Mariah's Indian Epics Blog

Peepal Tree, also known as the Bodhi Tree, at Mansa Devi Temple Image Link The Spirit That Lived in a Tree - Link The tree is unselfish and in the end the tree is rewarded for its unselfish acts by the king who originally thought only of himself. I think this is something that can be applied to humans' modern relationship with nature, although many people don't realize they are acting selfishly towards an unselfish environment. For my project I was thinking I could find more stories like these, maybe focusing on spirits and trees. Bhagiratha and Ganga - Link The hero in this story is the goddess Ganga who turns herself into a river. If not for her flowing waters, the souls would have never found peace. Another option for my project could be to use gods/goddess that represent parts of nature. Sacred Trees of the Hindus - Link This article talks about trees that are linked with important figures in Hinduism, even mentioning Rama living under banyan trees during ...

A puppy in the snow Image Link Story: The mountains were home to a small, friendly puppy. The puppy had many dear friends in the mountains that he played with all the time. There was the strong rabbit who could pull the puppy out of any situation. There was a horse that could always calm the puppy down when he became too rambunctious. One day the puppy was walking through the trees trying to find something to play with since his friends were busy. He came across a tree that had one last leaf left at the very top. The puppy decided that he really needed that leaf and tried to climb the tree. He found that he could not get up the tree far enough to reach the leaf, but he kept trying. After one particularly ambitious leap the puppy fell harshly on the ground. He cried out in pain, hoping one of his friends would hear him and come help. At last the strong bunny and calm horse found the puppy but they could not do anything to help him. Then th...

The God Brahma Image Link Notes : Bharata returned from a trip to find his father dead and brother banished. Kaikeyi tries to tell her son all the great things she has done for him but he is very angry with her. Bharata tries to get Rama to return but Rama believes he must follow through on what his father told him. Rama won't leave the jungle and now Bharata won't return home either. Rama's sandals are used as an object placeholder for Rama on the throne. Sita impresses an ancient priestess. Viradha steals away Sita. It is interesting how mad Rama gets because he usually is very calm and boring. Rama and Lakshmana put Viradha in a hole where Viradha says that Rama has broken his curse and he goes up into the heavens. Agastya tells Rama to take special care of Sita. Shurpanakha, Ravana's sister, decides she is in love with Rama. (It doesn't make a lot of sense to me that Lakshmana should be with Shurpanakha if he is also already married. Just because h...

A painting of the goddess Ganga Image Link Notes: A horse sacrifice is made in order to have an heir that is a son. Vishnu breaks himself into 4 parts to become the four sons of Dasharatha. (Ravana bad- Rama good) Rama and his brother go out to help protect sacrifices from Ravana supporting trouble makers. The brothers were successful and the sages gave them gifts. Ganga was a goddess who came down to earth in the form of the Ganges River to bring the ashes of 60,000 men to heaven. (Story) Guatam curses his wife, Rama breaks the curse, then Guatam gets back with his wife. Would be interesting to know more about how Rama is involved in this. (Story) Rama and Sita meet and Rama wins her after bending Shivas bow. Parashurama did not believe someone like Rama could exist and gave him another bow to bend. Rama was again successful. Rama is to become king but Manthara does not like Rama and begins to cause trouble. Kaikeyi listens to Manthara and works to banish Rama. The kin...

I liked this graphic because feedback used to make me upset but now I appreciate feedback. Image Link Without making this a soap box, most 'feedback' in my life has come in the form of criticism. So feedback kind of scares me but I look forward to trying to change that. As I graduate and enter the workforce, I want to be a great asset to my future employer and I know a good way to grow is to collaborate and embrace feedback. I really liked Seven Ways to Crush Self-Doubt . It touches upon exactly what I have been feeling lately when it comes to what I may be doing 6 months from now. What the author suggests can be applied to major life changes or to smaller, daily tasks. I appreciate his own vulnerability, he never made me feel like what he was proposing was impossible. I also liked Why Rejection Hurts So Much . It was interesting to know the science behind rejection. It was nice to be reminded that everything that happens is not because of me in particular. I'm ...

