Week 13 Reading Diary Make Up: Mahabharata Film Pt 2

• He was angry that someone said that he had never felt anger? That doesn't make too much sense to me.
• Talk about a gambling problem! Dhrishtira gambled away everything in the matter of 2 minutes!
• Everyone seems to be taking things okay considering Dhrishtira is gambling them away.
• Really? Gambling away your own wife? What a jerk...
• "Look at my thigh"? Is that pickup line supposed to work?
• "Greed devours all" Right after that is said, Dhrishtira goes back and loses everything and is sentenced to exile right after he gained his family back. Addiction is difficult to overcome. During an addiction, people can only see what they can gain instead of what they can lose. This can cloud their judgement and leave them unable to realize the problems that they are having.
• Amba said that she stays young because of her anger and that she promised to kill Bhishma. Maybe I should be angry to keep myself young!
• I have noticed that there is not a lot of conflict resolution. Most of the time the conflict ends in one person killing another. This is a big difference of society a thousand years ago compared to today's society.
• No one seems to be too angry at Dhrishtira for gambling them away into exile.

Title: Mahabharata 1

Author: Peter Brook

Year: 1989

Dhritarashtra (Image Info)

Portfolio Index

Brahma's Emergence: The story of Brahma becoming a god eligible to worship.

TV Talk Show: Ganesha on the Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Neighborhood Gossip: How gossip can go horribly wrong.

Hanuman's Life Experiences: This is a story of how Hanuman's life experiences help him land a job.

A Wedding in the Heart of Booner Nation: This story comically resembles Rama and Sita's wedding on OU campus.

Week 13 Storytelling: Brahma's Emergence

Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva have always been well known throughout the world as the Creator, the Sustainer, and the Destroyer. Vishnu and Shiva received prayers and were worshiped, but Brahma has always stood alone. He was never worshiped because he created the world solely to better understand who he was. He did not create it for man, for beast or for fowl. Brahma was always hurt by the fact that no one wanted to pray to him, so one day, he decided that he would prove to the entire world that he was a god worth worshiping.

Brahma brought himself down to the earth and decided to put himself among man to show his true worth and desire to help out those around him. As soon as he arrived, he began to create every man's greatest desire. For one man he made a million dollars appear in his hands, for another, he created a house made of chocolate, and for another he created a dream sports car. He went around doing this day upon day, thinking that all the people would begin to love, revere, and worship him. However, what happened next was completely unexpected.

Others heard about the miracles that he was performing and lined up to get whatever they wished for. The line stretched for miles and miles each person asking for something greater than the last. After two years of creating everyone's greatest desire, Brahma returned back to see if the people would begin to worship him. To his dismay, nothing had changed. Not a single prayer came his way. He was furious. What more did he have to do for them?

Brahma stormed off to Vishnu and Shiva and demanded to know why he was still not worshiped.

"Shiva is the Destroyer for crying out loud. Why do people worship him?" said Brahma.

Vishnu wisely replied, "I have helped the people understand the purpose of their lives and sustained them through their trials and difficulties. Shiva has helped others gain wisdom and better understand spiritual reality. What have you done to help others understand their place in the world? How have you helped them grow in their spirituality? You simply created them and left them to figure things out on their own."

Brahma sat in silence, pondering Vishnu's remarks. He stared off into the sky as if he was looking for a better understanding. He began to understand that had done nothing to help them understand who they were or where they came from. He realized that it would take time, but he now understood what the people were truly looking for.

Author's Note: This story is based off of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. It mainly refers to Brahma and the fact that he is not a god that is worshiped due to the fact that he created the world to figure out who he was and not for the benefit of those who he was creating. What happens in the story is not based on any other story, but simply came from my own imagination. This is the second story that I have written about them because they have been interesting for me to learn about. My hope is that this story will make others reflect on what they are actually doing to help other people. Are they simply giving monetary things or giving something that is more worthwhile? I tried my best to guess what Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva's personalities would be like (especially Brahma), but I really do not have the slightest idea. The image that I chose doesn't have any specific significance except that it is an image of Brahma who is the main character in my story.

Brahma the Creator (Image Info)

Week 13 Review

I really like this because it is the end of the semester. My favorite one is Anger (V) because I am an MIS major and have done some programming, so I know exactly how it feels when you think your code is perfect, but there is a missing comma somewhere that is throwing the whole thing off.

Academic Inferno (Image Info)

Famous Last Words - Week 13

Readings

I am watch the Mahabharata movie this week and it is actually pretty interesting. I feel like watching the movie gives more defined characters. The actors have personalities and quirks which gives an interesting interpretation to characters that I have already read about. It also makes you notice details about their actions and reasoning that you normally wouldn't catch if you were just reading the story.

My Best Writings for This Week

I have had to prepare a presentation which only goes well if you plan out what you are going to say beforehand. I won't be reading anything off of a piece of paper, but writing well thought out, descriptive sentences will help me to explain better during the presentation.

