The Concept of Mind

Assalaamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

Introduction

This concept is actually familiar to me since I was a little child. I was exposed to both Islamic and Hindu-Buddhist way of thinking. It is not only about the thinking but also cultural traits and practices. Basically, I am not the kind of young people who only live a life for the sake of living. Both of the religions are of my experience as a confused boy who has nobody to be his companions, lack of love either of family or friends and most of the times secluding his self from crowds pondering about what happens around. I am so sorry if I do not do a writing like a so-called "salaf" Muslim but I could assure everyone that my religious practices are strictly orthodox and I never talk like this in front of people because I only talk according to people's level of thought. I respect the salaf al-saleh teachers and I also respect the tabi'in generations. I keep all of their books and remarks besides trying to practice them too.   

Most Muslim who discussed about philosophies always talk about Greco-Roman philosophies as what I heard in the discussion broadcasted in Malaysian Islamic Understanding Institute (IKIM) radio with someone who was involved with the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC). I would like brothers and sisters to know, there were Buddhist Greeks as well as Eastern Asian Buddhists due to the existence of Indo-Greek kingdom of Bactria since before the Christ era. They propagated Buddhism teachings and philosophies as far as Alexandria or Iskandariyya in Egypt. I am not talking about Islam or Muslim yet till now.

Buddhism always talk about human personal experience which is framed in the pancha skandhas or five aggregates term. Then there are three marks of existence known as dukkho (unsatisfactoriness), anittiya (impermanence) and anattman (non-self). The chattwari ariya sattiyani or the four noble truth which discussed about what is meant by dukkho? Where does dukkho come from? There is a way that dukkho could be banished through the knowledge about the theory of pratitschasamudpad or dependent arising. They could be found in the atthangiko ariya margg or the eight noble path proposed by Siddhartha Gautama which are subbed into three categories which are the panna (wisdom), sila (ethics and morality) and smathi (concentration). In order to banish negative effects around the environment, Buddhism basically emphasizes mind training to perform our life where it is like we change polluted water with the clean and clear one through flushing it or flowing it with the clean one. The concept of self is connected to the mind and acts.

The positive or negative effects toward the environment which is known as the space partly comes from the mind activities of beings or creatures. Many people says that Buddhist do not believe in the metaphysical matters. It is a wrong assumption. Buddhists have three pitakas or baskets of teaching. The first one deals with the actions, meditation, breath handling and mindfulness of body. The second one, talks about disciplines. While the third and the last one deals with metaphysics and philosophies. The third basket was also taught to "angels" by Siddartha Gautama when he reached the enlightenment. The enlightened Gautama never talks about the Supreme Power as it was important for him at his time to correct the moral and attitude of the people around him. People already know about the Highest Self yet they behave like people who knows Him not. Those are just the basis.

There are many things to be learned before commenting and only if we are Buddhists ourselves. But I always encounter some fellow Muslims who talk like they know everything about other religions and views, but in reality they just check the facts at the surface. They never experience anything as per being an "infidel" or being rejected by their own community thus having to find their own way to return through His Mercy, hehe.

Islamic Concept of Mind

Now when we talk about the mind in Islam, human is deemed to be higher and special as compared to other creatures. What makes human special? They have choices in their life and it comes from their mind and thoughts. With mind, man could find knowledge and it leads human toward the better. It helps man to distinguish between evil and goodness. Deviation and annihilation is due to that man-kind did not using their faculties of mind for good purposes. So, a positive mind which is used for positive concerns would escalate a human to a noble position. But when the mind is wrongfully used for vices and evil, man-kind would fall into disdain and destructed. 

Our noble Quran mentions so many times about mind. It mentions that with mind, human could think about the creations of the God, learn about them, finding knowledge and strengthen the faith to Him. Through the guidance of the noble scripture, human who thinks could sort out the sciences in the creations of the God throughout the space. 

The God the Highest mentions through the tongue of our noble prophet Muhammad s.a.w which means: "And from the dates and grapes, you made them sweetened drinks and legal sustenance. Indeed, in those are the signs for the people who possess mind". - Surat al-Nahl 16: 67

When man-kind using his mind toward evil and vices, he would fall into the destruction and tormented with bitterness from the God. The God mentions through our noble prophet Muhammad s.a.w which means: "And when you call them toward the prayers, but they mock it and teasing it. It is due to that, they are the people with no mind". - Surat al-Maa'ida 5:58

Through faculties of mind, man-kind could search for the guidance and "truth". Thus, choosing the better one while leaving behind evil matters. Although man-kind posses mind and intelligence besides using them for daily affairs yet the result of their thoughts do not always in accordance to the real objective or achieving the aimed goal. 

