Week 4 Reading Diary: Hans Christian Andersen

For the extra credit reading, I chose the Hans Christian Andersen unit, since I'll be using some of these stories for my Storybook.

The Princess and the Pea

• The prince is quite picky, looking all over and still not finding a princess.
• It's a bit suspicious that someone could just walk up to the doors of a palace (I'm assuming), knock, and be let in.
• If the princess is able to feel a pea that is put under 20 mattresses and 20 down beds, does that mean she's very sensitive? I don't see that as a particularly good thing.

The Emperor’s New Suit

• The emperor is obsessed with clothes. He had a coat for every hour --that is just excessive.
• Two swindlers entered the city, claiming they were the best. The most expensive cloth would be invisible to those who aren't worthy. The emperor thought it'd be a good idea to use it to test who was worthy.
• The emperor paid a great sum, and provided them with the greatest silks and cloths. They mimed weaving, but wasn't actually doing anything.
• The emperor sent an old minister to check up on their work. He had to lie, so no one would find out he couldn't see anything.
• The swindlers asked for more cloths, silk, and money and kept them all. 
• The swindlers presented the suit to the emperor, which indeed does not exist, and the emperor had a procession through the city. Everyone expressed how beautiful it was, even though none of them can see anything.

The Brave Tin Soldier

• There were 25 tin soldiers made from the same tin spoon, who looked identical but one, who only had one leg.
• Nearby is a toy castle with a paper dancer doll in front. 
• The tin soldier tries to work up the courage to talk to her, but can't.
• He is placed by the window, but unfortunately is blown out the window down onto the street.
• It starts to rain, and when two boys walk by seeing him stuck in the drain, fashions him a boat out of newspaper and sets him in the gutter. He cruises along until he comes into a bridge that is also a drain.

The Brave Tin Soldier (cont.)

• He goes through adventures with rats, fishes, and the market, until he eventually ends up with the same family again.
• One of the boys threw him into the stove, for some reason.
• The door opens and the wind carries the paper dancer doll into the stove as well.
• The tin soldier had melted into a tiny tin heart, while the pretty doll is burnt and all that's left is her tinsel rose.

The Wicked Prince

• A prince conquers towns all around and accumulates wealth and gold.
• He vows to conquer God also. He builds a ship that sails in the sky. 
• God sent angels, and as the prince shot bullets at them, they turned to stone and fell down to earth.
• A single drop of blood from one of the angels falls onto the ship, burns a hole in it, and weighs it down until it comes tumbling down to earth.
• The prince builds another ship, but before it set sails, God sends a swarm of little gnats. One of them got into the prince's ear and stung him. The poison made him dance and jump around before the soldiers he had gathered, making them mock him, the mad prince.

The Little Match-Seller

• The little girl is trying to sell matches, and no one cares, even though she's sick.
• The lights matches to warm herself up, until she runs out.
• She eventually dies, and her grandmother carries her soul to Heaven.

Week 4 Review

I really enjoyed this graphic from this week's announcements. It kind of shows how the reader has this idea that they could choose their ending, but in reality, they don't really. I think the idea of the reader chooses their ending is the inspiration for the FanFiction site, where people write stories based on famous series, use characters, or write their own sequels.

Reader chooses their ending (source: announcement page)

MISSA, the Management Information Systems Student Association had their first general meeting yesterday. Next week, there is going to be a Lunch-and-Learn with Phillips 66 at 12:30-1:30 in MFPH 2065. This is a great opportunity to meet firms, have lunch, and meet people. The MISSA's orgsync page can be found here. It is $10 to join, and you get a soft t-shirt when you sign up! You don't have to be an MIS major to join!

Week 4 Reading Diary, continued: The Life of Buddha

The continuation of The Life of Buddha.

Buddha statue (source: tumblr)

Siddhartha Leaves

• Siddhartha decides to leave and calls for his horse. The heavy gates opened of their own accord to let the prince through.

Siddhartha the Hermit

• Siddhartha traveled a great distance away. When he came to the woods where many hermits dwelled, he dismounted and sent the horse back. He took off his necklace, and gave it to Chandaka to give to his father. He told them not to grieve.
• He cut of his hair, and shed his robes for a more normal one. A hunter came by wearing reddish-colored robes, who willingly gave it up for Siddhartha, then ascended into the sky. 

Gopa and Suddhodana Grieve

• Gopa woke up to the realization that the prince is gone. The king closed the city, and sent everyone in search of the prince. Chandaka returns to the palace with the jewels.
• The horse returned to the stable, in grief, and promptly died.

