The Sermon at Benares
Class 10 · English · 13 Questions
When her son dies, Kisa Gotami goes from house to house. What does she ask for? Does she get it? Why not?
Kisa Gotami again goes from house to house after she speaks with the Buddha. What does she ask for, the second time around? Does she get it? Why not?
What does Kisa Gotami understand the second time that she failed to understand the first time? Was this what the Buddha wanted her to understand?
Why do you think Kisa Gotami understood this only the second time? In what way did the Buddha change her understanding?
How do you usually understand the idea of 'selfishness'? Do you agree with Kisa Gotami that she was being 'selfish in her grief'?
Do you think the Buddha's ideas and way of teaching continue to hold meaning for us? Or have we found better ways to deal with grief?
Write a page (about three paragraphs) on the following topic: Teaching someone to understand a new or difficult idea. You can think about the ideas in the text that are relevant to these topics, and add your own ideas and experiences to them.
Write a page (about three paragraphs) on the following topic: Helping each other to get over difficult times. You can think about the ideas in the text that are relevant to these topics, and add your own ideas and experiences to them.
Write a page (about three paragraphs) on the following topic: Thinking about oneself as unique, or as one among billions of others. You can think about the ideas in the text that are relevant to these topics, and add your own ideas and experiences to them.
What does the young man mean by "great honey-coloured/Ramparts at your ear?" Why does he say that young men are "thrown into despair" by them?
What colour is the young woman's hair? What does she say she can change it to? Why would she want to do so?
Objects have qualities which make them desirable to others. Can you think of some objects (a car, a phone, a dress…) and say what qualities make one object more desirable than another? Imagine you were trying to sell an object: what qualities would you emphasise?
You have perhaps concluded that people are not objects to be valued for their qualities or riches rather than for themselves. But elsewhere Yeats asks the question: How can we separate the dancer from the dance? Is it possible to separate 'the person himself or herself' from how the person looks, sounds, walks, and so on? Think of how you or a friend or member of your family has changed over the years. Has your relationship also changed? In what way?