Reading Diary A: The Life of Buddha

 After reading the first half of my unit, Life of Buddha, my favorite story I read was Birth of Siddhartha.  In the story, the queen asks King Suddhodana if she could wander in the gardens despite the King thinking she will be afraid.  I like the way the gardens are portrayed in this story and the joy she felt when she entered.  Perhaps my favorite part though is when Siddhartha is born and a song was sung.  

"They all bowed, and the brahmans, inspired by the Gods, then sang: "All creatures are happy, and they are no longer rough, those roads travelled by men, for he is born, he who gives happiness: he will bring happiness into the world. In the darkness a great light has dawned, the sun and the moon are like dying embers, for he is born, he who gives light: he will bring light into the world. The blind see, the deaf hear, the foolish have recovered their reason, for he is born, he who restores sight, and restores hearing, and restores the mind: he will bring sight, he will bring hearing, he will bring reason into the world. Perfumed zephyrs ease the suffering of mankind, for he is born, he who heals: he will bring health into the world. Flames are no longer pitiless, the flow of rivers has been stayed, the earth has trembled gently: he will be the one to see the truth.""

I also enjoyed parts of Siddhartha at the Temple.  I have studied some about the Gods Siva, Skanda, Vishnu, Kuvera, Indra and Brahma that are mentioned in this story so I liked that I had some background knowledge on these Gods as I was reading about them.  

All in all, I enjoyed all the stories in the first half of the unit but particularly liked the two I mentioned above the best.  I'm looking forward to reading the other stories as well and finding out which ones I enjoy most in the second half!