As a Christian, I always find it interesting to see the differences between that of my religion and others. As I was browsing through the reading options for this week, I chose the unit about the Life of Buddha, because I had never studied or heard these stories before.
The first story that I read from the unit was called Maya's Dream. It was a short story about a dream revealed to the future Buddha's mother. This dream provided interesting imagery. An elephant entered into her womb, and she felt exceedingly happy. After she awakens, she calls for her husband (the king) to meet her in the woods. When he leaves for the woods, he is told by a great voice that his son (the Buddha) has chosen to be born to the king's family because of their great wealth and reputation, and that the Buddha will give the world what it desires.
This was very different from the story of Mary and Joseph, who were of low stature and had barely anything to their name. And Mary was pregnant before being officially married, so that looked really bad on her in those days! I find the contrast really interesting. One starts with humility and is ultimately exalted, and another starts exalted and is humbled.
Another contrast I noticed was in the story of Siddhartha's First Meditation. At one point towards the end of the story, some children are passing by as the Buddha is meditating. They are warned not to make any noise or to go near him so they will not disturb him. This reminds me of a passage in the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke. In Mark 10, the disciples get rebuked for shooing the little children away from Jesus. Then Jesus says his famous line, "Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."I feel like, compared to other religions and teachings, Jesus tends to do things that are backwards to the rest of the world.
I really have enjoyed reading about the life of the Buddha, though. Even though there aren't many Buddhists where I live right now, I think it is culturally relevant as far as the stories go!
The first story that I read from the unit was called Maya's Dream. It was a short story about a dream revealed to the future Buddha's mother. This dream provided interesting imagery. An elephant entered into her womb, and she felt exceedingly happy. After she awakens, she calls for her husband (the king) to meet her in the woods. When he leaves for the woods, he is told by a great voice that his son (the Buddha) has chosen to be born to the king's family because of their great wealth and reputation, and that the Buddha will give the world what it desires.
This was very different from the story of Mary and Joseph, who were of low stature and had barely anything to their name. And Mary was pregnant before being officially married, so that looked really bad on her in those days! I find the contrast really interesting. One starts with humility and is ultimately exalted, and another starts exalted and is humbled.
Another contrast I noticed was in the story of Siddhartha's First Meditation. At one point towards the end of the story, some children are passing by as the Buddha is meditating. They are warned not to make any noise or to go near him so they will not disturb him. This reminds me of a passage in the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke. In Mark 10, the disciples get rebuked for shooing the little children away from Jesus. Then Jesus says his famous line, "Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."I feel like, compared to other religions and teachings, Jesus tends to do things that are backwards to the rest of the world.
I really have enjoyed reading about the life of the Buddha, though. Even though there aren't many Buddhists where I live right now, I think it is culturally relevant as far as the stories go!
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| Siddhartha Buddha. Source: The O Chakra |
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