(Max Stoli) I found out WHY there are so many "ladyboys" (katois, kathoeys, kathoys) in predominantly Theravada Buddhist Thailand (and it's not what one would expect).
Showing posts with label katoi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label katoi. Show all posts
Monday, April 27, 2026
Tuesday, May 27, 2025
Yogi walks barefoot in Himalayan snow
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| Yogi casually walking in the snow like some kind of Wim Hof (Instagram) |
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| Video shows yogi walking barefoot in Himalayan snow (TOI Trending Desk/etimes.in/5/26/25) |
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| He did what? I have to step up my practice! |
A video shows a yogi walking barefoot in the Himalayas. The yogi is wearing only a thin [linen] cloth. A person recording the video greets him. The yogi says he is coming from Hind Parvat.
He calmly answers questions about the cold and his lack of warm clothing. The video is gaining attention online. Viewers are impressed by his spiritual detachment [rather than the physical obsession we normally exhibit].
The video leaves viewers stunned as it shows a yogi walking barefoot in deep snow, reportedly in the Himalayas. It has gone viral on social media, leaving viewers stunned. What has caught everyone’s attention isn’t any stunt, but the yogi’s calm, peaceful walk through harsh, freezing conditions, wearing nothing but a thin white cloth.
In the video, the yogi, who appears to be in his early 30s, can be seen walking barefoot through thick snow. The person recording the video greets him respectfully, saying, “Jai Kedarnath Maharaj ji” (“Hail Kedarnath, Maharaj-ji” or “Hello, Kedarnath, great holy lord”), then warns him gently, “Aaraam se, aaraam se… kahan se aa rahe ho? (“Careful, careful…where are you coming from?”)
Without hesitation, the yogi replies, “Hind Parvat se aa raha hoon.” Surprised, the man asks again, “Hind Parvat se?” and the yogi calmly repeats, “Haan, Hind Parvat se.” As the two continue talking, the man points toward the snow-covered slopes and asks, “Upar jaa sakte hain? Saari baraf hi dikh rahi hai upar toh” (“Can we go up there? It’s all snow-covered”).
The yogi responds with a smile, “Haan, baraf hi baraf hai” (“Yes, it’s all snow”).
The most surprising moment comes when the man, clearly shocked, asks, “Aap aise baraf par nange pair ho?” (“You’re walking barefoot on this snow?”)
The yogi calmly replies, “Nange pair main thodi hoon, yeh toh shareer hai. Yeh shareer nange pair hai, main nahi hoon” (“I am not barefoot – this body is. The body is barefoot, not me”).
The man then says, “Na aapki jacket hai…” (“You’re not even wearing a jacket...”), and the yogi replies, “Kuchh nahi pehna hai” (“I haven’t worn anything special”).
Wearing only a thin dhoti, the yogi’s quiet strength and composed presence in the freezing Himalayan cold has drawn admiration and curiosity.
Many online viewers have described it as a powerful example of spiritual detachment and mind-over-body strength, the kind rarely seen in today’s fast-paced world.
While the video continues to gain attention across multiple social media platforms, it was originally shared by the yogi himself, who goes by the username @margdarshakji on Instagram.
