L Christina M

As a young child, Jonathan always knew that he was destined for greater things. He was born in a small town in rural Kansas in 1970 and had a deep, rich desire to reach masses of people outside of his small town. His family was poor, ridden with disease and pain. The financial troubles often cause an immense amount of strains on his familial relationships. Despite being discouraged and put down for his radical thinkings and strange ideas, Jonathan didn’t waver from what he knew was right. Jonathan had a very revealing dream at a young age and was told by a wise man in his dream that he would one day change the world. He believed this prophecy wholeheartedly. He and his mother always had heated debates about why Jonathan always felt the need to spend night after night in deep mediation. The meditation was taxing on Jonathan but he knew it was all for a greater purpose. He knew that he must work to become the powerful person he knew he was destined to be. But his mother found this behav...

The continuation of the story starts with Siddhartha's departure from his father's palace. The story immediately begins to employ dialogue between Siddhartha and Kanthaka, a common device I've noticed being utilized in the story of the Buddha. Also, personification is continues in this section as well stating closer to the beginning of the story, "Kanthaka was a magnificent animal...". Here are some other notes I took while reading through these next few stories: 1. I hope to keep the utilization of dialogue consistent in my stories as well but do hope to engage other forms of language. The dialogue is very heavy in this story and although effective can be somewhat difficult to read for long periods of time. 2. Imagery is very prevalent in these parts as well, especially "Siddhartha Deserted By His First Disciples". 3. There is a large section in the above mentioned part about food. Maybe it would be a good idea to change the foods in my story and ma...

Growing up I did not know much about Buddha. Luckily, a friend of mine in high school and her family were Buddhist and I had the opportunity to learn more about Buddha himself as well as the traditions and customs of the faith. I find it so interesting how so many faiths can exist around us. I went to high school in an area where multiculturalism was very prevalent. With different cultural backgrounds comes different religions and often this can be a huge cause of conflict in many areas. However, where I lived there was such a large understanding of the importance of respect and tolerance. I loved having the opportunity to learn a little about Buddhism in high school through my friends experiences and was so excited to learn more when I saw that this was a topic in our reading for the week. Here are some additional things I learned about the background of Buddha: 1. Queen Maya is an influential part of the development and early emergence of Buddha. 2. The story of Siddhartha is told...