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Hello, this is Jana and

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welcome to Story Nori. I

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am back with a Jataka tale which

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is a fable in the Buddhist tradition. As

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you may know, Buddhism is

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one of the great religions of Asia and

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its founder is known as

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the Buddha. These tales usually

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involve animals and teach morals.

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What sets them apart is that one

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of the characters is often the Buddha

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himself in one of his earlier lives.

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Buddhism teaches that the Buddha was born many

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times,

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sometimes as an animal

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and sometimes as a wise advisor

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to the king.

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When he is in one of his earlier forms or

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incarnations, he is known

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as the Bodhisatta. Damsel

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the Elephant Once

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upon a time, in the holy

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city of Benares in India, there

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lived a king who owned an

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elephant with a smile so charming

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he named her

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Damsel. Damsel

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was the height of loyalty, always

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nodding in obedience, always calm

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and even-tempered.

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She never so much as stepped on

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a bug.

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One night, a crew of thieves

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held a secret meeting inside

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Damsel's store.

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They thought that they had found the perfect

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hideout for discussing their grand

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plans of burgling houses,

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palaces and maybe even a matiai

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store.

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Matiai are Indian sweets, by the way.

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Little did they know, Damsel,

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with her impressively large ears,

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was eavesdropping on their entire

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conversation.

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The eldest thief, who fancied

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himself a professor of thuggery,

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would educate the recruits on the

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art and science of crime.

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Here's a snippet of his eloquent

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lecture.

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Now listen up lads,

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when tunnelling into a house

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you must make it as clean and

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as straight as the road leading

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up to the king's palace. And

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when doing a bit of lifting the

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goods, don't hesitate

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to commit murder now and then.

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After all, dead men

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don't tell no tales. And

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so the thieves, completely

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oblivious to their elephantine audience,

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continued to plot and plan,

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turning Damsel's humble abode

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into a full-blown criminal

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masterclass.

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After a lively discussion on

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the best practices of burglary,

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the thieves vanished into the night.

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Then they returned the next day,

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and the day after,

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to discuss their plans, thieving

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techniques and murderous

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ways. Eventually,

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Damsel started to believe that

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the thieves were there to tutor her

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and that she must transform into a ruthless,

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cold-hearted and aggressive

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elephant.

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And transform she did.

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When her mahout, or elephant keeper,

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came to tend to her the next morning, Damsel

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picked him up with her trunk and gave

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him a good shake before

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plopping him down on the ground. Startled

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and bewildered, the mahout quickly

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scrambled away.

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Feeling quite proud of her assertiveness,

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Damsel treated everyone who approached

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her with the same enthusiasm.

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Nobody felt safe to go near her.

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The news quickly reached the king that

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Damsel had lost her marbles. The

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king was indeed puzzled, so

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he spoke to his wise advisor, who

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was the bodhisatta. Go,

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Sage, and find out what has

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got into Damsel, that she is playing

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up like this."

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The bodhisatta examined Damsel's face

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and concluded she was not physically ill.

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So he spoke to her and asked,

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Did anyone tell you to behave like

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this? Oh, yes, wise

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one,

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said the elephant.

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Some robbers came into my stall every

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night and instructed me to

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be violent.

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And with this information,

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the bodhisatta informed the king that

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Damsel was physically fine but

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had been corrupted by the evil conversations

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she had overheard. The

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king asked him

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how to remedy the situation.

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The bodhisatta suggested

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that a group of saintly sages sit

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near Damsel and talk about kindness

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and goodness.

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The king agreed

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and the bodhisatta arranged for the sages

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to sit near the elephant and discuss

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topics such as patience,

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love and mercy. After

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hearing these conversations, Damsel

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assumed that this was another

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lesson meant for her

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and decided to change her ways.

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And change she did.

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She became the gentle and

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good-natured elephant she once

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was.

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The king was delighted with the transformation.

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He asked the bodhisatta if Damsel was

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truly cured.

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The bodhisatta confirmed that

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thanks to the wise and good company

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she was keeping,

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Damsel had reverted to her old,

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kind self. He

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then recited a stanza summarising

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the incident. Then

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she heard the evil speech, Damsel

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rampaged causing harm and breach.

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When good company returned once more,

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to be

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Be kind and gentle,

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she again swore. So

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heed this lesson, take it to

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heart,

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For wisdom and insight it shall

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impart. Surrounded

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by evil we may falter, lose sight,

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But with goodness around us we

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can do right.

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And that was the story of Damsel

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the Elephant from the Jataka tales

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in the Buddhist tradition.

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The Buddha, born Siddhartha Gautama,

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was a sage, spiritual teacher,

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and the founder of Buddhism.

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He attained enlightenment and

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dedicated his life to teaching enlightenment

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and liberation from suffering.

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We tell more about his birth and

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enlightenment on our other podcast,

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Real Activity.

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Which is like Story Nori for grown-ups

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and older kids.

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We call it A Little Time

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to Yourself.

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A message we think busy parents will understand.

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I will play you out with a little sample of

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our Buddha story,

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which you can find on our website, realactivity.app,

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or in the usual podcast apps and

7:10

players.

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For now, from me Jana, see

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you soon at Story Nori.

7:18

The Birth of Buddha and the Four Signs.

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Hello, this is Jana, and welcome

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to Real Activity. In

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this episode I will tell you the story of

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the birth of Buddha. But

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first, what is the difference

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between A Buddha and the Buddha?

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Buddha is an ancient Sanskrit word that

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means a person who is awake. A

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Buddha is awake to the true nature of

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reality and free from the

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fog of daily illusions such

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as hate, greed and folly.

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To become a Buddha

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you must reach nirvana, a transcendent

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state where there is no sense of self.

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It is a place of happiness and peace.

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When we talk about the Buddha

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we are referring to Prince Siddhartha

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Gautama

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who was born about two and a half thousand

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years ago. The birthplace

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of Gautama Buddha was the land of Shakya

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which would now be in southern Nepal along

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the border with India.

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He grew up

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to become a Buddha and the founder

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of the Buddhist religion.

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As you will hear in his early years, Siddhartha

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Gautama lived an opulent and pampered

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existence until at

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the age of 29 he

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saw four signs that made him disgusted

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at the way of the world.

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He renounced his wealth and

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set out on his spiritual path

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of awakening. We

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retell his story retaining some of the flavor

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of the ancient texts. It

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was the time of the Midsummer festival in

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the city of Kapilavastu

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in the foothills of the

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Himalayas. For

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the six days before the full moon, the

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people were celebrating. Day

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and night, the streets resounded

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with the ten noises. The

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sounds of elephants, horses,

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chariots, drums, dapplas,

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sitars, singing, cymbals,

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gongs and last but not

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least people crying out. What

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are you waiting for? Eat, drink,

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be merry.

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On the day of the full moon,

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Queen Maedaevi, as beautiful

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as the water lily and as pure

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as the lotus,

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rose early, bathed

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in scented water and gave 400,000 pieces

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of money to charity. In

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the evening time, she sampled

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the choicest foods while not

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touching a drop of strong drink.