Sunday, January 20, 2019

Week 2 Reading Overview

For weeks 3 and 4 I plan on reading Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition.  I like that this version of  the Ramayana comes with many authors.  The many authors have different writing styles and perspectives that I think I can learn a lot from.  The illustrations will help me both grasp who the characters are and where the stories take place.  I will also really enjoy following along with the voice recordings.

The first comic book that caught my attention was Krishna and Narakasura: Confidence Versus Arrogance.  As a kid who really loved sports and played every one I could.  I was told by many coaches to play with confidence but not arrogance.  In sports, believing in yourself is important, but the moment you become arrogant is often the moment you are humbled.  This comic book is not about sports, but I think it is an important lesson.

They second comic that caught my eye was Harishchandra: The King Who Chose Rags Over Riches.  Today's society pushes the idea that money leads to happiness.  Many studies done on this topic show that this statement is false.  I do not think true happiness is found in money so I am curious about what happens to the king who chooses rags over riches.

The first video that I was intrigued by was The Stages of Life.  While Indian culture is different from American culture, I found striking similarities in this video.  The stages are called different names in each culture, but the events that happen in the stages are very similar.  Young humans go to school, young adults get married, older adults retire, and the elders reflect on the most important thing in life.

The other video I really enjoyed was Hindu Creation Stories.  The creation of the Earth has always fascinated and bewildered me.  Every culture has a different explanation, and a lot can be learned about a people group by looking at how they think the Earth was created.  I learned from the video that Hinduism has more than one creation story, unlike many other belief systems.





















Brahma, the four headed god who created the Earth:

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