The Beautiful Parrots: Riches & Fame Come and Go Like the Wind

This lesson was shared with both my elementary and middle school students.

Buddha Stories by Demi beautifully illustrates 11 Jataka Tales. Most local libraries have a copy to lend.  It can also be purchased from bookstores in the US.  I chose this week's story from it's pages.

In this Jataka Tale, two lovely parrots are treasured as the king's favorite pets, at least until an entertaining little monkey arrives.  Suddenly the parrots are forgotten in the shadow of the new pet's funny faces.  An important lesson is learned about how quickly circumstances in our lives change and how difficult these changes become when we are too attached to things staying the same.

Before the tale I asked the children, "Have you ever felt replaced?  Maybe by a friend or sibling...Maybe you were the best at a sport and then someone joined the team who was even better than you... At school?  This is the story of two parrots who experienced the same feeling."

After the story I asked the younger children the following questions:

This is a lesson about expecting things to change.  We suffer less when we remember that things always change. 

I asked the children to offer examples of things that change.  They shared ideas about seasons, friendships, ages, jobs, homes... This lesson can open the door for young people to examine their thoughts and feelings about life events like the birth of a sibling, the loss of friendship, popularity, success and failures in sports and academics... Invite your students to visualize both the best and worst case scenarios in the things that matter most to them, making peace with both outcomes.  The ability to anticipate and accept change is a priceless tool.  Let's give it to our children as early as possible.

I found a cool parrot craft on Pinterest that I used with my younger students.

We added a quote from the story to our project.

We applied the words of the wise parrot to the folk song, Down By the Riverside:

Gain and loss and praise and blame

Pleasure, pain, dishonor, fame

Come and go like the spring.

                            (sing 2x's)

Why should a little parrot grieve?

                             ( 3x's)
Why should a little parrot sing?
                             ( 3x's)

May all be free from suffering by the power of the Triple Gem!

The Proud Peacock and the Mallard: The Price of Getting Cocky

The Proud Peacock is one in a series of Jataka Tales from Dharma Publishing. They describe the book this way:
A golden mallard, chosen by the birds to be their king, grants his daughter's wish to select her own mate.  From all available candidates, the princess chooses an elegant peacock.  Delighted, the peacock shows off his beauty.  Realizing his prideful nature, the mallard princess rejects the peacock and chooses a more modest mate.  Deeply ashamed, the peacock utters a hoarse cry of dismay.  To this day, peacocks still make this same sound.

 I used this story with both my primary and upper elementary aged students.
With my primary children, I raised the following questions for discussion:

• Why did the king summon (call) all the birds of the world together?
• Who did the princess choose first?   Why did she choose him?
• Why did the princess change her mind about the peacock?
• Who did the princess choose instead of the peacock? Why did she choose him?
• Who was the Buddha in this story? How is the mallard like the Buddha?
• What would have been a better way for the peacock to behave when he was chosen?
• What does this story teach us about how we should act when someone notices our good qualities?

After our discussion, my little ones colored pictures of both a mallard and peacock. They can be pasted on construction paper with the quote, "Modesty is more beautiful than pride."

This lesson lends itself to fun arts and crafts activities.  It's also a great story to be told with a flannel board and simple felt pieces or acted out in a mini-play.  The only limit is your own creativity with whatever resources and funds you have available.

Here are the pictures I used for the kids to color:

My older students discussed these questions:

• Why would the Buddha share this story?  What is the moral?
• The Buddha is concerned with ending our suffering.  What dangers and suffering does this story help us avoid for ourselves?  for others?
• Can you think of everyday examples of the peacock's behavior?  (Couldn't help but giggle when Justin Beiber's name popped up)
• Can you think of everyday examples of the mallard duck?
• Compare the mallard with our faithful monks.  What are the similarities?
• Initially the princess chose the peacock.  What does this tell us about beauty and charm?  Are they intrinsically bad?  
• Can you think of someone who seemed very attractive to you when you first met, but as you got to see their true character, their vices affected your view of them?  What about the reverse.  Have you ever met someone who seemed rather plain until you got to know them better?  Did it change the way you viewed them physically?

I closed this lesson with a brief meditation.  Towards the end of it I asked the students to ask themselves: Are there areas of my life where I may be in danger of behaving like a peacock?  What can I do to prevent this from happening?

This lesson surprised me.  I've had the book for a few years now but it seemed almost too simplistic to use.  Boy was I wrong.  This simple story stirred up an engaging discussion with my middle school students. Sharing the Buddha's message of humility and inner beauty can lighten the burden our children carry, growing up in a culture that values physical beauty and self-promotion over simplicity and modesty.  

