Final Post - Individual Project

Thailand has been an unforgettable experience, and I'll be sure to miss this place when I leave on the 19th. In this regard, this is my final blog posting as I am *sigh* just not a blogger at heart. As required for PSY 3960,  my final blog posting includes an individual project based on a question of our choosing and including our experiences throughout these past three weeks. As with many other religious, Buddhism has been impacted in many ways from the world's rapid technological change and has begun adapting in response. For my individual project, what interested me most was the use of technology by several monks we met on our journey (one gave me his Facebook URL) and decided to analyze these seemingly contradictory scenes.

จนกว่าจะถึงเวลาต่อไป,
Zach

Buddhism and Technology: Do Buddhist Monks’ Increasing Use of Technology Conflict with Buddhism?

Zach Henderson
University of Minnesota

 

PSY 3960
Dr. Angus MacDonald III

At its’ core philosophy, Buddhist perspective into the causes of human suffering maintains that suffering stems from our desires and cravings. If one wants or craves something (presumably not currently owned), this alone has the potential for us to suffer. For example, if one craves a 90” television, they may choose to work overtime each week for a year to save enough money to do so, thereby causing suffering. As models of Buddhism, monks have established 227 rules in order to help themselves avert these causes of suffering. However, the dawn of the 21^st century has introduced a plethora of technology that societies around the globe have readily adopted. This leads us to an important question, do Buddhist monks’ use of technologies such as mobile phones and the internet conflict with their religion?
            Unfortunately, this question presents an answer that is unable to suffice with a simple yes or no. In this regard, an analysis of this question is best explained by an outline of potential conflicts via use of technologies followed by any benefits that may be attained by use of technologies.
            By using technologies such as mobile phones and computers, Buddhist monks clearly have a better ability to communicate with the outside world. However, it goes without saying that not everything that is able to be seen or heard, are those of a beneficial or non-distracting nature. Pornography, gambling, online auction sites, web domains maintained by hate groups, all of which are but a sampling of portals an online monk may access at the click of a button. These offerings represent a danger, however seemingly small, that a monk may become so distracted that he may choose to become disengaged monkhood in order to follow these newfound interests.
            Additionally, a Buddhist monk’s use of items such as mobile phones and computers presents ample opportunities for wanting or craving, inevitably leading to suffering. Positional goods are defined as goods or services whose value is judged in relative, rather than absolute, terms. For example, although your ownership of a laptop in Minneapolis, Minnesota may be an item considered to be of value, the high number of other laptop owners in your immediate area would result in laptop ownership to be of average value. In contrast, when your ownership of a laptop occurs in Sub-Saharan Africa where you are the sole laptop owner in your village, the fact that you are the only laptop owner makes your laptop very valuable relative to the village, regardless of its’ identical store pricing in America. In this sense, because it is impractical for a monastery or other Buddhist establishment to uniformly distribute mobile phones to its’ monks, could this introduce positional goods? Could, for instance, a phone-less monk desire the new cell phone that another monk is using? Despite extensive efforts by monks to resist wanting, these items potentially pose an additional object of desire leading to suffering.
Although increasing use of technology may present the potential for negative effects, their adoption by the monkhood also presents several benefits. One key benefit of the internet that computer-enabled monks may take advantage of, is the ability to instantly distribute information to the entire world. By using the internet, monks have an ability to:
- Extensively research an area of concentration, whether this be Buddhism-related information about meditation and chanting’s, or for other educational benefit like modern economics
-Prepare and distribute lectures, pamphlets, and other materials that help spread Buddha’s teachings and educate all who are interested about Buddhism
-Organize and facilitate community events such as enquiring the Red Cross about a blood drive, or arranging a youth soccer tournament
-Check prices of building materials for maintenance in order to get the best possible value
These are only a few examples among many, but arguably the most valuable adaptation of the internet lies in its’ ability to store valuable information, after all, there’s nothing in Buddhist literature that states that a typed word is different than a quill stroke. The internets’ ability to indefinitely store information enables ancient Buddhist literature to be stored in safety. A shining example of this in action is the Asian Classics Input Project (ACIP). The ACIP is dedicated to locating, cataloguing, preserving, and sharing Sanskrit and Tibetan manuscripts dating back more than 2500 years and heavily relies on Tibetan refugee women and monastics for text input. To date, more than two million pages of Buddhist literature have been digitally saved and tens of thousands of pages have been catalogues into searchable e-books for public use.
            Beyond benefits of internet usage, the ability for monks to use mobile phones presents its’ own set of benefits. By use of mobile phone, monasteries can better keep in touch with remote temples and the monks who go to them, helping monks travel between Buddhist sites as well as improving the safety of monks who travel alone or in remote locations. As explained by Pra Jay at Wat Sri Soda, mobile phones also present educational advantages. As a monastic teacher, it was important for Pra Jay to be able to help novices visit their often-remote families, as well as stay in communication with the temples that welcome novices into the monastic life.
             Do Buddhist monks’ use of technologies such as mobile phones and the internet conflict with their religion? In short, it seems there is nothing explicit that Buddhist monks should not be able to use technologies such as mobile phones and internet-enabled computers. Clearly, the adaptation of these devices can yield significant benefits. Conversely, the adaptation of these devices may also present temptations that could potentially lead to wanting, and ultimately suffering. Although a monk may use the internet to maintain a monastery web domain, once he begins to deviate from this religious work and begin browsing the Amazon.com website, this begins to present a problem. It seems that although a Buddhist monk should be allowed to make full adaptation of these technologies, this adaptation represents a double-edged sword that requires a delicate balance between its’ use in Buddhism, and the temptation of desire.