The Times of India (TOI) could not independently verify the location, time, or authenticity of the video. Read more at:
timesofindia.indiatimes.com
- Times of India, May 26, 2025; Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Tuesday, January 23, 2024
Kat Von D removing all her tattoos (photos)
Guest Kat Von D on Theo Von Clips, 12/15/23; Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Jen Bradford, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
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| My tattoo guy likes to scribble. I think it looks good, like I'm an animation sketch or snake. |
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| Shut the front door. You know I look good. I'm thinking of doing cam porn or bank robbery. |
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| Tattoos used to be cool. Now every dumb@$$ has one or two or ten, on the face and butt. |
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| They're gonna love you in prison, see? Oh, howdy, they're going to love you hard. |
Kat Von D is BLACKING OUT all of her tattoos
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| Look, Dad, I got a tattoo! - Oh, Jesus, why? |
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| What would the Buddha do? Would he get a tattoo? - No, he wasn't molested as a kid. |
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| Sometimes they misspell words. You have to keep an eye on them and triple check. |
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| I'm going to look so cool when I get older, lose my looks, and gain some stubborn weight. |
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| My tattoo is me. I wear this skin, like when a dog rolls in another dog's |
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#KatVonD #TheoVon #TheoVonClips
Excerpt from This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von 474. Find Theo on: Instagram: theovon
Facebook: theovon, Facebook Group: thispastweekend, Twitter: theovon, Patreon: theovon, YouTube: theovon. #TheoVon #KatVonD #ThisPastWeekend #TheoVonClips
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Homosexuality and Buddhism: "Pandakas"
Pandaka literally means "eunuch." Generally, it is understood to be a transsexual or at the very least a transgender, often deviant, individual "lacking maleness." Homosexuality as understood today is not as it was understood in ancient India or even how it is understood today in various parts of Asia.
Leonard Zwilling
"It is evident, then, that we are dealing with a variety of sexual dysfunctions and variations categorized under the general rubric "pandaka," and the reason for this is that they all share the common quality of being "napumsaka," "lacking maleness." That is, for one reason or another they fail to meet the normative sex role expectations for an adult male.
"In the Vinaya literature [the Monastic Disciplinary Code] references to pandakas are made almost invariably within the context of sexual, specifically homosexual, behavior, and we find in many societies a tendency to label a boy or man who participates in homosexual activity as not being a "real man."[16]
"Even as early as the period of the Atharva Veda, pandakas were viewed as a distinct group, different from ordinary males and females, and apparently transvestite. The Vinaya, in fact, goes so far as to distinguish sexual activity between normative males from sexual relations between a socially normative male and a pandaka.[17]
"The pandaka was also viewed as possessing a distinct psychological makeup. According to Buddhaghosa [by far the most famous ancient scholar in Theravada Buddhism] pandakas are full of defiling passions (ussanakilesa); their lusts are unquenchable (avupasantaparilaha); and they are dominated by their libido (parilahavegabhibhuta) and the desire for lovers just like prostitutes (vesiya) and coarse young girls (thulakumarika).[18]
"Thus the pandaka is distinguished not by homosexual behavior per se, but by the failure to fulfill male role expectations, was considered in some degree to share the behavior and psychological characteristics of the stereotypical "bad" woman.
"For Vasubandhu, the psychological makeup of the pandaka is such as to have significant ramifications for his ability to practice religion. On the one hand, pandakas are incapable of religious discipline (samvara) because to an inordinate degree they possess the defiling passions of both sexes...and they lack the sense of modesty and shame...necessary to counteract them.[19].
Leonard Zwilling
"It is evident, then, that we are dealing with a variety of sexual dysfunctions and variations categorized under the general rubric "pandaka," and the reason for this is that they all share the common quality of being "napumsaka," "lacking maleness." That is, for one reason or another they fail to meet the normative sex role expectations for an adult male."In the Vinaya literature [the Monastic Disciplinary Code] references to pandakas are made almost invariably within the context of sexual, specifically homosexual, behavior, and we find in many societies a tendency to label a boy or man who participates in homosexual activity as not being a "real man."[16]
"Even as early as the period of the Atharva Veda, pandakas were viewed as a distinct group, different from ordinary males and females, and apparently transvestite. The Vinaya, in fact, goes so far as to distinguish sexual activity between normative males from sexual relations between a socially normative male and a pandaka.[17]"The pandaka was also viewed as possessing a distinct psychological makeup. According to Buddhaghosa [by far the most famous ancient scholar in Theravada Buddhism] pandakas are full of defiling passions (ussanakilesa); their lusts are unquenchable (avupasantaparilaha); and they are dominated by their libido (parilahavegabhibhuta) and the desire for lovers just like prostitutes (vesiya) and coarse young girls (thulakumarika).[18]
"Thus the pandaka is distinguished not by homosexual behavior per se, but by the failure to fulfill male role expectations, was considered in some degree to share the behavior and psychological characteristics of the stereotypical "bad" woman.