Only prophets and His messengers are protected in their speeches and thoughts. They are protected from errors and deviation of the truth whether in the earthly life or in the matter of hereafter. For example, prophet Muhammad s.a.w was actually threatened by the God that His angel would strangle him if he distort the message that the God ordered him to articulate and not even to think about it. So he talks only according to the revelation of the God. Normal man-kind would commit errors in their thinking, speeches, in their decision or in the execution of their acts. That is due to the weakness of their mind and the lack of knowledge.     

The God says which means: "... and you are not given the knowledge except a little of it". - Surat al-Israa' 17:85  

For example, if a man looks at the thick black cloud up the sky, he would be thinking or expecting that the rain would soon be pouring down. But that is just an assumption of his mind based on his analysis to the factor of the black cloud. It is just a hypothesis. Sometimes the result would be true and sometimes it would be wrong. It is due to that sometimes, there are black clouds in the sky but rain are not falling down to the earth.

Islam prohibits man-kind to think with the mind which is not followed by the the Creed and the Guidance. It also prohibits the thought according to one's desire. Example for the people who think in the manner that is prohibited by the "Divine Way" are the Sophists. They evaluate good and evil based only on the senses and mind. They only used rhetoric and philosophy to explain or framing the affairs and matters around them. "Ordinary" human senses and mind are limited and bound to weaknesses. Their senses and mind could not reach metaphysics and supernatural realm.         

The difference and the higher position of man-kind as compared to other creatures in the Earth for example, the genies or the animals is their faculties of mind granted by the God to them. They could think and ponder deeper than other beings. In Buddhism, the highest incarnation of beings to achieve "final blast" into the "new world" is also in the form of a human. Not in the form of angel nor any other form. 

Humans were trusted by the God to be the administrators in the earthly realm, to prosper the Earth and holding the responsibility to keep His commandments but to avoid His prohibitions. Says the God which means: "And when your Lord said to the angels, indeed I made in the Earth the successors. The angels said: 'Are You creating in the Earth those who would commit destruction in it and those who would spill the blood while we are glorifying You with the praises for You and sanctifying You. The God says, I know the things that you do not know!" - Surat al-Baqarat 2:30 

My Further Comments

Well, if it is related to philosophies or other regional cultural traits. I am not really good in Greeks' sciences. I live in South East Asia though my ancestors were the Arabs and they were also stationed in Indian sub-continent. When I was schooled in the madrasa, it was at the border states of Malaysia and Thailand. And I was and still is an adventurous soul. I love to travel around and listening to religious teachings. 

Because I had no close friends nor companions as I am a very choosy person in making friends... I went to Buddhist monasteries and making friends there. I also make friends with the environment around which also include other creatures that some people would call them as the ghosts, hehe. I learned Sanskrit and Pali from around besides Arabic at our school because the school is a religious school. 

Language is actually the most basic tool for sciences and technology. This is what those who always talk about branches of sciences do not understand. They just understood that mathematics and those sciences such as the basic biology, astrology, chemistry or physics as at the core matters which makes me laughing my a*ss when I began to realize about the facts of life, LOL...  Anyway those sciences are categorized by Imam al-Ghazali rahimahullah as pseudo-sciences. He also learned philosophies and the rhetoric where he encountered Ismaili Shia Muslims in Central Asia who were also of Mu'tazila schools of theology.

The words such as caliph and others could be founded in cognitive with other ancient languages such as Sanskrit. For example, I would translate caliph as chakravarttin in Sanskrit where it means the ideal universal ruler. Other than that, I found that most Malay writers or translators of the logic text books for Usooluddin students always placing the Arabic terms on the place where it is not necessary. People in South East Asia also talk about Roman or Greek but Sanskrit or Pali also houses a large corpus of sciences like those of Greek.

The Eastern philosophies and sciences also deal with human mental states, environment and psychology which the Western were lacking. While South East Asian languages for example Malay or Cambodian also absorbed large amounts of Sanskrit terminologies. Is this about class because Sanskrit is not the language of the European Union or because the so-called brainy Jew, Einstein lives in Germany? Or because most of "Muslim scholars" in  the Middle East or Central Asia during the Middle Ages era reading Greek of Latin books so we have to just copy-paste their ideas to be like them?

Why can't we be ourselves? Are we lack of confidence in our selves that determines us to copy-paste other and thinking that we are intelligent with good head? Just a food of thought anyway, hahaha....

