<\/p>\n
Thailand is a country where 95% of its inhabitants are Buddhists, and its language is very much linked to its religion. Since the world will end this month (due to running out of days on the Mayan calendar), I thought it appropriate to describe the Buddhist version of the end of the world.<\/p>\n
But with an end, there must first be a beginning. So let\u2019s start with Buddhist creation story.<\/p>\n
Creation was first described by Buddha \u0e1e\u0e23\u0e30\u0e1e\u0e38\u0e17\u0e18\u0e40\u0e08\u0e49\u0e32<\/strong> (pra4 put4ta4jaow3) more than 2500 years ago to his followers. Where did the world come from, they asked?<\/p>\n Buddha\u2019s answer has since been passed down through countless generations to finally reach my current Thai language teacher, a Thai man who has been a Buddhist monk for over 30 years. He has done his best to pass that knowledge onto me. To fill in the missing gaps, I\u2019ve also trawled the internet for more answers. And if it\u2019s on the internet, it must be true, no?<\/p>\n The world, as Buddha described it, began when the Earth and stars spontaneously formed on its own. Water and air then collected and became seas on the Earth. But life did not yet exist.<\/p>\n And then came what is called the Phrom \u0e1e\u0e23\u0e2b\u0e21<\/strong> (prom1), or what are basically unfathomable \u2018beings\u2019 in what best can be described as another \u2018dimension\u2019 beyond and above heaven called Phromalok \u0e1e\u0e23\u0e2b\u0e21\u0e42\u0e25\u0e01<\/strong> (prom1 ma1 lok3). These Phrom supposedly came first.<\/p>\n So where did the Phrom come from? The Phrom are ancient \u2018beings\u2019 which are the \u2018evolved\u2019 form of that which resides in heaven (angels and what not). So where did the angels come from? That which is in heaven \u0e2a\u0e27\u0e23\u0e23\u0e04\u0e4c<\/strong> (sa2waan5) came from humans that have reached enlightenment and nirvana. So where did humans \u0e21\u0e19\u0e38\u0e29\u0e22\u0e4c<\/strong> (ma4nut4) come from? Humans came from both the creatures of Hell \u0e19\u0e23\u0e01<\/strong> (na4rok4), and supposedly Phrom which have eaten the dirt of the Earth (because it smelled too good to resist, supposedly).<\/p>\n This sounded like one big logic circle to me, so I pointed this out to my teacher monk. I also asked about where all the materials needed to create the world came from. He agreed these were good questions, and responded that Buddha never explained that part.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s go back to the Phrom. The best way to describe them is like \u2018light\u2019. Heaven is \u2018light\u2019 to humans. And Phromalok is \u2018light\u2019 to heaven. Phrom have no emotions, but are capable of expressing emotions. They don\u2019t consist of matter or energy, and cannot be seen by people (unless you are a psychic, supposedly). They exist beyond the concepts of good and evil. While humans can only live a few decades, and angels can \u201clive\u201d for thousands of years, the Phrom can \u201clive\u201d for millions of years before they \u201cexpire\u201d. What happens afterwards I don\u2019t know. The monk didn\u2019t, either.<\/p>\n In Buddhism, creation is just one part of the big cycle. To really understand the creation of the world, you must also understand the destruction of the world. I will explain this in my next post.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Thailand is a country where 95% of its inhabitants are Buddhists, and its language is very much linked to its religion. Since the world will end this month (due to running out of days on the Mayan calendar), I thought it appropriate to describe the Buddhist version of the end of the world. But with…<\/p>\n