Week 13: Famous Last Words: Goodbye OU!

Wow, it is really hard to come to the realization that this semester is only two more weeks from being over. In fact, I graduate in exactly 23 days! I can’t even believe that I will be graduating from the University of Oklahoma with not one, but TWO degrees. This week has been a particularly special week because I just got accepted into graduate school! I will be pursing a masters in public health with an emphasis on biostatistics and epidemiology.  I will also be attending medical school at Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine. I am trying to figure out now if I want to spend a year only working on a masters, or if I should go ahead and start medical school and then do joint enrollment and take one masters course per semester while in medical school and graduate with my MPH and DO on the same day in 2019. Although it kind of makes my head hurt thinking about it, I am also extremely excited for the future!

On the same topic of great news, my friend informed me of a really great job opportunity this week! She just started working with United Allergy Services as an Allergy Technician and she loves the job. The company is based out of San Antonio, although they are located all over the country. They require a bachelors degree and at least one year of experience in the medical field, which I have! The start pay is really great and I am a phlebotomist so I found out they may pay me even more. Needless to say, about two weeks ago I was absolutely frightened about graduating, but I more excited than ever about my future after undergrad. I  will be moving back to Ft. Worth, Texas a couple days after convocation and I couldn’t be more excited! 

Graduation photo taken by Matthew Griffin Photography.

Week 12 Essay: Life of Buddha

This is the first week that I decided to try the UnTextbook option. The reading diaries for the Ramayana and Mahabharata started to become a bit repetitive, so I went ahead and tried this one out. I really really enjoyed it! Because of my background in yoga (along with social media), I have heard many Buddha quotes. They have always been very inspirational and I am constantly trying to rid negativities in my life. Because of this outlook, I decided to read about The Life of Buddha this week. Although there were many other intriguing options, this one seemed the most interesting to me.

When I first started reading, it was not at all how I expected it to be. I thought that the story would be about Buddha and his teachings and medications and how he touched people’s lives. However, it started off with his mother receiving news that she was to bear a very special child. When I was reading this story I couldn’t help but think about the story in the Bible pertaining to Mary and immaculate conception with Jesus.

Eventually Buddha was born and he was a prince. Everyone loved him everywhere he went because he was stunning. He chose to live the life of a hermit and it hurt his father’s feelings but he was proud of his son. That was one of the main differences as opposed to the Jesus story. Jesus claimed to be king but he knew that his kingdom was not of tis world. Many people (aside from his followers) ridiculed him and mocked him as the King of the Jews. I would really encourage anyone who claims to be a Christian to read this story to look at the parallels between the Life of Buddha and the story depicted by the Bible. I would also like to get a timeline on when the Life of Buddha was originally written because that could lead to some controversial debates. Overall, I am so glad I read this because it has my mind racing!

Photo found online.

Week 12 Storytelling: The Life of Buddha

Hello Class, I would like to share a couple of stories with you that are near and dear to my heart. Today I would like to bring up two world religions: Christianity and Buddhism.  Many of you have heard about Christianity because we live in the state of Oklahoma, however, what many of you may not know quite as well is the story of The Life of Siddhartha—or Buddha as we have mostly heard him called.

Maya, Siddhartha’s mother, received news from the gods that she is to bear a child—a prince. She did not know if the child was going to be good or bad so she addressed a Brahma who informed her that he will live the life of a monk and deserve great praises. Throughout her pregnancy, people went to her to cure diseases. When he was to be born, Maya’s servants decorated the area with precious stones and rare perfumes. Shortly after Siddhartha’s birth, his mother passed away. Siddhartha was radiant and everyone praised him wherever he went. Even his teacher felt unworthy to teach, only to be taught by him. The prince learned about the aging and death of humanity. When he learned how to meditate, he hoped to rid all of that. He led a life of a hermit and eventually had a dream that he would become a Buddha.

Now, as I’m sure many of you can tell, there are many differences in this story. I do not think this story has any historical evidence, however, there are still many parallels in comparison to the story of Jesus. Jesus was born of Mary by immaculate conception. When he was born, the three wise men brought him many gifts. Throughout his life he chose to live like the people, even though he claimed to be the Son of Man. These two characters could have easily lived a life of riches and fame, but they knew that was not what they were called to do. They knew that life had much more meaning than material items and they sought to find it.

I hope you all found this story interesting and I encourage you to try and find a similar story for each different world religion. The point of religion is not to worship a certain god, but to believe in a higher being. Remind yourselves of that as you do research on this topic. Class is dismissed!

Photo found online.

Author’s Note: I chose to write this story as if I was a Religious Studies professor for OU. I wanted to elaborate how similar the story of the Life of Buddha is to Christianity because I saw so many parallels when I was reading! 

Source: The Life of Buddha UnTextbook

Week 12 Reading Diary B: Siddhartha becomes Buddha

Siddhartha speaks to his horse, Kanthaka to take him away from his father in search of beatitude. The horse took him as far as he wanted to go so they stopped. There he let Chandaka have the horse because he was a true friend. He gave Chandaka a necklace to give to his father and told him that he doesn’t want anyone to ever be unhappy. He is going into hermitage to make the world a better place, not to spite anyone. Chanda had an extremely hard time dealing with this. The Gods came and presented Siddhartha with the robe that he wished to wear.

