Once a upon a time in the kingdom of Nicca lived a king named Natta. King Natta always had his people at heart, making sure there is enough food especially for the poor families. One day King Natta with his wisdom was asked to help a neighbouring country who was very poor and the people were suffering because of the drought season. King Natta set out to the neighbour country bringing with him his 3 wise generals, many types of seeds and seedlings.
Not too long after King Natta had left, a very strong wind blew across the kingdom of Nicca. The palace guards quickly ran to close the windows but they were not in time to close the last one…. A strong gush of wind came through the window and immediately the presence of a monster was felt, though not seen… there was a stench. Soon the monster was visible and the 7 palace guards were shock to see its presence. They immediately armed themselves with sticks and tried to push the monster toward the entrance of the palace. Red-Guard shouted “monster… you have no right to be in the palace of King Natta!” Ora-Guard said “Get out before King Natta is back… “ Yel-Guard “you are so smelly and dirty!” Gre-Guard said: “Don’t touch our King Natta’s throne, you skunk!”
With every unkind words uttered from the 7-Guards, the Monster became bigger and bigger and the stench was horrendous. Monster was gnashing its teeth “grrh…grrh…” and tried to avoid the sticks trouncing on it flaking and crusty body. The Monster grew in size becoming bigger and bigger… the eyes were rage with fury! Puffing heavily…”arrh…arrh…arrh…” were raising its fist on the guards.
At this very moment, King Natta appeared! When he saw the monster he quickly approached it while 7 –guards tried to stop him, fearing harm from the monster. King Natta reached out his hand “Hello monster… welcome to the kingdom of Nicca… You must have been very tired, hungry and thirsty…, please take a seat on the throne… 7-Guards please prepare icetehtarik, meemambo and icecream with choco toppings for our guest… Please bring the fragrant bungamelor towel to refresh our guest, don’t forget the sayang-layang fruits from our garden too…” Monster’s eyes brightened and well with tears … that King Natta was indeed a wisdom king of compassion: to nurse when it is hurt, to feed when it is hungry, to love when no one cares…
7-Guards applied Karuna oil on the monster and massage the flaking and crusty body… Feeling the compassionate touch from 7-Guards … and every kind and loving words from King Natta, the monster became smaller and smaller and smaller and smaller … And with the last kind word from King Natta, monster vanished from the palace…
The story of King Natta and the monster was told to children chronically-ill… I told this story to children in the chronic ward. When I finished the story, I asked the child who is King Natta and who is Monster? I had a child who told me “He is King Natta and the Cancer is the monster”… I smiled at the boy… had a moment of silence and said: “yes, you are King Natta, now we will say nice words to monster ya… and monster will be smaller and smaller and smaller and smaller…”
The original story the King and the monster was told by Ajahn Brahm, an English Buddhist Monk from Australia.
Children who are chronically ill create stories of Hope mainly on drawings, though non-verbal most times. They seemed to know life is fragile though not expressed verbally. How do I answer a child when she told me "I m going to die... "please ask Jesus to pray for me..." or a hand gesture 'waving goodbye' and maintaining the eye contact.
The child was reaching out to the telephone: "ring...ring...ring... Anybody there, if only someone understand what i m going through, my fears, my pain. When will all the chemo be over and my hair will grow back again... Will I ever go to school? Will I see my classmates again..."
Thanks for posting it here instead of SWP. If those whose faith is in God is important try this book written by a Rabbi "When bad things happen to good people" it was a best seller. On the other if you would like an alternative comment/response to the book try http://www.gurus.org/dougdeb/Courses/bestsellers/Kushner/BT-comment2.htm A therapist is only as aware what his or her own values and beliefs he or she brings into the helping relationship which is why values clarification is a part of an ongoing personal/professional development for the individual. If working with the dying familiarity with Kubler-Ross contributions can be be helpful http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%BCbler-Ross_model In reflecting on your learning experiences try drawing out the learning you have gained in conjunction with the modules outcomes. Go beyond the narrative. What does it do to your thinking, feeling and understanding in the experiences encountered.
ReplyDeleteThe same words..."time will not wait. What must I do to make the journey worth the while and meaningful after all i m a mere pilgrimage passing through...
ReplyDeleteThanks Alex, for the links.
I have read quite a lot on EKRoss, n especially with chronically ill children when I was in hospice work in'04.
Back to the "white paper" again when I have to think... we are all connected in one way or another. Sometimes i will draw the trees, logger, clouds, rain, sun.......
Part of the story making in King Natta n the Monster was my version, the 3 generals (triple gem), 7 guards (like i mentioned my KUA number), Karuna means Compassion - a key word to work on further...
Sometimes experiencing the reality and at the same time wondering why - when it is non-self.
Time is at the present moment viewed as linear by you and when there is linearity in time it means thinking of it having a 'beginning' and an 'ending' and if that was the case than 'time will run out' no matter its for one second or one milleneum. I suppose most eastern thinking offers a circular model of time, eternity is found in the 'now' and there is no other except the 'here & now' as zen would say. It cannot be talked about, only to experience it. What 'must' you do to make the journey 'worth' the while and meaningful....? Remove the 'must' who is compelling you to have a 'must' see the 'face' of the compeller who prescribe such prescription. 'Worth' means having to judge the 'worthiness' of actions, thoughts etc, to judge means ego will have to play a part. Meanings are 'meaningful' only when the evaluation of whether it is meaningful has been surrendered. What 'is' rather 'ought to be'. Labels can be a hindrance to 'what is' when it attempts to represent it and we may be distracted by our own ego by its representation.
ReplyDeleteIf you want the Triple Gem in the guise of the 3 generals to have a significant part in the story plot that it need to be expanded within the story, first give attributes to the charaters e.g. do you want them to represent the Kings, inner voice/guide/mentors etc then there need to be interaction between the King and the generals. Ask what will the 'Buddha' Dharma and Sangha say when teh king turn towards the general to consult with them in a given challenge or dilemma etc. They can be personified to convey the wisdoms that you think would be relevant to the primary message of the story. '7 guards' think what characters would epitomise the 'nurturer' role - guards are either to defend or to attack - protect against intruders or enemies - how would it be different if the 'King' himself in an act of compassionate humility physically apply the karuna oil himself on the monster, or together with his 'anima' representation e.g. his mother, his daughters, his wives? There is a passage in the bible where Jesus washes the feet of his disciples the night before his crucifition. Sometimes our actions are more powerful than our words. Reality? - which one? ego defined and ego experienced reality ????
Hi Alex,
ReplyDeleteGrateful for in depth explanation learnings for me. will read up on Jataka stories n see how it sounds like...