My Other Classes

My MIS Field Project class is actually finishing up this week, so it will be really nice to only have to worry about 4 classes for the remaining few weeks of the semester. It will also give me more time to put into this class because I'll just say that I need do get all the points that I can in order to get the grade that I want! I do have a lot of upcoming projects that are due as well, so it is definitely at the crunch time of the semester. Almost there!

Outside of School

My wife and I are super excited to move the week after the semester is over. We just got the exact apartment that we were looking for, and we are excited to get a new puppy (a Shiba Inu!), start my new job, be a little closer to our parents' houses, and live in an apartment where the floors don't squeak with every step you take. Basically we are ready for this semester to be over. We have enjoyed living here in Norman, but we are ready to start the next chapter in our lives.

Crunch Time (Image Info)

Tech Tip: First Tweet

I just created my first Twitter account. I haven't ever really been interested in Twitter, but after creating it I followed the NBA. It could be nice to get random NBA highlights and tweets throughout the season because I am a huge NBA fan. I'll start out small, but who knows? I might end up being a Twitter guru.

Learning by H.E.A.R.T: Attention

One thing that I have learned this semester is that not everything is important. That kind of sounds like I'm being lazy, but this has been the busiest semester of my college career, and it made me realize that you have to pick and choose your battles. Sometimes I had homework due, but my wife was having a bad day. I had to set my priorities. I think attention and sacrifice are related due to the fact that sacrifice requires you to decide what you are going to put your attention towards.

Attention Meme (Image Info)

Growth Mindset - Week 13

I am a person that gets nervous when I do something that I am not familiar with. This is a normal thing that happens to almost anyone. I feel that what defines me isn't whether or not I can remove all fear, but if I let the fear stop me from acting. You just have to take a deep breath and go for it. I believe that it is an extreme hindrance to growth if you cannot overcome fear. Growth comes from stretching, and fear makes you curl up. 

Courage Quote (Image Info)

Week 13 Reading Diary: Mahabharata Film Pt 1

• Is that actually supposed to be Ganesha or a person with a mask on?
• Bhishma sacrificed himself for his father's happiness
• Amba loves Salva and asked Bhishma to let her go to be with Salva. Salva then tells her that he does not want her because "she is Bhishma's"
• Pandu married Kunti and Madri
• Pandu shots a couple while hunting and is cursed to die if he ever lies with one of his wives
• Kunti could invoke any God. She has a son with the God of the sun, but is scared so she sends him (Karna) down the river.
• Pandu had 5 sons all from the gods
• After time Pandu sleeps with Madri and instantly dies
• All 5 of Pandu's sons marry Draupadi
• Pandu is made to seem like he is very unintelligent and unfit to be King simply because he is blind. 
• His 5 sons seems to be a little bit childish at times. They seems to complain quite often in order to get what they want.

5 Sons of Pandu (Image Info)

Title: Mahabharata 1

Author: Peter Brook

Year: 1989

Week 12 Reading Diary: Vishnu's Secret Pt 2 and Brahma's Secret

• Kingship or leadership is the most difficult role in society. He decides who is right and who is wrong, who will live and who will die.
• Only humans are able to fight for a cause that is not theirs if they wish to.
• All humans can discover the divine within them and joy comes when perfect and absolute realization, free of all prejudices, is attained.
• God and man are separate and joy comes when one submits himself to God
• Fish is a metaphor for jungle law, wild sex, restless material reality, non-vegetarian food
• Cow is a metaphor for cultural law, domesticated sex, tamed material reality, vegetarian food
• The purpose of life is the realize the soul. The less a man does this, the more he begins to behave like an animal
• Conflict arises when man acts for power and not for love
• Brahma is not worshiped because he creates and than forgets the reason why he made that creation.
• Brahma created the world to understand who he was. The world is like his daughter.
• Brahma is still seeking the material world so we cannot worship him
• Shiva is everything that Brahma is not. 
• The purpose of life is to realize the ego and overpower it.
• Human life is special because one can self-reflect and uncover self-discovery
• Karma determines everything that happens that is out of our control

Brahma (Image Info)

Week 12 Reading Diary: Devi's Secret and Vishnu's Secret Pt. 1

• Kanyakumari wanted to marry Shiva. He had to make it to Kanyakumari in one day. On Shiva's way, he heard a cock crow, so he assumed that it was day and turned around.
• Desire can satisfy need or greed
• Lakshmi - the embodiment of earth's wealth and bounty
• Desire is important in Hinduism. The world was created because of desire of the creater
• Cows are the most sacred animal in the Hindu religion
• Cows are gentle creatures, but they give milk to mils
• Does the cow produce milk for its calf or for humans
• Each society starts in perfection and then slows changes its moral beliefs and is then resurrected in perfection.
• Vishnu decides hat is beautiful and what is not, what is acceptable and what is not.
• An act of compassion creates society and civilization
• Civilization collapses when there is too much kindness and no one knows when to stop
• If sexual and material desire are not controlled by marriage and property, then they can destroy civilization.

Devi (Image Info)

Week 11 Storytelling: Who Destroyed the World?

As the great Narayan was observing the world beneath him, it began to crumble! Buildings fell, volcanoes erupted, earthquakes swallowed the people whole, and oceans covered up the land. Narayan could do nothing, but watch as the earth turned black. He then stormed off in an angry rage to find Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva.