Arata Kalama

• Arata Kalama teaches the doctrine of renunciation to a great number of disciples.
• They refused food prepared by man; they will eat only fruit; they will drink only water. The heat of the sun scorches them; they expose their bodies to the bitter winds; they bruise their feet and knees on the stones of the highway. To them, virtue comes only with suffering.
• He chose to leave Arata, to seek the rule to which we must submit before we can have done with suffering.

Siddhartha and King Vimbasara

• Siddhartha enters the city of Rajagriha.
• People were amazed by his beauty, and word got to the king. He sent people to find out where the hero lived (at the slope of the mountain near the city).
• The king pleads for the hero to come to the city to live with him. 
• Desires are like poison; wise men despise them. Desires are as perishable as the fruit on a tree, they are as wayward as the clouds in the sky, they are as treacherous as the rain, they are as changeable as the wind! Suffering is born of desire, for no man has ever gratified all his desires.
• 5 disciples joined him.

Siddhartha Deserted by His First Disciples

• The hero was so deep into mediation and contemplation that he stopped breathing and fell one day. Maya, the hero's mother living among the Gods, heard this and feared for the life of her son. She descended to earth and scattered flowers over the body of her son, weeping. He eventually stirred awake. 
• The hero remained on the banks of the river and meditated for 6 years. 
• He started to grow weak, before he realized that if he died from starvation, he would never reach the goal he set for himself. 
• He finally went to the village nearby, and the head man and his daughters would bring the hero food. Eventually, he started going to the village to beg for his food. He finally started to regain his strength.
• The disciples left him.

The Tree of Knowledge

• After 6 years, his robes are worn. He got new robes from the shroud that was covering the body of a dead slave. It was very dusty, and he had no water. Sakra came down to the earth, struck the ground, and a pool appeared. He offered to wash the robe for the Saint, but he said no, saying I know the duties of a monk; I myself shall wash the shroud.
• Mara, the Evil One, made the pool very steep. The Saint was unable to climb out of the water, so Sakra addressed a prayer to the Goddess in a nearby tree to help.
• He had 5 dreams.
• He woke and realized that the day that he was going to become the Buddha is near. 
• The Buddhas of old had their last meal from a golden bowl. Sujata offers the Saint milk and honey in a golden bowl, so the time has come for him to be the Buddha.
• He took the bowl, went to the stream, and said If I am to become Buddha this very day, may the bowl go upstream; if not, may it go with the current. The bowl hesitated in the middle of the river, then started upstream.
• He came upon the Tree of Knowledge, sat under it, and said, Even if my skin should parch, even if my hand should wither, even if my bones should crumble into dust, until I have attained supreme knowledge I shall not move from this seat.

Mara's Defeat

• The light from the hero's body reached even to Mara, the Evil One.
• Mara gathered his people and planned to attack the hero. His son tried to warn him, but Mara paid him no mind.
• He who is insane with pride will never recover.
• Mara tried to scare the hero before his army approached. He roused the winds, uprooted the trees, devastating villages, shaking mountains, but the hero never moved.
• He tried to summon rocks, but as they approached the hero, they fell to the ground as flowers. He then commanded his army to attack, and their arrows too, turned into flowers.
• The soldiers of the Evil One fled. Mara had been defeated.

Siddhartha Becomes the Buddha

• The first watch: arrived at the knowledge of all that had transpired in previous existences.
• The second watch: learned the present state of all beings.
• The third watch: understood the chain of causes and effects.
• To exist is to suffer. Desire leads from birth to rebirth, from suffering to further suffering. By stifling desire, we prevent birth, we prevent suffering. By leading a life of holiness, desire is stifled, and we cease to endure birth and suffering.

Week 4 Reading Diary: The Life of Buddha

For week 4, I choose The Life of Buddha.

Personal photo (Dec. 28, 2015; Chiang Mai, Thailand)

Maya's Dream

• Dream: young elephant descending from the sky, had six great tusks, white as snow on mountain tops. Entered Maya's womb, and thousands of Gods suddenly appeared before her.
• She walked to the woods and asked or the king to meet her. As he was entering the woods, he felt weird.
• A great voice said from the sky: "Be happy, King Suddhodana, worthiest of the Sakyas! He who seeks supreme knowledge is about to come into the world. He has chosen your family to be his family because of its fame, good fortune and virtue, and for mother he has chosen the noblest of all women, your wife, Queen Maya."
• The king ordered food to be given to the hungry, alms to the poor, drink to the thirsty.
• The sick crowded her path, she touched them, they are cured. 

