Preston's Epic Blog

Many come to the Buddha under the Tree of Knowledge; some try to destroy him, some shelter him, and some bring food to him. The last to come to him are the merchants, and they are the first to profess faith in the new teachings of the Buddha. Now he is ready to travel the world and teach of his supreme knowledge. Initially the Buddha decides to not teach his ways. He believes mankind is too ignorant because of the extremely difficult reasoning behind his teachings. Brahma comes to Earth in order to convince the Buddha to go out and teach, and is successful. The Buddha now contemplates who will be able enough to receive his teachings for the first time. He first decides Rama's son, then Arata, but learns they are both dead already. He decides on his three older disciples who are living in Benares. He presents in front of the 5 monks and recites his teachings to them. In my opinion, the Buddha's teachings are quite redundant, but maybe that's because I'm being ignorant. I...

Siddhartha rejects the teachings of Arata Kalama. While his teachings give assurance to "transcending into the sky," they still allow terrible suffering of the human race. Siddhartha sets out to determine an end to this suffering. Siddhartha is still denying any gifts, because he now lives a life completely free of desire. He also rejects Rudraka's teachings because they are so similar to Arata and aren't of the truest law. We see some of Siddhartha's first mistakes on his path to wisdom. He becomes a beggar in the city, his disciples think of him as a foolish man, and they leave him. Also want to point out the recurring three bows people keep giving Siddhartha. Siddhartha now has a dream that assures him he is to become the Buddha. He reaches Sujata's house and is given a golden bowl. It flows upstream, so he knows it is his time to reach supreme enlightenment. He makes his way down to the Tree of Knowledge, and creates a seat out of grass. Finally, Siddharth...

Moche Culture I first saw a statue on the twitter page that was carved in the shape of an owl. The tweet said, "Moche, Vessel in the Form of an Owl Impersonator." It caught my eye because I have never heard of "Moche" before, so I thought, why not! Moche, Trujillo So I learned Moche is a culture and also a city. But, the Moche were once a civilization north of Trujillo, which is a capital city. Peru?! I love Peru, I've never been though, so I kept digging and decided to click on Moche, Trujillo.  Trujillo, Peru So, the past cite about Moche taught me about really the location and history of Moche, but not it's part of a tourist city of Trujillo. I've always wanted to go to Machu Picchu one day, which is in Peru as Trujillo is. So, maybe I can visit Trujillo one day also. Marinera While all the geography was cool, I wanted more! What was Trujillo and Moche really like? Well, Marinera helped out with that question, as it is a romantic dance between one and...

Growth Mindset Beyond School     I love going to the gym and exercising everyday. It's a time for me to get out of my house, shut my laptop, turn my phone off, and get as much energy out that I can. You have to be determined in the gym and not be lazy. If you are, you could hurt yourself or even those around you. I think exercising in the gym disciplines me and allows me to truly see how far I can actually push myself. It's also just an awesome way to better yourself mentally, physically, and spiritually. If you don't exercise and are reading this, I HIGHLY recommend. Typical Weights in a Gym. Pixabay

Drabble : The Truth of the World One day the prince of the most magnificent palaces in the world went for a walk through the city. This prince was sheltered his whole life - he was only ever accustomed to its pleasures! While walking through, he saw an old withered man. This frightened the prince, for he wanted to keep his young age forever. Next, he saw a deathly ill man that could not even stand. The prince said, "When did this mysterious sickness become such a thing?" His third encounter was a corpse. This frightened the prince the most. Lastly, he saw a Holy Man that encouraged him to the path of enlightenment. Six Word Story : Siddhartha's Questions What is to come of this? Notes :  I am reading The Life of Buddha as one of my free reading options right now, so I decided to do a little story about what encourages Siddhartha to enter the path of enlightenment.  My six word story signifies the confusion and questions Siddhartha has when he is accustomed to these encoun...

Siddhartha's father kept showering his son with gifts. He did not was to see his son leave to live a life in the forests. Siddhartha had a son with his wife the princess. However, through this all, the king lived a virtuous and humbled life, never giving into the possible sins around him. Siddhartha ventures off to discover three encounters. The first was old age, the second was illness, and the third was death. Little by little, each encounter dampened Siddhartha's upbeat mood. His father, the king, was still trying with all the power he could to shield his son from this, but the gods were forcing Siddhartha to these encounters. Siddhartha continues these grievances, and denies/shuns his father and friend, Udayin, of the gifts of beautiful maidens they've given to him. He returns to the palace still hopeless where his wife Dropa has a dream essentially about the end of the world. On the contrary, Siddhartha says to rejoice, for she shall be saved from evil one day. Siddhar...

The reading originally starts by introducing the king of Kapilavastu, King Suddhodana, and one of his many wives, Maya. Except, the story introduces Maya as the favorite wife of King Suddhodana. She comes to him in the dining hall in almost a begging way by asking for the holy practice of abstinence and to go to the "lofty apartments" outside of the palace. The king accepts her wish and tells her she may go. In her new loft, Maya had a dream that the reader can assume is he conceiving a child. When Maya comes back to the palace, she calls for King Suddhodana, and he comes. However he has a weird feeling in his body, but is reassured by the gods that great fortune is about to come to him and his wife. Maya enters late into pregnancy and knows her son must be born in the garden with the presence of innocent flowers. When the king gets word of his son being born he brings the Sakyas and brahmans to the birth place, very similarly to the Bible, and gives his son the name of Siddh...