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

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.  

Storytelling Week 10: The Statue of Bhima

War can bring out the worst in people. We have seen this throughout many centuries of village raids. Bhima, a fine warrior, killed many people in this war. He killed the elephant Ashwatthama. He killed Duhshasana and after mutilated his body and drank his blood. Because Duhshasana is the brother of Duryodhana, he hides in despair because of the loss of his brother. “I cannot go on any longer” he says, “That was my best friend and I am too distraught to live life without him.” After coming to the realization that he was angry instead of sad, he decides to dual Bhima who ends up completely hurting him by wounding his thigh. He eventually dies.

Many people were upset by Bhima’s action because he is so brutal in combat. He is notorious for his behavior as a teenager and adolescent because of how he mutilated cats and other small animals in his back yard. His uncle, Dhristarashtra, was especially reluctant towards him. He took Bhima in at a young age because both of his parents were killed in battle. Although he tried to be as good of a father as possible, there was always something off about their relationship. After the end of the war, Dhritarashtra wanted to kill Bhima. For no particular reason really, he was just so upset and Bhima was usually who he took his anger out on.

Krishna was around the corner and heard Dhritarashtra talking in an angry stuper. “Where is my nephew?” He scolded,  “He no longer deserves to live after all that he has done!!” Krishna knew how important Dhritarashtra was to Bhima, regardless of how poorly he treated him. Bhima was always respectful to his uncle because he forever owed him for taking care of him as a young boy. Krishna built a statue with the same clothes and scent as Bhima. It was so realistic that even people who weren’t blind could have fallen for it!

Krishna placed the statue in the corner of the room ready for action whenever Dhritatashtra arrived. Eventually he did, and he came near the statue due to the familiar scent of Bhima. Just as Dhritatashtra came to attack Bhima, the real Bhima entered the room and saw the scene take place. He watched as his uncle attacked what he thought was him. Distraught, he ran out and never returned. He had known for so long that his uncle wasn’t his number one fan, but he had no idea how deep the hatred ran. He lived in the forest and died from a poisonous snake bite.

Bhima vs Duryodhana. Photo found online.

Author’s Note: I chose to write about the Statue of Bhima. I kept the same overall story line, but I added some random details of my own in there with regards to their family history. I wanted to add the dichotomous relationship between Bhima and Dhritarashtra to show that Bhima had respect for his uncle even though he wasn’t always nice to him.

Narayan, R. K. (1978). The Mahabharata.

Week 9 Storytelling: The Childhood of Bhishma

Once upon a time, there was a man named Shantanu. He fell in love with a woman who was very mysterious. Her name was Ganga. She only agreed to marry him if he didn’t question her. He was so lovestruck that he agreed. His wife had deep psychological issues and drowned all of their offspring except the last one. She had reasoning for why she did this, although she never told him why—and she didn’t have to since he agreed in the beginning to ask any questions.

The youngest son that was still living went by the name Bhishma. Bhishma’s parents never told him what happened to his siblings, although he had heard his mother speak of her previous pregnancies. He was a happy boy growing up even though he didn’t have any other siblings to play with. For the most part, he spent time with his mom—he was the definition of a momma’s boy.

The first day of school had arrived and Bhishma had to be separated from his mom 8 hours a day for 5 days a week. He dreaded it at first, but as time went on he began to gain some autonomy. One day, on his way to school, he ran into some classmates. They asked why his mother had drown all of his older siblings. “What?” He exclaimed, “My mother is a wonderful woman. She has always been there for me. There is no way she could ever do that!” Enraged by what they had said, Bhishma stormed home to tell his mother of the terrible rumours he heard.

When Bhishma asked Ganga about the drownings, she was speechless. She had completely forgotten about those tragic events that were suppressed so deep in her memory.  “Oh, son….” She explained, “I have wanted to tell you for many years, but there is no way you would ever understand. I didn’t want to hurt you.” Expecting her to tell him that it was all a lie, Bhishma ran out of the room in tears. He felt so betrayed by his mother that he decided to run away; after all, she was the most important person in his life and she couldn’t even tell him the truth!

Bhishma ran away into the forest where he was attacked by a rakasha. He screamed for his mother’s help but he was too far gone at that point. The next day, Ganga had to bury her son that would still be alive had she told him the truth from the beginning.  

Photo of Bishma brought to his father grown; found online.

Author’s Note: I decided to have Bhishma grow up in a normal community with his mother and father instead of  having Ganga return him to his father when he was grown. During this time he finds out about the drowning of his older siblings through other children at school. I made it seem more like a realistic story because tragic events like that would be talked about in a society like ours today. The moral of the story is that your past actions will always catch up with you if you choose not to face those demons or “skeletons” in the closet.