Sealed with prayers for mercy, peace and love, amin!         

Philosophical Terms about Self and Soul

Assalaamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

I always spend my time around this musalla sometimes reciting Quran alone behind the musalla. My family house is just few blocks from here and I can just walk to reach here. Beloved brothers and sisters may visit me kalau sudi boleh saya belanja minum teh : )

While growing up into a 26 years old guy, I had came to experience many conflicts and bitter experiences. I counted every event that happened in my life and most of those being counted are bitter ones while only few are pleasant ones and that does not last longer since it is taken away in a blink of eyes. I heard many debates about being grateful and thankful and the notion of redha (pleased) with divine pre-destiny in the Tablet of the Holy Lord. I also found connections of the human traits and quality with the desire or self-passion with the events that happened in life such as the psychological problems attacking a person when he or she could not achieve something or simply facing loophole in their life. The true meaning of happiness in life, they could not decipher.

I sometimes use to talk about this issue with my family member when we encounter conflicts within our sphere. I don't know whether this a high issue that could not be grabbed by others though they are highly educated and excel well in academics as compared to me or maybe because people have different ways to view the world around them. I admit that I was influenced by Buddhist or maybe Hindu's worldview and metaphysics but when I return to ancestor's path, it does not differ much especially after I opened up Muslim elders' discussions in tasawwuf kitabs. This is not about 'aqidah or the fixed Islamic creed about the nature of Allah nor about the wahdat al-wujud or taniyat al-wujud stuffs. This is about creature's self-awareness.

This is a little bit philosophical not of Islamic scriptural studies. I am not playing smart here. I would also use daily occasions in explanations and if this is Hindu or Buddhist teachings, then I will mention it as it is as not to mix them up or confusing anybody who stepped in the humble site. It's not about berhala or idolatry as I didn't learn Buddhism to worship stones, lord Buddha, devas nor to worship any creature as Divinity. This is about the desire of human-being who is never satisfied with whatever that it has. In Arabic, we call the self as nafs and the same thing is also absorbed into Malay language when our ancestors bringing the path to South East Asia realm. When I was exposed to Buddhism teaching, the nafs is known as attama. Attama means the ego or the soul in Bali-Sanskrit.

Hindu-Buddhism Technical Concepts

First of all I think maybe I need to put up the comparison between technical terms between Sanskrit and Arabic. When our ancestors who were involved in philosophical studies as they entered the regions, they just translated everything into Arabic or Persian what they had understood from the lessons that they studied from non-Muslim philosophies since before the formation of the fixed creed of "Sunnah" teachings to counter some movements who dwell with confusing philosophies regarding spirituality, self-concept, perception and identity closely related to psychology. The terms such as wahdat al-wujud and stuffs came from the philosophies of non-Muslims from the Indus civilization. Some of the terms are also absorbed into Malay language right away from Sanskrit since Malay countries were previously of Hindu traditions. This is an effort from a plain Arab descent guy in South East Asia in the part of clearing the lapses faced between civilizations. Sanskrit culture, philosophies and traditions in Asia and South East Asia is like of Greek and Latin's in Europe.

The terms that I would like to share for comparison between Sanskrit and Arabic are jiwa and attama. Jiwa could be an equivalent for nyawa in Malay. In Arabic, it is a concept almost close to ruh and in English we translate it generally as soul though soul is only a part of jiwa. Attama on the other hand could be classified from lower to higher. It means the self or ego. In Arabic, we also have the term which is known as nafs and it is also subbed into few kinds of self. For those of Hindu traditions and Buddhists, attama is eternal as well as jiwa. They never die and could not be killed though being tortured, stabbed, slain, burned, shot or crucifixed. 

Then there is another thing about human and other creatures who breath in the earth and universe as to understand these words that we use and listen everyday. Human and creatures posses body and not only soul. Body in Arabic is known as jasad. Urm, I can't think any word used by Hindus for this. But when a person dies, the Sanskrit word for dead body used by Buddhists is kalevarah and in Malay it is known as bakai or bangkai. In Arabic, the body without soul is known as janazat or mayyit. For Buddhists and Hindus, body is the cage of the soul. It contains the soul. When the body has no nadi (blood flow in the vein) because the heart stops beating, the lungs stop functioning and stop producing breath that could be sensed flowing from the nose, or when the brain stops functioning, then the body is officially dead. The jiwa or the ruh is separate with the body and it becomes a mayyit.

