Week 3 Story: Lessons to Learn

Lessons to Learn

Author's Note: I decided to use two plot points from the Ramayana and turn them into lessons that a father wants his son to understand.

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I remember when I found my father's journal. My mother passed when I was young, so he was the only family I had. The journal was full of memories and stories from my childhood that he decided to write down. It was touching to see how much he carried about the time we spent together, although he was always worried about if he was doing good enough as a single parent. The journal entries changed when around the time he got sick. The entries were now addressed to me. He left me the lessons he wanted to teach me, but didn't have time to. He hid these lessons hidden for me in a story, the same one I will tell you.

Now son, I want to leave these lessons behind for you to find in my journal. I hope I get to see you grow old before I pass, but no matter how old you are when you find this the lessons will hold true. 

Journal passed on to son by by HenrikandLewis

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When looking at battlefields you can always find those who hang onto their life even when wounded, and this man was no different. The only difference in this man is his birth. This man was a king, he had decided to help the king of the gods in their battle against the devil. He was brave, because as a mortal man he could be killed much easier by these devils. His mortality did make a difference as he was mortally wounded. In his breaths he thought of his lack of heir, that is when a witch came to him in his visions. The witch spoke to him in a raspy voice, "A king is still but a man, even he is not above death."

"Please, help me and I will use my resources to compensate you handsomely," whispered out the king.

"I will heal you and abate your troubles, but in return I will ask for two favors"

"Done," the King said with what should have been his final breath. This breath was caught by the witch, and with her magic the king would find life once again. When his eyes opened he had no wounds, and felt well again. "Oh Witch, how can I repay you, I have a Kingdoms' resources at my disposal," said the king.

"I have saved your life, and also given you that for which you wished. I can assure you that you will have heirs to maintain your kingdom even after you final breath. For these two tasks I expect you repay in full. In the future I will come to you and ask for two favors. Be ready for when I call," the witch said. The last of her words sounded as if the came from the wind itself as her form seemed to disappear. 

The witch held true to her promise, as the king aged he had four sons. His oldest being the most special. His oldest was blessed by the gods. His kingdom was stable and he loved his sons. As they grew so did his love for them, and so did his fear for what the witch would ask for in return. Considering how amazing the sons she had gifted him, her favor would have to be crazy to repay his debt to her. Over time though though all was peaceful, his kids were able to mature happily and grow into fine adults. The king feeling himself age decided that he would name his oldest as his successor, and that is when the witch decided to visit. 

"I want your favorite son, send him to my forest for fourteen years. If he survives you can have him back, if you live that long as well you aging king."

The king was hit with sorrow and could not sleep that night thinking of sending his oldest son away for fourteen years, the kings anxiety would be quelled partially when he gave his son the news. One of his other sons quickly decided to accompany his brother into the forest for the fourteen years. His other sons only saw their own opportunities to take the seat from their older brother as the heir of the kingdom. Sadly the king's anxiety returned as his sons refused any help he offered to keep themselves safe for the journey. The sons took only rags for clothes, a spade, and a basket. That day they headed out.

A father watching his sons spend fourteen years in danger will cause a lot of sorrow. Sorrow may be only an emotion, but it still carries a very real weight. If it grows heavy enough it can crush a soul, the only happiness the king had was how he had at least seen his sons grow into respectable young men. Two days after his sons left the sorrow reached a weight too heavy for his aged shoulders to carry and in his sleep he breathed that last breath that witch returned to him. He was thankful for his sons, but regretted his promise to that witch.

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Bibliography: Ramayana Public Domain Edition

Authors: M. Dutt, R. Dutt, Gould, Griffith, Hodgson, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Oman, Richardson, and Ryder.

Author Link: http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/2014/04/ramayana-online-public-domain-edition.html

Reading Notes: PDE Ramayana A

Reading Notes: Ramayana A

Authors: M. Dutt, R. Dutt, Gould, Griffith, Hodgson, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Oman, Richardson, and Ryder.

