Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Reading Diary A: Jakata Tales (Shedlock)



The first story that really caught my attention was The Spirit that Lived in a Tree. So, the King ordered this tree to be cut down, but the tree (in spirit) goes to the king and persuades him otherwise. So, this is intriguing to me because Buddha had his greatest spiritual connection by a tree where a king spirit was and I wonder if that was somehow incorporated into this story. I had read that these stories had a more Buddhist influence and I believe it shows. It said in the story that people had worshipped this tree for many years. Even the men sent to cut it down said prayers that their children or family would not be effected by their duty. They were just doing their job, but felt the need to show reverence in its presence. So, the most interesting thing to me about this story is the Buddhism influence on it. 

The second story that really caught my attention was Grandmother's Golden Dish. In this story a hawker meets a grandmother with a golden dish to trade, but he takes it and throws it to the ground. His plan was to make them believe it was worth nothing then come back and buy it cheap so he could sell it for a larger amount of money. Another man saw its value though and gave the grandmother what she deserved. This intrigued me again because it reflected another Buddhist belief, karma. The hawker tried to catch the man who beat him to the grandmother, but he was on a boat leaving already. The hawker's plot was foiled. I believe this was karma purposely put in the story to reflect a moral lesson from Buddhism. 

  

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