Posted on 07/10/2018 8:59:18 AM PDT by Simon Green
When the 12 Thai boys who were trapped in a cave and were rescued one by one were first discovered by British divers a week ago, they were reportedly meditating.
“Look at how calm they were sitting there waiting. No one was crying or anything. It was astonishing,” the mother of one of the boys told the AP, referring to a widely shared video of the moment the boys were found.
Turns out that their coach, Ekapol Chanthawong, who led them on a hike into the cave when it flooded on June 23, trained in meditation as a Buddhist monk for a decade before becoming a soccer coach. According to multiple news sources, he taught the boys, ages 11 to 16, to meditate in the cave to keep them calm and preserve their energy through their two-week ordeal.
“He could meditate up to an hour,” Ekapol’s aunt, Tham Chanthawong, told the AP. “It has definitely helped him and probably helps the boys to stay calm.”
Ekapol, 25, went to live in a monastery at age 12 after he was orphaned. According the Straits Times, he trained to be a monk for 10 years at a monastery in Mae Sai, Thailand, but left to care for a sick grandmother. He then was hired to be the assistant coach of the team, known as the Wild Boars.
Coach Ake, as he is known, still maintains close contacts at the monastery. The abbot there told the Wall Street Journal he’s “a responsible young man who meditates regularly.”
(Excerpt) Read more at vox.com ...
Imagine if they had been muzzies. Yelling and screaming, half the heads piled up in a corner. Religion does have an effect on actions.
Sounds great to me.
Good work to all involved and my prayers for family of the one diver who died in the process. I am sure he will be memorialized appropriately.
The world always needs good news like this and I am sure interest in meditation (which is good for you) will rise substantially.
Let us hope that the ex-monk is now an ex-coach. What a bonehead to have taken 12 kids into a cave with no supplies during monsoon season. It is only be God grace and the skill and intelligence of better men that he and the boys survived.It’s sad that the Thai Navy Seal lost his life in the process, though.
The ability to calm oneself and think clearly, as aided by "mindfulness meditation," may well have savied their lives.
What a great blessing and an answer to prayer.
Sigh.
May I, Hostage?
***********
A couple of things to know to counter wrong views of what happened:
1. The Thai soccer coach did NOT lead the boys into the cave, he found their bicycles and went into the cave seeking them out. His presence was heroic as he helped calm them, rationed food, and led them in prayer.
2. The boys and the coach were driven further into the cave by waters rushing in from Monsoon rains. The boys did not know how to swim. Their only reaction was to run away. They ended up several miles deep into the cave from the entrance.
It is a MIRACLE that none of the boys lost their lives.
The boys were rescued by an international team and supported by locals. All are heroes as they risked their lives in the effort. One diver gave his life for the rescue as he brought oxygen and returned without enough for himself.
(Courtesy, FReeper Hostage)
Thanks. I’ve not kept close tabs on this situation, skimming a bit, and saw this information earlier today here on Freepdom. This piece of the puzzle is crucial for grasping the whole of a great drama that might have been a huge tragedy (and still is a tragedy given that a life was lost, albeit heroically).
“...I am sure interest in meditation (which is good for you) will rise substantially.’
That would be a good thing. I think it’s already more popular than people realize. I learned how to do mindfulness meditation from a book titled, “Full Catastrophe Living.” Meditating really helped get me through some difficult times.
I also learned how to do Transcendental Meditation in the mid-70’s. I went from a mediocre college student in math to a straight A student in engineering (it might have helped that I had to quit smoking weed before going through the program).
It takes a while to get used to spending 20 minutes at a time doing either, but well worth it.
[ Imagine if they had been muzzies. Yelling and screaming, half the heads piled up in a corner. Religion does have an effect on actions. ]
I remember recently that some Burmese Buddhists Monks were saying that most religions can coexist with each other EXCEPT FOR ISLAM....
I would rather have a Buddhist for a neighbor than a follower of Mad Mo!
Praying to a false god or meditating on a false reality is wrong.
https://www.thebereancall.org/content/mysticism-and-coming-world-religion-part-one-0
So I should stop meditating and driving my blood pressure down to low 100's ...typically 108-110...?
Not completely true - It was a an initiation to the team.
Trapped Thai soccer team entered cave for ‘initiation’ ritual, rescuer says
Meditation is prayer. Prayer is meditation. Old as mankind. Christ meditated all the time. There are many trails on God’s mountain, so to speak.
Great post, friend.
In those dark and dangerous times the happy ending to this story has put such job into my heart.
Prayer does work !
Excellent!
Oh dear. I could hardly stop laughing.
I do transcendental meditation. Has helped me a great deal. I would think that sitting quietly might accomplish this as well. I am also Christian and the 2 things do not conflict with each other.
Was a very good thing to have used this for these young lads.
Even just being able to control breathing is a good thing. Whether you're saying "OM" or "Om-my God."
I am not indifferent to the religious question, though. Buddhist friends tell me their methods tend to settle you in emptiness/desirelessness. This might put you in house-swept-clean type of danger (Luke 15:24-26) where the demons realize they like a nice, clean, empty house, and decide to come swarming back in.
It seems to me that a truth-centered meditation, rightly done, should not extinguish your desires, but put them in right order, with God at the top (or shall we say, in the center) and all the other desires arranged in beautiful order and harmony.
May God reward the Thai Navy Seal who lost his life, and bring him to the Light.
>>Praying to a false god or meditating on a false reality is wrong.<<
I am sure a billion Buddhists might disagree (Buddha is not the same as “God”).
Meditation is a mental exercise that has nothing to do with religion although some religions use it to attain certain states of mind.
I do yoga and meditate and I am quite Christian. I find no conflict but that may be b/c I do not search one out.
It depends on what you are meditating on. If it is internal, ‘emptying yourself’, as in Buddhism, it is the work of the devil. If it is medition upon His Word, it is uplifting. Hopefully, He revealed Himself to those kids (and coach), while in the cave.
As an aside, according to a missionary who spoke at my church, there have been thousands of Buddhist monks in Myanmar (Burma), who have come to Jesus. What they have found is permanent joy in Him. rather than the temporary ‘nirvana’ they feel, after they having suffered and meditated. That feeling is not permanent. Word spreads among the Buddhist monks and they come, seeking information about Jeaus from missionaries.
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