May all be free from suffering by the power of the Triple Gem!

The Black Bull: Treating and Speaking to Others With Kindness

"Treat others with kindness and your deeds will be rewarded."

This lesson can be shared with children of any age.

Buddha Stories by Demi beautifully illustrates 11 Jataka Tales. Most local libraries have a copy to lend.  It can also be purchased from bookstores in the US.  I pulled this week's story from these sweet pages.

The black bull is dearly loved by its master.  As a calf it was given the name Beauty.  In an attempt to repay his master for his kindness, Beauty persuades him to enter a bull race with a handsome reward for first place.

Beauty is startled and heartbroken at the start of the race when his master whips him and shouts curses upon him.  Shocked by his master's behavior, Beauty loses the race and costs his master a great deal of money.

It is only when both Beauty and his master remember the importance of kind actions and words that they are reconciled and richly rewarded.

Here are some questions I asked the youngest children as we read along:

1.) How did the master feel about Beauty before the contest?

2.) What did the master do to Beauty to try to make him go fast in the race?

3.) Why didn't Beauty win the race?

4.) What did Beauty ask the master to do at the next race?

5.) What happened when the master kindly asked Beauty to race fast?

The older children used the following questions for discussion after the story:

1.) Have you ever had someone tell you to do something in a rude way?
How did it make you feel?

2.) Have you ever asked someone to do something in an angry way?
Did they comply with your request?

3.) How does speaking kindly during conflict help both ourselves and the people with whom we disagree?

4.) How can using Beauty's tactic help us resolve quarrels with our siblings?  friends? teachers? parents?
(We then created some hypothetical conflicts and discussed the best way to speak to those involved.)

After our discussion, we decided to make simple duct tape bracelets to help us remember throughout the week to speak and act kindly.   We folded duct tape over twice longway.  Then using dark fabric markers, the kids chose their own words to write on the tape.  Some decorated their words with stripes and flowers.  Others kept it very simple.  I hot glued the ends with a thin strip of velcro to make them easy to put on and take off.

Unfortunately, I only had my camera phone with me so the pictures are not great.

It's nice to close this lesson with a brief Loving Kindness Meditation.  Invite the children to sit comfortably, close their eyes, and focus on their breathing.  Then guide them in these thoughts:

May I be well, happy, and peaceful.

May my parents be well ,happy and peaceful.

May my teachers be well, happy, and peaceful.

May my family be well, happy, and peaceful.

May my friends be well, happy, and peaceful.

May those who are unkind to me be well, happy, and peaceful.

May all living beings be well, happy, and peaceful.

May all living beings be freed from suffering by the power of Triple Gem.

The Courageous Captain: Trusting in Our Actions, Not Superstitions

This lesson can be shared with all ages.

Sometimes Jataka Tales are reserved for our youngest children.  Why?  The Buddha used them to convey important morals and truths to his followers.  Most of them were adults.  My older students always gobble up these lessons, even when I use books clearly intended for younger readers.

Before they can roll their eyes and say, "OMG, this is a baby story," I call myself out for using it.  "Obviously this book is intended for younger readers," I'll say, "but I learned so much from it when I was working on it for the little kids, that I knew y'all would appreciate too."  And they do.

We used a book titled, Courageous Captain, A Jataka Tale.  You can find it here.

Before we read the story, I invited the kids to share any superstitions they knew.
Their list included things like:
     A black cat crossing your path
     Athletes spitting on bats or wearing the same socks
     Breaking a mirror means 7 years bad luck
     Carrying a lucky rabbit's foot
    Women on a Pirate ship was bad luck...

Then I asked, "When we trust in superstitions, do we keep control of our fate?"

I wanted the kids to come away from this lesson knowing that we must rely on our actions, not our luck if we want to be successful.

After the story I asked the following questions:

1.) Why did the captain want Supuraga on board?
2.) Did they listen to his wisdom, or just rely on the good luck his presence would bring?
3.) What made Supuraga such a good navigator?
   (his presence, or his skills, wisdom, insight, etc...)
4.) When the crew trusted in Supuraga as a good luck charm where did their ship travel?
  (closer to danger)
5.) When they trusted his words and acted upon them, what happened?
 (they took control of their ship and gained treasures)
6.) How is this similar to the Buddha?
7.) Does keeping a Buddha statue or picture nearby keep us safe and protect us?
8.) Why do we keep statues of the Buddha around?
9.)When will we find refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma, or Sangha?
 (When we follow his teachings)

After the discussion I had a small pasting activity for the younger children to do.  It tickled me that the older kids wanted to make this too.  Thankfully I had enough supplies for everyone.

May all be free from suffering by the power of the Triple Gem.