"For Vasubandhu, the psychological makeup of the pandaka is such as to have significant ramifications for his ability to practice religion. On the one hand, pandakas are incapable of religious discipline (samvara) because to an inordinate degree they possess the defiling passions of both sexes...and they lack the sense of modesty and shame...necessary to counteract them.[19].
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Buddhist monks pictured outside a nightspot on Patpong Road, Bangkok, an infamous commercial sex zone (Photo: AP; story: theage.com.au).
"On the other hand, paradoxically, the pandakas also... I can only speculate that this view of the pandaka as lascivious, shameless, unfilial, and vacillating is based on the social disabilities incurred by the pandaka as a member of a stigmatized and outcasted group, such as is formed by their present-day counterparts, the hinjras,[22] as well as on the inability or unwillingness of such offspring to bring satisfaction to their parents either in this life by producing children or in the afterlife owing to their disqualification from funerary and after death rites.[23]
"As for the etiology of the homosexual condition, Indian Buddhist tradition, at least as represented by Buddhaghosa, agrees for the most part with traditional Indian medical thought in seeing it as being essentially an organic disorder, although one with an important psychological component.[24]
"Buddhaghosa begins his analysis by pointing out that men and women obviously differ not only in what we call primary and secondary sexual characteristics, but in interests and inclinations as well....
"Also, a number of rules laid down in monastic law are meant to minimize the occasions for homosexual activity inevitable in closed, same-sex communities; for example it is forbidden for two novices to share the same bedcover[35] and it is not allowed for two novices to serve one monk; this rule having been promulgated after it was discovered that two novices had each committed a sexual offense with the other.[36]
"As to the ordination of the sexually nonconformist male, it will certainly be no surprise to find ordination denied to such individuals and that such denial has solid canonical authority.
As with all the rules in the system of Buddhist monastic law [Vinaya], this regulation purportedly arose in response to a specific set of circumstances that in the Pali tradition are recounted in the Pandaka-vatthu section of the Mahavagga.[37]
"The account is short enough, and of interest for the light it sheds on the perceived characteristics of pandakas, that I give it here in its entirety:
"At that time a certain pandaka was ordained among the monks. He approached a number of young monks and said: 'Come, Venerable Ones, defile me' (etha, mam ayasmanto dusetha). The monks reproached him: 'Begone pandaka, away with you! What have we to do with that?'
"Reproached by the monks he approached a number of large, stout novices. 'Come, Venerable Ones, defile me.' The novices reproached him: 'Begone pandaka, away with you! What have we to do with that?'
"Reproached by the novices he approached the elephant keepers and the grooms and said: 'Come, Sirs, defile me.' The elephant keepers and grooms defiled him.
"They grumbled, became angry and irritated: 'These recluses, these followers of the Buddha are pandakas and those who are not pandakas defile pandakas. Thus do they all lack discipline.'
"Monks heard those elephant keepers and grooms who grumbled, were angry, and irritated and those monks told this matter to the Blessed One who said: 'Monks, if a pandaka is not ordained, let him not be ordained. If he is already ordained let him be expelled.'"[38]
A similar prohibition would appear to be extended to the sexually nonconformist woman as well. According to the Cullavagga,[39] among the individuals to be denied ordination are the animitta and the itthipandaka. The latter, by analogy with the male pandaka, would seem to be no more than the female of the species and the equivalent of the narisanda, or lesbian, of the medical literature.[40]...
"Beyond the prohibition against ordination, Asanga, like Vasubandhu, goes so far as to refuse the pandaka recognition as a layman on the grounds that such persons are unfit to associate with or serve the samgha [Sangha] although, as a concession and perhaps reflecting a broader Mahayana perspective, he does allow them to practice the path of a layman if they so desire,[42] presumably without receiving recognition as a layman.
