Epics of India MLLL 4993

Image on  Pexels Rosalie was a spirited girl with fire-red hair to match her personality. She was not good at holding still and frequently got into trouble at school for this and for her quick temper. The other children were friends with Rosalie and admired her eccentric personality, but none of them dared behave as she did in the classroom. She was not afraid to speak her mind and often pestered the teachers with many questions that they found extremely annoying. There was one teacher, though, who did not mind the girl’s questions, and this was Rosalie’s favorite teacher. Ms. Simmons taught science and regularly took her students outside to observe the stream that ran next to the playground. Not only did her pupils like going outside during class, they also loved learning from Ms. Simmons who cared about each one of them. This included Rosalie, who found it easiest to concentrate in Ms. Simmons’ fun lectures. The teacher knew that any of her students would ...

Image on  LinkedIn This is a continuation of my Twenty Jataka Tales notes. These tales all incorporate important life lessons, and many of them are “happily ever after” tales. These happy endings are achieved through the kind ways of the Buddha, as all Jataka tales are an episode of one of the Buddha’s lives. As mentioned in the last set of notes, though I did not go into detail, I went to a Buddhist event earlier this year. It was part of my Sociology of Religion course in which each student had to choose an event to attend from a religion that differed from their own. I had originally wanted to go to a “normal” Christian church service. I am not religious, but Christianity is what I am most familiar with. Not being allowed to go to a Christian service was a good thing for me as I was made to try something new. If I had not been made to attend the meditation service, I probably would have never gone on my own as I was nervous and felt like an outsider. T...

Image of Buddha on  Wikimedia This week, I read Twenty Jataka Tales for my reading notes posts. I chose this unit because I liked the Jataka tales that we read as a class at the beginning of the semester. I was reminded that a Jataka tale is one about a life of the Buddha. All of these tales give lessons to be learned and the majority are “happily ever after” tales. The main theme running through this unit was the power of kindness. In each of the Buddha’s lives, he is selfless and has a sweet disposition so that no human wishes to do him harm. He has the power to change the way others perceive the world, and he teaches them the kindness that is natural to him. In January, I visited a Buddhist temple for a class assignment. I participated in meditation, and the feeling of calm that permeated that exercise is very similar to how the Buddha is portrayed in this unit. In The Monkey-Bridge , a monkey king uses his own body as part of an escape bridge to avo...