Don't worry. Be happy!

I think that the phrase that best defines Thailand to me is ‘mai pen rai’. It’s the first few words in Thai that I learned when visiting the Land of Smiles 15 years ago. It translates roughly as ‘don’t worry’, ‘it’s not important’, ‘don’t mention it’. The truth be told, this attitude bothers me at times.

I believe there are times when people should be held accountable for their bad conduct. Mai pen rai just doesn’t cut it when a person’s action has a major negative effective on a person or a community. And yet, Thai people will go to lengths to explain to me the law of Karma. I know that Karma will eventually catch all of us, there is no escaping this most powerful law of the universe. And as much as I wholeheartedly accept that, there are times I want to short circuit Karma and have the culprit pay now, in this lifetime, not the next. Now! Dammit.

And there are times when the beauty of ‘mai pen rai’ soars high in the heavens. Today was one of those days. I was confronted with a situation in which a friend of mine, a foreigner, made a big deal out of something very minor. As this person went on and on, ranting about stuff that they won’t remember in a couple of weeks, I was overwhelmed by the absolute beauty of the concept of ‘mai pen rai’. But this person obviously didn’t get it and wasn’t about to get it anytime soon. I have had somewhat of a checkered past (I’m a changed person now, I swear) and if I had understood this powerful concept back then I could have saved myself a lot of grief. But perhaps that’s how Karma works, forcing us to go through the same experience time and time again until we actually get it. I am still working on this. Nirvana is a long way off for me. But Thailand has changed me. Although I don’t lay claim to being Buddhist, living in a Buddhist society has also changed me. Contemplating a visit to Thailand? It could change your life, if you are open to it. It did mine so many years ago, and continues to do so today.

At Bangkoksong we won’t promise to change you. The only change we we can do is sheets and towels. We defer the rest to Karma.

Guest post by Randall