 

Post 2

It's been quite a few days since my last blog posting, we've covered a lot of ground lately and have kept busy doing so. I've also realized after reviewing the first blog entry that my blog began as more of a Lonely Planet-esque travel diary than one that was intended to discuss the psychology of power, addiction, and Buddhism from my Thailand experiences, so I'm making a point to refocus moving forward.

One of the activities that particularly stood out to me was a recent overnight trip to a small village high in the mountains of the Thai-Burmese border, Thoet Thai. This village is situated in the "Golden Triangle", an area where Thailand, Laos, and Burma meet along the Mekong River and infamous for drug activity. The Golden Triangle is currently the world's second-largest producer of raw opium (second only to Afghanistan) and quickly gaining ground as a leading methamphetamine producer. Our trip there, although short in length, included several points of interest that would be best discussed segregated:

Golden Triangle: Before arriving at Thoet Thai, we first stopped at THE Golden Triangle, where the three Southeast Asian countries are split by the Mekong River. Interestingly enough, the Thai side of the split has developed into a bustling tourist area, complete with craft shops, restaurants, and *sigh* restrooms that you have to pay to enter (although it's a mystery to me where the money goes as they don't provide toilet paper). I'm tempted to ask where the financing for the newfound commerce in the area originated from, but I'm confident the paper trail would be difficult to follow. Without delay we took a brief boat ride to see a small Mekong island village in Laos which boasted a small market. Apparently Laos didn't care to see passports as long as you paid 30 Baht (roughly $1). Although Thailand was literally 100 yards across the Mekong, it immediately became apparent that there was a wealth disparity between the two countries. Whereas we departed Thailand from sturdy metal docks, we were received to a partially submerged wooden dock. Instead of merchants leisurely strolling through their shops ready to assist you if you had any questions, we found ourselves aggressively marketed to with cries of "Sir Sir this shirt looks good on you" etc. It was tough to contain a laugh as a particular merchant attempted to sell me a purse that apparently was "So You". What highlighted the economic disparity most though, was that there were many small children who would run up to you and beg for money. I realized that after nearly two weeks in Thailand, this was literally the first time I had be solicited for money, by children and adults alike. Evidently, the theme of power had made lasting effects on the Laos P.D.R.  The US bombings and proxy war of the Vietnam War era, internal civil war, and current crippling government autocracy were clearly executed to the disadvantage of the Laos people. Previous to visiting the Laos village, I'd noticed the Thai people seemed generally happy, happier than the average American even, despite possessing drastically less positional goods like washing machines and computers. I'd thought that the Thais derived their contentment elsewhere, but it seems that some element of positional goods, even in terms of public infrastructure, cannot be ignored as a variable, is it possible that although the Thai possess considerably less material wealth, they possess just enough to maintain happiness? Unlikely, I'm sure the average Amazonian tribesman is happier than many Americans. This begs the question of what variables, if not positional goods, led the Laos children to begging? I'm hoping there will be answers to come.