Author Link: http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/2014/04/ramayana-online-public-domain-edition.html

Two Kingdoms existed. The kingdom of Koshala, the capital being Ayodhya, was ruled by Dasharatha, father of Rama. The other kingdom was Mithila, ruled by Janaka. The capital city Ayodhya flourished and the king, Dasharatha, was able to relax in his palace. The palace was guarded by a thousand powerful warriors, and he was served by eight sages along with two priests, Vashishtha and Vamadeva. Even with all of this prosperity the king was saddened because he had no son.

Dasharatha decided to proceed with a horse sacrifice to get him a son. Kaushalya, the king's main wife, slayed the horse after it was prepared for sacrifice. Offerings were also presented to the gods. The gods promised that the king would have four sons.

Ravana, the king of Lanka had exhibited piety that led to Brahma, the creator god, to bless him with protection from gods and devils. Ravana the oppressed all the gods, and they sought help from Vishnu. Vishnu said that Ravana could be hurt by monkeys and humans. The gods should go to earth and take on the form of apes. Vishnu would be born in four parts as the fours sons promised to the king. The fours sons being Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana, and Shatrughna. The child Rama was the most beautiful. 

Ravana was still inhibiting sacrifices to other gods. Rama and Lakshmana were the only ones who could overcome the devils inhibiting the sacrifices. The brothers followed one of the kings priests to assist in a ritual.

Rama and Lakshmana did battle with a rakshasi. Rama took off her arms with arrows, and Lakshmana took out her nose and eyes. The devil went invisible and using sound alone Rama shot a final arrow to kill the devil. Rama was then given celestial weapons. Later on he used these weapons to slay a group of devils that attempted to attack some sages.

Rama and his brother explored the city and their looks were commented upon by the masses. The next day they decided to collect flowers and ended up finding the Garden of King Janaka. They admired the fruit trees, flowers, and peacocks. With the sound of bells Rama knew that the woman he would love approached. It was true with one look him and Sita, King Janaka's daughter fell in love. They parted and Sita prayed for their love to flourish.

To win the hand of Sita, Rama had to draw the bow of Shiva. Many had attempted, but none had succeeded. He unsurprisingly was able to draw the bow. He used so much force that the bow broke. He had won Sita's hand in marriage. Rama married Sita, but his brothers also married Sita's sisters. All the brothers would be married to Janaka's daughters.

The king Dasharatha decide he had to decide on an heir among his sons. He sought to make Rama his heir, but he asked his advisors and lords underneath him for their opinion. They all were of the same mind, the wanted Rama, the eldest, to be the heir. They said he exhibited great values and would be a great king.

The Kings youngest wife, mother of Bharata, had in the past saved the King's life and had been promised two favors in the future. Convinced by her slave, the hunch-backed Maharajah, who hated Rama; the queen sought out the king and asked for her favors. She wanted her son to be the heir and for Rama to be sent to exile. 

This news when given to Rama was told to him by the young wife for the king was so grief stricken that he could not speak. Rama was more than willing to accept the new orders to maintain his father's honor. 

Rama told the news to others, his wife Sita and his brother Lakshman. They both decided to follow him, and many of the villagers had similar thoughts. They could follow Rama to the jungle. In the castle the king sought to give him many things to make his exile easier. Rama refused and asked only for a rainment of bark, a spade, and a basket. Rama and Lakshmana quickly put on the bark, but Sita who had lived only in comfort would not wear the bark. 

With the beginning of the exile Rama and Lakshman dress their hair in the fashion of hermits. They then crossed the Ganga river. Sita promised to worship the River-Queen if she could allow them to pass the river safely again after fourteen years. The brother agreed to protect Sita and each other. 

Shortly after Rama departed, the king died. The king died as a result of karma. The king when he was young killed a young hermit. The father of the hermit in grief cursed the king to lose his son and die of grief, just like the old hermit had experienced.

