This is a short thank you to all the folks who posted Murray Head's "One Night In Bangkok" video in the chess thread. It led me down a YouTube rabbit hole that exists only in my memory, as I went from one video to another.
Once upon a time, many, many moons ago, I used to stand guard duty at a place. The exact place is unimportant. There were a lot of "places". Any one "place"was much like another - they all had dirt, they all had air, and they all had a reason someone had to stand guard.
Anyhow, at this particular place, a Buddhist monk took a shine to me for some reason I was never able to fathom. He was a Thai, but it was not in Thailand.
So, anyhow, he used to bring me "stuff" every time he visited. Longans and lychees still on the branch, ready for eating - just as soon as you peeled them - sticky rice in loaves wrapped in bananna leaves - tied with a strip from the spine of the leaf - with some kind of mystery meat in the middle that I never figured out what it was - and I never dared ask - coconuts still in the husk that were a pain in the ass to peel, but worth it, "Grass tea" which had tiny cubes of some jello-like substance in it that added bulk to the tea and damn near made it a meal, coconut juice with shredded coconut in it that also added substance to the liquid, just all kinds of stuff that your average Round Eye ain't familiar with. Every visit brought something else new.
I miss those longans and lychees especially - can't get them here except in a can, and they lose something in the cannning... and cost an arm and a leg to get even canned.
One day, in our discussion, the Naga came up. I got the distinct impression that he did not believe in the Naga, and had never seen it, but that religious dicatates insisted that he not actually come out and say that, I suppose. But he was more than happy to fill me in about it.
Now, I had an interest in the Naga because of what I considered a close resemblance to the American Indian "Great Horned Serpent. @"Guohua" might consider it a Chinese variety of dragon. They may also bear some re;lationship to the rainbow serpent of the Austraian Aboringines. They seen tp be universal... and old. Very, very, old.
I present to you, the Naga:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C4%81ga
In the following video, the mention of a "Naga jewel" relates the the Cherokee version of the Great Horned Serpent, called by the Cherokees "Uktena", as the Uktena is said to have a magical crystal in it's forehead. Regarding the association with water and the Garuda Bird, see my commentary on the video below. As touches upon the "Elixir of Immortality" and the Naga, I would mention that it was a snake that ate the herb of immortaility in the Gigamesh Epic, the oldest written human saga, and a serpent that ultimately separated Adam and Eve from the tree of Life in the Bible:
In this video, the mention of the assocaition with water is pertinent to the Great Horned Serpents - they are said to live in aquatic environments, even so lttle as enough to wet a dead tree stump in the woods.
Also pertinent is the mention of the Garuda Bird in enmity to the Naga - Native American lore mentions that as an enmity between the Thunderbords and the Great Horned Serpent or Uktena:
Modern Naga fireballs over the Mekong River in Thailand... WARNING! - the swamp gas theory raises it's ugly head again. It seems "swamp gas" may be able to explain everything that science cannot:
And, finally, the official Buddhist take on Nagas:
Here is me, looking forward to comments you may have, and associations that you can make that I may not be aware of.
.
Once upon a time, many, many moons ago, I used to stand guard duty at a place. The exact place is unimportant. There were a lot of "places". Any one "place"was much like another - they all had dirt, they all had air, and they all had a reason someone had to stand guard.
Anyhow, at this particular place, a Buddhist monk took a shine to me for some reason I was never able to fathom. He was a Thai, but it was not in Thailand.
So, anyhow, he used to bring me "stuff" every time he visited. Longans and lychees still on the branch, ready for eating - just as soon as you peeled them - sticky rice in loaves wrapped in bananna leaves - tied with a strip from the spine of the leaf - with some kind of mystery meat in the middle that I never figured out what it was - and I never dared ask - coconuts still in the husk that were a pain in the ass to peel, but worth it, "Grass tea" which had tiny cubes of some jello-like substance in it that added bulk to the tea and damn near made it a meal, coconut juice with shredded coconut in it that also added substance to the liquid, just all kinds of stuff that your average Round Eye ain't familiar with. Every visit brought something else new.
I miss those longans and lychees especially - can't get them here except in a can, and they lose something in the cannning... and cost an arm and a leg to get even canned.
One day, in our discussion, the Naga came up. I got the distinct impression that he did not believe in the Naga, and had never seen it, but that religious dicatates insisted that he not actually come out and say that, I suppose. But he was more than happy to fill me in about it.
Now, I had an interest in the Naga because of what I considered a close resemblance to the American Indian "Great Horned Serpent. @"Guohua" might consider it a Chinese variety of dragon. They may also bear some re;lationship to the rainbow serpent of the Austraian Aboringines. They seen tp be universal... and old. Very, very, old.
I present to you, the Naga:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C4%81ga
In the following video, the mention of a "Naga jewel" relates the the Cherokee version of the Great Horned Serpent, called by the Cherokees "Uktena", as the Uktena is said to have a magical crystal in it's forehead. Regarding the association with water and the Garuda Bird, see my commentary on the video below. As touches upon the "Elixir of Immortality" and the Naga, I would mention that it was a snake that ate the herb of immortaility in the Gigamesh Epic, the oldest written human saga, and a serpent that ultimately separated Adam and Eve from the tree of Life in the Bible:
In this video, the mention of the assocaition with water is pertinent to the Great Horned Serpents - they are said to live in aquatic environments, even so lttle as enough to wet a dead tree stump in the woods.
Also pertinent is the mention of the Garuda Bird in enmity to the Naga - Native American lore mentions that as an enmity between the Thunderbords and the Great Horned Serpent or Uktena:
Modern Naga fireballs over the Mekong River in Thailand... WARNING! - the swamp gas theory raises it's ugly head again. It seems "swamp gas" may be able to explain everything that science cannot:
And, finally, the official Buddhist take on Nagas:
Here is me, looking forward to comments you may have, and associations that you can make that I may not be aware of.
.
Diogenes was eating bread and lentils for supper. He was seen by the philosopher Aristippus, who lived comfortably by flattering the king.
Said Aristippus, ‘If you would learn to be subservient to the king you would not have to live on lentils.’ Said Diogenes, ‘Learn to live on lentils and you will not have to be subservient to the king.’
Said Aristippus, ‘If you would learn to be subservient to the king you would not have to live on lentils.’ Said Diogenes, ‘Learn to live on lentils and you will not have to be subservient to the king.’