The Buddhists and Hindus believe in the reincarnation of jiwa as it is not a subject to death like what I had mentioned above. The subject to sufferings and death is only the body. However, jiwa is not free from attachment to worldly desires. It needs to be liberated from desires. So, here comes the attama. Attama is more related to thoughts and desire. It leads human from the lowest to the realization of highest self. 

What actually makes human happy? Is it a disastrous life, simple and plain life or a luxurious life? When we wanted to achieve something say, the degree for an example... How long would we take to achieve it? Is it a comfortable or an enduring difficult process? For what is the degree? It is for career improvement or simply for a topic of discussion when we meet people as not to lose our face. Why we need a career? We need to survive in this modern world with it. It is to get a suitable job. What if we can't get suitable job after that? Won't we feel that it is a pointless thing? What if we get a suitable and desirable job? We can further continue to other stage of life. But how long would we feel happy with it? It's not long isn't it? We would face other things which will follow. The jiwa is learning through the pain and pleasure of temporary worlds. Both hell and paradise is temporal in their belief. This is related to the creation of universe (brahma) and cosmology in Buddhism as well as Hinduism about the cosmic system exploding stuff giving way for new cosmic system which consists of time and space. A very long-winding story and I had once learned about the planets cyclical calculations for predictions though I wasn't good at maths in school. I think it is almost close to astrologers' science and illegal in Islam. But I still remember some of the the lessons just never practice it anymore, hehehe. 

I'm just sharing about philosophical view of life and spirituality in this post which makes up some part of me today. Not about Islamic matters yet and not about tasawwuf angle related to Islam since we don't want to mix them up. In Hindu-Buddhism, there is also a term known as brahmalikhittam. It is almost close to the meaning of taqdir ilahi or qada' and qadar for Muslim and I am aware about these concepts too. It is mentioned in hadith qudsi of imam Nawawi compilation narrated by Umar r.a and summarized again in the Islamic pillars of faith. 

So, as per Hindus, the mind of a person who's not attached to external sense objects enjoys happiness of the inner-self. They will realize the ultimate truth. It is through the knowledge of uniting the consciousness of oneself with the ultimate consciousness that he enjoys the unlimited bliss. This is the word of Krishna to Arjuna during the Kurukshettram war in a part of Mahabharata which was separated into Bhagavadgita (chapter 5 verse 21). Buddhists always discuss about developing one self to achieve nibbhana (free from psychological and physical suffering). From where the atman comes is not important. 

Whoa, such a long post I need to stopppp!!!!

I thought that it is just a mere writing about terms but it also includes worldview and few topics which could be developed more. Today I just feel quite sad and I text Amir which is my undergrad friend who's still in contact with me. I just talk about appearing "dead" to all of my contacts. I also think to shut-down my recently opened facebook account but nevermind... Let it be there... I won't log in nor checking the news of the brothers that I came to know in Tekun hostel anymore. I also received the text from Azren which was also my undergrad classmate and a senior of European studies postgraduate class. He talked about his loathe with accountants who love to yell at people and know no respect to people also saying that he hates corporate culture. Then when he asked me about my job interview. I just answer him that I won't go far from my father. It is ok if people treat me like a person with no feeling because they hardly see me crying in front of people or losing my temper. I am a very patient person. I'm not bragging but this is a fact. I know who is my self.

I made a hard decision which is to take care of my bed-ridden father rather than going out to find job because my sisters are busy with their life and my mother could not handle it alone. She also has other ceremonial responsibility. I went out for a moment taking opportunity from the visits of my two aunties tonight. I just went out to musalla chanting dzikr and Asmaa' al-Husna after I can't hold my tears during maghrib service to calm down myself and shave bald my head, hehe. It symbolically shows that I am willing and ready to be a sacrifice and I will sacrifice everything in myself whether external or internal for my father well-being after I talked with Allah. May Allah helps my father and cure him, inshaAllah. I believe Allah is my Protector and Friend. He never leaves me and He knows what is the best for my soul so He educates me with His Mercy and Love.       

Sealed with prayers for mercy, peace and love, amin!    

Heart Perfection of Transcendent Wisdom

Assalaamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

 Ouyang Xun 635: Tang Dynasty

Zhao Mengfu 1254-1322: Yuan Dynasty 

This one has nothing to do with Islamic teachings. It's simple name is only Heart Sutra. It is lord Buddha's teaching to his disciple, Shariputra. I just found that the calligraphy is very nice but I did not have time to practice calligraphy. I tried to translate few wisdom from Imam Shafi'ie rahimahullah as well as other Imams in Chinese. It's only for my personal use and a tribute to all Imams. Just think that it would be beneficial in the future. 

