I briefly would like to recount a segment of a BBC Investigative Report on Kabbala that I saw while I was in Bangkok. This reporter with the help of some "moles" infilterated the Kabbala Centre in London. They sell this water that is meant to make people heal from such ailments as colon cancer. The water is claimed to have been distilled from the purest of sources, but it actually comes from a factory somewhere in Michigan that has not submitted quality reports to the government for years. Moreover the red strings that everyone has taken to, which are claimed to have been wrapped around Rachel's Tomb in the West Bank, are also fake. The rabbi who works at this center offered them for free. The icing on the cake, even scarier than the seven quid bottle of water and fake bracelet and 230 quid holy book for scanning, is the retreat that they hosted in Israel. I was pretty hungover when I was watching this; however, the following images registered clearly into my fragile memory. Madonna was actually at this event but refused to comment on the problems with the Kabbala movement that the investigative reporter had uncovered. One of the leaders explained how Jews were actually responsible for the Holocaust, just as a child who has been hit on a bicycle is, because they have lost their connexion with what he called "the light."
Anyway, so all these people who paid something like 2000 pounds to go to Israel were in this conference room. In the front of the room, a televison screen with a video of the world from far away that eventually zoomed into Chernobyl, home of the worldest largest radioactive disaster. Although the Aral Sea is the largest ecological disaster. It's in Uzbekistan. About 300 people were shouting at this screen, having been convinced that, through the light, they were actually removing radiation from Chernobyl. It was really insane and Dionysian; these people had been brainwashed or something.
My plans to head to Cambodia are on hold for the moment. I am not sure how long I will be here, so I don't want to invest in a ticket in earnest. I felt like I should share the upshot of this reporter's multinational research into this cult conspiracy hypothesis. Don't believe the hype and stay away from Kabbala. Madonna has been brainwashed by the leaders of the Kabbala movement. It was one of the most unsettling and confusing hours of my television-viewing, yet perhaps one of the more beneficial as well. I will be here until next week sometime. I can't swim because of the stitches. Bangkok is such a manic place, but I am finding my way quite naturally.
I just got off the phone with the lady from the office in Bangkok. She informed me that I will need to get a new passport. The day that I was heading to the wat, the bloody bloody nose incident, I happened to allow my passport to become rather soaked in my pocket. I don't think that the Uzbek immigration officials will be too understanding. The Embassy people will have to send it to America on account of it's not being my personal passport. I will be here for a minimum of two more weeks. I will definitely participate in the Thai New Year now. For many reasons that cannot be summarized quickly, it feels right for me to be here right now. I have already had many wonderful experiences and have met intelligent, hot, helpful folks here who have helped me attain a fine bearing on the city. I feel like I could come back here again under different circumstances and live well. It will be awhile before I have to think about my next step, but I have found Bangkok liveable so long as you can get out of the city now and again for a breath of only slightly less polluted air. If you want a postcard, send me your address. I do have some time on my hands. With love and hot Thai pingpong sex shows. -MJ
