Subject Areas |
Art and Culture
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Philosophy |
Foreign Language
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Other |
History and Social Studies
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World History - Ancient World |
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World History - Asia/Far East |
Literature and Language Arts
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World |
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Time Required |
| Activity One—One class period
Activity Two—One class period
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Skills |
| Reading comprehension
Analyzing written information
Critical thinking
Making inferences and drawing conclusions
Collaboration
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Additional Data |
| Date Created 09/13/04 |
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Author(s) |
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Jennifer Foley
NEH
Washington, DC
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Date Posted |
| 9/13/2004 |
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Haven’t I Seen You Somewhere Before? samsara and karma in the Jataka Tales
Introduction
Many English speakers are familiar with the Sanskrit word karma, which
made its way into the language during the first half of the nineteenth century.
It is often used in English to encapsulate the idea that “what goes around
comes around.” This explanation is not entirely divorced from its original
Sanskrit meaning, however, it does not contain the entire story. This more complete
understanding of the word is brought to life in the stories known collectively
as the Jataka Tales. These vignettes tell the story of the 550 lives of the
Buddha before he reached Enlightenment. Each story contains a life lesson, often
told with humor, and a reminder that one’s karma is bound to
one’s actions.
This lesson plan is designed to bring the meaning of karma and the
related concept of samsara to life through the reading of the Jataka
Tales. This lesson can be used either as an extension of lessons of the birth
of Buddhism and the history of Asia, or as an introduction to world literature.
Guiding Questions
- What are the Jataka Tales, and what is their purpose?
- What are karma and samsara? How are these concepts used
in the Jataka Tales?
Learning Objectives
After completing this lesson students will be able to:
- Become familiar with one form of Buddhist storytelling.
- Explain what the Jataka Tales are, and their purpose as teaching tools.
- Explain the concepts of karma and samsara.
- Identify these concepts in the text, and explain how their presence in the
tale teaches and supports the lessons of the stories.
Preparing to Teach this Lesson
- Review the lesson plan, then find and bookmark the relevant websites and
useful materials, such as the specific tales you plan to discuss. Download
and print out the documents you will be using in class. This might include
the pertinent sections on Buddhism,
accessible through the EDSITEment reviewed website Internet
Public Library.
- Familiarize yourself with the stories students will be reading for class.
A short list of some of the
tales is accessible through the EDSITEment reviewed website Asia Source.
The stories which provide the clearest and most concise examples of karma
and samsara provide the best material for the activities, such as
Prince Five-Weapons and Sticky
Hair, The Elephant King Goodness,
Four on a Log, and the Mittavinda
Story about Jealousy. Two of these stories are recommended in this lesson
plan, however, you may wish to use other stories from that list in their place.
- The Jataka Tales are morality tales, and each of the lives of the Buddha
told in these stories carries along with it a lesson. The lessons of the Jatakas
are both practical and directly linked to the messages found in Buddhism’s
Four Noble Truths. In particular, the stories often tell the tale of those
who give in to desire and the suffering that is meted out upon them as a result.
You should familiarize yourself with the Four Noble Truths, as well as the
Eight-fold Path, in preparation for this lesson. This information, as well
as historical
background on Buddhism, can be found on the EDSITEment reviewed web resource
AskAsia. In addition, introductory information
on the history, uses and influence
of the Jataka Tales is accessible through the EDSITEment reviewed website
Asia Source.
Important Terms
- Samsara—According to Buddhism, all beings
are born into an endless cycle of birth and rebirth which is called samsara.
The first of the Four Noble Truths states that life is suffering. If one is
destined to be reborn into this life of suffering at the close of their current
life, then that cycle of rebirth is one of endless suffering. It is thus the
goal of Buddhists to leave this cycle by reaching Enlightenment and entering
Nirvana.
- Karma—How does one achieve Enlightenment?
It is generally seen as a slow and gradual process, in which one is reborn
into successively better lives, until finally reaching the pinnacle of Nirvana.
But being born into a better life is not an arbitrary process. Rather, one
finds themselves in their current position specifically because of his or
her behavior in a previous life. If someone has led a meritorious life, filled
with kindness and generosity, then they will have earned “good karma,”
and will be rewarded in their next life with more comfort or ease. If they
have been miserly, cruel or greedy in this life, they may find that it will
take several—or even hundreds—of lives of hardship to return to
their last position. In this case, the debt to their karma through
unkind or selfish behavior will take many lifetimes of kindness and generosity
to pay back. While karma is sometimes used interchangeably with words
like “fate” and “destiny,” it is not synonymous with
these concepts. In karma there is nothing of the arbitrariness of
fate. Rather, one’s place in this world- be it as a rat, a deer, a beggar
or a king—is the direct result of one’s behavior in previous lives.
- Dharma—Like the words samsara and
karma, dharma is used in both Buddhism and Hinduism, and
the details of the concept and its application to life varies between the
two faiths. However, within both religions it contains the idea of “right
behavior,” or of the law, and behaving according to laws of society.
In order to accrue “good karma” one must always behave
according to dharma.
- The Four Noble Truths—The Four Noble Truths
are the ideas that came to the Buddha as he reached Enlightenment.
- All life is mired in suffering.
- All suffering comes from desire (for objects, attention, wealth, etc.)
- There is a cure for this suffering, which is the elimination of desire.
- This can be achieved by following the Eightfold Path.
