THE 6 COMMANDMENTS

           1 - PANATIPATA VERAMANI SIKKHAPADAM SAMADIYAMI
           I endeavour to refrain myself from harming any sentient being
           ( We must all wake up to the serious depletion that we, of the human species, have inflicted upon the resources of Mother Earth and embrace strategies for sustainable development. This means saveguarding the endangered species in the animal world as well as the fast disappearing marshes, savannas, marine flora and rain forests. Some scientists have argued that plants are also sentient beings. Our ancestors had learned to live in harmony with Nature, seeing to it that resources were being preserved for the livelihood and enjoyment of generations to come. Sure enough, many had to kill with their own hands as a matter of course in order to feed themselves. But their slaughters would have amounted to a mere fraction on the scale of operations in today's fully-automated slaughterhouses. Sure enough, there had always been wars among rival tribal clans, but there were none of these senseless and amorally murderous destructions of both lives and environment on the scale of today's fields of landmines, chemical warfares or blanket-bombing.         Keir Saramak )

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - A mob snatched two alleged motorcycle thieves from police and beat them to death following a failed robbery attempt, Cambodian police said Saturday. The pair allegedly stole the motorcycle from its owner on the outskirts of Phnom Penh late Thursday. They tried to shoot the bike's owner but the gun jammed, said local police official Sun Sophal. The men were caught a short distance later by police, but several hundred people armed with sticks yanked the pair away and beat them to death in a nearby rice field. The mob also threatened to attack the police if they tried to protect the suspects. "We were able to secure them briefly, but there were only two policemen at the scene. We were waiting for intervention from our colleagues but they were late,'' Sun Sophal said. "There was nothing we could do. We also ran for our lives.'' Vigilante attacks against suspected criminals are common in Cambodia. Human rights advocates say people often take justice into their own hands because of weak and corrupt law enforcement. Police often arrive too late or in numbers too small to protect the victims.

N.P. : Hun Sen, Ranariddh, most of their ministers, military and civil servants, aren't they thieves ?
2 - ADINADANNA VERAMANI ...
DO NOT STEAL.

Drug trafficking "out of control" says UN (2004-Dec-19)
Buddhism's failure in Cambodia ?

5 - SURA MERAYA MAJJAPAM DATTHANA VERAMANI SIKKHAPADAM SAMADIYAMI
I endeavour to refrain myself from dulling my mind
(These days there are so many ways one can dull one's mind, besides alcohol and drugs. Just look at the ever-expanding selection of self-help books on addictions and addictive behaviours. There are now work-addicts, TV-addicts, sex-addicts... and internet-addicts! On this note, I better sign-off the e-mail circuit and the Net so that I can endeavour to resharpen my mind with some insight meditation.)
[Author's note : I wrote the above in memory of Kema Ananda, a spiritual teacher, who had taught much me on the relevance of Buddha's precepts in today's hectic life, and inspired me to affirm my Buddhist values. Keir Saramak]