Dasharatha and the curse from the Freer Ramayana

Feedback Thoughts

Thoughts on the Feedback Articles

The first article I looked at was looking at the fixed mindset can hold us back when it comes to feedback. We already talked about the fixed mindset, it is the mindset where we believe our intelligence and abilities are fixed. You believe you can not get smarter so when you are getting feedback it can feel like they are directly attacking your intelligence/abilities. Since with a fixed mindset this feedback could feel like your intelligence or abilities are not enough. The other article I touched on was the seven ways to crush self-doubt. I only found two tips that I thought were not common tips as well as helpful. The first tip that I think is incredibly important is the idea of being vulnerable to a trusted community. It is hard to find people that you can truly trust, and it is even harder for us to be vulnerable. If you can get past these troubles and find people you truly trust then opening up can be incredibly beneficial. I feel like the idea of opening up is talked about when it comes to mental health, but opening up can be beneficial on many issues that you face. The other tip I also really liked was to treat your work like an experiment. In that frame of mind there is no failure, you can only learn what works and what does not. This takes failure completely out of the picture.

Links:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-26/fixed-vs-growth-mindset-at-work-and-in-life/9897782

http://www.spencerauthor.com/seven-ways-to-crush-self-doubt/


PHOTO: If you've got a fixed mindset you could struggle more than others to adapt to change. (Getty: Peopleimages)

Topic Brainstorm

Topics

Kumbhakarna the giant by Amar Chitra Katha

Creation Stories

I chose this topic because I am always interested in how other cultures and religions try to explain how this world was created. This is also the topic I am probably most knowledgeable going into. I read the creation storybook that was posted on the class website, so I already know about some of the creation stories. I would be interested if there are any other hindu creation stories not mentioned in the storybook.

Supernatural Characters

I am a fan of supernatural characters in other cultures and the similarities in characters between cultures. In multiple cultures you see shape-shifting, man-eating characters. You see this in the skinwalker in Navajo culture and the goblins that we read about in the Jataka. I also had read the plot synopsis for two of the supernatural characters. The giant, Kumbhakarna, and the magician, Mahiravana. I would want to take some of these supernatural characters and write them as cryptids and write about their stories as a cryptid hunters' notes.

Gurus and Sages

Gurus and sages are the wisemen you see in many cultures. I want to see how the Indian epics take on the role of sages. I have no prior knowledge on the sages in Hindu culture, I chose this topic because it interests me. I have no prior knowledge so I am unsure how to tackle how I would retell this story topic. I would probably attempt to retell the story in modern day.

Reincarnation

Reincarnation is a very interesting topic, multiple religions have had the belief in reincarnation. I have already learned a bit about reincarnation in hindu mythology. I am not well versed in reincarnation within Indian epics. My current idea for retelling is to discuss reincarnation from a first-person perspective. 

Links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yama

http://ackguide.blogspot.com/2015/04/guide-kumbhakarna-vol-528.html

http://ackguide.blogspot.com/2015/06/guide-drona.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaikeyi

Week 2 Story: Captain's Warning

Captain's Warning

I have long since retired, but I was once an accomplished captain. The seas are a treacherous place, so those who survive long enough to retire are looked at for advice. The younger sailors are always looking for tips to survive, they want to know what to look for, how to read the waters, and areas to avoid. I have always done my best to make sure young sailors learn as much possible, but I have gained the reputation as a crazy old man. They think I am crazy after the story of my shipwreck; what they don't understand is that it is all true, even though it sounds crazy. I know I am not crazy as many of my shipmates all remember these same events. You can think me crazy too, but you should be warned. Heed my warning, it could be the difference between life and death. 

A nasty storm hit us after we the harbour, we had not gotten far and the storm came out of nowhere. Our ship was thrown against the rock off the coast of Ceylon. We were a larger cargo ship and we had a large crew, but only 500 of survived. The next morning as we were trying to recover what we could and patch up ourselves a large group of women came with food and clothes. We had crashed not far from their city luckily. They had a bustling city full of people. The women in the city were numerous, but there were few men. We saw only a handful in the pastures and working the fields when we entered the city. We were being nursed back to health and many of the women were seeking husbands. We sailors all settled down and married one of the women eventually. We were living great lives for a while. This next part is where I lose many people, as much as it sounds crazy I want you to know.
IT IS ALL TRUE!