- The Eightfold Path—This is the path that
the Buddha prescribed for the elimination of desire, and thus of suffering:
- Right Understanding or Perspective
- Right Thought
- Right Speech
- Right Action
- Right Livelihood
- Right Effort
- Right Mindfulness
- Right Concentration
- More information on the definition and history of karma,
samsara, dharma,
The Four Noble Truths,
and The Eightfold Path
can be accessed through the EDSITEment reviewed web resource Internet
Public Library.
- Please note that the Jataka Tales are not a universal component of Buddhism.
There are a number of forms of Buddhism, including the Mahayana Buddhism often
practiced in China, Vietnam and Korea, Zen or Chan Buddhism that is often
associated with Japan, as well as Tibetan forms of Buddhism, among others.
The Jataka Tales are primarily associated with Theravada Buddhism, which is
today practiced predominantly in Sir Lanka, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Cambodia
and Laos.
Suggested Activities
1. Reading karma in the Jatakas
- Ask students to read the story Four
on a Log, accessible through the EDSITEment reviewed web resource Asia
Source. Divide students into small groups, and ask them to make a list
of the characters in the story. They should write three characteristics describing
each character next to the character’s name. Ask each group to contemplate
the following questions:
- Who are the good and bad characters, and how are they identified?
- Does the status (as a good or bad character) of any of the characters
change over the course of the story?
- What precipitates those changes?
- Introduce the concepts of karma and samsara. Ask students
to identify these elements in the story. Karma and samsara
are an interrelated cycle, and this story exemplifies the way in which one’s
place in that cycle can move forward or slip backwards according to their
behavior. Ask each group to identify where each character is in the cycle
at the beginning of the story, in the middle and at the end of the story.
Ask students to note:
- Whose position improved over the course of the story, and why?
- Whose position was lowered over the course of the story, and why?
- What lessons is the story meant to impart?
- Ask students to imagine situations in their own lives when they, or someone
they know, might have accrued “good karma” or “bad karma.”
2. The Jataka Tales and Buddhism
- Ask students to explain the concepts of karma and samsara
discussed in the previous class. Do any students know where the words come
from? Explain that these concepts are very important in both Buddhism and
Hinduism, both of which originated in India, and the words come from Sanskrit,
the written and spoken language of parts of ancient India.
Explain that the Jataka Tales are a method of teaching Buddhists the lessons
of karma, samsara and dharma. Similar to the students’
mapping of the upward and downward movement of the characters in Four on a
Log, the overall structure of the Jataka Tales is the movement through the
cycle of samsara followed by the Buddha before reaching enlightenment.
He is said to have lived 550 lives- some in human form, some in animal form-
and with each life his example carried a lesson. The stories of his many lives
are known collectively as the Jataka Tales.
Ask students to identify which character in Four on a Log is an earlier life
of the Buddha. Ask them to explain their answer.
- Introduce students to The Four Noble Truths and The Eightfold Path of Buddhism.
You may wish to review these concepts as they are presented in your class
textbook, or to present the readings on The
Four Noble Truths and The
Eightfold Path accessible through the EDSITEment reviewed web resource
Internet Public Library. Divide the class
into four groups, and ask each group to rephrase The Four Noble Truths in
their own words. Once each group has completed this task, ask each group to
read their rephrased rendition of The Four Noble Truths. Students should be
asked to comment, and to give feedback, allowing the class to work on a common
understanding of what these ideas mean.
- Assign two of the steps on The
Eightfold Path to each of the four groups. Ask each group to read the
explanation of The Eightfold Path accessible through the EDSITEment reviewed
web resource Internet Public Library. Each
group should work together to write an explanation of their two steps on The
Eightfold Path. Each group should exchange their explanation of these steps
with another group in the class, who will then read through and offer comments
and feedback.
- Both The Four Noble Truths and The Eightfold Path implicitly include the
important concepts of karma and samsara, although neither
of them mentions the concepts by name. Ask each group to work together on
writing an explanation of the place of karma and samsara
within the framework of The Four Noble Truths and The Eightfold Path.
- Where does the idea of the cycle of rebirths (samsara) appear
within the Four Noble Truths?
- Where does the redemptive power of performing good deeds and of right
behavior (karma) appear in the Four Noble Truths and in The Eightfold
Path?
Assessment
- Ask students to write definitions in their own words of karma and
samsara.
- Choose at least one additional story from the list
of Jataka Tales, such as The
Elephant King Goodness, available through the EDSITEment reviewed web
resource Asia Source. Ask students
to read the story and to note the role that karma and samsara
play in the story. Students should also write a comparison of the behavior
of the main characters—such as The Elephant King Goodness and the forester-
in light of The Four Noble Truths. Finally, they should identify one moment
in which one of the characters applies at least two precepts of The Eightfold
Path.
- Karma is sometimes used interchangeably in English with words like “fate”
or “destiny.” However, while it could be said that one’s
karma may affect their standing in this life, that does not carry
the same meaning as saying that one’s place in the world is their destiny.
Advanced students could be asked to write a short essay explaining the difference
between “fate” or “destiny” and karma. This
essay should explain clearly what the terms mean, how they are used, and that
their fundamental difference lies in the presence or lack of its arbitrary
application.
Extending the Lesson
- In the Jataka Tale entitled The
Shovel Wise Man, accessible through the EDSITEment reviewed web resource
Asia Source, the main character gives
up the thing he cherishes most in order to find the piece of mind that comes
with throwing off desire. This lesson could be extended by comparing the Shovel
Wise Man’s decision to give up what is most precious to him with Jim
and Della in O. Henry’s well known story, The
Gift of the Magi, which can be accessed by linking through the EDSITEment
reviewed website, the Center for the
Liberal Arts.
Selected EDSITEment Websites
Standards Alignment
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