From fwestra@... Fri Nov 08 08:47:51 2002 Return-Path: X-Sender: fwestra@... X-Apparently-To: mysterylights@yahoogroups.com Received: (EGP: mail-8_2_3_0); 8 Nov 2002 16:47:49 -0000 Received: (qmail 67487 invoked from network); 8 Nov 2002 16:47:49 -0000 Received: from unknown (66.218.66.218) by m3.grp.scd.yahoo.com with QMQP; 8 Nov 2002 16:47:49 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO hetnet.nl) (194.151.104.156) by mta3.grp.scd.yahoo.com with SMTP; 8 Nov 2002 16:47:49 -0000 Received: from ns.ripe.net ([213.75.182.141]) by hetnet.nl with Microsoft SMTPSVC(5.5.1877.757.75); Fri, 8 Nov 2002 17:49:47 +0100 MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Date: Fri, 08 Nov 2002 17:47:09 +0100 X-Mailer: Net-Tamer 1.12.0 Subject: Fwd = "The real meaning behind the Naga fireballs" Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Mailreader: NTReader v0.37w(P)/Beta (Registered) Return-Path: fwestra@... Message-ID: <0fd0d47491608b2HNMAIL01@...> From: Frits Westra X-Yahoo-Group-Post: member; u=196822 X-Yahoo-Profile: parodynl Forwarded by: fwestra@... (Frits Westra) URL: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/page.news. php3?clid=11&theme=A&usrsess=1&id=3803 Original Date: Thu, 7 Nov 2002 17:30:44 -0800 ========================== Forwarded message begins ====================== The real meaning behind the Naga fireballs Published on Nov 8, 2002 In TV journalism, seeing is believing. That is why TV is the most powerful medium of all branches of journalism because its cameras can bring live pictures as well as real sound to their audience in a dimension matched by no other media. But the iTV team of investigative reporters who witnessed fireballs being emitted from the middle of the Mekong River in Nong Khai province by a Naga, a mythical serpent, did not believe what they saw. So they went out of their way to prove that what they really saw was unreal. By doing so, iTV succeeded in creating a conspiracy theory. That was a start of all the trouble for iTV. Every year at the end of the Buddhist Lent period, from both sides of the Mekong River, thousands of people joyfully witness the fireballs of the Naga, shot gloriously from its mouth into the air as a gesture of homage to the Lord Buddha. During this period, the Lord Buddha returns to Earth to make his miracles. The Naga, a loyal subject to the Lord Buddha, has been lying quietly under the Mekong River since time immemorial. It only wakes up once a year to perform this sacred duty in the Bung Fai Phaya Naga Festival to restore faith in Thai Buddhism. But iTV reported that the Naga's fireballs were simply a human invention - tracer rounds shot into the air from the AK47 rifles of Lao soldiers. This is sheer blasphemy from the point of view of religious fundamentalists. But you may say that this is an iTV myth. If this iTV mythical conspiracy theory for the Bung Fai Phya Nak is to hold true, the entire Lao army, which has been kept idle in their barracks after the Cold War, must have totally revised their military strategy. Instead of looking after border security as a priority, the Lao army is now trying to take over the sacred job of the Naga by manufacturing the fireballs in the Bung Fai Phaya Naga Festival. Why? To supplement the country's foreign exchange reserves. Are you so naive as to think that the Naga would lie quietly in the depth of the Mekong River without doing anything or without exacting any revenge on the Lao army if its sacred duty is taken away from it? Besides, the Lao soldiers are men of religious tolerance. Like the Thai people, they also believe as much in the existence of the Naga as in the existence of the sun, the moon and the stars. Three politicians from Nong Khai - Pongpan Sunthornchai, Thewarit Nikornthes and Prasit Chanthathong - have become so angry with the iTV report, which portrayed the province's people as fools and frauds, that they have threatened to sue iTV for Bt1 billion in damage. It will be a very interesting case to witness. For iTV will have to prove its case by bringing out the Lao soldiers from across the border to the witness stand, while the three Nong Khai politicians will have to persuade the Naga to come forward before the court with its fireballs. Let me bring you back to the time of our Lord Buddha. After the Lord Buddha had attained his Enlightenment, he sat under the Bodhi Tree for seven days. He was in a blissful state after this Enlightenment. Then he moved on to relax under the shade of a banyan tree. There he stayed for another seven days. Then the Lord Buddha changed his position again by staying under a Barringtonia tree for seven more days, overcome by joy over the breakthrough of his consciousness. All of a sudden, it began to rain and a cold wind blew for seven long days. Trying to protect the Lord Buddha from the bad weather, the Naga King Mucalinda appeared before him. He coiled around the Buddha in seven coils and spread his hood over him to prevent the rain and the wind from touching his body. This posture of the Lord Buddha protected by the Naga has become immortal in scenes portrayed in Buddhist art and literature, as evidenced by the Nak Prok-style Buddha images and Buddha emulates during the Lopburi Art period. When the rain ceased, the Naga uncoiled. It then disguised itself as a young man and stood before the Buddha, who said: "There is happiness in quietude. One who has heard the Dharmma takes pleasure in calmness. The happiest person in the world is he who does not do any harm to any creature, gives up desires and is without passion." The Naga embraced the Lord Buddha's teaching wholeheartedly. The iTV's investigative reporters have shown that they have no understanding at all about the disparity between philosophy, folk belief, myth and reality. Thanong Khanthong © Nation Multimedia Group 44 Moo 10 Bang Na-Trat KM 4.5, Bang Na district, Bangkok 10260 Thailand ========================== Forwarded message ends ========================