Once, the Bodhisattva was born as a fish in a pond. Many other fish, big and small, lived in the pond with the Bodhisattva. One year, there was severe drought. The crops died; ponds and rivers dried up. The fish and turtles buried themselves in the mud to keep wet. The crows would stick their […]
Once, the new King of Tree Spirits announced, “Each spirit should choose a tree to live in.” A wise tree spirit, the leader of a large clan, who was the Bodhisattva in his previous birth, advised his members, “Choose forest trees and not single trees in towns and villages.” Most tree spirits settled down in
The Basilica of Santa Croce was built in Florence, Italy, between 1295-1385. The Basilica of Santa Croce is also known as the Temple of the Italian Glories and was founded by St. Francis himself. The church reflected a neo-gothic façade and the interior floor plan was a Tau Cross, 115 metres in length with 2
The prince of Benaras was a cruel man. One day, the prince was swept off by a rainstorm, while bathing in a river. To save himself, he held on to a dead log. A monk saw the prince and saved him. On the same log, he also found a snake, a water rat and a
Once, the Bodhisattva was born as the wise Elephant King. One day, a man from Benaras got lost in the forest and started crying. Hearing his cries, the Elephant King came to his rescue. He carried the man on his back and left him near the city. On reaching the city market, the man saw
Once, 500 followers of a monk went to the forest to gather firewood. One of them was full of kosajja or laziness. He saw a tree that had no leaves. Thinking it to be a dead tree, he decided to rest first. Soon, he fell asleep. The others gathered the wood and woke up the
Once, the Bodhisattva was born as a vegetable grower. One day, he decided to become a monk and go to the forest. So, he hid his shovel and became a monk. However, soon he started thinking of his shovel and returned to become a vegetable grower. Then again, he gave up gardening and became a
Craco was a town built in Basilicata, Italy, around 1060 AD. The town of Craco was built on a 400-metre high summit that overlooks the Cavone River valley. The location of the town was chosen strategically as a military centre. Over the years the ‘ownership’ of the town passed from one hand to another until
Once, a man was bitten by a snake. The wise doctor told the family, “There are two ways of treating the snake-bite. One is by giving him medicine. The second, by capturing the snake who bit him and make it suck out its own poison.” The family wanted to find the snake. So, the doctor
Once, the Bodhisattva or the Enlightened Being was born into an ordinary family. In his next 500 births, he had the same father. Then the father was his uncle for another 500 births and then grandfather for the next 500 births. The Bodhisattva had the same mother for the next 500 births, who had been
Once, some bandits robbed a village and escaped into the forest. The villagers chased them into the forest but could not find them. On the way back, they saw three men ploughing a field. Thinking that the robbers were pretending to be farmers, the villagers arrested them. When the three men were taken to the
St. Mark’s Campanile is a bell tower built in Venice, Italy in 1514. One of the most recognizable monuments of Venice, St. Mark’s Campanile is a 98.6-metre tall flute-like square brick shaft topped with a loggia, which surrounds the belfry containing five bells. Above the belfry is a cube with the faces of the Lion
Once, a monk lived in a forest. One day, he visited a kingdom for alms. King Brahmadatta invited him to stay in the royal garden. The monk lived there for sixteen years. One day, King Brahmadatta had to go out. The queen had to take care of her husband’s responsibilities in his absence. She was
Once, a country man married a city woman. His wife stole money from his pocket and bought knickknacks for herself. So, whenever she would steal money, she would be nice to him. However, on other days, she would be rude to him. The young man was disturbed by his wife’s behaviour. Soon, he came to
The Bodiam Castle was built in East Sussex, England, in 1385. The Bodiam Castle was built to protect the south coast of England from French raids. The quadrangular castle has 3-storey high circular towers at each of the four ends, and the entire castle sits in the middle of a moat. Its architecture was typical