Now you're talkin'! I'm interested in the Maha Chat, the story of Phra Wetsandorn. I cherish and stand in awe of the cultural setting which has grown up around it. I was fortunate enough to meet a few monks in Nan who have re-instituted the reading of the Maha Chat in their respective wats on a revolving basis, and I sat and listened to Matsii there myself a few years ago.

As with the story of the Buddha himself the renunciation of family responsibilities is discounted completely. Here's another take, in a short story by Sri Daruang.

I always try to make "sense", in my own dim light, of stories of such awesome power. I tell myself that Phra Wetsandorn exhibited wisdom in "giving away" what he never possessed to begin with; for who can claim other people as their own property, not least their mates and offspring?

Da's story is of the renunciation of the "respect" of her society for silence in the face of what she regarded as its duplicity. I still have no real idea of what she actually said. Her words are accorded the power of the Gorgon's mask... they will turn us all to stone if we actually hear them.

Trying to make "sense" of the story of the terrible power of the Gorgon's mask, again by my own dim lights, I imagine that it was integral to the transition from the feminine gods of matriarchal neolithic culture to the masculine, "modern" Apollonian gods of today.

Still so obviously holding sway.

I sometimes feel that personal appreciation of literature is one thing and teaching it is another. How can one reconcile these two? Or does one automatically lead to theother.

M: Didn't the whole realism thingy begin with modernism (modernity begun in late 18th C intellectual/artistic movement)? And did you not think Swift fit in magic realism genre? The point is the root of it (in a modern sense) is founded in Germany. But I guess it's just a matter of different framework; I start from philosophy, you from literary criticism- better put a break on this one otherwise I'll be on this thread forever. I have a Passion for literature and arts, less interest in unimaginative academism (BTW, your teacher could be an enemy of mine-- my training was a long blissful of indoctrination; thank god, I've found the light and switched side!). The art project you were involved sounds fabulous.

Joy: I personally think there's a connection between the love of literature and good teaching. Teachers with the heart of literature tend to be more thoughtful and more considerate to the development of their students. This tends to apply to teachers across disciplines. Once I observed a teacher-training class of physics. The class was led by a young English man who came to do a teacher-training certificate directly after he completed his undergraduate studies. This man was teaching upper secondary physics (grade 11). A lot of discussion in the class was about an introduction to String Theory (universe, time, space, blackhole, etc.). They were busy debating the notion of time when I watched on the day. Fast forward- fast forward- after an hour went, the teacher picked up a book called 'On Beauty' by Zadie Smith. Smith was a best-selling writer at the time; and it appeared that many students in the class like her. The young teacher, who himself graduated with first class honours in Physics, told the class that he found the best definition of time from the acknowledgement page of this book. Zadie Smith thanked her partner for letting her understand that "Time is how you spend your love". I don't think anyone can put it better than that. The class was in awe. Suddenly it became alive. I was deadly impressed with the teaching ability of this man.