Waking in the night my wife was no longer sleeping beside me, shortly after waking I could hear the door. What walked into my room was not my wife, it was a beast, a creature, a GOBLIN. A GOBLIN I TELL YOU. I froze and watched her as I pretended to sleep. That is when I heard her, she sung while eating something. All I could hear was, "Man's meat, man's meat, that's what Goblins like to eat!" They ate humans, the sweat that crept down my back as I had to lay down next to this vile thing for the rest of the night felt like ice. The next morning I got all of my crew together. Some of those damned fools refused to understand the danger we were in and called me crazy. The men who believed me understood that we had to get out of there. For days we planned and looked for ways to escape this damned island. 

We just so happened to be lucky though, a fairy watched over that city and it hated those goblins. The fairy had tried to save others, but none chose to believe her. We had already had our eyes opened, and needed no convincing. We happily accepted her help, she had a flying horse to carry us out of here. The horse was the size of a normal horse, although it had wings on it. There was no way it could carry all of us off this island, but as we crawled one after the other onto the horse there always seemed to be more room. My belief is that the fairy had magic to shrink us so the horse could carry us all. I chose to retire after this adventure, but some of my crew continued to sail. They continued because they did not see what I saw. 

Heed my tale, avoid this city. DO NOT LET THE GOBLINS GET YOU. Even if you crash on their island quickly escape their reach by escaping down the island. AVOID THE CITY AT ALL COSTS.

Goblin with it's favorite treat. Image obtained at http://jathakakatha.lk/jk191/pc191.gif

Author's Note

I chose to make this story from the perspective of the captain. I felt like it could add more personality to the story. This personality was given by the captain's thoughts. To accomplish this I felt like I had to add to the setting, this is down by making the captain tell this story as a tale of his past.

Bibliography

Goblin City. The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India. W. H. D. Rouse.

 https://sites.google.com/view/jatakas/goblins?authuser=0

Week 2 Reading Anthology

Jatakas

I particularly liked two of the Jatakas we read, I enjoyed The Monkey who Gathered Lotuses and Goblin City. I liked them for two very different reasons, the writing in the lotuses story is much more interesting. The ending had an enjoyable twist, and the story itself was well-written. The other story I like primarily for the concept of the story, the antagonists and the setting are interesting. The problem I have with the goblin story is that the ending is abrupt and not well-written. The ending comes out of nowhere and it really takes me out of the story. I feel that if the ending was changed and better written this story would be my favorite hands down. It is a real Deus Ex Machina which ruins the ending for me. I wish the sailors' own actions could have had led to their escape, or even had their actions lead to their downfall instead of the current ending. This is why I like the lotus story, the ending arises from the monkey and his actions. The monkey exhibits the three qualities befitting a ruler and gains the respect/admiration of the ogre who decides to assist him. This ending is much more appealing as it comes from the character's actions and not a convenient plot device. 

Flying Horse by W. Robinson

The Flying horse was the Deus Ex Machina at the end of the Goblin City.

Bibliography

The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India by W. H. D. Rouse. The Goblin City. https://sites.google.com/view/jatakas/goblins?authuser=0

Tayodhamma Jataka in The Jataka: Volume 1 translated by Robert Chalmers. The Monkey who Gathered Lotuses. https://sites.google.com/view/jatakas/lotuses?authuser=0

Week 2 Reading Overview

Reading Overview

I chosen to read the Public Domain Edition of the Ramayana. I chose this edition for two reasons, one is the price as well as the fact that it does not need to be shipped to me. The other reason for this edition is that I feel that each story being told by different author's can help created a varied understanding of the work.