Narayan, R. K. (1978). The Mahabharata.

Week 7 Storytelling

Today I found out that I am pregnant! Can you believe that? There will finally be a prince of Ayodhya and it may be taken away from me. It has taken us quite a bit longer than usual to become pregnant. Rama and I knew we wanted to start a family when we got married, but after the abduction we thought it may be best to wait a few years. It has been about 10,000 years since the abduction, but the first 5,000 I was still undergoing some pretty heavy post-traumatic stress disorder. It was really hard for me to sleep at night even though there were guards on both sides of the bed. During the daytime, Rama found it difficult to leave my side because he was so scared of losing me again. The past 5,000 years or so, however, have been a bit different. I have regained a bit of my independence and am no longer afraid to be alone. I had forgotten how important it is to have alone time to grow as an individual! Rama began to grow impatient with me because we were not spending as much time together. When I finally became pregnant there were rumors being spread among the people. Despite the fact that I’ve never been alone with a man other than Rama, people brought up Ravana. This really got under Rama’s skin and now he is trying to abandon me. I told him I wanted to go to the Ganges river to pray, however, I know he’s just going to discard me. This is my way of leaving him.

Photo of Sita with dove found online. 

Author's Note: I chose to tell this story from Sita's point of view. I was very disappointed in the way that Rama wanted to abandon her in Buck's version of the Ramayana so I chose to twist it a bit. I decided to make it to where Sita knew what was going on and used going to the Ganges River as her excuse to get away from a husband that didn't trust her. 

Bibliography:

Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way. 

Week 6 Storytelling: Hanuman Goes to Lanka

Soon after I was granted eternal life I found some jewelry laying on the ground. I had never seen anything like it before. Once I heard that Rama’s wife was missing I thought the jewelry could be hers so I brought it to him immediately. He was so grateful and I could see the pain in his eyes because he missed Sita. I was instantly  in awe with him. There are very few people on this earth that get to experience true love and he needed help finding his one true love. I knew that he was going to become my best friend. I chose to forever become loyal to him. He informed me that he was sending out a search party for Sita while he held down the fort so I offered to help; little did I know I would soon lead the party.

As we prepared for our departure the night before, I had to introduce myself to everyone. Some were kind, others were weirded out that a monkey was joining. Overall, I felt good about making the decision and slept well for the next day.

The next morning we headed for Sita. We ran into a man named Sampati and he told us that he had seen Sita with Rama overhead flying to Lanka. We decided to take a vote on who was to go across the sea, since there was no bridge for all of us to go. I guess the troops like me more than I’d thought because they all voted for me! I want to make Rama proud and show him my loyalty.

As I crossed the sea, I had a chance to rest on the mountain Mainaka. She was very nice and told me stories as she served me lunch. After that, I had to face the sea demon that was protecting the island. She was vicious but I was able to penetrate her aorta and kill her. Nothing will get in the way of me finding Sita!!!

I finally arrived at the island and realized I needed to disguise myself because no one there has ever seen a flying monkey before. I changed into the shape of a cat because I saw one walk by. It was very different viewing the world from that close to the ground. I’m not sure that I would enjoy being a cat for all of eternity. Eventually Lanka found out that it was me and she was convinced that I was fulfilling the curse of Ravana. I found Sita and made sure she knew I was working for Rama. She gave me something to show Rama when I returned with the news.

Photo of Hanuman found online.

Author's Note: I chose to write from Hanuman's point of view because he is such a loyal friend and follower of Rama. I thought it would be interesting to hear why he loves Rama so much and what he endures on his journey through land and sea to find Sita. 

Bibliography:

Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way. 

Week 4 Storytelling: Ravana and Shiva

Upon the birth of Ravana, Brahma granted him many powers, most of which could not be defeated by anyone including gods and others with supernatural powers. Ravana was an extremely temperamental child from the beginning. He was adopted so we do not know the genetic predisposition from his parents about temperament.

Ravana was married to Mandodari and together they birthed a son named Meghanada. It can pretty much be assumed that he was just as temperamental as his father that was hated by everyone around him. Everywhere that Ravana went, things were destroyed: people, animals, buildings, sanctuaries. 

One day, Ravana was in a particularly bad mood. He lashed out on everyone around him, including his son and wife. People fled as he burned buildings to the ground and caused major earthquakes. One of the people in the town, Freud, decided to further study Ravana’s personality. Freud went to a University in a far off land where he studied Psychology, particularly cognitive psychology. Thus, it is pretty understanding why he was curious to get inside Ravana’s (messed up) mind.

