some of their bayben offerings this year.
"I think we should save rice from the ceremony, because we should feel sorry for the loss of rice," he said. "The production of rice is getting harder than before. Cambodian tradition holds that everyone should go to at least seven pagodas, but I think once is enough for the ceremony. It appears extravagant to go so many times."
If only 4 million of Cambodia's 14 million people threw bayben just once over the ceremony, it would amount to 250 tons or rice for ghosts.
"Everyone thinks it's a little, but if we add it together and multiply by many days, it would be too much," Yang Sang Koma said. "We should realize that at present, there are many people who starve and cannot buy rice to eat."
Such conservation might be a tough sell. During Pchum Ben, Cambodians make offerings of bayben because they are unsure if their loved ones have become pret. They throw rice just in case, and if their ancestors are not pret, at least some pret will eat.
Hundreds of people come to Russey pagoda each night during the 15-day Pchum Ben ceremony, which culminates Monday and Tuesday.The area around Russey pagoda, in Battambang's Morng Russey district, is full of ghosts. It was the regional security headquarters for the Khmer Rouge, making it an enormous prison. Thousands of Cambodians, evicted from their homes, were brought here for interrogation. Some were murdered by cadre of the regime; others starved to death.
"They were brought here for questioning at the temple," said Yurk Pheung, chief of Russey pagoda, who had just finished early-morning bayben chanting. "They went missing after questioning. We don't know where they were sent, or went to. Wives and children could only wait. Some lost fathers. Others lost mothers."
The Khmer Rouge of nearby Boeung Bei village were notoriously cruel, he said, killing hundreds of families, perhaps as many as 20,000 people.
"Some were smashed to death," the monk said. "Others were not, but died of starvation. Some died from overwork and lie down in the rice fields. In 1979, I came to look for gold buried with the dead. I saw skulls here and there."
Before dawn scattered the souls of the departed, Chhay Chan Theany, who lost her mother, four siblings, a grandfather, grandmother, and four uncles and aunts, placed her own rice in the grass, to keep the dirt off.
"Well," she said simply, "they died of starvation at Boeung Bei village."
It was her first bayben ceremony this year, she said, adding, "If I have a chance, I will come again."
"They were brought here for questioning at the temple," said Yurk Pheung, chief of Russey pagoda, who had just finished early-morning bayben chanting. "They went missing after questioning. We don't know where they were sent, or went to. Wives and children could only wait. Some lost fathers. Others lost mothers."
The Khmer Rouge of nearby Boeung Bei village were notoriously cruel, he said, killing hundreds of families, perhaps as many as 20,000 people.
"Some were smashed to death," the monk said. "Others were not, but died of starvation. Some died from overwork and lie down in the rice fields. In 1979, I came to look for gold buried with the dead. I saw skulls here and there."
Before dawn scattered the souls of the departed, Chhay Chan Theany, who lost her mother, four siblings, a grandfather, grandmother, and four uncles and aunts, placed her own rice in the grass, to keep the dirt off.
"Well," she said simply, "they died of starvation at Boeung Bei village."
It was her first bayben ceremony this year, she said, adding, "If I have a chance, I will come again."
About Me
Hello friends!
Welcome you all to my Blog.
I'm glad to have you come and visit my blog,
it would be great if you leave a comment.
My name is Chhunny.
I was born in Kompong Cham, Cambodia. I was raised in a peasant family in a very remote area, most people over here don’t really know much about city life. I was the second son of eight children, three brothers and four sisters. Now, I am a student of Buddhist university Chiang Mai , Thailand. I’m here doing for my bachelor degree, it takes me four years, majoring in Philosophy. I have been in Thailand for almost three years and I enjoy being here very much.
My Values
Maung Chiang Mai (50200)
Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Email: monksplanet@gmail.com
I'm glad to have you come and visit my blog,
it would be great if you leave a comment.
My name is Chhunny.
I was born in Kompong Cham, Cambodia. I was raised in a peasant family in a very remote area, most people over here don’t really know much about city life. I was the second son of eight children, three brothers and four sisters. Now, I am a student of Buddhist university Chiang Mai , Thailand. I’m here doing for my bachelor degree, it takes me four years, majoring in Philosophy. I have been in Thailand for almost three years and I enjoy being here very much.
My Values
- Self-awareness: emotional self-awareness, accurate self-assessment and self-confidence.
- Self management: self-control, transparency, adaptability, achievement, initiative and optimism.
- Social awareness: empathy, organizational awareness and service.
- Relationship management: inspirational leadership, influence, developing others, change catalyst, conflict management, building bonds and teamwork.
- Risk Taker: capability of predicting, foreseeing and projecting future; and taking risk to pursue changes.