Khun Sa Museum: Similar to several African countries (Nigeria in particular), several Southeast Asian countries' borders have been shaped, if not, influenced by arbitrary Western direction. In this sense, British Burma's (Myanmar) borders were created in a way that grouped several ethnic minorities, distinct from the larger Burmese majority, into Burma, often splitting them across the Thai-Burmese border. In this sense, the ethnic Shan people were also split.
http://myanmartravel.org/009/map-of-shan-state.gif      <--- for illustration
If one were to ask a Shan living in Myanmar what he was, he would likely reply that he is Shan, but holds a Myanmar citizenship, as our ethnic tour guide later corroborated when asked what he considered himself. Consecutively terrible military regimes post-colonialism in Myanmar led many of these ethnic minorities, including Shan, to carry out struggles for independence. The most famous of the Shan leaders, Khun Sa, was notorious for his "Shan State Army’s use of opium to fund their operations. We had the privilege one day of visiting Khun Sa's former northern Thailand guerilla HQ where a 1980’s battle between his army and the Thai government eventually forced Khun Sa out of Thailand. Fortunately, the caretaker of this abandoned military base lived next to it. Amazingly, the caretaker was none other than the man who was responsible for taking care of Khun Sa’s three horses who he would ride every morning before waking his troops. What struck me most was the amount that not only our tour guide, but the Shan people in the surrounding area still revere Khun Sa despite his narcotic notoriety. This begs the question that if someone uses other’s addictions in order to gain power, regardless of the cause, when does one cease being a freedom fighter and instead become a drug warlord? On one hand, a freedom fighter needs an army, an army needs money, and the best way to earn money is via commerce. When your base of operations lies in the mountains of northern Thailand, opium is, in reality, your army’s only option for producing this money. On the other hand, when money from your fundraising operations begins going towards purchasing a private villa, a personal helicopter, or a new Mercedes-Benz, are these being used in a manner conducive towards a greater social cause or for personal power? I believe that this delicate balance is, in effect, the struggle experienced by many rebel movements across the world, and one that invariably leads to many organizations loss of their original direction.

Mae Song Tea Plantation: As the Thai government has cracked down on opium production, drug trafficking in the area has since increasingly become dominated by methamphetamines, or as the Thai call it, Yaba (madness drug). In contrast to opium, methamphetamine requires no fields, and is actually more profitable. Only after the region has been shifted towards methamphetamine use has UN and Thai government crop substitution programs really taken root in the northern hills, and this tea plantation was evidence of its’ result. There’s not a huge amount to say in regards to this particular stop, but the beauty of the area was breathtaking and the tea was downright delicious.

After our trip to the northern border region, we engaged in several other fantastic activities during our free time including visiting a tiger park as well as a cobra show (if you’ve seen Rambo IV they used the snake charmers we saw), but these provide little if any relevance to the course. However, two recent places that were relevant include visiting the Office of Narcotics Control Board (essentially Thailand’s DEA) and today’s trip to a local hospital that functions as a government-run treatment center.

ONCB: In Thai eyes, Thailand’s #1 problem is now methamphetamine use. Most drug use, drug arrests, and drug deaths have now shifted from opiates to meth. After a lecture from an ONCB representative, it was apparent that the government is engaged in a “War on Drugs” of which it has become part of the problem. Although there are thousands of police, military, and other law enforcement agencies which are engaged in northern Thailand to combat drug activity, there are statistically more drug seizures each year than the last. One reason the ONCB gave us is that police are sometimes implicit in the drug trade, willingly or not. Apparently Thai border police are limited to a one year term on the border, as inevitably the most honest and honorable police officers become paid to look the other way. If the policemen refuse to accept drug organization’s bribes, they immediately become targets themselves and can find a quick death. Another reason the ONCB gave is that the political instability in neighboring Burma, where most of the meth and opium is originating from, provides a fertile breeding ground for drug activity which spills across the border to local Thai demand. This particular aspect of the drug trade here reminded me of the US-Mexico problems with drug cartels. It’s indeed easy to point the finger at a neighbor who is unable to have to power to control these drug interests within its’ borders, but it’s even easier to say that these interests would be nonexistent if the high demand in your own country. It seems that the only way to effectively control the problem in both cases could only be through simultaneous control of foreign supply as well as internal demand. This is inherent in any economy, legal or otherwise. Supply will be created to meet demand, and it’s entirely feasible to accomplish the reverse, I doubt that consumers were clamoring to buy a “Pet Rock” before they began production. An unexpected benefit of our ONCB visit was the opportunity to see firsthand the drugs that were being fought over. Bags of seized methamphetamine tabs as well as crystal meth (Ice) were passed around the conference room for us to examine. The crystal meth actually had a pleasant vanilla scent, but we were told that the drug manufacturers actually added this to mask the overwhelmingly toxic smell the meth would otherwise had. I guess we’ll have to wait on the crystal meth aromatherapy candles.