Chandaka returned and told Siddhartha’s father about what he hoped to accomplish. His father wept but was also very proud of his son’s strength. Siddhartha went to the city of Rajagriha. The king was informed of a God begging and so he offered him riches and even half of his city, but of course Siddhartha could not accept. At one point, people thought he was dead. His mother descended and wept but he assured her that he would not die. He stayed on the banks of the river for 6 more years in the wilderness. He realized he was malnourished and went to a village nearby. His disciples left him because he needed nourishment. He had a dream that told him he would become a Buddha.

Photo found online.

Week 12 Reading Diary A: Life of Buddha

King Suddhodana’s wife had a dream. She went to the forest and called for him. There she told him that she wanted her dream interpreted by a brahman to determine if it was good or bad. The brahmans told her that a son is to be born unto them. He will be live the life of a monk and deserve great praises. The king and queen were overjoyed to hear the news. The king gave to the poor and Maya cured the ill.

Finally, the day came for the birth of Buddha. The queen insisted on having her child in the innocence of nature. The king had the servants prepare the gardens with precious decorations. He had the servants use pearls and precious stones and rare perfumes. Upon Buddha’s birth, everything in the world became beautiful and pure. The kind named him Siddhartha. The hermit Asita further verified the extreme glory to come with the life of this child. Only seven days after the birth of this child, Maya passed away. The child was to be looked after by her sister, Mahaprajapati.

One day Mahaprajapati put jewelry on the young prince. However, it was hard to tell he was even wearing any because of how radiant he was. Siddhartha finally came of age where he was assigned a teacher, Visvamitra. Visvamitra was in awe and he told the prince that he could teach him nothing, in fact, the prince should teach him instead. After that, he had his first meditation. Hermits who passed him bowed as he quietly meditated under a tree. The shadow of the trees had all moved except the one the prince was under.

The prince traveled to a city where he saw and old man and became extremely upset. He could think of nothing other than old age. He decided to return to the city where he had two more encounters. The first was a man afflicted with disease. The second encounter of the two was the corpse of a man. He was continually amazed at how man continue day by day with the knowledge of death.

Photo found online.

Storytelling Week 11: Draupadi of the Fire

Draupad, the king of Panchal had no children for many years. He performed rituals and prayed to the Gods for fertility so that he could have a child. Finally, after many failed attempts, two children appeared from the fire: Draupadi and her brother, Dhrishtadyumna. The fire was burning in order for Drupad to fulfil his vengance against his enemy, Dronacharya. Dhrishtadyumna was the first child to appear from the fire, and then Draupadi followed. The birth was unique because she was not born as an infant like we would think. No, she was born full growth and in the pinnacle of her youth and beauty because she was divinely created, not from a womb like us.

In nature fire can be very restorative. It is very good in ecosystems although our society has led us to believe that forest fires are detrimental. Without periodic fires, soils would not restore their nutrients and plants could not grow. I believe it is this restorative idea of fire that makes the birth of Draupadi so powerful.

Draupadi was known for her beautiful lotus smell that could be sensed for miles. Along with her beauty, she was extremely beautiful. It is said that she would destroy all evil. But what is it about her personality that makes her able to defeat evil? As previously noted, Draupadi was born when king Draupad least expected to have children. She is without a doubt a gift from the gods—her beauty alone is proof of this. However, why isn’t her brother the one with this special gift since he was born of fire also?  It is believed that her gift comes because she is a woman. Because she was born from the holy pyre, not requiring a womb, she is specially known for her fertility. Her brother cannot bear children and thus he does not receive such an honor although he obtains others.

Photo found online.

Author’s Note: This is written from a third point of view because I didn’t want to make this very personal. I chose to give a history of the birth of Draupadi and some details about her defining characteristics. She is known for her remarkable beauty and smell, but why is she the one that will defeat the Kuru line and not her brother? I chose to make it because she is a woman that is known for her fertility and able to bear children despite the fact that she was not born of a womb.  Her brother was not called to do so simply because he is a male.

Bibliography:

Buck, William (1973). Mahabharata.  

Week 11 Reading Diary B: Pandavas

This episode starts off with the Pandavas running away. Bhima sets the house on fire, but Purochana built a tunnel so they were able to escape with few deaths. Once they left the tunnel, they were taken away by the boatman. They are disguised as Brahmins. Draupadi and her brother, Dhrishtadyumna, were born by butter melted into fire. Their father is King Drupada. Drupada set an archery test to the Pandavas where of course Arjuna dominated. He was actually the only one who passed. Because of this he won Draupadi as his wife. People were surprised, however, because no one knew that he was a Pandava; they were still disguised as wondering Brahmins. Draupadi marries all of the Pandava brothers. Arjuna meets Krishna in the forest and falls in love with his sister Subhadra. He takes her to be his wife. Arjuna and Krishna are approached by Agni who wants to eat the forest. They distract Indra. Maya seeks Arjuna’s protection from Agni and builds a palace for the Pandavas as a gift.

Photo of Draupadi found online.