         By Vong Sokheng in Phnom Penh Post : Illegal drug trafficking in the Kingdom skyrocketed in 2004 according to information compiled by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Compared with 2003, estimates of the amount of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) coming into the country increased ten times according to an annual report that will be released in 2005. Figures indicate that as many as 500,000 Cambodians may be involved in illegal drug usage. "Yes, the illicit drug trafficking and abuse situation is out of control in Cambodia," Graham Shaw, UNODC program officer in Phnom Penh, told the Post on December 8. He said that seizures of ATS have increased exponentially, and somewhere in the region of 100,000 tablets are trafficked on average each day from the Lao border into Stung Treng province in northern Cambodia and then primarily to Phnom Penh. Shaw said that it would appear to be very organized regarding the larger cargoes of illicit drugs trafficked by boat and overland by foot. "It appears to continue to happen now," said Shaw. "I would estimate that 2004 will see an exponential massive increase in ATS seizures, as much as 5-10 times greater than in 2003." He said it is difficult to estimate if imports of illicit drugs are still on the rise, but indications such as seizures, street price and availability of such substances strongly suggest that there are still relatively large quantities of illicit drugs entering Cambodia for domestic consumption as well as transiting to other countries in the region and beyond.
         Heroin also continues to flow into Cambodia, according to Shaw, but most is transited onward to countries such as Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand. Shaw said that the problem was worsening because of the low capacity of law enforcement, lack of adequate and well-maintained equipment, lack of specialized skills in law enforcement, low salaries of law enforcement personnel and in the judiciary, corruption, lack of knowledge regarding how to identify illicit drugs and how to test substances when they are seized. The Cambodia 2003 report on illicit drugs said that specifically methamphetamines - referred to locally as 'yama', 'yaba', or 'ma' - are the most common drug available in virtually every urban center of the country. "Of great concern is the increasing number of reports of yaba or yama use in rural areas associated with both labour-intensive agricultural activities as well as due to social pressures," said the report. Shaw said vulnerable persons included youth, especially school children from around age 12 up to mid-20s, people in labour-intensive activities such as construction, porters, agricultural workers, sex workers, truck and taxi drivers, fishermen, junior military personnel, garment factory workers, and beer girls. "But the youth are the major area of concern owing to the potential social and economic chaos caused by widespread drug abuse for the future development of Cambodia," said Shaw. He said that in general heavy users can take at least three or four tablets of yama per day.
         According to Shaw the UNODC report on the illicit drug situation in Cambodia 2004 will issued in March, 2005. In 2003 a total of 349 people were arrested nationwide for ATS-related offenses as compared to 223 in 2002. There were seven officially reported cases involving heroin in Cambodia in 2003, all in Phnom Penh with a total of 46.72kgs seized. A total of 209,529 tablets of methamphetamines were seized in Cambodia which is a rise of 66 percent as compared with 2002. Whilst methamphetamines trafficking is a great concern, it is the trafficking of heroin through Cambodia from the area around Myanmar and Laos that is causing the most concern in the international community and the amounts appear to be increasing compared to previous years. The report said that stockpiles of heroin are believed to exist within Cambodia for future shipment within the region and beyond. Shipping containers also appear to be one of several methods of transporting heroin to the global market, including North America, according to unconfirmed reports from sources within Cambodian law enforcement agencies and elsewhere.
         Shaw said that Cambodia's failure to ratify the three international Conventions on drug control was due to the political impasse following the national election on July 27, 2003. However, there is no deadline and the Cambodian government can accede at any time. "We will have to see whether the government as a whole shows the willingness to proceed with debating and voting on the three Conventions as a matter of urgency or whether further bureaucratic delays will be encountered," said Shaw. He warned that failure to accede to any of the conventions will send a very bad signal to the international community that Cambodia is not serious about its regional and international drug control obligations. "It is quite likely that substantial support would be offered by many of the larger donors following accession in order to help Cambodia raise its domestic drug control procedures for example to meet the international standards embodied within the three Conventions," he said. International Narcotic Control Board (INCB) in its report for 2003 commends Cambodia on having completed the preparations for its ratification of the three international drug control treaties and calls on Cambodia to ratify those treaties as soon as possible.
         Ngan Chamroeun, deputy secretary general of the National Authority for Combating Drugs (NACD) said that the three Conventions were already signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen, and had been sent to the National Assembly both in English and Khmer. "We want to be a member of the treaties as soon as possible, but we had technical problem (political impasse)," said Chamroeun. He said he agreed with the UN's information that the drugs trafficking and abuse situation had increased dramatically. Chamroeun said that during the first eleven months in 2004, the police seized 800,000 tablets of ATS, a fourfold increase when compared to 2003. He said that in 2005, the NACD planned to establish a center for drug treatment as the demand for treatment services had increased. The center will be capable of serving about 400 addicts and serious addicts would face compulsory drug rehabilitation treatment. "We know there will be a criticism of human rights abuses, but in order to reduce crime, and strengthen security for the public we have to carry out the compulsory treatments," said Chamroeun. He said that the NACD would allow NGOs to deal with addicts who volunteer for treatment. "We know individual parents whose children are addicts. They demand treatment but they do not know where to go, and cannot educate their children and then let them freely go on the streets," said Chamroeun. He said that reports from provinces across the country indicated there were around 4,000 addicts, but in reality the figure was higher because other addicts were hiding from authorities. He also said that drug awareness and prevention for youth was one of the key areas of cooperation between NACD and the UNODC and other partner agencies such as the Ministry of Social Affairs, Education, Health. NGOs were also playing a key role in raising the awareness of people about the dangerous consequences of using illicit drugs.