NARAYAN: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, I know you are the only ones capable of such a feat, and I will not rest until I find out which one of you destroyed the world without my slumber.

BRAHMA: It wasn't any of us Narayan!

VISHNU: We have been together this whole time.

SHIVA: It's true!

NARAYAN: Then what is it that you were doing?

The three Gods stood there in silence, without a response, as they looked at each other awkwardly waiting for someone to talk.

NARAYAN: I'm sure whatever it was that you were doing, could not have been worse than destroying the world!

BRAHMA: Where's my lawyer!?

VISHNU: We don't have any lawyers.. We're Gods.

NARAYAN: If one of you doesn't start talking in the next thirty seconds. I will drown you in my sea of milk.

SHIVA: Please no! I'll talk, but you have to promise me that you will not tell Rama.

NARAYAN: What does this have to do with Rama? Don't you dare try to blame it on him.

SHIVA: Well...uhh...umm...

NARAYAN: SPIT IT OUT!!

SHIVA: Brahma, Vishnu, and I can't take our eyes off of Sita! We know that she and Rama still secretly love each other after what happened, but we can't help it! She's just so pretty.

NARAYAN: Is that seriously all you three nitwits were doing? The what the heck happened to the world? I know that I haven't slept for thousands of years, but I wasn't the least bit tired when the world started to crumble.

BRAHMA: Well, did you notice anything unusual right before all of the destruction started happening?

NARAYAN: Now that you mention it, I did notice that something was a little off. I did notice that no one has been born in the last 30 days.

BRAHMA: Thirty days! That's impossible because I...wait...Shiva, how long how we been staring at Sita?

SHIVA: I don't know, maybe for the past month or so. Why?

BRAHMA: So Narayan, did you happen to notice any deaths?

NARAYAN: Now that you mention it, I haven't seen anyone die either!

SHIVA: Uh oh...

VISHNU: You idiots! Legend has it that if the earth is not balanced between life and death then it cannot sustain itself. It must renew and refresh the life that is on the earth in order to continue functioning properly. And since Brahma and Shiva, the Creator and the Destroyer, have done nothing, but stare at Sita, the world became unbalanced!

NARAYAN: But Vishnu, you are supposed to be the Sustainer! Who could you let this happen!

VISHNU: I guess I should take part of the blame too...

SHIVA: Vacation time!

NARAYAN: WHAT DO YOU MEAN "VACATION TIME"?! YOU HAVE TO FIX THIS!

SHIVA: Correction, Brahma has to fix this. He's the Creator. You won't need my services for a very long time.

And Shiva lived happily ever after.

Author's Note: This story is based on the ideas that when Narayan sleeps, the world is destroyed. It also uses the three Gods, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, as the creator, sustainer, and destroyer.

Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva (Image Info)

Week 11 Reading Diary: Ardhanari and Shiva's Secrets

• God can be visualized with and without form
• Brahma is the creator, Vishnu is the sustainer, Shiva is the destroyer
• Male trinity is associated with verbs. Female trinity is associated with nouns
• Males make action and women are acted upon, according to Hinduism
• Men represent spiritual reality
• Women represent material reality
• There are 2 truths. Changing and unchanging. 
• Triangles are used to show stability and movement. Upside down is stability. Right side up is movement
• There are opposites to everything. That was said in many different ways
• Everything has a material and a spiritual half
• Ash is the symbol of destruction and permanence. It is the leftovers of destruction, but cannot be destroyed
• Shiva destroys by shutting his eyes. He is not an observer, so it doesn't exist
• Why is Shiva worshiped but not Brahma?
• Kali dances on Shiva as his opposite
• In society, there is good and bad, right and wrong. This means that society has judgement

Title: Ardhanari's Secret and Shiva's Secret 

Author: Epified

Year 2015

Shiva (image info)

Week 11 Reading Diary: Narayan's Secret

• The ocean of milk represents possibility
• When Narayan wakes, everything comes out of the milk, so when Narayan sleeps the world is still
• When Narayan sleeps, it is the end of the world because he is over the world
• Does the observer create the observation or does the observation create the observer?
• Narad provokes people and tries to create conflict and insecurity
• Death is considered a comma, not a period
• The soul is permanent and ever-present, but is without form
• A perfect truth is conveyed through imperfect forms
• Hiranakashipu is arrogant for thinking that he is a God for being immortal and was put in his place when he was killed by Narcima
• Intent and behavior can make anyone a demon
• Arjuna is expected to kill and start a war but refuses. Krishna speaks to Arjuna and explains the order of the world. Things die only to be born again.
• What is the purpose of life? Matter exists to draw attention to the soul. This means that we must live in society and do our part. We are part of society and there is no escape, unless one disciplines the mind and has no selfish desires
• God is all things, in all things, outside all things. Everything is God
• We are God, but just have not discovered it ourselves. We can once we strip ourselves of selfish behavior and thought

Title: Narayan's Secret

Author: Epified

Year: 2015

Narayan (Image Info)