After getting a rich background in Ravana’s family history and studying his personality traits and habits, Freud came up with a psychological conclusion for Ravana’s temperment. Freud officially diagnosed Ravana with Borderline Personality Disorder which is marked by impulisivity and fears of abandonment. This explained why Ravana always made Mandodari stay near him, out of fear of her leaving him. Even that wasn’t enough since he abducted Sita, Rama’s wife. The root of his abandonment was clearly from being adopted at a young age, although his parents often times tried to deny their adoption. At the age of 7, Ravana found the official adoption papers in his parent’s room and that is when his extreme mood swings began.

Freud decided that the only way to get Ravana to calm down was to have a curse put on him. Ravana made Shiva so mad that she imprisoned him and even her bull, Nandi put a curse on him. In this curse, Nandi said that Ravana would be burned by a giant monkey. “A monkey?” Ravana scuffed, “Monkeys don’t even exist you fool!” Little did he know what was in store from the Hanuman in the upcoming episode.

One of the powers that Ravana received from Brahma was being psychic. Ravana knew of Shiva’s ex wife, Penelope. Penelope had passed away many years ago from a rare disease that the doctors could not cure. Ravana sung a song about her and Shiva was so touched that he let Ravana leave. From there, Ravana was on a mission to find Sita and abduct her…….

TO BE CONTINUED……..

Photo of Ravana found online 

Author’s Note: Ravana has been my least favorite character thus far in the Ramayana. Because one of my degrees in psychology, I decided to lay out a psychological stage as to why he acts the way he does. Normally I would write in the first person point of view, however, I decided that I didn’t want to come across as an absolute maniac. I intentionally included the name Freud in reference to Sigmund Freud, quite arguably the most famous psychologist known (although, ironically, if you talk to any psychology professor they all dislike his theories and know it is all rubbish that has been disproven). In my mind, giving Ravana some sort of psychiatric disorder or diagnoses makes him seem a little less terrible as a character. I put to be continued because I think I will continue the story to see how he thinks throughout his abduction with Sita. In the next story, however, I would like to write in a first person point of view now that I have laid out the fact that he has abandonment issues from his adoption as an infant. Because I had put so much psychology into this story, I decided to make Ravana be psychic also and that’s how he got away from Shiva.

Week 3 Storytelling: Sita in Lanka

Right now I am in Lanka. I have been here for approximately six months and I haven’t eaten in a week or two. I am so skinny from being so hungry all the time. Ravana constantly is trying to get me to submit to him but I love Rama and will continue to stay pure for him. I have faith that he will come find me, but it is hard to keep hope when it has been so long.  

The journey to the island of Lanka was brutal. There were numerous storms and the waves were huge getting across that I thought we might drown. When we finally arrived to Lanka I thought that they were going to kill me, but they just put me in a garden with demons surrounding me.  I could hear all of the terrible things that the demons were saying about Rama but at least I knew he was still alive.

I am beginning to become severely depressed; although that may seem obvious I have actually been very hopeful because I know that Rama has a heart of perseverance and will come save the woman he loves. Last week Ravana was actually starting to be nice to me which was a bit of a shock since he’s typically very forceful. I sometimes question my feelings towards him when he tried to woo me but I quickly remember Rama and his loving, nurturing soul.

The Rakshasis that are guarding me are starting to feel bad for me. It is almost as if they want to become my friend and help me. Maybe that is just my hopeful side thinking again. I hope that they won’t torture me and if they do kill me that it will be a quick and painful death.

Today I overheard them talking about Rama getting close with the Hanuman helping him. My heart is leaping for joy.  I can feel his presence near! I am dreading the full out war that will begin as soon as he arrives but I know that he will defeat Ravana with no problem. I overheard the Rakshasis talking about Rama forcing the god of water to build a bridge so that he could come to Lanka. He is getting so close now. I hope that he will not question my purity with Ravana. If so, I will do whatever it takes to prove to him that he is my one true love.

Author's Note: I decided to write in the point of view from Sita because I felt like I don’t know her character very well. Throughout most of the episodes, she is mentioned but quite briefly; we don’t get a strong sense of her emotions and that’s what I want! I chose to depict her as a strong woman, but yet to show that all people (despite their strength) can be discouraged when faced with difficult situations. Being abducted is a situation that none of us would know how to respond in unless we personally endured it. The pictures I posted is a picture of Sita sitting in the garden. Although it may look like she’s peaceful, I think it is because she is forced to be calm as a woman in her society and, most importantly, as a prisoner of Ravana. As depicted in this story, she is coming close to ending her life because she is in misery without her love, Rama. I feel that anyone would be overwhelmed with sadness if they were torn away from their loved ones without warning. However, she is still holding onto the hope that Rama is near because she overheard her guards talking about his arrival. That is where the glimmer in her eye comes from. I plan to integrate characters from the Ramayana that we haven’t learned much about (emotionally), starting with Sita.

