On January 4th, we had an orientation at Thammasat about the university and Thai customs, and Ajarn Edward gave us a little lecture on Thai language and how it relates to Thai mentality. Ajarn, to start, is a title for professor or teacher and can be used in place of a name. Ajarn Edward has been in Thailand for 20 years but he hails from NYC, and he has a firecracker of a personality. The two most important lessons of the day were jai yen and mai pen rai. Jai yen translates to cool heart, and sort of matches the "go with the flow" attitude of most Thais. It symbolizes the idea that in the end, everything is going to end up ok. Mai pen rai translates to "no problem" or "it's ok." This has been my favorite lesson thus far because it contradicts the Western idea that we all have a right to get mad when something doesn't go our way. Instead, in Thailand, everyone has a right to control their negative emotions for the purpose of social harmony in order to reduce confrontation. Mai pen rai comes from the Buddhist notion that attachment to physical things can bring about conflict, so releasing such attachments helps bring about inner peace.
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