Famous Last Words: Week 11

ONLY ONE MORE MONTH UNTIL MY DUE DATE!!
Time has definitely snuck upon me and I am getting so stressed and anxious. Getting ready for a newborn is one thing, but worrying about finishing college for the semester is another. AND trying to figure out how I am going to afford things without a job for 6 weeks, which includes Christmas time yikesssss. AND I have to figure out a babysitter for next semester until new baby can attend daycare. Ranting I know but I am so stressed.

Okay, onto something else. I liked the other reading option we were able to choose this week. I still did not do my storytelling assignment (no surprise there) but it was a nice break from the usual book readings. Since I am usually on my phone at work drying nap time, this was a great way for me to be productive. In my Black Arts Movement class we had an assignment taken off and given full credit to all students for unknown reasons so that was a blessing in disguise. In my sociological theory class we did not do much except go over PowerPoint's preparing us for the exam on Wednesday. He gave us the questions ahead of time from which he will choose 10/15 so that makes it less scary.

This past Friday I had an ultrasound appointment to check on the babies measurements since my doctor said I was measuring small for how far along I am. With my first baby this happened as well but baby was right on time and born with great stats. This time as well, the ultrasound showed nothing abnormal and the little guy is already 6 pounds! I think this was just a way for me to get to see his cute face :) 3D ultrasounds are super weird by the way but also pretty amazing.

I have been trying to cook more at home so I don't eat out as much and this weekend I made chili. Only thing I may have done wrong was when I defrosted the meat, I did not set it out long enough and the middle part was super frozen and I couldn't use it when I needed to start cooking. Won't make this mistake again! I wish my parents involved me a little more in cooking growing up so maybe I wouldn't be so ignorant in the kitchen haha

this is me, found on 20somethingallergies.com

Life of the Buddha Unit Essay Review: Week 11

The reading unit I chose to read this week was “The Life of the Buddha” by Andre Ferdinand Herold. Overall, I thought this unit was a good read. It was way easier to start and finish this reading assignment since it had a shorter length than the book reading assignments and the stories were split up into sections. The sections gave a note about what it would be about at the beginning and I thought this was nice and kind of like the reading guides from the Epics class. Although I did not write my storytelling post this week I think it would be easier to write based on a section of the reading. I was able to structure my reading diary around the stories so my thoughts were both more organized and useful than earlier reading diaries.

I have heard of Buddha the monk throughout my life so picking this unit was out of curiosity about his life since I did not know much other than his big belly and smiley face appearance. I was really surprised after reading this unit because I did not expect him to have a different name, be seen as godlike by many who passed him, or leave his family without much compassion. I think his state of mind throughout his life leading up to him becoming the Buddha was perplexing at times because he seemed distant from the truths of the world seeing death and sickness as something he could conquer. My impression before reading about his life was that the Buddha was all about peace and serenity. My favorite story from this unit was ‘Siddhartha’s first meditation’ because it really showed him sitting and the world understanding his deep thought (with the unmoving shadow over him) and the passing people gawk at his peaceful state. Then I thought it was crazy that after awakening from this state, he simply says to his father the must stop working in the fields, I was hoping for more insight into what that meant or why it was important. My least favorite story was the one where everyone in the kingdom found out of Siddhartha’s departure and was stricken with such great grief. The horse dying was a total shocker since Siddhartha was leaving to conquer this happening in the first place. I would like to read more about where Siddhartha's life goes from when he became the Buddha and I was please to see there were numerous links I could visit to read more about certain parts of his life (his marriage to Gopa for example). The fact that he has a son and was still more passionate about becoming a monk than leaving him is weird to me when I compare the love that Siddhartha's father has for Siddhartha even when he knew from his birth he would never stay in the kingdom.

I really like the ability to choose the stories from the Mythology and Folklore option. This gives me a lot of freedom to choose what I want to read about and I can gain more knowledge outside of just Indian Epics.