Hindu Goddess Kali Image Link Karma The word Karma is used very often but after taking Intro to Buddhism I learned that many times how people use it in the west is not how it is meant to be used(at least in Buddhism). I took Buddhism a couple years ago but it would be interesting to compare what I remember from that class to what I could learn about Karma in this class. If there is such a difference in how the word Karma is used, I'd like to tell stories that would explain to others what the variants are. This website gave a pretty good background on Karma. Environment I still like the idea of completing a project using the environment as the main focus. It would be cool to apply what I've learned for my major to another class that at first glance I didn't think would have much in common. I still like this storybook done by a student, it's nice to look through and see what could be done with my own stories. I suppose the environment is pr...

Story There once was a sleepy koala who spent most of his time in eucalyptus trees. One day when he was eating some eucalyptus leaves he came across a branch that did not look like the others. He asked " what shall I do with this odd branch? " He thought maybe he should try to eat it, although it didn't look very tasty. He thought another time to throw it down into the river where it could float away and bother a different creature. To his surprise the branch once answered back. It said " if you, sleepy koala, want me out of your sight just bury me under some dirt where the sun shines and I will never bother you in this form again ." The koala was hesitant. It would require a lot of work for him to leave his tree to bury this branch. He was very busy with his 22 hours of sleep and 2 hours of eating leaves. Nonetheless he decided it was important to get rid of the strange branch once and for all. He climbed down his tree and followed the branc...

A turtle that could either be wise or foolish according to the Jatakas. Image Source Two Turtle Jatakas The people were afraid of what they did not know and the turtle took advantage of their ignorance. The turtle did not plead with them when they were brainstorming what they should do to it but once he realized how stupid the king and his men were he took his chance. The story is simple enough to understand in one read but complex enough to force some continued thinking long after finishing the story. I think the theme could be relatively easy to transform into my own story. Bibliography: "Jataka Tales" by Ellen C. Babbitt. Source Almost all of the stories are very similar to each other in my opinion. It sometimes seems the animals and the situations changed but not the underlying theme. Do not be sly and evil hearted because it will eventually catch up to you in some way. The smart, clever ones win in the end. I don't think most people are so clever to get ou...

I chose this image of Rama confronting Ravana because I want to learn more about this battle and what happened surrounding the incident. Image Link Readings For the readings I will choose the public domain Ramayana because (1) it's free (2) I like that there is audio to listen to (3) there are images to supplement my visual learning side I think the R.K. Narayan version would be interesting to read but since OU moved the bookstore I have a hard time making it to campus corner (and I know it's only $4 but I'm trying to save money). Comics The first comic that looked interesting was Tales of Balarama . Since I am always interested in the environment, the story of changing the geography of India caught my attention. I also want to learn more about Revati. The other comic is Parashurama . I was a little confused during the summary but that made me want to better understand what is happening in the story. Parashurama spending the rest of his time as a hermit is k...

(A blank checklist with potential. Image Link ) Since this is my last semester I know pretty well how I like to work and what works for me. I looked through all of the links and I wasn't feeling inspired by most (I read them as slightly condescending and that if I don't follow their instructions I will fail). I did like The Psychology of Checklists because I already use checklists to keep myself organized. I like to have the checklists printed out and physically in my hands. Sometimes I'll have notes on my computer but it's not as satisfying to hit backspace over slashing through a task. I also enjoyed The Important Habit of Just Starting . Even if I need to take breaks while working at least I've gotten as far as writing my name on the paper. For this semester I will need to balance my time between working, working out, going to class, completing assignments, and preparing for life after graduation. At first it sounds like a lot but I've already starte...