What is Heart Sutra? 

It is a discourse of lord Buddha Gautama with his disciple known as Brahman Shariputra. In this sense I talk about lord Buddha as a teacher or guru among teachers, a historical figure and not some kind of golden idol as what would be understood by some brothers or sisters. It talks about the experience of liberation of the the enlightened being of compassion known as the lord who looks down resulted from the insight gained while engaged in deep meditation to awake the faculty of wisdom. This insight refers to basic emptiness of all phenomena, five senses of human existence known as panchaskandha. 

Panchaskandha are............................

1. Rupa - form

2. Vedanaa - feeling

3. Samskara - volitions

4. Sammjhna - perceptions

5. Vignyaana - consciousness

This is my experience as a Buddhist boy. I learned to shut all of perceptions through this Sutra when I encounter something which I do not know or never experienced. It is also influencing me until today and I do not know whether it is sinful or not because it is not easy for a revert to totally forget previous experience. I am also afraid if my faith is not really a faith because the God would surely condemn me into the torments. I am already tormented in the world and I wish the hereafter would be peaceful abode for me. I only regard lord Buddha as a teacher when I revert to Islam by heart but I do not come to the extent of regarding him as a prophet or messenger of the God because it is never mentioned in the Glorious Quran and Sunnah. This sutra taught everyone to avoid speculation so I do not really like to speculate. 

The volitions refer to what we badly want or desired. It teaches to leave everything behind or release desires because it causes us pain in term of psychological. My ex-colleague, Amir also told me about psychological problem would lead to physical health being deteriorated because he also experienced that. Yesterday, I talked with him through text messages while silently tears flowing down my eyes in the library researching for thesis. He told me to create something nice in my mind if I feel annoyed. Create anything that would make us happy even if we have no nice experience and stop looking at what we do not like or makes us suffocate. 

It suddenly brought me to the memory of reciting this sutra. I began to think that what I am trapped now is related to volitions which causes me pain. However, as a Muslim we must also remember the God is with us and that His divine pre-destiny is apart of His wisdom. We must be confidence in His sudden assistance and pray to Him without feeling tired of His Mercy. Perhaps this sutra is a precaution to avoid from pain. I would elaborate it longer until the Aryasthanga Marg (Noble Path) and Chattwari Ariyasattiyani (Four Noble Truths) if I linger more in this topic, hehehe. So, this is some general knowledge for fellow brothers and sisters in faith. May the God bless my brothers and sisters in faith and in humanity.   

Sealed with prayers for mercy, peace, and love, amin!

News from Friend: Tibetan Summer Retreat in Bhutan

Assalaamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah!

Just saw some pics by a friend, Sherab Palsang who lives in Arunachal Pradesh in Indian eastern region. He is a Tibetan monk in exile which I had known since many years ago. He had many times invited me to visit him at his monastery but I have to finish this studies and lack of mobility. 

He went for Singapore when I was in the first semester doing this post-grad degree but I was occupied so I can't see him. Maybe when I get proper job and stable that I would plan a visit to India and visiting him beside traveling to other parts in India. I hope he at least could come to Penang or Thailand and I would be glad to meet him, having cup of drinks. I had lost his monastery address. I have got some English books to be donated to the monastery library for educational purpose. Some had been donated to mosques and random libraries. People need education to be civilized.

These pics are about summer retreat during Shrawant to Bhadrapad months in conjunction to events in August and September. Thai Theravada Buddhism called it as Warn Khao Pharnsa (Varsha) which begins around the mid of July and ends in the mid of September. Monks would retreat and fasting in their monasteries rather than traveling around. It is to avoid harming little creatures and crops if monks traveling around during the period. Let us see how Vajrayana-Tantra Buddhists performing their varsha or rainy season ceremonies. This is also my first time seeing Tibetan style ceremonies.

 Sakya Rinpoche which is the monastery head in India arrived in Mon Thawing, Bhutan.

 Confession ceremony where monks would confess their errors and ordination ceremony 

Trairattana ceremony

Pattimokka (monastic rules) recitation in the hall in front of Wairocana statue

Laymen devotees at monastery compound

Sadhana mudra ritual where devotees would go around the mandala

Feast where they distribute barley porridge at the monastery head quarter

Sherab graduation day, guess this is more than six or seven years ago since the pic looks old. I think Sherab is at the middle. They look almost the same, hehe. I am proud of you, friend. It's not easy to be ordained

Special thanks to our friend, Sherab Palsang for pics sharing. Sharing is caring. I would visit you and your monastery if condition permits me, someday... You live in such a nice place with fresh air. It is a good place to study :)

Sealed with prayers for peace, mercy, and love, amin!

