TONE TONE AND FRIENDS XVI

ToneToneJune 17, 20109min1750

The discussion continues.

Wise afterward

Friend: Well, from hindsight, you are always wiser after the event.

Lesson: For survival, you may have to consider other important factors ahead. There may be unforeseen contingencies.

Culture and Pride


That is why we cannot be too infatuated with culture. We cannot base our decision on culture alone. That will be foolhardy and tragic. Culture may not help. From past experiences, it may even be a hindrance (prior postings).

Cannot afford to make mistakes or play games, either.

Saying: “A man, who has died before, should know the price of a coffin!”

Exception

Friend: We are supposed to learn from past mistakes. But some people really don’t or purposefully won’t for their own selfish reasons.

Look at Azusa flyer! What is the monk doing? He is harping on culture and pride as if they are in his Bible!
Actually, these are not in the Dhamma, at all!.

Friend: Yes, he is forging full steam ahead to attract more people, hordes of them. He plans to do this with his fake “Wish Fulfilling Banyan Tree” and his fake“Bodh Gaya.”

Friend: In fact, he has already sent out flyers about them. (Prior postings).

Friend: Festival attendees can easily exceed the legal 130 limit. His own flyers admit that his infractions are becoming more frequent. With his promos on the fakes, the size of the infractions would also be many times bigger.

(Azusa flyer extracts below)

Big bucks

Friend: Not only that, the monk is going for larger sums. See the flyer.

Back from the Abyss!

Friend: Is the monk wiser after the terrible setback?

Friend: No! He is at it again. To me, it looks like  “Phongyi yuu naet hlay luu”/ A mad monk rocking the boat! Watch out!

The boat might capsize. A lot of people might drown with the boat.

Yorba Linda

Friend: Let’s return to the Azusa story. Then came the Yorba Linda public hearing. It’s for a prospective Temple permit with a higher attendance level at Yorba Linda, another place.

Friend: What happened there?

Friend: First year, it failed. Had to wait another year with a huge Myanmar crowd.

Second year, it failed again. Yorba Linda’s residents, in opposition, were even larger. Standing room only, residents spilling outside the City Hall. All parking spaces, full!

Friend: Why failed twice?

Same story

Friend: Same old story. “Not in my backyard mentality.”

Multi faith leaders helped us, too. Complied faithfully with building specs, but denied again.
Put up appeal. This also was denied. Same thing. Residents didn’t like the potential noise and traffic, even though these fears were unfounded.
The cultural design pieces didn’t help, either.

The second cultural design was toned down quite a bit … to bare bones!

However, residents viewed both these cultural masterpieces as theme pieces which might attract more visitors and noise.

Chino Permit


Friend: I heard there also was a Chino permit hearing, at San Bernardino County building. What happened?

Friend: This time, no cultural piece. Nothing at all. It squeaked through the Planning Department hearing.

But it was denied at County Supervisors level. No reason given. Even with an attorney, lost.  Spent a huge sum (prior posting), too.

Friend: So many failures! So much hardship! So much labor and so much expenses.

Friend: No talk of “Phone ta go gyi”/super normal powers at all. Just “Ma ya htike lo”/fate, at the time.