New learnings...both here and there...
I just recently came back from Bangkok...well, not really...I was more in Nonthaburi, but we did spend most of every day in Bangkok...except for Friday since we went to Ayutthaya...second capital of Thailand...the one that the Burmese destroyed...
...but a follower of the Dao is like water. So while in Thailand, I still kept on testing my theories on following the Dao, but because of that, it meant actually being like a Thai as much as possible...so I both enjoyed very much the trip, and I learned at the same time...and I have some new learnings...aside from that most of my theories just need practice, but the concepts work...
...I just watched Tom-Yum-Goong by Tony Jaa...not as brutal as the action in Ong-Bak, but the story is nicer, and I realize the combat was more realistic, but I really enjoyed the fight scene between Tony Jaa and the Capoeira guy...very beautiful...
...after watching the movie and reading books on successful living in Thailand, it seems that the Thais resent the Sino-Thais much the same way that Filipinos resent the Chinese-Filipinos...it seems that Thailand only let the Chinese into their country to do menial jobs, much like railroads...that kind of stuff...and then all of a sudden the Chinese gained a strong hold on Thai economy...it seems that not only did these workers go up the ladder, they eventually bought the ladder...just like the foundry near my house...and what boggles the mind is how these Chinese people manage to eventually acquire the businesses that they work for...not because I'm surprised that they progress in their careers....the Chinese are immensely hard-working and frugal...both potent factors in eventual success...the only thing those two things need is time...but to BUY the company...the owner first must sell, right? And what company owner in his right mind would do that?
...and then I found out that the foundry near my house was acquired by a Chinese employee (father of the current owner) by taking advantage of the late Filipino owner's daughter's illiteracy...they made her sign something that effectively said the foundry would go to the Chinese employee upon her death...wonderful...
...and as a follower of the Dao, I perceive clearly the Yin and Yang in the situation...on the Yin side, I say the father of the current owner was smart...because he was able to make such a small fulcrum as the daughter's illiteracy pivotal in such a big leverage...now his family owns the foundry...but on the Yang side, it's just not right...If everybody were to do that, then everybody would live in fear of being taken advantage of, instead of being simply aware and on guard the shield is always up, and paranoia would set in society...that's what's happened to the Philippines...it's not safe at all to go out there! But in Thailand, the peace and order is so good that special children can commute by themselves to school! It's because people there are generally more righteous. People here are more like that Chinese employee...sly and cunning, scheming, just waiting for an opportunity to get the better of somebody for the not-so-mighty peso...and to tell you the truth, that Chinese employee disgusts me...it gives decent Chinese people like my friends a bad name...
Because of Thailand, I missed my friends a lot...I missed conversing with them into the wee hours of the night....and well into the morning...I asked some of my friends how I could give them my pasalubongs to them...with one friend, I eventually asked some things that I've been meaning to ask...
...well basically I consider myself a spiritual person, and everything I believe flows from that spirituality, and every thought and word and action flows from my beliefs...so really that spirituality is pretty much the center of my life...so when I get the chance to talk to somebody about their spirituality I tend to start a conversation about it...especially if I knew the person on a more "professional" level and the person by some phrase or sentence or some moment of bonding opens up that more "personal" side to them...and so I ask this friend...and this friend surprised me by saying that the theology of Ateneo initially shocked her, to the point that she talked to her formator in high school...now, don't start thinking as to who it is...I know for a fact that a lot of Chinese female faithfuls take their faiths to heart...quite literally...that if something shakes that it sort of shakes them up too from the inside...so I imagine that a lot of Chinese girls do this too...but anyway, it turns out that she apparently only experienced a "thinking out" faith, a faith that reasons, in the Ateneo, meaning that before Ateneo, she was used to just accepting it as gospel truth (play on words half-intended)...much like another female Chinese friend of mine from before...and I remember that in very traditional families, which sometimes is solely due to the father's personality (I've seen it happen), kids are just told things. If they don't follow or conform, they are ignored...and later on in life sometimes disownment becomes a serious matter...now, don't get me wrong...although some people know me for rebelling quite a bit, I imagine I might actually raise kids that way, too...keeps things grounded in reality, sort of...but anyway, when I remembered that, it got me thinking....possibly it is due to the Chinese upbringing? Not being Chinese, but the way of upbringing, which I realize is almost half due to the school...possibly more actually, maybe 3/4, but then I don't want to discount the family's upbringing of the child...
...but, could it not be due to Chinese upbringing?
...or maybe not....because I remember Yip Man told his students, "Why don't you try it? Maybe I'm deceiving you..." and because of that 詠春 gained its reputation of being a truly combative kung-fu...he didn't tell them to swallow it, he told them to try it out...he put his teaching at stake, and his students found him to be right....of course the end is the same, the pupils accepted what he taught, but not because he told them to, but because they saw and felt for themselves that they worked...and a teacher, a sifu, has pretty much the same role as that of a father to a pupil...and Yip Man was a VERY traditional Chinese man, to the point of xenophobia...
