jataka tales--raw
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Pictures are not mine. I used the pictures for educational purposes...nothing more. Please don't sue me :DTRANSCRIPT
Jataka Tales
Stories of the previous life of Buddha
What stories do you know?
What did you learn from them?
What about the storiesThat kept the imagination
Our ancestors active?
Don’t they deserve the sameAttention we give to the stories
We love today?
Definitions
Jatakafrom the root word
jāta meaning born (or as ‘born under’)
janati meaning ‘he begets’ — which is more at ‘kin’
Jataka Tales are of some 550 birth stories or narratives of former incarnations of Gautama Buddha collected in Buddhist sacred writingsThe word is Sanskrit.
The Jātakas refer to a voluminous body of literature native to India concerning the previous births of the Bodhisattva
Uses of the Jataka Tales
In Sanskrit, the Panchatantra (Indian fables of 3rd century BCE) used them to teach Law and Economics
In Katha Sarit Sagara (11th-century collection of Indian legends, fairy tales,folk tales) used them for the development of knowledge, as well as just for enjoyment.
In Modern Times:
develop their knowledge develop human values and good qualities
develop the moral and ethical values
*Comparing it to today’s stories and its content.
Buddha’s insightsKarma and the 4 Noble Truths
At the heart of these stories lies the law of Karma which states,
according to Buddhist philosophy, that every being becomes what he
makes himself.
Karma, here, does not stand just a synonym for action. It includes all the causal connections between actions and their consequences.
The Buddha revealed the inner
complexities of karma’s workings,
and pointed out that one can, change the course of one’s life,
by understanding the nature of karma.
He also taught that karma does not
unfold in a simple manner with a single
cause giving rise directly to a specific
effect.
Another key to Buddhism are the four noble truths. 1. there is suffering2. that it has a cause
3. that it can be suppressed 4. that there is a way to accomplish this. These truths find their place in
various Jatakas.
Jataka Tales in PracticeAnd Literature
Through the centuries these
stories have been much more than fairy
tales.
They were, and are, taken very seriously for their moral and spiritual teachings.
"Shakespeare said that art is a mirror held up to nature. And that's what it is. The nature is your nature, and all of these wonderful poetic images of mythology are referring to something in you.”
--- Joseph Campbell
"The Ajanta Cave paintings of Maharashtra, India (ca. 6th century CE) portray Jataka Tales in narrative order, so that people walking through the caves would learn the stories.
Sample story
In your hand-out there are three stories,
1. The wicked lady and the buttermilk wise man
2. King Nimi
3. Learn though from him
We will use Story no. 1
The wicked Lady and the buttermilk Wise Man
The Wicked Lady
Holy man living near the river
Holy man saves the woman
END