"On the other hand, paradoxically, the pandakas also... I can only speculate that this view of the pandaka as lascivious, shameless, unfilial, and vacillating is based on the social disabilities incurred by the pandaka as a member of a stigmatized and outcasted group, such as is formed by their present-day counterparts, the hinjras,[22] as well as on the inability or unwillingness of such offspring to bring satisfaction to their parents either in this life by producing children or in the afterlife owing to their disqualification from funerary and after death rites.[23]
"As for the etiology of the homosexual condition, Indian Buddhist tradition, at least as represented by Buddhaghosa, agrees for the most part with traditional Indian medical thought in seeing it as being essentially an organic disorder, although one with an important psychological component.[24]
"Buddhaghosa begins his analysis by pointing out that men and women obviously differ not only in what we call primary and secondary sexual characteristics, but in interests and inclinations as well....
"Also, a number of rules laid down in monastic law are meant to minimize the occasions for homosexual activity inevitable in closed, same-sex communities; for example it is forbidden for two novices to share the same bedcover[35] and it is not allowed for two novices to serve one monk; this rule having been promulgated after it was discovered that two novices had each committed a sexual offense with the other.[36]
"As to the ordination of the sexually nonconformist male, it will certainly be no surprise to find ordination denied to such individuals and that such denial has solid canonical authority.
As with all the rules in the system of Buddhist monastic law [Vinaya], this regulation purportedly arose in response to a specific set of circumstances that in the Pali tradition are recounted in the Pandaka-vatthu section of the Mahavagga.[37]
"The account is short enough, and of interest for the light it sheds on the perceived characteristics of pandakas, that I give it here in its entirety:
"At that time a certain pandaka was ordained among the monks. He approached a number of young monks and said: 'Come, Venerable Ones, defile me' (etha, mam ayasmanto dusetha). The monks reproached him: 'Begone pandaka, away with you! What have we to do with that?'
"Reproached by the monks he approached a number of large, stout novices. 'Come, Venerable Ones, defile me.' The novices reproached him: 'Begone pandaka, away with you! What have we to do with that?'
"Reproached by the novices he approached the elephant keepers and the grooms and said: 'Come, Sirs, defile me.' The elephant keepers and grooms defiled him.
"They grumbled, became angry and irritated: 'These recluses, these followers of the Buddha are pandakas and those who are not pandakas defile pandakas. Thus do they all lack discipline.'
"Monks heard those elephant keepers and grooms who grumbled, were angry, and irritated and those monks told this matter to the Blessed One who said: 'Monks, if a pandaka is not ordained, let him not be ordained. If he is already ordained let him be expelled.'"[38]
A similar prohibition would appear to be extended to the sexually nonconformist woman as well. According to the Cullavagga,[39] among the individuals to be denied ordination are the animitta and the itthipandaka. The latter, by analogy with the male pandaka, would seem to be no more than the female of the species and the equivalent of the narisanda, or lesbian, of the medical literature.[40]..."Beyond the prohibition against ordination, Asanga, like Vasubandhu, goes so far as to refuse the pandaka recognition as a layman on the grounds that such persons are unfit to associate with or serve the samgha [Sangha] although, as a concession and perhaps reflecting a broader Mahayana perspective, he does allow them to practice the path of a layman if they so desire,[42] presumably without receiving recognition as a layman.
"Interestingly enough, the proto-Mahayana text Mahavastu recognizes that even such a highly advanced practitioner as a fourth stage bodhisattva may backslide owing to homosexual activity.[43]
"Although no explicit references to homosexuality are found in the Nikayas [the canonical divisions of the written Dharma], the collection of the Buddha's discourses in the Pali tradition, in the Puggalappasada-sutta of the Anguttara-nikaya[44] there is what may be construed as a warning to monks against homoerotic feelings.
"The Buddha warns that a monk who is devoted (abhippasanna) to another, who thinks: 'This person is dear and pleasing (priyo manapo) to me,' will be adversely affected if his friend is suspended or expelled by the Order, leaves, becomes mentally unbalanced, or dies.
