1. Does the response directly and adequately respond to the prompt?
2. Can you locate a particular sentence that stands out as a clear and engaging response to the prompt? If so, cite it and describe why it works.
3. Is there another statement that scratches the surface of an idea but needs to be developed further? Cite it and suggest how the author could take the next step in clarifying the intention behind it.
4. Evaluate the use of quotations in the response. Is the relevance of the chosen quotation clear? How might the author engage more deeply with the quotation to realize its full potential?
—(1)
For this week’s reading, I started initially with the Fetal Suffering text. Right away I was able to find a representation of birth as an obstacle. In the Descent into the Womb Sutra, Nanda’s womb experience is discussed. It states, “During the first week, consciousness, together with the faculty of touch, lies in the mother’s womb, which is an exceedingly filthy place, and experiences unbearable suffering similar to boiling and roasting in a red-hot pan” (Langenberg 43). From this quote, we can see how the uterus is compared to boiling in a red-hot pan, and that is a pretty big obstacle to start out in life, without even being introduced to an outside environment. When reading the Embryology text, I found a representation of birth as an opportunity. The reading says, “In order to proceed on the esoteric path…one must possess a womb-born body, because only humans may ripen their karma in this lifetime” (Garrett 100). This shows opportunity because it is showing how being a human is very beneficial for a lifetime, in order to learn and grown towards enlightenment.
At this time, I moved on to the readings about death. In the True Meaning of Death reading, I immediately found a representation of death as an opportunity. It talks about an individual dying who is trained to recognize the basic nature of mind, saying, “at that point such people may experience ‘the meeting between the mother and child luminous wakefulness,’ or the recognition of their own buddha nature in the same spontaneous way that a child recognizes its own mother (Chokyi 1). This is showing opportunity because it shows how an individual following a Buddhist lifestyle can have the ability to prepare for death in a way that is anticipated, rather than fearing it. Finally, when looking for representation of death as an obstacle, I came across a quote from the Process of Dying. There is discussion of the four phases and their dissolution of the elements. In the section about Air, it says, “ It becomes harder and harder to breathe. The air seems to be escaping through our throat. We begin to rasp and pant…Our eyes roll upward, and we are totally immobile”(Rinpoche 253). The is showing death as an obstacle because it is showing the physical process of what occurs, which can be very daunting to anticipate, trained or not.
—(2)
Representation of birth as an obstacle
In the Langenberg’s text, we get a glimpse at how birth is represented as an obstacle in Buddhist texts. An interesting detail is the mention of “notions” that the baby experiences, both “mistaken” notions and “correct” notions. It is implied that during the mistaken notions experienced by the baby in the 28th week, they are in a state of comfort and peace as they are fooled by imaginary notions of homeliness, pleasure groves, etc. But during the 37th week, the correct notions arise, leaving the baby in a state of discomfort and disgust, as it is forced to abide in the dark womb of the mother described in Buddhist texts as filthy and painful. It is here where the process of birth is represented as an obstacle, as the baby is in essence imprisoned within the undesirable womb and wanting to get out with little success.
Representation of birth as an opportunity
Throughout the text, the process of development (of the baby) inside the womb is compared to that of a tree growing and spreading. The growing and blossoming of a tree is associated with the flourishing of life and nature, an opportunity that is only seen in one specific time of the year. This analogy is also relevant in the sense that both the process of birth and annual blooms of trees takes place over a noticeably long period of time, adding the depth of rarity to the process of birth such that it can only be seen as an opportunity.
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