How come all the Theravada Countries so under-develop?

[Lampang]

I'm sure we can build a similar list as chownah's for 99% of the countries in the world.

I was about to do just that - I saw some recent polling on the beliefs of Texans which makes for pretty hair-raising reading - and then saw your post. Thanks.

[bodom]

I'm sure we can build a similar list as chownah's for 99% of the countries in the world.

I was about to do just that - I saw some recent polling on the beliefs of Texans which makes for pretty hair-raising reading - and then saw your post. Thanks.

Im a Texan. What are my beliefs?

[Lampang]

Maybe not your beliefs, but I'd keep an eye on your neighbours.

"Nearly a third of Texans believe humans and dinosaurs roamed the earth at the same time, and more than half disagree with the theory that humans developed from earlier species of animals, according to the University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll."

http://www.texastribune.org/stories/201 ... intstones/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Sanghamitta]

Beliefs common in the UK when I was growing up and still found now.

If a woman washes her hair during times of menstruation she will weaken herself and become ill.
" Germs" that cause colds and flu (presumably bacteria and viruses ) live in the grass and so a heavy frost means that there are fewer colds and flu in circulation, because the frost kills them off.
If you swallow chewing gum it can get tangled around your heart,
Smoking cigarettes in the early stages of a cold can stop it developing if you exhale the smoke through the nose.
Smoking cigarettes cures a headache.
Bats can get tangled in your hair and the only way to untangle them is to have all your hair shaved off.
If virgin children plant seeds or bulbs the plants will grow better.

and many many others. There is no culture, including modern western ones , with no folk beliefs

[Sanghamitta]

Then there are the modern myths;

Money makes you happy, and its hippy variant,
Lack of money makes you happy.

Then there is is the Woody Allen/ Brown Rice syndrome.
In the film Sleeper, Allen's character is frozen cryogenically for a hundred years. When he is revived he says, " I must look up all my friends" It is explained to him that they will all be dead. " But they all ate brown rice and miso soup" he wails.

The belief that if I leave the TV on standby my great grandchildren will have to live in limbo because there will be no planet for them to inhabit.

Then there is the belief that if I call myself a Buddhist ( for example ) I will have labelled myself out of existence and will somehow melt into a state of non being.

Then there is the belief that if I sit on a special cushion called a zuton or a zablonski or somesuch and wait long enough in an upright posture while breathing in and out, I will discover that I have in fact had a "Buddha nature" all along..so thats all right. Phew.

Lets not be too quick to decide what is or is not " primitive"...

[chownah]

Thailand? Primitive?
Eating insects? (and enjoying it!)
Eating ant eggs? (aroi mak mak!)
Eating live crabs? (little bite sized ones)
Eating live shrimps ?(little ones swimming in a broth)
Eating raw pork, beef, and water buffalo? (I'm talking raw, not rare!)
Eating cow after birth in a special stew which is shared with your closest friends and family? (shudder....)
Rats? Weasels? Snake? Snails? Spam? McNuggets? Cole slaw from KFC? (shudder....)

If it can be eaten it *is* eaten here.

chownah

I forgot bee larvae eaten in the comb.
chownah

[Sanghamitta]

Commonly found in expensive restaurants in Europe and the US.

Raw steak, chopped and served with raw egg and raw onion its called Steak Tartare.
Raw steak , venison ( deer meat ) ostrich and raw fish sliced thinly and marinaded in olive oil, it called Carpacchio.
Kangaroo meat,
Crocodile.
Raw fish served Japanese style...its called shashami.
Lobsters and crabs boiled alive.
In supermarkets you can buy ants in chocolate.
Deep fried grasshoppers.
And Spam, McNuggets etc are western inventions.

[Kim OHara]

If it can be eaten it *is* eaten here.

Not primitive.
Typical of any place where people have been really really hungry in the recent past.

Metta,
Kim

[Paññāsikhara]

If it can be eaten it *is* eaten here.

Not primitive.
Typical of any place where people have been really really hungry in the recent past.

Metta,
Kim

Indeed.

In China, the saying is:

The only thing that flies in the sky, but cannot be eaten, is an airplane.
The only thing that swims in the water, but cannot be eaten, is a boat.
The only thing that moves on the land, but cannot be eaten, is a car.

How's about those famines back in the early days of Maoist agricultural techniques, eh?

[jcsuperstar]

Beliefs common in the UK when I was growing up and still found now.

If a woman washes her hair during times of menstruation she will weaken herself and become ill.
" Germs" that cause colds and flu (presumably bacteria and viruses ) live in the grass and so a heavy frost means that there are fewer colds and flu in circulation, because the frost kills them off.
If you swallow chewing gum it can get tangled around your heart,
Smoking cigarettes in the early stages of a cold can stop it developing if you exhale the smoke through the nose.
Smoking cigarettes cures a headache.
Bats can get tangled in your hair and the only way to untangle them is to have all your hair shaved off.
If virgin children plant seeds or bulbs the plants will grow better.

and many many others. There is no culture, including modern western ones , with no folk beliefs

hey dont leave out the US, where millions of people believe
that the earth is only 6000 years old
ghosts,
fortune tellers (just ask our former 1st lady nancy reagan about them!)
that we never made it to the moon
ufos
demons can and do take over peoples bodies
global climate change is a hoax
that george w bush would make a great president
that aids was sent by a kind loving god to wipe out homosexuals
and so much more!

[appicchato]

In China, the saying is:

Everything with four legs, but the table...

[bodom]

Hey i believe in ghosts. Did not the Buddha teach about the hungry ghost realm? I also believe UFO's to be possible. Does this quote refer to Aliens? Maybe maybe not:

Even in those spaces which are between the worlds, baseless, murky and dark, and where even moon and sun, so wondrous and mighty, cannot prevail to give light, even there is made manifest this infinite and splendid radiance, passing the glory of the gods. And those beings who happen to be existing there, perceiving each other by that radiance, say: "Verily there be other beings living here!" - (DN 14)

[Wind]

I'm glad I chose the word "primitive". It caused some interesting responses.

[Thai_Theravada]

If you think like this, So which country you consider developed country?
and what mean you use to judge us?

Indeed, We're happy as we are.

We're proud to be the country that retain Theravada Buddhism for many decades.



From Thailand

[ando]

Is it a coincidence that all the Theravada Buddhist Countries (Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Sri Lanka) are so under-develop?

Countries need not be Mahayana or Theravada to be underdeveloped. Try the African continent.

Your statement would be true if you compared those countries to Western countries but if happiness was your point, I suggest comparing nations based on Gross National Happiness. Bhutan started it first and Sarkozy tried to introduce it to France last year I think, although I'm not sure what became of it.

Forbes has a list of happiest countries, 2009. Try to see if you can pick out a Theravada or Mahayana country in the top 10. Okay let me be up front. There's none.

Maybe its because of how they define "happiness?"

p/s There are more Mahayana Buddhists in Malaysia than Theravada, as the Chinese form the bulk of the Buddhist population there.