Tragedy in Asia

Re: Tragedy in Asia

[quote author=Rich Lee link=board=Offtopic;num=1104173054;start=15#17 date=12/28/04 at 17:45:42]2004 sucks ass...

have you guys seen the video from inside a resturaunt looking out over the water as the wave came in? in came right up into the room the guy was in...and the building was elevated...you can see people being swept away. so brutal.
[/quote]

The video can be seen here:
http://www.dagbladet.no/download/tsunamiphuket.asx

You can't really understand what happend down there. What you see in the video is nothing compared to the big waves that hit them. Walls of water crushing everything in it's way. There are islands down there where the whole population is missing!
 
Re: Tragedy in Asia

Amazon http://www.amazon.com/ makes it easy to donate money to the relief in South Asia through the Red Cross, if you're so inclined and have a few dollars to spare. I normally wouldn't plug charities on this board, but since it's related to the topic at hand, I thought it would be okay to share the info.

josh
 
Re: Tragedy in Asia

[quote author=P.K. Gillock link=board=Offtopic;num=1104173054;start=0#14 date=12/28/04 at 05:00:08]So, for me, it's difficult to have Thai people smile and joke when they talk about 9/11 or about the earthquake. But that's their way of dealing with problems. They just smile and keep it light. Avoidance and deniall. Sad[/quote]

Thanks for the insight PK. I wonder if the 'smiling' is in fact a cultural difference and not 'denial'. I know a few Buddhist monks, and a handfull of Roshi's. From what I understand, death is simply a part of life, easier to digest in those areas, than in the west. I could go on and on about the theories behind this, but you get the idea, surely.

On another note, I was watching a Tsunami expert (whatever that is) on the news last night. What's amazing is I was under the impression that these were monster size walls of waves crushing the coastlines. In fact these waves were no more than waiste to head high.

Apparantly most of the deaths are not from drowning but in fact from the tons of debris that the water picks up and slams around. On the areas where their was no cars, trucks, trees, etc. most of the coast goers lived. I guess the swimming was not the problem (in some cases), but getting nailed by everything in the water. Which to me sounds far more gruesome, considering they have to dodge all this stuff in these powerful currents waiste high. Amazing.

In gassho.

-a
 
Re: Tragedy in Asia

alvarez, you're right, it is a cultural difference. I thought that's how I explained it. The Thai people are the nicest most kind-hearted people you'll ever meet. And their culture is beautiful.  But it is a culture that handles situations MUCH differently than westerners. They are VERY passive people and don't like to talk about problems or have confrontations. Unfortunately, their economy, education, and health systems have suffered from this passive attitude. (edit)

I don't think there's ever been an event like this, that involved so many countries, cultures, and religions. This is one of those times where the borders drop and we help our fellow man. Do what you can. Even if it's just thinking about those who were victims.
 
Re: Tragedy in Asia

[quote author=P.K. Gillock link=board=Offtopic;num=1104173054;start=15#24 date=12/29/04 at 10:06:06]But it is a culture that handles situations MUCH differently than westerners. They are VERY passive people and don't like to talk about problems or have confrontations. Unfortunately, their economy, education, and health systems have suffered from this passive attitude. And now this tragedy happened.[/quote]

Hmm. I guess that's where we dissagree. I think this 'passive' thing you refer to is not an attitude, but rather a system of beliefs that goes back many a moons, it's the ability to accept tragedy as a part of life, in the 'cycle' of things. Now, I'm not speaking for all of Thailand, or Asia for that matter, I can only speak from the Buddhist perspective here, and the other hundreds of Eastern philosophies.

Being passive is not the root of economy, education, and health system failure. This was a natural disaster, and as far as nature goes, it's just another part of life, an organic process that you can either accept and roll with or fight against causing additional suffering. That's the deal in a nutshell.

Now, the root of all the other controlable issues that ARE at the hands of man, well, I could only offer my simpleton thoughts on those matters which aren't worth a hill of beans, and best left up to those in Thailand to figure out. I'm not a politician, and would never pretend to understand the political, financial details of Thailand.

