มุมหนึ่ง..ในลอสแองเจลลิส

[napman]

เล่มที่ผมบอกว่า อ่านนานแล้ว คือ ไอน์สไตน์พบ พระพุทธเจ้าเห็นนะครับ

ส่วนหนังสือของท่านพุทธทาส ซึ้อไว้หลายเล่ม ชุดที่เอามาพิมพ์ใหม่ หน้าปกขาวๆ
แต่ยังอ่านไม่จบสักเล่ม
หนังสือธรรมะ ผมอ่านรวดเดียวจบไม่ไหวครับ ต้องค่อยๆอ่านไปทีละหน่อย
ผมชอบอ่านที่ท่านตอบคำถาม ผมว่าท่านชัดเจนในความคิด,ความเข้าใจของท่านมาก และถ่ายทอดออกมาได้ดี
แนะนำให้ซื้อไว้เหมือนกันครับ

Hi Maew,
Here's the excerp from the book that you wanted to buy for me;

ผมเข้าใจว่าเรื่องเงินตราเป็นเรื่องที่ละเอียด แต่ผมคงพูดเพียงเท่านี้ว่า ทันทีที่เรามีเงินหรือทันทีที่เราอยากได้เงินหรือกระหายเงิน ความหมายของชีวิตมันจะมีรสชาติที่แปรเปลี่ยนไปเลย เพราะฉะนั้นวันที่ไม่มีเงิน ผมจึงได้สัมผัสรู้ว่าชีวิตมีรสชาติ มีความหมายที่มหัศจรรย์ แต่ตรงนี้ไม่ได้พูดเพื่อจะบอกว่าเงินไม่มีคุณค่าหรือไม่มีความหมาย แต่คุณค่าของเงินเมื่อมาผสมกับความปรารถนาความอยากของเรา ทำให้ชีวิตเราเปลี่ยนเป็นอีกแบบหนึ่งได้

ผมเพิ่งได้ประจักษ์แจ้งว่า จริงๆ แล้วชีวิตของเราที่มันมีปัญหามากมายสารพัด ส่วนหนึ่งเพราะเราตกอยู่ภายใต้เงื่อนไขของการปรุงแต่งเรื่องเวลา มันทำให้สิ่งที่เป็นปัจจุบันสูญเสียคุณค่าไป เมื่อผมสามารถกลับมาสู่ความเป็นปัจจุบันได้ ทำให้ผมเข้าใจพระพุทธวจนะที่ว่า จะมีชีวิตอยู่สักร้อยปี แต่จิตใจไม่สงบนิ่ง ไม่เย็นเป็นสุข สู้มีชีวิตอยู่นาทีเดียวแต่จิตสงบนิ่งเป็นสุขไม่ได้ ผมประจักษ์แจ้งในขณะที่เดินไปนี่แหละครับ ........ที่เหลือหาอ่านกันเองนะคับ

จากหนังสือ "เดินสู่อิสรภาพ"ของ ดร.ประมวล เพ็งจันทร์

This is a very interesting book, it's going to be hard for me to wait until November to digest it. So I'll see if I can find it in Los Angeles first.
I'll let you know (updated; I called Thai bookstore "Dokya" at Thailand Plaza on Hollywood Blvd., they ran out of stock but will order for me and I have to call back and check with them again within 2 weeks) and I agree that we seemed to like the same kind of books. And appreciate your concern for sharing good books to me.

And here's another inspirational book that I've read so many years ago by Colin Fletcher (The man who walked through time)
R.I.P. Colin Fletcher, ?The Father of Modern-Day Backpacking?

The author and adventurer best known for his seminal backpacking guide The Complete Walker and his Grand Canyon narrative The Man Who Walked Through Time died last week at the age of 85. ?The Complete Walker? was first published in 1968, and it was enormously influential in its day. Backpacker magazine editor in chief Jonathan Dorn told the Los Angeles Times: ?He brought this idea that you didn?t have to be a nut case to take long solitary walks in the wilderness at a time when a lot of people were really looking for ways to create holistic lives and escape from the craziness of Vietnam and the stresses of the ?60s.?

