Buddhist Legends Primary Source Assignment
Directions: Read the Legends on pages 146-158, “If Thine Eye Offend Thee, Pluck It Out;” and 166-175, “Tissa the Fat” and “Not Hatred For Hatred” from the Buddhist Legends text (you may read the Legend “Why Cry for the Moon” if you’d like, but it is not required.) On the basis of this reading from the Buddhist Legends, answer the questions listed below. You must show how specific passages from the Buddhist Legends support your answers. Since this assignment is in part intended to reward you for reading, you must back up your answers with direct quotes and cited page numbers from the Buddhist Legends text to get full points. For example, “Quote quote quote quote.” (Legends, 22). Use the chapter on Buddhism in Molloy for help in working out your answers.
The submission must be typed using 12 point font, Times New Roman, double-spaced, with 1 inch margins. Please use MLA, APA or Chicago Manual of Style Author-Date format for all quotations from any sources. For help with Chicago style, see http://www.press.uchicago.edu/books/turabian/turabian_citationguide.html
Overview: The “Buddhist Legends” are engaging fictional stories written by a fourth or fifth century Theravadan Buddhist monk to help readers better understand the Dhammapada. The Dhammapada is a collection of sayings attributed to the Buddha. So, you will need to read the Dhammapada text (see inside the folder) to understand what is being “commented” upon in the Buddhist Legends. For example, in the story “If Thine Eye Offend Thee, Pluck It Out,” the Buddhist Legends tells a story to help us, the reader, understand the saying of the Buddha from the Dhammapada that begins the Legend: “Suffering follows an evil thought as the wheels of a cart follow the oxen that draw it.” The story of Maha Pala in the Buddhist Legends, then, is meant to help us, the reader, understand what the Buddha was teaching.
Questions:
From the Legend titled “If Thine Eye Offend Thee, Pluck It Out”
1. The Elder (also called Maha Pala and Palita) refuses to do an action. What does he refuse to do? (hint: it is related to the “Four Postures,” in Buddhist meditation, which Molloy doesn’t cover-Google it!), This action by the Elder/Maha Pala/Palita has negative and positive consequences. What are these consequences?
2. Part of what happens to Maha Pala has to do with his past life. Why did Maha Pala (also called the Elder and Palita) become blind (hint: there are two answers!)?
3. What Buddhist concepts does this Legend teach us?
From the Legend titled “Tissa the Fat”
4. What does Tissa (called “Tissa the Fat” in the heading of this section) do wrong in his current life? What is his attitude about his wrong-doing?
5. What did Tissa (also called Devala) do wrong in his past life? Why did he do these things?
6. What does this Buddhist Legend teach us about the Buddhist way of life?
From the Legend titled “Not Hatred For Hatred”
7. What was the main thing the barren and fruitful wives did wrong?
8. Why did the wives commit such wrongs to each other?
9. What did the Buddha tell the Wives was the answer to their dilemma?
10. What Buddhist teachings does this Legend reveal?
11. Which Legend was the most helpful to you in better understanding the teaching of the Buddha? Why?
