Story Lab: Storybook Research

The whole linking concept of my storybook is no birth and no death. These are Buddhist concepts with Indian roots that I would like to research and understand more to give the stories I share more meaning. The first website I visited to understand these concepts was the Mindfulness Bell. The question arises when one accepts there is no birth and no death of why it is wrong to kill. The energy behind this action is the damaging part, not necessarily the outcome. The violence and angry energy cause suffering. There was also a very practical description of no death. Someone thought they could kill Martin Luther King but they could not. He is still very alive and very strong. The same is true for Gandhi. There is no birth and no death only transformation and a continuation of what already was. Killing just result in causing the person who is killing suffering; their goal is not achieved. I think the idea of transformation will be very prevalent in my storybook.

Also the concept of inter-being is very important. The speaker, Thich Nhat Hanh, spoke about how if the right is not there the left cannot be. Similarly, there can be no death without life and no life without death. This is where the transformation comes into play, in this interbeing.

I also read Cullaka-Setthi Jataka: The Story of Chullaka the Treasurer from the Buddhist Birth Stories. (p. 250). I liked this story because the birth of the characters is somewhat sad, but the continuation of the grandfather who rejected them is seen in the Little Roadling's necessity to learn impermanence. Also, the Buddha teaches Little Roadling and giving him good fortune in another life. This illustrates the continuation of existence with the same circumstances simply transforming from one state to another but never truly dying.

Samsara Art on Wikipedia