Comics Chosen:

Mahiravana

Kumbhakarna

I chose these comics because the contents seemed the most interesting to me, Kumbhakarna is the giant brother of Ravana. I am interested in this cultures folklore depiction of giants. Giants are apart of many myths and folklore, but many times you see different depictions of the giants. Mahiravana is a magician and king of the netherworld. I felt this character could be one of the most interesting to learn about.

Videos Chosen:

Symbols of Divinity

Ancient Technology

The videos were easier to choose in my opinion, they had topics that are highly interesting. I am very interested in the symbols of divinity in other religions, I find it interesting how other cultures try to create symbols as a way of conveying a complex idea of their religion. Another interesting topic is ancient technologies and how ancient people accomplished difficult tasks with limited tools. I am interested in archeology, paleontology, and anthropology so learning about ancient religion and cultures are very interesting.

Kumbhakarna statue at the Bali Botanic Gardens

Representation of the giant from the comic I chose, gives us an idea of the size he was believed to be.

Time Strategies

Time Strategies

My current plan for time management was to set a schedule: I would do the readings/stories on Tuesday-Thursday and do Projects, Feedback, and Comments on Saturday. I may also work some extra credit stuff on Sundays. 

Articles Read: How to Beat Procrastination and The Psychology of Checklists

https://hbr.org/2016/07/how-to-beat-procrastination

https://blog.trello.com/the-psychology-of-checklists-why-setting-small-goals-motivates-us-to-accomplish-bigger-things?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=linkedin&utm_campaign=checklists

The tip I am considering trying from the procrastination article is the process of weighing the pros and cons of inactivity. You weigh the outcomes of not doing your work and continuing your procrastination. This process of looking at the consequences of inactivity can be better than looking at the rewards for activity.

The other article talks about how checklists help us keep track of our tasks, but they also touch on how crossing tasks off our checklists can cause the release of Dopamine. The biggest piece of advice from the article I got was to makes the tasks on your checklist SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-Bound. This change to checklists not only helps you keep track of your tasks, but also helps you get those bits of Dopamine from completing tasks.

Checklist Render by Flickr.com: Checklist

Technology in Class

Technology

I am surprised with the amount of technology that goes in to this class, especially compared to the other online courses I have taken. The technology I am most interested in is the twine, reading through the examples it seems like a very fun tool to play around with. Most of the other software or websites listed I was already familiar with. 

Image of Twine software from their website : twinery

Assignments

Assignments

I have taken other online courses in my time on campus, this one has assignments that are a little different than I am used to. This difference might primarily be because the format of this online course is centered on the blog posts we will be doing.

The extra credit is very different to most online classes I have taken, they usually do not offer extra credit. The extra credit itself is also very interesting, especially the Wikipedia trails and the microfictions. These are extra credit opportunities that can be educational and entertaining. 

Wikipedia Logo from their website : Logo

Growth Mindset Introduction

Growth Mindset

I have already heard about the growth mindset, some of my professors have made it a point to talk about the growth mindset at the beginning of classes. They have talked about mainly as a way of making students aware that the only thing holding them back is their own preconceived notions about how intelligence works, and to be fair for many it is hard to get out of the fixed mindset. The fixed mindset comes a lot from how the school system works for primary education, most of it is memorization and if the system does not work for someone they can feel dumb. If someone is good at memorization that can lead to the perception of intelligence. 

Growth Mindset at EDWeek Blog

Coming to college can force you into a more growth oriented mindset, especially if you start off on the bad foot and have to recover from the bad start. The introduction to the growth mindset has made more interested in learning about subjects outside my field, as long as I find the topic interesting. I find this development of interests outside my field has helped me develop a more growth oriented mindset. I am interested in learning in this class, as well as developing even more of a growth oriented mindset.

Introduction to Me

Introduction to Me

Hello, I am Travis Hachimura. I am a biology major here at OU, and I am currently in my Junior year. I am originally from Kentucky, I was born in Louisville and moved to Oklahoma around 10 years ago. I have lived in Edmond, Oklahoma for 9 years now. We also recently got a puppy. He is a mutt, we have no clue what breed he is.