- Peace: pursuing mindfulness and consciousness through meditation as the vehicle to face all hardship and difficulties.
- Diversity: respect cultural and individual differences and is inclusive in work activities. Utilize and recognize the contribution of different perspectives.
- Trust: promote open communication, accepts and acts on open and honest feedback, take responsibilites for actions and admits mistakes.
- Respect: practises patience and active listening. Show patience, tolerance and concern for people at all levels and from all backgrounds.
- Integrity: keep commitments and promises, displays and reinforces the highest ethical standard, accurately represents own competencies.
- Excellence: insist on excellence in all things, provide recognition beyond wins and billability, continuously strive to innovate and improve, contributes to and stays current with developments in the field.
Maung Chiang Mai (50200)
Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Email: monksplanet@gmail.com
Maha Ghosananda (1929-2007
The world lost one of the most revered and important figures in twentieth and twenty-first century Buddhism when Semdech Preah Maha Ghosananda, Supreme Patriarch of Cambodian Buddhism and a six-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee, died at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, Northampton, MA, early on the morning of March 12th. Less an advocate for nonviolence than the very embodiment of it, he was often referred to in the media as the “Gandhi of Cambodia”—a fitting moniker for a man who modestly described his quite astonishing form of socially-engaged Buddhism in this way: “I was making peace with myself...I was making peace with myself…When you make peace with yourself, you make peace with the world.”
Maha Ghosananda was ordained in the Cambodian Buddhist Order of Theravāda Buddhism at the age of fourteen. As a young monk, he studied with such luminaries as Samdech Preah Sangha Raja Chuon Noth, Bhikkhu Buddhadhasa, and Nichidatsu Fujii, and also earned a doctorate in Buddhist Studies from India’s Nalanda University. He was studying with Ajahn Dhammadaro at his forest hermitage in Thailand when refugees from his country first began to flee from the horrors of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime. By the mid-1970s, he had left the hermitage completely and was serving full-time in the refugee communities along the Thai-Cambodian border. Among other activities, he established temples in many of the camps, ordained new monks, and distributed tracts to survivors with a quote from the Dhammapada: “Hatred can never be appeased by hatred, hatred can only be appeased by love.”
As one of relatively few Buddhist monks to survive the Cambodian genocide, he was instrumental in preserving the country's unique Buddhist heritage. (The New York Times estimates that of the 60,000 Buddhist monks practicing in Cambodia before the Khmer Rouge, only about 3,000 were alive by the time the Vietnamese captured Phnom Penh.) Almost immediately following the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979, he had returned to begin teaching, establishing temples, and revitalizing Buddhism in Cambodia. In the years that followed, he would also establish temples and train monastic practitioners in immigrant communities throughout North America, Europe, and Australia.
The late 1980s and early 1990s saw tremendous changes for Maha Ghosananda on several fronts. In 1988, he was elected Supreme Patriarch of Cambodian Buddhism by his peers in the sangha. At around the same time, he moved to Leverett, MA, at the request of a Cambodian community there. (He would divide time between Cambodia, Leverett, and Providence, RI, until his death.) With the publication of an exquisite book, Step by Step: Meditations on Wisdom and Compassion (published by Parallax Press and still in print), his distinctive, powerfully elegiac and enormously compelling teachings became available to a much wider audience. Speaking to Tricycle: The Buddhist Review on the occasion of their first issue in the fall of 1991, he said:
- [What is Buddhism?] Knowing how to eat. Why to eat and where to eat and what to eat. And with whom to eat. And for whom. Life is a process of eating. We try to eat other people but do not let them eat us. And the Buddha cries when he sees this suffering.
- It is a law of the universe that retaliation, hatred, and revenge only continue the cycle and never stop it...Reconciliation does not mean that we surrender rights and conditions, but rather that we use love. Our wisdom and our compassion must walk together. Having one without the other is like walking on one foot; you will fall. Balancing the two, you will walk very well, step by step.
As the walks continued and drew attention from the international media, Maha Ghosananda was honored with both Japan’s Niwano Peace Prize and Norway’s Rafto Human Rights Award for his work. In addition, as mentioned above, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize six times. Among those who cited him for the honor were U.S. Senator Claiborne Pell (who nominated him twice), the American Friends Services Committee, and an anonymous Nobel Peace laureate.
Commenting on his death in a post to the Buddhist_Chaplaincy Yahoo! Group, Beth Goldring of the Brahmavihara/Cambodia AIDS Project, wrote that Maha Ghosananda’s death is “the kind of loss that cannot be measured.” Indeed, we’ve lost a living Buddha…
Written: Danny