...so maybe Chinese upbringing is not really as gagging as it seems...maybe only the upbringers are...?
...but if so, it finally makes sense to me...
...and so the Dao flows on...
...but a follower of the Dao is like water. So while in Thailand, I still kept on testing my theories on following the Dao, but because of that, it meant actually being like a Thai as much as possible...so I both enjoyed very much the trip, and I learned at the same time...and I have some new learnings...aside from that most of my theories just need practice, but the concepts work...
...I just watched Tom-Yum-Goong by Tony Jaa...not as brutal as the action in Ong-Bak, but the story is nicer, and I realize the combat was more realistic, but I really enjoyed the fight scene between Tony Jaa and the Capoeira guy...very beautiful...
...after watching the movie and reading books on successful living in Thailand, it seems that the Thais resent the Sino-Thais much the same way that Filipinos resent the Chinese-Filipinos...it seems that Thailand only let the Chinese into their country to do menial jobs, much like railroads...that kind of stuff...and then all of a sudden the Chinese gained a strong hold on Thai economy...it seems that not only did these workers go up the ladder, they eventually bought the ladder...just like the foundry near my house...and what boggles the mind is how these Chinese people manage to eventually acquire the businesses that they work for...not because I'm surprised that they progress in their careers....the Chinese are immensely hard-working and frugal...both potent factors in eventual success...the only thing those two things need is time...but to BUY the company...the owner first must sell, right? And what company owner in his right mind would do that?
...and then I found out that the foundry near my house was acquired by a Chinese employee (father of the current owner) by taking advantage of the late Filipino owner's daughter's illiteracy...they made her sign something that effectively said the foundry would go to the Chinese employee upon her death...wonderful...
...and as a follower of the Dao, I perceive clearly the Yin and Yang in the situation...on the Yin side, I say the father of the current owner was smart...because he was able to make such a small fulcrum as the daughter's illiteracy pivotal in such a big leverage...now his family owns the foundry...but on the Yang side, it's just not right...If everybody were to do that, then everybody would live in fear of being taken advantage of, instead of being simply aware and on guard the shield is always up, and paranoia would set in society...that's what's happened to the Philippines...it's not safe at all to go out there! But in Thailand, the peace and order is so good that special children can commute by themselves to school! It's because people there are generally more righteous. People here are more like that Chinese employee...sly and cunning, scheming, just waiting for an opportunity to get the better of somebody for the not-so-mighty peso...and to tell you the truth, that Chinese employee disgusts me...it gives decent Chinese people like my friends a bad name...
Because of Thailand, I missed my friends a lot...I missed conversing with them into the wee hours of the night....and well into the morning...I asked some of my friends how I could give them my pasalubongs to them...with one friend, I eventually asked some things that I've been meaning to ask...
...well basically I consider myself a spiritual person, and everything I believe flows from that spirituality, and every thought and word and action flows from my beliefs...so really that spirituality is pretty much the center of my life...so when I get the chance to talk to somebody about their spirituality I tend to start a conversation about it...especially if I knew the person on a more "professional" level and the person by some phrase or sentence or some moment of bonding opens up that more "personal" side to them...and so I ask this friend...and this friend surprised me by saying that the theology of Ateneo initially shocked her, to the point that she talked to her formator in high school...now, don't start thinking as to who it is...I know for a fact that a lot of Chinese female faithfuls take their faiths to heart...quite literally...that if something shakes that it sort of shakes them up too from the inside...so I imagine that a lot of Chinese girls do this too...but anyway, it turns out that she apparently only experienced a "thinking out" faith, a faith that reasons, in the Ateneo, meaning that before Ateneo, she was used to just accepting it as gospel truth (play on words half-intended)...much like another female Chinese friend of mine from before...and I remember that in very traditional families, which sometimes is solely due to the father's personality (I've seen it happen), kids are just told things. If they don't follow or conform, they are ignored...and later on in life sometimes disownment becomes a serious matter...now, don't get me wrong...although some people know me for rebelling quite a bit, I imagine I might actually raise kids that way, too...keeps things grounded in reality, sort of...but anyway, when I remembered that, it got me thinking....possibly it is due to the Chinese upbringing? Not being Chinese, but the way of upbringing, which I realize is almost half due to the school...possibly more actually, maybe 3/4, but then I don't want to discount the family's upbringing of the child...
...but, could it not be due to Chinese upbringing?
...or maybe not....because I remember Yip Man told his students, "Why don't you try it? Maybe I'm deceiving you..." and because of that 詠春 gained its reputation of being a truly combative kung-fu...he didn't tell them to swallow it, he told them to try it out...he put his teaching at stake, and his students found him to be right....of course the end is the same, the pupils accepted what he taught, but not because he told them to, but because they saw and felt for themselves that they worked...and a teacher, a sifu, has pretty much the same role as that of a father to a pupil...and Yip Man was a VERY traditional Chinese man, to the point of xenophobia...
...so maybe Chinese upbringing is not really as gagging as it seems...maybe only the upbringers are...?
...but if so, it finally makes sense to me...
...and so the Dao flows on...