Talking to a Monk

So now i will diverge from my normal humorous writing for a more serious topic. Yesterday i decided to go to a Temple for a Monk Chat... basically a time for travelers to come to temple and sit down and talk with the monks. This gives the monks a chance to practice their English, but also for travelers to learn more about the buddist culture and way of life of a monk. Really an awesome experience. I sat down by one of the older monks. Here in Thailand you see monks everywhere. Most boys in Thailand are a monk for a least a small part of their life (some for a week, a month.. however long you want to). You see them all over town in their Orange robes, no watches or technolgy, shaved heads and eyebrows. But I never really talked to one.... always seemed a little too Holy and i didnt know if was acceptable to just walk up and start talking. That is what the monk chat is for. To show tourists who monks are, and i was extremly impressed. The monk i talked to was incredibly worldly and knowledgable.... he probably knew more about Christianity than I do (i know thats not saying a lot but the dude was smart). I asked him about the Burmese government slaughter of Buddist Monks in Burma(which I am only about 1 hour drive from Burma in CM), about the boycott of the Beijeng Opening Ceremonys due to the Chinese treatment of Tibet, and also the question that i really wanted to know... why they shave their eyebrows (i was couth enough to ask those seemingly intellegent questions first). I also learned a lot about Buddism... truely an interesting religion. Budda was not a deity... he was just on ordinary person that found enlightenment in his own life at age 35. Buddism believes in truth in all religion. When i asked him about how he felt about the slaughter of Buddist monks in Burma (now Mynamar.... but in protest of the current regime many here refuse to acknowledge the gov name change to Mynamar... so i will go with Burma cause those guys are bad)... his response was.... "it makes me sad. Not for just the monks but for all the people in Burma that suffer." Interesting take when many of his friends have been killed by the current government. I think if i were in his shoes i would lean more towards pissed off. I think everyone could learn a little from the monks. I was very impressed by how cool (can a monk be cool?) and down to earth they all were. Really an experience i wont forget