Hospital/Treatment Center: After visiting the Buddhism-centered Wat Tham Krabok that was used for drug treatment, it was useful to catch a glimpse of government-run drug treatment center that appealed to more of a Western scientific view of drug treatment. As always, the Thais were more than accommodating, and we found ourselves touring the entire campus with a few nurses. Most importantly, these nurses were able to translate our questions/answers from a few patients we met who were currently undergoing drug treatment, voluntary or court-mandated. Here are a few learnings from a few patients:

School Education programs like D.A.R.E did not work. Although I’m unfamiliar with the differences between application of D.A.R.E in America and Thailand, there were several patients who said they indeed received drug education in school

Social Influences were reason I started using drugs. Every single patient we talked with stated that the reason why they started, and continued, using drugs was that their peers were all doing so. In fact, 90% of the patients at this facility were there from meth use. One woman said that the only people in their community who didn’t use meth were the elderly.

Although I miss home, I think this place is good for me. Included in the four month drug rehabilitation program, the patients all received considerable amounts of occupational training aimed at helping them find employment post-rehab. Patients also received extensive amounts of drug education during their stay which they believed was also beneficial. Amazingly, several patients we talked to claimed they had no idea how bad meth was, thought it was normal, and thought that using meth daily to work more efficiently was nothing to raise an eyebrow about.

Tomorrow will be spent taking a break from studying power, addiction, and Buddhism to ride elephants all day at Ban Chaang elephant park which I am more than excited to do. I do so without guilt as these elephants are all taken extremely good care of, with the elephant park maintaining a large nature preserve as well as an elephant hospital. I’m looking forward to new experiences, and new learning as this trip regrettably enters its’ final week after this weekend.

Post 1

Time For Thailand
Zach Henderson

Unfortunately Its been difficult to maintain regular blog postings via a combination of several factors. The main protagonist of which is the discovery that my laptop's charging port is inexplicably missing a small metal ring that is preventing me from being able to charge, and ultimately use it for the remainder of my journey. Needless to say, I was less than enthusiastic when I found out that I'll be hauling an utterly useless 6lb piece of expensive and delicate technology until January 19th (not including the fact that the majority of my books are stored on said laptop's Kindle library). Drinks were drank.

Regardless of my apparent insufficient sacrifices to the technology gods, I'm fortunate that the fellow participants in my  trip are kind enough to offer their laptops for my use from time to time so that I will at least be able to maintain some semblance of blog.

The foundation of this blog is to record my learning from PSY 3960. PSY 3960's target result is for students to be versed in the psychology and neural basis of wanting (craving) and liking (pleasure) from both a Western neuroscientific and a Thai Buddhist perspective. Understanding how this distinction relates to the roots of Buddhist philosophy, and how it impacts the history and culture of northeast Thailand through observation and meditation.

The toughest part of this blog is admittedly not my inability to type it, but rather that words seem to injustice everything seen, smelled, heard, touched, and most of all tasted. Even if words could be considered sufficient imagery to any readers, how could I begin to organize these into a chronological, and more importantly, insightful posting that related to the central ideas of PSY 3960? I suppose the best way of doing so will a dive to the beginning flight and mentally wander towards present day.

In order to initially get to Thailand, our trip consisted of an eleven hour flight to Tokyo's Narita airport, roughly 45 minutes of layover time, and another six hour flight to Bangkok where we would arrive at our hotel at midnight local time. Although both physically and mentally exhausting, the traveling went surprisingly well. There were the usual scattering of babies and other small children throughout the plane(s), but maybe their mothers had decided to lace their bottles with Prozac as they were all angels. There was the always questionable-looking airline menu, but the food proved unusually palatable, we even had the luxury of moist towels to clean ourselves up with. I was actually hoping to be able to grab some sushi while at Tokyo, more specifically the conveyor belt-driven "kaiten" sushi, but unfortunately we began boarding within 15 minutes of clearing security at the gate we arrived at (really, how on earth would we be able to smuggle explosives onto our plane after clearing US security? I suspect it was just for show unless they took a secret pleasure pouring out the duty-free bottles of booze travelers are drawn to buy). None of that really mattered after arriving at our Bangkok hotel, at which point I was either going to sleep immediately after hitting the mattress or die, both of which seemed almost equally appealing at the time.