 

(Photo found online)

Bibliography: Narayan R.K (1972) The Ramayana

Week 2 Storytelling: The Abduction of Sita as told by Rama

I have felt a bit overwhelmed lately. After being exiled from home, I escaped to the woods to get away from the crowds of people who constantly beg me for questions. Bharata, my brother, has begged me to return also. I want to fulfill my exile in peace. Is that so much to ask? My father has passed and I have been exiled from my previous home. Some peace and quiet would be nice. Bharata took my sandals for some reason. I met a woman in the forest named Shurpankha. She is the sister of Ravana, who I killed. Lakshmana luckily got her away from me so I don’t have to worry about any awkward confrontation in the future. I plan to be with Sita. Ravana saw what Lakshmana did to Shurpanakha and he was furious. However, once she described how beautiful Sita was, Ravana fell madly in love with her. He decided to abduct her but did not have that great of a plan. He went to his uncle Maricha to ask for help but he didn’t want to. Ravana didn’t take no for an answer. Maricha makes himself a golden dear which of course catches Sita’s attention. Because Sita and I are likely to get married, she asks me to capture the deer for her. Although I knew what was happening, I shot the deer. In that instant, Maricha called for help using my voice!! She was so upset when she thought I was harmed.  She sent Lakshmana to come find me to make sure I am okay. Sita was then alone and vulnerable for Ravana to come capture her, just as he had planned. I wish I knew this story before it was too late. The moment I saw Maricha coming out of the deer I knew what had happened and that I lost the love of my life to him forever. I don’t know what I will do without Sita.  I am already going through such a difficult time… Why must this happen to me?

Author’s Note: I decided to write in the first person of Rama throughout the story of the abduction of Sita. The story line did not change, however, I decided to get inside the head of Rama to see how he was feeling after the death of his father and the exile from home. All of these tragedies along with the loss of Sita are bound to make Rama very upset but could potentially strengthen his character in upcoming episodes.

(Photo of the golden deer found online)

Week 1 Storytelling: The Plane Tree

Two Travellers, walking in the noonday sun, sought the shade of a widespreading tree to rest. As they lay looking up among the pleasant leaves, they saw that it was a Plane Tree.

"How useless is the Plane!" said one of them. "It bears no fruit whatever, and only serves to litter the ground with leaves."

"Ungrateful creatures!" said a voice from the Plane Tree. "You lie here in my cooling shade, and yet you say I am useless! Thus ungratefully, O Jupiter, do men receive their blessings!"

Our best blessings are often the least appreciated.

(Traditional Fable)

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There were two men traveling to go to see their Grandparents. Their mother was very sick and they had to go tell their Grandparents so that they could say their last goodbyes to their youngest daughter. They lived in Dallas, but their Grandparents lived in Ft. Worth, so it was an all day walk to get there. Because it was spring in Texas, it was very hot and sunny. Also, due to excessive heat, the trees in North Texas didn’t bear much fruit.

As the two boys walked by a tree, they complained that it was of no importance. “Why does this tree exist if it doesn’t even have fruit?” They were so dehydrated, however, that they decided to stop and sit underneath the shade of the plane tree that they were so ungrateful for.

Spring time in Texas means it was tornado season. As they looked into the distance, they saw a funnel forming. Although the funnel did not reach the boys, there were still extreme winds that were blowing the plane tree and it’s surroundings. There was so much debris flying around in the air that they hid behind the trunk for protection.

The calm after the storm was extremely eerie for the boys. Just a moment ago they were complaining about this tree and how it was so plane and worthless. However, it protected them from the debris and likely saved them from an extreme injury. “Wow” one of the boys said, “if this tree had fruit on it like we wanted it to, it would have hit us in the head and knocked us unconscious!” What a relief.

Once they calmed down and retrieved their things, they set off to relay the message to their grandparents. Their mom eventually passed away in peace because she was able to say goodbye to all of her loved ones.

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(Two boys sitting underneath tree for protection)

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Author's Note:  In the original fable, the two travelers laid underneath the tree for shade because it was a sunny day. As they laid under the tree, they complained about how it had no fruit and just made a mess because of it’s leaves. The tree called them ungrateful.

In my version of The Plane Tree, I decided to have the boys complain about the tree, but also have the tree protect them so that they were grateful for it in the end. The moral of this fable is "our best blessings are often the least appreciated."

Title: The Æsop for Children
       With pictures by Milo Winter

Author: Æsop

Illustrator: Milo Winter

Release Date: December 2, 2006 [EBook #19994]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

Online Source