Essay: Knowing Buddha

For this week, I read TheLife of Buddha in the Un-Textbook. I really enjoyed reading this compilation of stories because I have always wanted to know more about Siddhartha and the origin of Buddha. I have seen the movie “The Little Buddha” and have always wanted to know more.

I really liked this reading and enjoy that it was in fact part of the Un-Textbook. Buddha is such a well known being around the world, I am sure that nearly everyone with computer or television access knows about it. I liked having the chance to understand the being just a little more and learning about such a crucial aspect of Asian religions.

The amount of notes was really good, and I did not require any extra information than what was provided. It would have been nice to read the section where Siddhartha gets married and has a child, but it was still fine without it. There were no stories that I disliked in this part of the Un-Textbook either. I enjoyed all of the stories in this section. There was also not any information that I felt I should have known before reading this story.

I feel like this contributed to my learning goals in this class very well. My goal was to learn more about Indian tradition, culture, and religion. Since Buddha is such a big part of Indian religion, it contributed to my learning goal. I now know more about what I wanted to know, after reading this and the two epics that we read for the class.

I think it would be cool to have the other parts of this story to read. That way, after reading this part I could go on and read more about Siddhartha’s journey and life so that I may learn more about him. It would be nice to have a continuous section of reading during the times of using the Un-Textbook.

Image Information: Siddhartha Leaves His Life Behind Him; Web Source: Wikipedia.

Week 11 Storytelling: My Child, My Buddha

Dear Diary,

Today I sat in meetings just as I would any other day. It had started out as a normal day and nothing in my life would have lead me to believe any different. Until the moment that I learned my life would forever change, that is.

My dear wife sent a servant after me as I was providing justice and good fortune to my loyal citizens. It sounded urgent, and I love my wife dearly, so I decided to go to her straight away.

However, before I could come near where she sat in the wooded area beyond our gardens, something strange came over me. I could not move from the spot in which I stood. Some kind of… terror? No, I do not know the feelings that I felt while I was stood there. These emotions were strong and there were so many that I was left feeling terrified. Even in my days as a warrior I had never felt that kind of fear. I nearly cried from the feelings.

A strange voice then spoke to me, a voice from the sky!

It told me to be happy, and all of those strong emotions left me. It told be that a supreme being had chosen my family as its own. That my wife would conceive and carry it, and it would be our child to raise and nurture. It said that we were worthy of it for many reasons.

 I am happy, oh believe me, I am more than happy. However, I also feel as if I am not worthy enough. Yes, the being chose my wife and me to come to, but why? Am I really as valiant and virtuous as that being really believes? Are my wife and I capable of raising such a divine being?

I will love this child, I know that I will. Perhaps I already do. However, I do not understand why it is me that this child will belong to. Are there not better men than me? Are there not better women than my wife? The trust that this being has in us astounds me.

So I will do my best to stay virtuous, and I will nurture my child, this supreme being to be the same kind of person. I will give it all of my riches and protect it from all harm. It will be happy. It will be loved. And I will do my very best to live up to the expectations that it has of me and my wife. Our child, our Buddha.

Signing out for today,

Suddhodana

Image Information: King Suddhodana on His Throne; Web Source: Wikipedia.

Author's Note:

King Suddhodana and his wife, Queen Maya are seen as virtuous rulers who are wealthy and noble. Because their family is fully of good people, the being whom will become Siddhartha, or Buddha, chose them when he was to be brought to earth. It was revealed to Maya in a dream, who then wake up supremely happy and calls for her husband. Before King Suddhodana can reach his wife, he is overcome by an overwhelming amount of emotions, which stops him in his tracks. A god then explains the situation to him and he joins his wife, they are happy about this child.

I wanted to get into Suddhodana’s head a little more to figure out what he felt about the situation. It had to be one where he felt uncomfortable at first because his wife was suddenly pregnant with a divine being. I know I would be freaked out in that case. So, I wrote a diary entry to really get into his thoughts and emotions about the matter. I wanted to show both the confusion, clarity, and the need to raise the child well as its father.

Bibliography:

This story is based off of the chapter "Maya's Dream" in "Part One" of The Life of Buddha by Andre

Ferdinand Herold (1922).

Week 11 Reading Diary B- The Life of Buddha: Siddhartha's Success

Siddhartha the Hermit

This chapter was a pretty long one. I like that the theme of the gods making individuals do things for their and Siddhartha’s wills comes back in this chapter. They make Chandaka fetch the horse for Siddhartha. I do feel bad for Siddhartha’s family because they did not have the chance to say good bye to them, especially since he does have a wife and son. However, his will is so strong that thinking of them is not something he will succumb to.

Gopa and SuddhodanaGrieve

And of course everyone is supremely sad that Siddhartha has left them so suddenly. I still feel bad for them that Siddhartha left so suddenly. And even the horse, Kanthaka is so lost in mourning for Siddhartha that he dies of grief.

Siddhartha Desertedby His First Disciples

It was nice to have Maya come back into the story to see her son and make sure that he was not dead. Man, I could never have the resolve that Siddhartha had to practically waste away to nothing from being so involved in meditation. Of course he needed to eat and gain fat to survive, however his disciples did not think that he was doing it as he was supposed to, and now he is alone.

Siddhartha Becomes the Buddha

Mara had not disturbed Siddhartha in the slightest, and he meditated on. As he had earlier seen the golden bowl go upstream with the thought that if it did then he would succeed, and he did succeed. His enlightenment was quite the thing to think about, all the links that were listed.

Image Information: Siddhartha and the Bowl; Web source: Wikimedia Commons

Week 11 Reading Diary A- The Life of Buddha: The Birth and Realizations of Siddhartha

For this week, I decided to go with reading stories from the Untextbook. I decided to read “Life of Buddha”.

Maya’s Dream

This kind of reminds me of the Bible. A woman having a dream about a baby that will be holy and born to her.

Birth of Siddhartha

What? Maya didn’t actually have to give birth, the gods just delivered Siddhartha to the arms of the maidens that were with her. Wouldn’t that be nice…

Siddhartha at the Temple

Poor Siddhartha lost his mother, who was supposed to know nothing but happiness and joy. At least her sister, Mahaprajapati will be there t take care of him. I did really enjoy the part where she tries to put jewelry on him, only to be stopped by a Goddess. My favorite line was “This child will have his thoughts; they are the gems of purer water”.

The First Encounter and Two More Encounters

The King should not shield Siddhartha from the unpleasant aspects of the world. If he is to become a Buddha, should he not know what it happening around him? At least the gods were jealous of the man and taught him the things about the world that his father did not want him to know about.

The Fair Maidens and The Great Truths

Had the king not kept Siddhartha from the truths of the world, perhaps he could have coped with them throughout his life. Instead, seeing them because of the gods he has to deal with them in a way he would prefer not to. It is sad that it scares him so much.

Image Information: Siddhartha and the Truths; Web Source: Wikipedia.