Honesty

HIYA!

I just want to say a few things about this. Honesty.

I am writing this in a way that hopefully will not come across as critical of Pranom. But if it weren't for him, I wouldn't be writing these things.

People we met along the way often asked why we didn't take a bus or a train. He'd say that he didn't want to. Well, what else can I say but that this just isn't so. I'd talk with him about this and he'd say that he realizes it's not true but, that this is just the way people talk. "Don't think about it so much", he'd say. It's just the way people talk. He meant Thais in general. And he was just doing what they do.

At the beginning of the walk, he'd tell people that he didn't want to eat rice or the entrees that people eat with rice. He'd say that fruits and vegetables are enough. Well, even I don't eat only fruits and vegetables. I eat various things, it's just that the majority of what I eat is uncooked.

I don't understand telling people things that aren't true. Especially when it's so easy to be truthful. Why give wrong impressions? Why give false information? I never did get answers that satisfied me.

So it's a lesson for me. A lesson on letting go of what I want. Letting go of what I see as proper. Letting go of my views. And not getting answers is a lesson on letting go of the "need" to understand. It's an opportunity to be okay with feelings that I dislike. All the feelings that arose when I didn't get what I wanted, when things didn't go "properly", when I didn't get satisfying answers, and when I didn't understand. I won't say that I'm over it. Not by a long shot. But I got the chance to work on it anyway.

I remember reading letters to the editor in the Japan Times years ago regarding just this sort of thing. Foreigners would write in saying that they couldn't respect Japanese because they never knew if the Japanese were being honest or not. I remember reading one or two responses that said that harmony is more important than the truth. And, what's more that the truth is not something that can be pinned down so easily. What's true for one person is not true for another. Even considering these two points, I can't see any reason for Pranom saying those things he'd say.

Another thing that I consider is the Buddhist teaching to be honest. For a man who says that he follows the first five precepts of Buddhism to so openly flout the fourth precept, and so often ....

And when yesterday he said a couple of things, and, I think, whithheld other things, well ....

I like communicating with people. I like communicating truthfully and from the heart. I am sincere with people. I like it when I feel that others are sincere with me. That's one of the things I so like about so many Asoke people. Temple people anyway.

I can't think of anything else that I want to say on this subject.

I never review what I write, nor do I ever prepare. So some ideas may be incomplete or awkward or whatever.

I dare say that you can read other people's travel blogs, you can read travel books, but you're not going to find another one like this!!

Troy.