Kinnaree: Mytholgical Bird

Assalaamu'alaikum wa Rahmatullah!

This is apart of varieties of cultural traits shared by people in Southern Thailand, Northern and Eastern Coast States of Malaysia like Kedah, Perlis and Kelantan. Since not all of the people visiting Buddhists area, they might also want to know about these. 

So, don't worry we have videos and many things nowadays unlike those days back then. Although we do not practice it, some of our people in northern area especially of Buddhism background are still practicing it.

This is actually from my past experience as a kid who was 'dumped' to the state bordering Thailand. I encountered these cultural traits like Lung Norah or Menorah dance which is a dance originated from Southern Thailand when I wandered around like a strayed wild goose. 

Southern Thailand and Northern Malaysian states were previously an integral part of legendary Langkasukan empire. This performance is only prominent in Southern Thailand and also shared in Northern Malaysia predates the Siamese empire of Sukhothai (12th C) and Sri Ayutthaya (13th C). 

Sometimes, this performance also being part of ritual in commemorating the dead. Also performed during thambun festival at temples like in Pendang district in Kedah. Never been to Pendang temples but I heard from people there. I am just familiar with those in Perlis and Kubang Pasu. Usually, this dance portrays story about kinnaree sacrifice for love in fire. It sounds like the name of a bird in malay too. According to mythologies, it is a kind of angelic half human bird in buddhists' mythology. You may see this half human bird statues at Thai temples everywhere in those states mentioned or in Thailand. 

The word menora is actually derived from Sanskrit word, manohara which means pretty and it is referring to the main character of the dance. This character was derived from phra phrannyasa jatoq or jataka tales. What I heard about Hindus'... I mean Indians' mythology, this kind of creature is associated with half human horse or centaur. I guess mentioned somewhere in mahabharata.

Performers would perform dances that they are good at like mentioned in the video. Sometimes they have po' phrant which acts as pak lawak or joker if the performance has the dialogue or simply without dialogue one. They also have musicians. You can hear the sound from the video. Before the performance took place, performers might also paying homage to sages or phra phor statues and peforming rituals like Kaliya Natarat. You spell it as Kaliya Nataraja. It is for them to get blessings from their teachers. They may also seeking protection from Hindu god whom role in buddhism is as the protector of the three gems or buddhist principles like viganet, write it as viganeswara. Viganet is the elephant head god where you could also see in Malaysia at Indians' premises like shops and others. They believe that it is to banish obstacles during performance and making it flows well. 

This puja session applies to wayang kulit and other performances as well. That's why Kelantan state government had banned wayang kulit among Muslim practitioners when it was associated with these rituals. It is not easy to change people thinking as to say da'awa is not performed in one day. The ulamas in Patani and other parts of South Thai were having hard times too. It still goes on because the result is not showing up only in one day or in a blink of an eyes. It takes every sacrifice including these people tears and time to change people thoughts. These people have to monitor the environment and people around too.

I used to bring friend who mingles with me like Azren to see these kinds of performance just for fun and to introduce to friend different things that exist in this world. We also had USM cultural nights in Dewan Budaya. Last time during first degree, I went for Thai Cultural Nights and they were sponsored by Thai Consulate of Penang. Sometimes I was there to support my Thai seniors who took part in cultural performances. They served luxurious Thai cuisine as well after the performances and movies screening for two nights. 

Most of my Thai seniors are actually Buddhists and I wasn't really talking to Muslim Thais whom ethnically are Malays of Southern provinces neighboring our states. Those Buddhist seniors or mine are also of Malay descents and natives of Southern Thai provinces. A Thai Buddhist senior had also wonders, why I know many things about Thai Buddhism including Jaya Mangala Gatha despite that I am a Muslim. We had long discussions until late night regarding a prophesied event in Abhidhamma Pitaka and other Buddhist texts that we commonly read because that friend is quite religious, heheheheheehe... She suspects that I am a Buddhist. I was just lazy to explain. My mouth as always, feels heavy to open up.

This is just an additional knowledge for share among friends, brothers, and sisters. I watched these too last time whether at temple festivals or at the university these recent. Just sharing around for others to see how it works if others have no experience.  

Sealed with prayers for peace, mercy, and love for brothers and sisters in faith and for humanity, amin!