Sorry Clancy I only saw your reply when I'd finished waffling!!
All religion facinates me, I love the temple of India and Thailand/south east Asia hinduism and buddhism seem attractive but im along way from believing in anything...I like beautiful stories though and often wished I could believe them as some seem to...people with faith seem happier, get well quicker and suffer less deppression..
Yeah - I love the stories!! We talked about depression lots in Sri Lanka - it has one of the highest suicide and alcoholism rates in the world. Chinthaka held his own beliefs about what he called 'the sicknes of sad'. Without access to education or western literacy he had recognisabley built his own diagnostic criteria - fascinatingly detailed!! When we talked I could tell him about 'depression' recognised as a sickness with treatments. that fascinated him because he had his own treatment involving arranging a rota of friends to visit the one with 'sad sickness' and get them to go for a walk, talk to them, tell them to wash and 'be good to the body'. He was frustrated in having matched every solution to each effect he saw of his 'sickness' and yet still not managed to succeed every time.
You know when D failed to get treatment in the end, in the west, with all our medicine it was Chinthaka's exacting treatment I took time off work to fall back on.
He is one HELL of a tour guide!!