Birth of Siddhartha

• The queen felt the baby coming and went to walk in the woods.
• The king named the baby Siddhartha.

Asita's Prediction

• Asita is a hermit. He came to the palace to meet the baby.
• He started crying and went on a long speech about how the baby will set the world free and break down the evil gates. He is crying because he won't be able to hear the words of the baby, Siddhartha.

Siddhartha at the Temple

• Suddhondana was happy at first, then realized that the speech included Asita mentioning that Siddhartha would renounce royalty and live his life as a hermit. He is worried that his line would end.
• He quickly forgot his worries, for since Siddhartha was born, wealth have been flowing into the palace. 
• Maya died after 7 days.
• The prince was given to Mahaprajapati's care. Siddhartha is so brilliant and radiant that even when wearing gold jewels, it looks dim compared to him. 
• The day came to take him to the temple of the Gods. The streets were cleared and decorated beautifully. When he entered the temple, all the statues of the Gods --Siva, Skanda, Vishnu, Kuvera, Indra, Brahma -- came to life and bowed at his feet.

Siddartha's First Meditation

• He went out to walk and rested under a tree, where he first meditates. Five hermits walk by wondering who he is, suddenly realizing that he would become the Buddha some day.
• The king wondered where he is, sending a servant to search. When the servant came upon the prince, he is still meditating under the tree, where the shadows have not moved, continuing to shelter him throughout the day.

First Encounter

• The prince grew curious and wanted to leave the palace one day. The king ordered the streets to be cleared of beggars and the sick, wishing his son to see nothing that will trouble the serenity of his soul; he must never suspect the evil there is in the world.
• Seeing the beautiful city, the wealth of the mend and the beauty of the women, felt a new joy pour into his soul.
• The Gods sent an old man down the road the prince was traveling. He was worn and decrepit, bad teeth, thin, grey hair, and skin full of wrinkles. The prince sees this and, confused, asks the charioteer why the old man looked like he did.
• The charioteer replied: That which mars beauty, which ruins vigor, which causes sorrow and kills pleasure, that which weakens the memory and destroys the senses is old age.
• He returned to the palace but could not find peace, and in his heart there was no longer any joy.

Two More Encounters

• Siddhartha goes through the city once again. The gods made him encounter a sick man on the way. The charioteer explains that everyone could get sickness, telling the prince the painful truth. 
• The prince returned to the palace in a somber mood. The king found out why and punished the man who took care of the streets (lightly). The man wondered why he even got punished, since he saw neither the sick nor the old man.
• The king tried to keep the price in the palace, to no avail. Finally he thought to let the prince out again, changed the charioteer, and cleared the streets.
• The Gods were unhappy and made the entourage encounter 4 men carrying a corpse. The prince now realizes that everyone can get sick, old, and die.

The Fair Maiens and Gopa's Dream

• The king had ordered Udayin, the prince's friend since childhood, to assemble many beautiful women in the garden. The prince went unwillingly. The women approach but neither smile nor talk, which angers Udayin, who tries to encourage them.
• They finally approach the prince, but the prince was still thinking about death. The women later left to go back to the city.
• Gopa had a bad dream and went to the prince. "You saw the earth shake? Then one day the Gods themselves shall bow before you. You saw the moon and the sun fall from the sky? Then you shall soon defeat evil, and you shall receive infinite praise. You saw the trees uprooted? Then you shall find a way out of the forest of desire. Your hair was cut short? Then you shall free yourself from the net of passions that holds you captive. My robes and my jewels were scattered about? Then I am on the road to deliverance. Meteors were speeding across the sky over a darkened city? Then to the ignorant world, to the world that is blind, I shall bring the light of wisdom, and those who have faith in my words will know joy and felicity. Be happy, O Gopa, drive away your melancholy; you will soon be singularly honored. Sleep, Gopa, sleep; you have dreamed a lovely dream."

The Greath Truths

• Siddhartha leaves the palace and encounters a monk. After he spoke, he rose to the sky. It was a God taking the form of the monk to arouse the prince.
• Siddhartha decided to leave the palace and become a monk.
• Siddhartha goes to ask the King for permission to leave. The king tries to stop him. The prince asks his father to promise 4 things, and he shall not leave: promise that his life will not end in death, that sickness will not come, that age will not approach, and that misfortune will not destroy his prosperity. 
• The prince left.