2600 Monks on Samui (pics)

**FailSafe** · 16-12-2012, 09:51 AM

I had plans to be in BKK for the TD get-together last night, but the wife really wanted to head to Samui to make offerings to the group of 2600 monks that were there for a one-day event on Sunday so I had to change my schedule.

We bought a spot for 10K (all of which will go to charitable causes, and considering how it was set up I believe the money will be properly handled)- for that we got a place near the front and on the aisle.

We got there about 6:45am, and it was already packed with nowhere close to park, so I dropped the wife off and found a spot on the main road.

The monks (very few were kids- most were older guys with a few miles on them):

OK- I forgot to write down our ticket number, and she's somewhere in this mob- it was like looking for a needle in a needle stack- I would guess there were about 10,000 people there using the group of monks as an estimate:

We got a decent position not far from the stage, but space was at a premium- we were stacked on top of each other, and it was getting hot- that's Q-Bar Samui on the hill to the left:

It was tough not to get pushed forward due to the crush of people trying to get to the monks:

There were huge piles of offerings everywhere- the assistants couldn't cart it away fast enough:

People were still arriving when we left at 8:45am:

I'm not much of a believer and I went mostly to make the woman happy, but I offered up a few thoughts for the kids that were killed in Connecticut as well as for DD during the blessing before the offerings started- I figured it can't hurt.

**Mid** · 16-12-2012, 09:56 AM

Originally Posted by FailSafe

I offered up a few thoughts for the kids that were killed in Connecticut as well as for DD during the blessing before he offerings started- I figured it can't hurt.

indeed , karma is said to work both ways .

**baldrick** · 16-12-2012, 11:36 AM

^ RS will be along in a minute to offer you spelling lessons

FS , what is with the person on the cage sunpended in your last photo ?

**Kurgen** · 16-12-2012, 11:43 AM

Originally Posted by baldrick

FS , what is with the person on the cage sunpended in your last photo ?

That's Texpat.

**kingwilly** · 16-12-2012, 11:45 AM

how interesting, shame about the heat. they should have set up some of those cooler fans.

**FailSafe** · 16-12-2012, 11:46 AM

^^^

They were filming the event from it- you needed a high vantage point to really see it all due to sheer numbers of people present- I wondered what it was when I first saw it as it looked like a bungee-jumping platform- it certainly wasn't something out of a big-budget Hollywood production.

**FailSafe** · 16-12-2012, 11:49 AM

^^

There was a thunderstorm at 5am that soaked the place down, and it was really more the humidity than the heat that was uncomfortable once the sun started to dry the wet ground (on which we were sitting- the porous plastic sheets didn't help either)- if it had rained later it would have been a real problem.

**pseudolus** · 16-12-2012, 12:07 PM

Nice. But for 10k I would want to take one of the little chaps home with me.

**Seekingasylum** · 16-12-2012, 12:13 PM

I don't quite understand why you felt compelled to go to Samui for this nonsense. They regularly congregate in Bangkok, about 2 or 3 times a year as I recall, to stock up which would surely have been more convenient than that silly island. And the numbers are that much greater which in your karmic terms might be a bonus - you know, bigger bang for your donation 'n all that.

Nice little touch that, though, idly wondering about DD and those little kiddies while you make your merit deposit in the bank of cosmic awareness - 3 karmic birds with one stone, eh?

Sorry to seem disrespectful but it's all just a bit facile isn't it? Reducing phenomenology to terms only the frazzled or ignorant might believe.

**FailSafe** · 16-12-2012, 12:21 PM

^

You're not sorry- your raison d'être on TD is being disrespectful- when I saw your username viewing the thread I knew what was coming- 'a foolish consistency' and all that... it could even be called 'facile'.

We went to Samui because the wife wanted to, and I thought it would be fun, and it was- I didn't do it for 'karma' or any other reason, and was happy to make a charitable contribution- there was a contemplative period during the blessing, and I thought about what I have that's good in my life, and I thought about others that don't have it as well as I might- I also spared a few thoughts for recent events.

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