(Solar panels are one of my favorite pieces of technology. Image Link .) When I had to create a blog I figured that this class would be using technology on a different level than an online course that only uses Canvas. I am familiar with Google/Chrome so hopefully that will make some parts easy to use. I am slightly worried about the other extras though. I don't normally like downloading a bunch of stuff onto my computer. I also like to use what I already have available and have used before so I'll need to push myself to try out all the recommended tools. I can use technology just fine, at the end of the day I don't anticipate to have very many issues.

(Using the new year to continue growing and learning. Image Link .) I'm excited to get started and really see what this class is all about. So far it is not like any other class I have taken which is both exciting and slightly nerve wracking (just because I don't know what exactly to expect). I feel like I've done more writing in the first week than I do during the entire semester for other courses. The storytelling aspect will be interesting for me. I read a lot but I have never seriously considered writing something of my own. I hope I am able to entertain at least myself with whatever I come up with. The extra credit opportunities sound like fun ways to learn about other topics outside of what we are reading. Going down Wikipedia trials is something I do almost everyday so getting extra credit for something I am already doing is a good deal. I also think the extra credit will keep the class from getting repetitive with the same routine and types of stories.

(Image taken from Twitter, Vera Jones ) I had not heard of 'growth mindset' specifically but I knew about the ideas behind it for awhile. The fixed and growth mindset ideas are interesting to read about but in my own life, I haven't seen any institutional changes from one to another. For myself, I think it depends on the topic if I have a fixed mindset vs a growth mindset. If it's a topic I don't like (for whatever reason) I tell myself I will never be good at it because I don't have the talent to be successful, and as a result will likely quit trying. If it's a topic I enjoy, I will try harder to learn more and be successful. When I was still pre-med I was taking the required chemistry and math courses. I wasn't getting the grades I wanted so instead of working harder, believing that I could improve my knowledge I would blame OU for placing such an emphasis on the grade from a final product. Unconsciously I have been applying a growth mindset in...

Hello~ My name is Mariah. I am an Environmental Sustainability: Planning and Management senior. I graduated high school in Arizona but I have lived in North Dakota, Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma so home just ends up being wherever I am at the moment. I am equally excited and not excited about graduating in May. I'm not sure what I want to do after graduation, whether it be get a job or continue with school, so it can be a little stressful when people always ask. Right now my dream job would be working at a cosmetics company and making the products more environmentally friendly. The coolest thing I've ever done is study abroad in Seoul, South Korea ( my favorite place ). I always have a story to share, which can sometimes make my friends and family a little crazy. I had wanted to travel abroad for as long as I could remember and actually following through with it was amazing. Even though some days were hard I had a lot of fun and would recommend Korea or just studying abroad i...

Image Source: Link Right away the title Environment in the World of Indian Epics caught my attention. My major is centered around the environment so I thought this would be an interesting post that combined environment with Indian epics. The introduction did a great job of using modern and ancient examples of peoples relationship with the environment and the tradeoffs made. The author brought up points and questions for the reader to think further about regarding the role of the planet. I wanted to continue looking through the storybook to find what the author thought about the questions they were bringing up. Overall I liked the layout of the storybook. I was easy to navigate through and the pages made reading the content easy. The second storybook that I looked through was Epic Wicked Women . Throughout history there seems to be plenty of examples of misunderstood women. Even the title made me believe I was about the read the tales of evil women, not read that they felt misu...

During the Fall 2017 semester I studied abroad in South Korea. I had a lot of fun and found many places in Korea that I like to talk about all the time. Jeju: I lived in Seoul for four and a half months but about halfway through the semester I went to Jeju Island. There were a lot of cool and unique things to see on the island and it was a nice relaxing break from the bustling city of Seoul. My friend and I got on the wrong bus and while we were waiting for the right one we walked along the beach and had some coffee. The picture is of two monkeys carved from coconuts. (Image Information: personal photo taken at a cafe along the beach in Jeju)   Seoul:  There wasn't a single time that I spent an entire day in my apartment without leaving. Everyday I either went to class or went sightseeing. Even though sometimes I was tired, I am really glad that I went out because I got to see so much. Korea is a mix of old and new, once I visited a Buddhist temple that had sky scra...