L' Âme, Le Corps Et L' Esprit (Reprise, 2004-Dec-14)
Laissons aux savants et autres paléontologues le désir de nous prouver qu'il n'y avait pas eu d' Adam et Ève, seulement une évolution naturelle, darwinienne de créatures naissant de la mer. Leurs découvertes n'illustrent que mieux la création du monde par Le Tout Puissant. L'australopithèque ne se contentait pas de rester australopithèque et voulait devenir pithécanthrope ¹, lequel voulait être homo gracile qui aspirait à devenir néanderthal puis sinanthrope puis homme de Java, lequel voulait dépasser le cromagnon pour être finalement l'homo sapiens sapiens ¹. Les femelles (la femme?) portaient leur enfant pendant neuf mois avant de donner naissance au petit, mais elles et leur(s) conjoint(s) voulaient pouvoir faire l'amour chaque nuit au lieu d'une fois tous les dix ou onze mois. Ces vérités naturelles sont exactement la pomme et le serpent dans les Saintes Écritures.

Ainsi l'âme primitive serait ce qui avait fait se dresser le premier hominien et le faisait marcher sur ses deux pattes arrière, et l'âme adulte, responsable, serait celle du premier homo sapiens sapiens qui avait eu exactement l'image de Dieu. En 1985, les permis de conduire du Québec invitaient comme maintenant leurs détenteurs à faire un don de vie au moment de leur mort mais portaient en plus une mention « Organes à prélever : ». Un plaisantin généreux pouvait y écrire : « Tout, sauf mon âme si vous pouvez la trouver. » L'âme, la vraie vie, la vie éternelle est bien quelque part dans notre corps, quitte ce dernier quand il ne fonctionne plus et se présente devant le tribunal de Dieu. Si nous méritons de redevenir un être humain, notre âme entrera dans le corps prédestiné d'un foetus humain (ou de l'embryon). Entre-temps notre cadavre ne nous est plus utile. Alors soyons généreux, faisons le don de vie, donnons notre sang, signons nos permis de conduire et autres attestations, notre corps ne sera que cendres et poussières une fois notre âme l'aura quitté.

L' âme, malgré toutes les envolées poétiques, n'appartient pas à l'individu mais uniquement à l' Éternel. L' esprit, lui, est accessible à tout le monde et peut être dérangé ou amélioré par la chimie puisqu'il a un support biologique : le cerveau. Plat de résistance des psychanalystes, objet de surveillance et de manipulation des services secrets, fierté des nations ou des écoles de pensée : tel ministre du Sangkum de Sihanouk avait l'esprit français, tel auteur est fils spirituel de Shakespeare ou de Jean-Paul Sartre. Et le corps? Ce paquet d'os, de chair et de liquide? Il faut l'accepter puisqu'on est là, il peut nous procurer le plaisir comme la souffrance, la joie comme la peine. Et si jamais on en a assez, il ne faut pas se suicider car on ne peut pas se débarrasser de son âme, il faut plutôt essayer d'imiter Bouddha, chercher la voie du Nirvana. De toute façon il y a toujours le paradis et... le Canada!
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¹ Pardonnez les anachronismes s'il y en a. 99/04/24 [Fran-Glo-Gibwé].

