| Written by Sophan Seng | |
| Tuesday, 23 September 2008 | |
| Dear Editor,
Regarding your news item titled “P’chum Ben festivities kick off Sunday” (15 September). Among Cambodian annual festivities, P’Chum Ben is considered very significant. Regarding Buddhist ethics, this festival offers a chance for all Cambodian Buddhists to pay gratitude to their deceased ancestors as well as to those living parents and elders. The principles of Buddhist practice are to get rid of all evils, to cultivate the good and to cleanse one’s mind. P’chum Ben has bonded Cambodian society and it is the instrumental cultural thread to the nation. Sophan Seng Original Source: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2008092321791/National-news/What-P-Chum-Ben-means.html |
Category Archives: Culture
Pride or shame ?
Tuol Sleng Museum applies for registration with Unesco intrigued the question that this initiative will bring shame or pride to Cambodian people? If we check in the listing numbers of world cultural heritages subscribed by Unesco, we seem not see any genocidal or brutal place being put as World Heritage. But if Cambodia can achieve her purpose to register Tuol Sleng Museum with Unesco, it would be possibly questionable to the intent of this orientation.
Conceivably, many foreign visitors have always laid their expectation when they visit Cambodia: to experience the well-known greatness of Angkor Wat and the horrible notorious legacy of Khmer Rouge. Weighting these two expectations rationally reflect the pride and shame of Cambodia. The reputation of Angkor Wat highly honors the Cambodian people in the past, present and future. But the legacy of Khmer Rouge and Tuol Sleng prisoners’ camp ambiguously construes Cambodian people.
P’chum Ben: Its Significance
Among Cambodian annual festivities, P’chum Ben and Kan Ben are considered very significant. Literally, P’chum Ben means the gathering of the pieces of cooked rice to offer to the deceased. It culminates in 15th of full moon day and ends in 15th of waning moon day in lunar calendar of the 9th month or September 14 to September 28. The values of this festival notably inscribed its universal similarity, traditional practice, Buddhist ethics, and social, economic, political driven-force.
Universally, the festivity occurs during the darkest night. During these 15 days, the night in Cambodia is so dark and humid allowed Cambodian people to accelerate their belief of ghosts who dare appear only in the very dark night. The belief coincides with some Western countries especially Canada and America that their Halloween Day also happens in the very dark night. The purpose of the festival is to refer to ghosts or spirit, but practice is in different formats. Cambodian Buddhists bring food to offer to the Sangha, but Canadians and Americans joyfully play “trick or treat” with each other by transforming themselves as the night ghosts. Thailand and Lao also celebrate this day for the gratefulness to their deceased called Kao Sarth.
The Pursuit of Happiness
Abstract
The pursuit of happiness has been critical in human society. Essentially, many scholars have explored and defined it in various approaches. Some are theoretical, some are empirical, and some are practical. Abraham Maslow has been considered the father of humanistic psychology and well-known for his conceptualization of a “hierarchy of human needs”. But Manfred Max Reef, a Chilean economist and philosopher has argued the fundamental human needs are non-hierarchical, and ontologically universal and invariant in nature. Neuroscientist Professor Richard Davidson in Wisconsin University found the truth in his experimental lab about “the pursuit of happiness” persuasively spread worldwide. The three scholars tirelessly demonstrated their belief to address happiness for human beings.
This paper searches the correlation findings of these three scholars in comprehending fundamental needs of human being, handling with life, and pursing happiness. The methodology is epistemologically and qualitatively conducting. Four stages will be attentively debated; generalization the discovery each of these three scholars, comparative reflection of their studies, religious perspectives on happiness, and meditation as a tool.
This study might not able to offer the complete answer of “the pursuit of happiness”, but at least it can provide insightful perspectives of life explained by these three well-known scholars. In complimenting this, the philosophy and practice of meditation will be partly addressed. Meditation is a tool, mentioned by Professor Richard Davidson, to achieve his lab research on the question “what is happiness?”
Summary:
Abraham Maslow categorized basic human needs the most primitive needs to the least needs such as physiological, safety, love or belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. But Manfred Max-Neef criticized Maslow’s as there is no hierarchy at all for the human needs; and he suggested “satisfactoriness” as the main manifestation to happiness. Richard Davidson in his experimental lab found that matured, experienced monks in practicing meditation are full of happiness. This research tries to take in light of those three discoveries without inserting any criticism or recommendation.