Not sure if I'm being clear on this point, but I think we both have valid thoughts on this. Maybe we're just speaking from both sides of one coin?

Here's a quick Buddhist parable I remember that may give some additional thoughts into the possible Thai perspective...

A man was being chased by a tiger. In his desperation he dove over the side of a cliff and grabbed a vine. As the tiger was pawing away above him he looked down below and saw another tiger at the base of the cliff, waiting for him to fall. To top it off two mice were gnawing away at the vine. At that moment he spotted a luscious strawberry next to him, and ate it.

It was delicious!

Also, I'd like to point out something one of my old teachers wrote on the topic of 'tragedy'. Just an interesting, and in my opinion insightful pov...

"Aside from any accident we might encounter in life, there's one 'accident' at the end none of us can avoid. We're done for. From the moment of conception our life is on it's way out. And from a personal point of view this is a tradgedy. So we spend our life in a pointless battle to avoid that end. That missdirected battle is the real tradgedy.

Suppose we live near the ocean in a warm climate where we can swim all year, but in water where there are sharks. If we're smart swimmers we'll research where the sharks are likely to hang out, and then we'll avoid that area.

But sharks, being sharks sooner or later one may stray into our swimming area to find us. We can never be certain. If a shark doesn't get us a riptide, or Tsunami might. We may swim a lifetime and never encounter a shark; yet worry about them can poison all of our swimming days.

Each one of us has figured out where we think the sharks are in our lives, and we spend most of our energy worrying about them."

As a dissclaimer, I'm not suggesting that they sit on their ass and do nothing to avoid controlable issues, that's not the point I'm trying to make, I'm just suggesting that simply calling this a 'passive' ideal that causes them problems is not true.

I'll jump off my soapbox now.
 
Re: Tragedy in Asia

i dont feel we (humans) should be apologetic for having strong views on sensitive topics, or issues. it seems that many are finding frustration as to if this is politically correct or not. example war in iraq- but this of course is a debatable topic. natural disasters are of course, not. what makes a person passionate for something? why does the heart burn? storytellers, filmmakers, need to know. they too need to feel the burning human heart- its pains and sorrows, and see how they are expressed. but what a strange contrast of human nature we see between the concern of tsunami victims, and the flood of hate in (iraQ)...........
 
Re: Tragedy in Asia

Good point Greggy! Death is Death. It reminds me of the poor people of Bhopal, India who suffered horible losses to the tsunami of the Union Carbide chemical plant gas wave of 1984 and this has all but been ignored? The loss of life was the same and the birth defects and related illness continue to this day. It is a tragedy when these disasters strike, but it is even more of a tragedy when (in the case of Bhopal) something could be done to help and yet nothing is. just my 2c
 
Re: Tragedy in Asia

I did not intend to say, "And now this happenend." because I thought their culture caused it! That would be ridiculous. I was merely stating that their economy, education, and health standards were already suffering, ...and now this devastating tragedy occurred. Most of the countries hit were countries that were already struggling to survive. If this were to happen in the states, most people would have insurance and government assistance (FEMA). These countries don't have such luxuries.

I know what I'm talking about when I say that passiveness has caused a delay in development. Our western culture (the desire to explore, conquer, and invent) has created rapid development. Some cultures have no such desire. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Not at all. (The locals have taught me so much about life and myself, I sometimes feel guilty calling myself a "teacher" ...I feel more like a student.)

I just feel passiveness should not be allowed in the classroom. Education is the answer to everything and I witness apathy everyday and it pains me to see.

I'm very sorry to distract from the topic. I just wanted to explain my comments.
 
Re: Tragedy in Asia

[quote author=P.K. Gillock link=board=Offtopic;num=1104173054;start=15#28 date=12/29/04 at 19:05:51]I just feel passiveness should not be allowed in the classroom. Education is the answer to everything and I witness apathy everyday and it pains me to see.[/quote]

Well said, and I agree. The rest of your points are valid, I just had another angle I wanted to share, no offense meant at all.
:)
 
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