"And again, Buddhaghosa, in commenting on a passage in the Cakkavatti-sutta of the Digha Nikaya,[45] describing the progressive degeneration in the life span of human beings following upon their increasing corporeality and sinfulness, takes the expression 'wrong conduct' (micchadhamma) as 'the sexual desire of men for men and women for women.'[46]
"In associating homosexuality with decline and decadence Buddhaghosa is undoubtedly reflecting a commonly held view of his time, a view also expressed in the great Indian epic, the Mahabharata.[47]
"In the sutra literature of Sanskrit Buddhism..."
"Etiquette Guide" for Effeminate Monks
It is customary for Thai men to [temporarily] enter the monkhood for training at least once.(BBC [and WQ]) -- A Buddhist preacher [revered monk of long standing in the Sangha] in Thailand has announced plans for new guidelines aimed at curbing the flamboyant behavior of gay and transgender monks.
The "good manners" curriculum -- the country's first -- is being introduced in the northern province of Chiang Rai.
The senior monk told the BBC he was particularly concerned by effeminate activities among novices [who are not monks and are therefore only bound to ten rather than the 227 rules monks follow] such as the wearing of make-up and tight robes.
More than 90% of the Thai population are followers of [Theravada] Buddhism.
The BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok says tales of monks [who are actually only temporarily-ordained novices, samaneras, not "monks"] behaving badly are nothing new in Thailand.
In recent years, they have been accused of abuses of their exalted position in society that range from amassing dozens of luxury cars, to running fake amulet scams, to violating their vows of celibacy, our correspondent says.
Senior monk Phra ["Venerable"] Maha Wudhijaya Vajiramedhi told the BBC he would address issues like smoking, drinking alcohol, walking, and going to the toilet properly, which are all detailed in the traditional 75 Dharma principles of Buddhism, and the 227 precepts for [fully-ordained] monks.
The "good manners" curriculum -- the country's first -- is being introduced in the northern province of Chiang Rai.
The senior monk told the BBC he was particularly concerned by effeminate activities among novices [who are not monks and are therefore only bound to ten rather than the 227 rules monks follow] such as the wearing of make-up and tight robes.
More than 90% of the Thai population are followers of [Theravada] Buddhism.
The BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok says tales of monks [who are actually only temporarily-ordained novices, samaneras, not "monks"] behaving badly are nothing new in Thailand.
In recent years, they have been accused of abuses of their exalted position in society that range from amassing dozens of luxury cars, to running fake amulet scams, to violating their vows of celibacy, our correspondent says.
Senior monk Phra ["Venerable"] Maha Wudhijaya Vajiramedhi told the BBC he would address issues like smoking, drinking alcohol, walking, and going to the toilet properly, which are all detailed in the traditional 75 Dharma principles of Buddhism, and the 227 precepts for [fully-ordained] monks.
He was especially concerned, he said, by the flamboyant behavior of gay and transgender [novices, who are technically pandakas and therefore ineligible to become "monks"], who can often be seen wearing revealingly tight robes, carrying pink purses, and having effeminately-shaped eyebrows. [Thailand accepts a third gender known as kathoey, "transsexuals," who also existed in ancient India and in the Buddha's time were referred to as pandakas, and even in indigenous American tribes, such as the Chumash].
Thailand has a very large and visible population of transgender men [pandakas]. And Phra Vajiramedhi acknowledged that it was difficult to exclude them from the monkhood [as celibate novices]. But he hoped his course could at least persuade them to curb their more extrovert habits.
If successful, the "good manners" course, at the Novice Demonstration School, would be replicated at other Buddhist monasteries and seminaries, he said. Source
- Book: Sexuality and the World's Religions (Machacek & Wilcox)
- Buddhism, Sexuality, and Gender (Edited by Jose Ignacio Cabezon, SUNY)
- "Pandakas" are discussed in Chapter 9 (pp. 203-214) "Homosexuality as Seen in Indian Buddhist Texts" by Leonard Zwilling
TOP ASIA-PACIFIC STORIES (BBC)
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