Holy men

One guy told me in India, that life for them was divided in four stages. From 1 to 25 years, was the time to study and learn, from 25 to 50 years was time to have and raise children, hopefully one boy and one girl, from 50 to 75 years was the time to accumulate money and from 75 until death was the time to leave all material possessions and go live in the forest to meditate, eating only from charity.


Well, not all Indians follow that path, but incredibly as many things in India, there are some people that do give away all what they have to live not in the forest, but in the cities in pilgrimage, and are called holy men.
The first time I saw one of these, I thought It was some kind of tourist attraction to take pictures and ask for money. This is true in Kathmandu, where a lot of Indians go to charge for each picture, but in India, they walk from one city to another, as there are a lot of special places for pilgrims to sleep and eat for free, mainly at Hinduism temples.
Just one more of those amazing things we find in India!

Thai option for poverty

Thailand is an economically poor country especially in rural areas. In the northern part of the country, thousands of families live from growing rice: it represents their daily food and their income.
Usually families have many children in different ages, around 14 are able to help with the crop, and at 9 can help with the babies, it’s a solution for the problem and a problem for the solution. As they earn only enough to eat and live, when the crops are damaged by the rain or in lower rice prices, the family has no money to support all children. Then the only option is to send them as novices to the local monastery. There, at least, they will be able to eat everyday and have some studies.


Life in the monastery is not easy, there are many restrictions for novices and monks as not eating after noon, something very difficult for growing young men. Although Buddhist, the novices generally don’t want to spend their lives for the Buddha as monks, they only stay in the temples fighting the strict precepts until they get some money to travel to Bangkok in search of any job. Usually they stay until 21 when should be ordained as monks but if the main monk is too hard, they leave earlier.




Just a few of those novices get interested in monastery life, and go on to become monks under more than 227 precepts, that include even how to go to the bathroom.
In a country where ordaining as a monk at least for the rainy season is a way to paying respect to the parents, there’s a media boom about the bad manners of monks in the country, but getting to know the stories and reasons for the high disrobing rate, made me realize how lucky Thais are, they have a far better option than children in my country at war.

Arranged marriages in India

When we heard that still 75% of marriages are arranged by the families we were in shock. How it is possible that in 2010, this outdated way of putting people together exists? Well, at the end of the month traveling in India, and understanding a little bit more the reasons, we kind of changed opinions.

In other countries, people choose who to marry by their selves and based sometimes in short term outlook, mainly physical attraction. But in recent years most of marriages end before 10 years of relationship (Scientists say passion lasts 2 years). In India, it’s very rare to see divorces, why?

First of all, it’s a group decision, the family of the bride and the family of the groom depending on their position and future plans, will try to search for the best option.
It’s not a selection based in the looks of the person, something that for sure will change in a few years, but in the good things and work that the person can add to the marriage.

One huge difference is that as the selection is not self made but made by the family (including the son or daughter who now are able to see pictures in advance), this means that if in any case the couple has any problem, financial, personal, physical, both families will support the couple, so chances of a problem ending the marriage are slimmer.
And what’s that of the family of the bride paying the groom for their daughter? Is that undervalued a woman that fathers have to pay to get acceptance? It’s just bad perception of us westerns.

The father, used to giving his daughter a good and comfortable life, wants her to maintain her conditions in marriage or even enhance them, so he will help the young groom with a little money while he begins to earn more, so that way the bride will not have worst conditions than living with the family. Nice isn’t it?

So when a man and a woman get together in India, they know it’s for a lifetime, they have their families support for any problem or claim, it’s a society where everyone has to put their best, and as there are not more options available (western choice of divorcing and changing), they make it work. Old tradition but a lot to learn from it.

East vs West

After spending sometime in eastern countries and getting to know some of their cultures, huge differences and conclusions are easy to spot. But what got caught my attention was the violence and insecurity disparity between poor countries.
While I was in my retreat in Thailand, I was told to be aware of not killing any animal. If a mosquito was able to enter my room, I should chase it, capture it in a plastic glass and take it outside.

After 20 days without Internet, TV, radio, I was urged to read news, get to know what happened during that time and what had changed in the world. The first website I opened was the local newspaper from my country, and I was shocked to read the main headline: a governor was killed in an awful way. While I was in my country I was used to that kind of news, and had no impact at all, but after months of sharing Arab and Asian cultures it was a blow.

If poverty exists in both my country and India or Thailand, why such a huge difference?
I have one small idea: Religion.
In western countries we live for this life, and we to do whatever it takes to make the better of it. Some people even risk their own lives for a better present. In Asian countries they live for the current and next lives. They believe that if they do enough good actions in this life, they’ll have a better next life, even if the current one is full of suffering. And if they make any wrong actions, they’ll be punished in next life too.

This completely different point of view changes priorities completely. For what I can see, the goal for many people in the west is money and in the east the goal is to be good. And in both will do whatever it takes to achieve it.