I had previously thought that binge drinking is an entirely useless, if not destructive, activity. However, by possessing experience in falling asleep and conversely waking up at bizarre times of the day, jet lag proved to a minimal inconvenience, which is good because PSY 3960 hit the ground running faster than Rosie O' Donnell after a KFC wing. Waking up early, I stepped outside the hotel and realized that I had no idea where I had ended up in my zombie state of the previous night, we were in the heart of downtown Bangkok. Along with my roommate, we explored the surrounding blocks and saw so many new sights. One thing  we discovered early was that Thais love their malls, and I figured out why, they're the best on earth. At $1 per 30 Baht, you'd be surprised how cheaply everything is, and how delicious the food courts are. In comparison to the expensive slop served at US malls, Thai malls offer entire healthy, delicious meals for roughly $1, this is something I'm really going to miss. After exploring the malls, we spend the rest of the day bus-touring Bangkok, taking a river cruise, touring the imperial temples, and ending our night with a huge welcome dinner  served in a traditional Thai spread, I'm unsure If I've ever been that full. We decided to spend that night in Bangkok's Red Light District. This was an outrageous experience, which I will leave to the readers to imaging.

We next took our bus a few hours to the city of Ayutthaya where we would spend New Years Eve. After checking into our hotel we visited a temple in the hills, Wat Tham Krabok, where the author of one of our books (Opium Fiend) received treatment for his opium addition. Wat Tham Krabok could be summed in two words: eye opening. Never have I seen such an effective, if unusual, non-Western approach towards treating drug addiction. If Wat Tham Krabok sounds interesting, I would encourage you to read more about it, however, I'll briefly describe its' place in the detoxification world. Wat Tham Krabok began as an ordinary temple in a secluded part of the Thai hills. One day an opium-addicted man came to the temple begging for treatment, he knew he would die by morning if he did nothing. The abbot (head monk) had little idea what to do for the man, they certainly had no anti-withdrawal medicine at the temple, but he relented and blessed a lotus for the man who ate this. In the morning, the abbot was surprised to see the man alive and experiencing only mild withdrawal symptoms. At the end of the man's treatment, the abbot told them man not to tell others that the temple was a drug treatment center, to which he found many addicts suddenly arriving soon after anyways. That day, our experience consisted of a tour of the temple grounds, observation of some of the detoxification rituals by the current patients, and sit-down discussions with the actual patients themselves.

The entire detoxification process of Wat Tham Krabok could easily fill several chapters, so I'll only describe what we observed. After touring the grounds (which included an deserted Hmong refugee camp) we observed the vomiting detoxifications. For first five days at the temple, the patients gather each morning to drink a shot of herbal tincture (the recipe of which is secret), chug water, and promptly vomit for a solid ten minutes while the patients who have already completed their five days are gathered in a group behind them beating drums and singing a song which roughly revolves around the lyrics of "if you do not get rid of the toxins and addictions you will die", charming really. Otherwise, the patients are kept busy doing chores such as sweeping at 4am, undergoing steam rooms heated with citronella,lemongrass, and other herbs, and constantly drinking a bitter herbal tea which a patient lovingly described as "complete shit". The most interesting thing about the temple is that in contrast to Western rehab centers, every single patient wanted to be there and were free to leave at any point, although each person is given one chance at the temple, if you leave treatment and return in the future, you will not be allowed entrance regardless of how many apologies you give. Although this detoxification center is in a remote location of Thailand, there were 12 foreigners (or as the Thais say, farangs) who were patients during our visit and who talked with us. In particular, I met Luke from France, and Jason from New Zealand. What was even more surprising to myself, is that most, if not all, of the monks at this temple are former addicts themselves who decided to stay at the temple after receiving treatment. This approach towards a major problem of today's world was very interesting, why are we telling people using drugs to use different drugs to prevent them from using the original drugs? How effectively can somebody be cured with medicine when their problems are those of the heart and mind? Maybe this is why many rehab centers in the US are ultimately ineffective (the monk leading us estimated their success rate at %80).

Since Ayutthaya, we took an overnight train (using a squat toilet on a moving train is tricky at best) and have since been touring many temples around Chaing Mai, each one more majestic than the last. I feel confident that Thailand is the most beautiful country in the world, and their temples are the pinnacle of this. It's amazing that these temples are hundreds, if not thousands, of years older than our churches, but more than a thousand times more beautiful. In no particular order, we've had the privilege to experience Tuk Tuk rides, talk one-on-one with Buddhist monks, enjoy night markets, and sample an outrageous amount of fantastic food. To be honest, I had thought that during my experience in Thailand would leave me skinnier, but because the food is so delicious, and so cheap, I'm beginning to question this.

The best part about all these previously-mentioned experiences is that this is only the beginning of my travels and I have high expectations for the next 2+ weeks moving forward. Needless to say, there will be more learnings, and even more questions to come.