         Je me souviens du 6 décembre 1989. À cette fin d'après-midi-là, je me réveillais de ma sieste, préparais mon café puis le buvais sur le divan-lit en regardant la télévision. À ce moment-là, j'habitais seul une chambre à l'entresol d'un immeuble du quartier Côte-des-Neiges. Quand il faisait froid, je fermais la fenêtre à double vitre et laissais la porte entrouverte pour l'aération.
         Soudain la télévision changea de programme et diffusa une émission spéciale, un reportage en direct sur des coups de feu à l'École polytechnique de Montréal et le déploiement des forces policières autour de cet établissement. J'étais cloué à mon divan, les yeux fixés sur le petit écran. Plusieurs minutes après, j'entendais quelqu'un descendre l'escalier, je me tournais vers la porte (assez largement) entrouverte et je vis un homme qui s'arrêtait dans le couloir et qui me regardait aussi. Il était bien habillé, avec cravate et pardessus bleu foncé (ou noir), tête nue et bien coiffée. Notre échange de regards n'a duré qu'une seconde, le monsieur repartit tout de suite et j'ai compris que c'était un policier en civil qui s'assurait de ma présence dans ma chambre à cette heure-là. La télévision, plus tard, parlait d'un ou deux complices possibles du tueur, Marc Lépine.
         Vous me direz que j'étais paranoïaque mais j'étais persuadé que des services compétents s'intéressaient à ma personne (et à quelques autres Cambodgiens) depuis que j'étais président de la C.K.C. (Communauté Khmère du Canada) de 1976 à 1977. D'autant plus que, quelques semaines avant les coups de feu, j'allais plusieurs fois à la bibliothèque de Polytechnique pour relire certains livres d'ingénierie, à la fois pour me dérouiller (je cessais de travailler depuis mon retour de Calgary en 1981, et recevais l'aide sociale du gouvernement du Québec) et pour me préparer aux divers concours pour des fonctions publiques.
         Hier et aujourd'hui donc, mes pensées vont aux victimes, toutes femmes et, comme moi j'ai été, ingénieures, et à leurs familles qui s'interrogent sur le sens de la Vie. Certains auteurs occidentaux ont écrit que les chrétiens sont inconsolables dans leurs malheurs, alors que les bouddhistes (dont je fais partie) acceptent plus facilement leurs sorts car Bouddha leur a expliqué, par la loi du Karma, les causes des hauts et des bas de la Vie. Sans partager entièrement ces vues, je reconnais, comme les chrétiens, que nos âmes ont été créées par Dieu, et j'ajoute que, pour être mathématiquement correct (depuis Adam et Ève, la population mondiale allait en augmentant), il faut reconnaître qu'il y a des âmes anciennes et des âmes nouvelles, vierges, à leur naissance, de tout mérite (ou bon karma) et de tout péché (ou mauvais karma). Il ne faut donc pas se demander quels péchés les victimes auraient pu commettre dans leurs vies antérieures (d'ailleurs personne ici-bas ne peut le savoir) mais se dire que chacune des victimes avait accompli des mérites avant que Marc Lépine supprimait lâchement leurs vies présentes. Leurs âmes sont donc en meilleures places, dans les mains de Dieu, pendant que celle du tueur est en train de brûler en enfer.

Buddha's Five Silas
1- I endeavour to refrain myself from harming any sentient being.

2- I endeavour to refrain myself from taking that which is not given.

3- I endeavour to refrain myself from having unlawful sexual relations.

4- I endeavour to refrain myself from speaking that which is untrue.

5- I endeavour to refrain myself from dulling my mind.

Jesus' Five+One Silas
"You know the commandments,
'DO NOT MURDER.
DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY.
DO NOT STEAL.
DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS.
DO NOT DEFRAUD.
HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.' "

[ Mark 10 : 19 ]