Jataka Tales: Volume 5

by Eric Van Horn

Overview

The Jātaka Tales are the Buddhist equivalent of Aesop’s Fables. They are morality stories. In the Buddhist cultures of that time, these were the stories that children grew up hearing. They were the popular entertainment of their time. Families would gather together in the evening after the day’s work was done and share these tales. And it is from these stories that people learned about the standards of conduct for followers of the Buddha.
Like Aesop’s Fables, the main characters in these stories can be a king, a merchant, a craftsperson, or an animal. This collection contains stories 201-250 of the 547 total stories. There are a number of stories about respect for one’s elders. Jātaka 202 even finds Sakka the God terrorizing a King who has mistreated elders. Jātaka 237 repeats the story of Jataka 68 in which the Buddha tenderly shows respect for his parents from previous lives.

The longest story in this collection is Jātaka 234 in which a musician takes care of his blind parents. It has a lovely scene in which the musician asks to be paid for his music by hearing the stories of devas who have been reborn in heaven due to their kindness.

And, of course, there are many stories involving monkeys! In some of these the monkey is a villain, but they can also be the heros. In Jātaka 222 it is the Buddha himself who is a self-sacrificing monkey and who tries to save his mother from a hunter.

In all, these stories represent the breadth the human experience. What we see is that in 2500 years, the spectrum of experiences has not changed at all.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940164081737
Publisher:	Eric Van Horn
Publication date:	05/15/2020
Series:	Jataka Tales: Folk Tales of the Buddha's Previous Lives
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	911,803
File size:	20 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Eric Van Horn was born and raised in Lower Pottsgrove, Pennsylvania. He graduated Pottsgrove High School in 1970 and went to college at Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont. He graduated from Goddard in 1973 with a B.A. in Liberal Arts. His senior thesis was about his experience as a community organizer for a drug abuse prevention program in Pottstown, PA.

After graduation he worked in a number of social service jobs, but eventually discovered a love of computer programming. He spent the next 33 years working as a software engineer. In his last job he spent 18 years working in the field of medical informatics at the PKC Corporation in Burlington, Vermont. He retired from PKC in 2011 to devote his life to his Buddhist practice.

His interest in Buddhism began in 1991 when he attended a "spiritual support group" at the Burlington Unitarian Church. Over the next 20+ years he attended many retreats at the Insight Meditation Center in Barre, MA, the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies in Barre, MA, the Zen Mountain Monastery in Mt. Temper, NY, the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY, the Bhavana Society and Monastery in High View, WV, the Embracing Simplicity Hermitage in Asheville, NC, Kharme Choling in Barnet, VT, and Maple Forest Monastery in Woodstock, VT. He went to India on Buddhist Pilgrimage in 2004.

Eric has written several papers on Buddhism, including "Jhāna in the Majjhima Nikaya" and "Reverse Engineering the Buddha's Enlightenment." These can be found at http://nobleeightfoldblog.com/resources/. In 2015 he published the "Travel Guide to the Buddha's Path," a practice guide that provides an outline of the whole of the Buddha's path as described in the Pāli canon. This volume has since been replaced by a greatly expanded three-volume set "The Buddha's Path Series," which includes (1) "Foundations of the Buddha's Path," (2) "The Heart of the Buddha's Path," and (3) "Awakening on the Buddha's Path." He has also written a biography of the Buddha called "The Life of the Buddha" and is currently editing and illustrating the Buddhist Jātaka Tales literature.

He moved from Vermont to New Mexico in 2014 because it was "sunnier, warmer, and cheaper." He also found a living situation that is quieter and more conducive to meditation. He has an ongoing love of the Land of Enchantment, its rich cultural heritages, breathtaking landscapes, and ancient history. He has two adult children, Seth and Rebecca, a daughter-in-law Britomarte, a grandchild Jay, and a virtual son-in-law Toby.