The Cunning Wolf: Keeping Promises to Yourself and Others

Recently we've been forming our class lessons and discussions around Demi's book Buddha Stories.

In today's story a cunning wolf decides to make pious promises when it seems convenient.  We learn that it's much easier to make a promise than to keep one.

I asked my youngest students to tell me what they knew about wolves.  It's helpful for the children to understand that wolves eat only meat and are very smart about catching their prey.  We looked at some pictures of wolves.

Before the story I asked, "Have you ever made a promise to yourself or to someone else that was very hard to keep?  This is a story about a wolf who had trouble keeping a promise."

To be sure the little ones followed the plot I asked the following questions:

• Why wasn't the wolf able to get food?
• What did he decide to do when he couldn't reach any prey?
• What happened when he saw the goat?
• Was he able to catch the goat?
• The wolf decided that since the goat got away, he had kept his promise after all.  Did he really?
• What did the Buddha tell him?

With each lesson based on a Jataka Tale, I try to remind my students that the Buddha's concern was to end suffering.  I used some examples from a child's life to encourage them to consider how this particular story can help us prevent suffering for both ourselves and others.

Example 1: You promise your mom or dad that you will clean your room.  Then you push all your toys under bed and shove all your dirty clothes in the closet.  Have you kept your promise?

Example 2:  You say to yourself, "I'm going to be generous and share my toys when my friend visits."  You only offer them the things you least enjoy playing with.  Have you kept your promise to yourself? 

Then I asked:

• How does breaking a promise hurt ourselves? (We feel bad, frustrated, disappointed, ashamed.  We lose other's trust...)
• How does breaking a promise hurt others?  (They feel disappointed, angry, no longer trust us...)
• How do we feel about ourselves when we keep our promises? (good, proud, happy, trusted...)
• How do others feel when we keep our promises? (Happy, relieved, proud)
• Is it good to make lots and lots of promises? 
• What can we do instead of making promises to keep ourselves more honest and dependable?  (We can say I'll try. We can save promises for the most important commitments.)

The younger children colored in a picture I made with a coloring page and a simple quote.  You can download a copy of it here.  We laminated the pictures and threaded them with yarn to make little bookmarks to take home.  If you don't have a laminator, just paste the picture on colored paper or cardstock. 

I used this lesson with my older children too.  Rather than read from the book, I combined the text of the story, along with an article from Psychology Today about keeping promises.  We read it aloud.  You can print out the story and article together here.

Afterwards I asked the following questions to create a discussion:

• What distracted the wolf from his promise?
• What could he have done differently when he saw the goat?
• Do you think that deciding that he kept his promise will help him in the future?
• Was it realistic of him to make such a promise?  
• Did he make his promise for the right reason?  
• What can we learn from this story about making promises in our own lives?

My older students never like to be left out of a craft or project opportunity.  I encouraged them to make their own bookmarks using this template.  The Psychology Today article recommended three questions to consider before making a promise:

1. What's my motivation?
2. Is this realistic?
3. Is this crucial? 

Their bookmarks included these questions along with the quote, "It's easier to make a promise than to keep it."  

I love the empowerment this lesson gives us.  There are tools here for building trust, confidence, and honesty with ourselves and others.  What a gift for our children and everyone they encounter.

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 Rumor: Getting Carried Away by Fear and Gossip

This lesson can be shared with very young children OR upper elementary/middle school students.  

I used the book The Rumor: A Jataka Tale from India by Jan Thornhill.  It's still in publication.  We checked it out of our local library.

There's lots of repetition and brightly colored illustrations which will instantly engage the very young child.  But don't let Jan Thornhill's beautiful and simple retelling of the story deceive you.  Here we have another Jataka Tale with an important lesson that can easily be overlooked as a story exclusively for little children.  

The heroin (or should we say hare-oin) of the story is a worrywort.  She allows her anxiety to take her away from reality without ever looking back.  Her fears quickly spread to other creatures until a stampede of thousands is running without anyone stopping to question her words.

In the end, it's a young and wise lion who settles things down by simply investigating what he hears.  

We took turns reading the story aloud before discussing the following questions:

What are some modern day examples of how we sometimes act like the hare?  

• We talked about rumors at school... making assumptions about people out of fear or ignorance... 
• The abuse of Muslims in Sri Lanka and Myanmar from Buddhists who have become so afraid of another religion overpowering theirs, that they voluntarily lay the teachings of the Buddha down to engage in acts of hate and violence... 
• We talked about Black Friday shoppers, so concerned about getting a bargain that they neglect manners and special time with their families....
• One kid was reminded of the people in New York freaking out when they tuned in late to the War of the World broadcast...

Why is it so dangerous to let our minds be consumed by fear?

• The kids mentioned that it can cause us to make assumptions that aren't true.  
• It can make us forget what's important.  
• It can make it hard for us to see reality.  
• It can endanger ourselves and others.

How can we turn off the anxious thoughts in our mind?

• We talked about meditation, especially focusing on our breath.  This brings us into the present moment rather than what might happen in the future.  Meditation helps us discipline our minds.
• I also reminded the kids about the Eight Fold Path that Buddha shared with us.  By staying on this path, we are less likely to let our imaginations and emotions carry us away.

In many Jataka Tales, the Buddha is one of the characters.  Who is the Buddha in this story?

How does he speak to them?  

How does this story mirror the Buddha's teachings for us?

• Of course, the Lion is the Buddha in this story.
• He calms the creatures, investigates, and brings them to reality.
• He corrects them kindly.  He is not harsh with the creatures.  His concern is their well-being and he speaks to them with compassion and understanding.
• The Buddha's teachings help us to see things as they really are.

It made me happy to hear one of my students mention that she is very fearful at night and planned to start trying to meditate before she goes to sleep from now on.

With younger children the message can be simplified to one thought:  Don't let your fears carry you away.  This story also lends itself well to a little play.  My youngest students love acting out stories.  Simple paper headbands with different animal ears are all that's needed.  Like all stories from the Buddha, as the children grow older this story will take on deeper meanings. 

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