Dorn told MediaNews: ?Certainly, a lot of people think of him as the father of modern-day backpacking.?

While in high school, I was making pocket money stacking library books when I came across a very worn copy of ?The Man Who Walked Through Time.? Its beat-up cover suggested it had been stuffed into more than a few backpacks and hauled into the woods. It was the first travel narrative I read, and it inspired me to eventually backpack down the Grand Canyon. For that alone, I?ll always be indebted to Fletcher.

And here's last but not least, another walker for Peace/Love;
Peace Pilgrim - Biography
Peace Pilgrim was an extraordinary woman who spent several decades of her life walking across North America with her simple message of peace.
Her simple message she always carried with her was

"This is the way of peace: overcome evil with good,
and falsehood with truth, and hatred with love."

Peace Pilgrim was born in around 1908 on a New Jersey farm. Friends say she was a popular and bright young girl but there was no indication she would make the transition to be a saintly pilgrim.

When questioned, Peace Pilgrim briefly mentioned her early life without going into too much detail. She felt these early details unimportant and wanted people to concentrate on the important messages she was spreading. She would often say she wanted to promoted the ?message and not the messenger. It appears that in her early life she had a reasonably successful job ?I found making money was easy? however she felt that this life was not giving her any fulfilment and she wished to do something more productive. As she said in her own words She began to "live to give instead of living to get" (p.7) Thus from around this turning point of 1938 she began a process of spiritual practices which led to her simplifying her inner life and becoming less self centred. After 15 years of spiritual practice Peace Pilgrim decided to set out on a pilgrimage of peace. Walking 25,000 miles spreading her message of peace.

She set out in 1952 at the height of the Korean war and the suspicious period of McCarthyism. Peace Pilgrim herself came under suspicion. Because of his she decided to drop her old name to prevent her sister being hassled.

On the undertaking of her walking pilgrimage she vowed to "remain a wanderer until mankind has learned the way of peace, walking until given shelter and fasting until given food."

Peace Pilgrim would walk throughout the day only stopping for food when this was offered. Often she did not get proper shelter but she kept maintained a calm and serene approach to even the most difficult of situations. She touched the lives of many, inspiring others to consider what they could do to find inner peace within side themselves.

During the 1960s and the Vietnam war she came more to prominence and towards the end of her life she became well known. Often she would speak to packed audiences and led retreats for people interested in following a similar approach to life. Throughout her life Peace Pilgrim had remarkably good health. A feature she attributed to a plain and simple vegetarian diet and living in harmony with the world.

Peace Pilgrim walking across America

Peace Pilgrim died in July 1981 when she was killed instantaneously in a car collision. Peace Pilgrim called death ?A glorious transition to a freer life.?
If interest, please research at google/Peacepilgrim.com; To me she's one of those extraordinary people that worth learning about.

Out of my curiousity! If you don't mind, would you specifically elaborate more about your educations at USA? You seem to be an educated scholar.


And to Maow,
I got into your Profile, and learned more about you, interesting person indeed.
BTW; I just had our vacation home built at Ampur Saraphi, Chiangmai (actually I had it built for my wife in case she wants to permanently live
there to be closer to her brothers and sisters after I'm gone).
Since I knew that you are the teacher at Chiangmai Univ., when I was about 16 years of age I hiked up alone to Doi Suthep, down from sometwhere at the foothill. At that time Chiangmai Univ. was not existed yet.
So we might meet up in Chiangmai sometime at the end of this year if you are willing and able. We will take vacation there (1 month for my wife, 3 months for me). It's always nice to meet people of the same thing in common. Besides I also like "Martin", I currently have 4 Martins but will eventually try to keep only one.