'self control' of Siddhartha from wikispaces

 

Reading Diary (The Life of Buddha Unit): Week 11

From The Life of Buddha Unit

Maya's Dream:
-do all dreams mean something?
-what a cool way to find out you will have a child, a special one
-king was intuitive to his emotions
-Brahmins description of Buddha is angelic and perfect
-The king began to do what Buddha would as he gave food to hungry etc. (shielding him from bad in the world and leading to his ultimate monk hood)
Birth of Siddhartha:
-Maya was not scared of childbirth, only remembering what would come from it
-Birth in such a beautiful environment
-how easy a birth like that would be! I wish I could smile and pop out this baby...
-songs of merriment, praise to his future
Asita's Prediction:
-Son bore marks of omnipotence?
-All bad things will come to an end basically and Asita is overwhelmed with joy and sorrow as he won't be alive to witness this era of greatness
Siddhartha at the Temple:
-is royalty more important to the king than the greater good?
-Maya's death with Siddhartha being a week old is sad because everything was so perfect at his birth
-Even jewels were outshined by his presence
-Arrival at the temple--> reminded me of Hercules movie
Siddhartha's First Meditation:
-Was he in a trance, not aware of the people passing by and saying things about him?
-the shade did not move, time stood still in his area of meditation
-Stop working in the fields? This is the message he was pondering on??
First Encounter:
-Why would the Gods want to trouble his mind?
-Oh, the old withered man is used as a humbling truth to Siddhartha to make him see the real world
-scared of old age destroys his peace in the presence
Two More Encounters:
-sees sickness, but used to perfection so this troubles him more
-the gods are playing with his mind
-has only half an image of the world
The Fair Maidens:
-are they trying to seduce him?
-but he ignores them because he is fixated on death
-does not see the beauty in life it seems
-Gopa's dream is interpreted by the prince instead of a dream interpreter like Siddhartha's mothers dream was
-scary dream= pleasant response and smile out of prince...
The Great Truths:
-Monk from Gods led prince to true purpose and what he was seeking
-the promises his father must make for him to stay and not leave kingdom: his life won't end in death, won't get sick, won't get old, and won't become misfortunate
-world is a prison
-were they really asleep or dead? (Gopa's companions)
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Siddhartha leaves:
-Kanthaka understood the princes need to leave
-Chandaka is conflicted with loyalty to king and universal urge to let prince leave
-the prince is a great orator, persuasive
Siddhartha the hermit:
-Chandra does not want to be the bearer of such bad news, he facilitated this as well
-shedding of his robe is symbolic, finalizing his departure
-he is stubborn and determined to conquer death and sickness
Gopa and Suddhodana grieve:
-Gopa really loved Siddhartha, I wonder how deep his love for her went
-What a bad wake up call
-the king (his father) is also super upset, he shuts down the city even though he knew this day was to come
-the death of the horse is equivalent to the death of Maya for me, he had to take the prince to his destination and come back to face the sad kingdom that is empty from Siddhartha
Arata Kalama:
-Arata's teachings were hermit like but he did not have a purpose or a mission to their suffering
Siddhartha and King Vimbasara:
-I wonder if he was actually begging in the streets
-the king Vimbasara saw the hermits light that shone, and wanted him a part of his kingdom
-like a trophy? Companion? What is his strategy to get him to his kingdom and adorn him with earthly things he obviously had no intentions of delving in?
-so his presence and meeting of this king results in a friendship (peace) between that kingdom and his fathers kingdom
-Rudraka, son of Rama is in this story, has followers but five start to follow Siddhartha
Siddhartha deserted by his first disciples:
-seems dead because of such fasting and malnourishment
-Maya comes to see her son, suggests that no one really 'dies' in a concrete way but Siddhartha thinks of the circle of life as being an awful cycle when he thinks of this later on.... logical?
-his followers are not as patient, do not see the good in his nourishment that he is being given, and leave
The tree of knowledge:
-gets clothes from dead slave, washes with help of a god
-Mara attempts to kill him with rising water... must be close to his awakening as a Buddha and defeat of Mara since he sees him as a threat
-five dreams. Whole body laying on top of earth, reed growing from belly button to sky, worms covering legs, birds flying from all directions toward head and appeared gold as they got closer, covered in filth and ascended mountain but filth did not defile him
-Realized from dreams that he would become a Buddha
-given bowl with food, throws bowl into river from knowledge of other Buddha doing same thing
-Grass obtained and made into a seat under tree, bowed to tree before sat
-bowing is a major sign of respect in this time
Mara's defeat:
-Mara's dream in relation to Buddha's transitioning phase
-his son urges him not to fight this, see the good in Siddhartha's transition
-the army he got looked like a Halloween costume party that was gruesome
-trying to frighten Siddhartha but end up frightening army because nothing is working to change his state of mind or surroundings
Siddhartha becomes the Buddha:
-three phases of enlightenment / realization
-death-birth-existence-ties-desire-sensation-contact-six senses-name/form-perception-impression-ignorance.
-ignorance
-realization, 12 times the earth shook and ends in song