Picture taken by me of my puppy, Torque, biting my shoes.

Shortly after moving to Oklahoma I tried out many sports, but only played most for a year or two. The only sport that interested me that I tried out was football. I played football until my Sophomore year of High School. That year I decided to go to a vocational school for half-days and could no longer participate with the school team so I decided to stop playing altogether. These half-days also meant I could no longer take part in Theater class as it conflicted with my schedule. I got into theater in middle school when I had to join the class halfway through the year, because I quit band but needed an elective. I took part in multiple plays, but worked microphones and sound for musicals because I was tone-deaf.

I went to the vocational school for Bio sciences and that got me more interested in Biology as a subject and why I chose to go into Biology in college. I am interested in the Biology of the Octopus as well as Evolutionary Biology in general.

Even as someone who is tone-deaf and can not sing along I usually find myself attracted to instrumental genres. I am a big fan of lo-fi as well as music with a lot of synth. I grew up with classic rock and still listen to it. I also listen to some rap, recently I have started listening to some more from MF Doom.

I love music, but I love reading books more. I really only read sci-fi and fantasy. My favorite book is The Demon King from the Seven Realms series. My favorite author is V. E. Schwab, I am currently reading her book Vicious and I am really enjoying it and would highly recommend.

This is me, nice to meet you.

Storybook Favorites

Three Storybooks I looked at: Creation Stories, Epic Twins, and Indra: The Thunder God

Creation Stories

The first storybook I looked at, was coincidentally, Creation Stories. I chose this one because I love seeing creation stories from other cultures around the world. I was unfamiliar with the creation story within Hindu mythology, and this story gives three examples of creation stories told by the three narrators the Tridevi. I like the idea of the three narrators as it clearly separates the three stories. The first story is told by Lakshmi and is the story of the golden egg, this is the true story of the creation. The egg cracks and one half creates the heavens, and the other half creates the Earth. The next is a retelling of Matsya Avatar, a great flood myth. Lastly is the retelling of The Churning of the Ocean, which describes a conflict between the Devas and the Asuras. I like this storybooks formatting a lot, and find the design to be appealing. 

Creation Stories: Creation Stories

Image of the Tridevi, our narrators for our storybook. 

Hindufaqs: Tridevi Image

Epic Twins

The second storybook, Epic Twins, this storybook tells stories about the Ashwinis. These twin gods govern medicine and healing, and are apparently known for their mischief. The stories themselves are well-written, but the storybook design is fairly unappealing. The format of the storybooks are bland and there is no images to add visual appeal to the storybook. It does not help that the introduction does not give you much information on the stories ahead of time. It just doesn't feel like a storybook in my opinion.

Twin Gods of Mischief: Epic Twins

Indra: The Thunder God

Lastly I looked at the storybook Indra: The Thunder God. This storybook is more simplistic than the first story book, it does not use multiple narrators. It is a very classic storybook style to tell the story of Indra. The writing is well done and will keep you entertained. The introduction tells you everything that you could need to know about what you are getting ready to read. The only thing that this storybook did that I would change is that the images used at the bottom of the sections and put use them as a way of breaking up the format of the storybook and create some visual appeal.

Indra: The Thunder God

Favorite Place on Campus

My Favorite Place on Campus

Nook within the Union by Travis Hachimura

My favorite place on campus happens to be the nook on the landing between Beaird Lounge and the Molly Shi Boren Ballroom in the Union here on campus. Since freshman year this has been where I eat my lunch. My roommates and I found this spot freshman year and have been using it ever since. I also use this spot as a place to relax if I have a short break between classes. It is an area with low traffic, this allows me to read or watch YouTube in relative peace. The area is usually quiet giving it a nice atmosphere, and occasionally I can hear piano music coming up the stairs from Beaird Lounge.

Testing... 1,2,3.

Hello I am Travis Hachimura.

I am currently just testing this new blog as I am new to blogging.