This week in class we focused solely on our Silk Road projects. The projects are due on Monday, November 1, so that is why we spent so much class time on it. My journey is coming along nicely, and I am putting in the finishing touches.

The hardest part for me was choosing a path for my character to travel on. As I was researching, I found a lot of interesting cities that I wanted my character to visit. I made a separate project on Google Earth for the purpose of putting places on the map. I was able to find many cities that could be possible sites on my character’s journey. However, many of the places were hundreds and sometimes thousands of miles apart. I could not use all of them on the journey since it would be an unrealistically long path. After considering the different options for a reasonable journey, I was able to find two cities that would be good starting and ending points for my character’s journey.

From my research, I got to learn about the geography of the area where my story is set. I learned the names of some rivers and deserts. Google Earth also lets me see what the terrain looks like in terms of whether it is sandy, rugged, or flat.

The history of the cities my character stops at is very interesting. Several of the cities that my character stops at were major cities along the Silk Road for long periods of time. Their geographic locations played a part in that in addition to what goods they traded. Most of my sites were controlled by different empires at different times in history. Even reading about the history outside of the time period of my story was engaging. The distribution of wealth and power in the world has shifted since then, and I liked learning about times in history when other parts of the world were much more wealthy and influential than they are today.

Creating the story was a fun part of the project. Although I incorporated facts into the story line, there was a large amount of freedom in what would actually happen in the story. I decided to tell my story in first person and capture my character’s thoughts at different points along the way. Also, I was able to create the different stops in Google Earth without much trouble. I liked being able to use a tool that I had not not known how to use before this project.

Towards the end of the project, I found a great source with lots of information which I did not see earlier. This source was much more interesting than the other sources I found and sparked a genuine interest in the different aspects of the Silk Road that my other sources did not. After I finish my project, I will likely go back and revisit that source purely for learning purposes. Learning for myself is important, beyond the scope of the project itself. Reading the information after the project will be to enhance my knowledge and have fun!

This week in class we began working on our Silk Road projects. This is the first long-term project we have had in history so far this year. I am excited to learn about the Silk Road and learn additional research skills. I am doing the story option, so I am also glad I will get to be creative with this project.

We started off by figuring out how to use both Esri and Google Earth as the options for the platforms that we will utilize to make our final projects. I prefer Google Earth since it is more intuitive for me to navigate. There are many different types of views of the Earth which can be helpful in different situations. I like how Google Earth has the street view to let the viewer see what places actually look like from the ground. The different map options also let the viewer choose what will be on the globe such as borders, roads, landmarks, etc.

Then, we looked at the Adobe Spark page for the directions of the assignment. There is information about what types of goods were traded from which area and a few videos with additional information. The pictures in the Adobe Spark page are interesting. They show how the Silk Road covered many different landscapes and geographic forms. The Adobe Spark was helpful as an introduction to the project.

Next, we collected sources to use in our projects. So far I have four sources about the Silk Road. I may look for one or two more sources for even more information. I enjoyed learning about how to use Noodle Tools in the library. It is very helpful and convenient that Noodle Tools makes source citations. That way we do not have to be stressed about whether or not a source is cited correctly. Also, Noodle Tools is very specific about what type of source is being cited. Gale eBooks can be sent as sources directly into Noodle Tools to be cited, which is an added bonus.

Overall the Silk Road seems interesting to learn about. From what I have read so far, the Silk Road had an enormous impact on global trade. Things that were invented in China became used in Europe, and things from Europe made their way to China and other parts of Asia. This begs the question of how our world got to be the way it is. Clearly the Silk Road was very influential in the spread of ideas and cultures, and I wonder what else may have had an equal effect on the world. Even though I have never heard about the Silk Road before this, it has been there all along. There are probably other things I have yet to hear about that have contributed just as much to the development of our world. Everything seems to build on everything else that already exists, resulting in the complex and sophisticated world we live in today.

This will be a great learning experience for me, and I will be happy when I can look back on my finished story with pride.

This week in class we learned about the story of Isidasi and why Buddhism might be more appealing to women than Hinduism. As a class we came up with several reasons for this.

First, women might turn to Buddhism over Hinduism to escape the caste system. For women on the lower end of the caste system especially, Buddhism would eliminate the social divide based on karma and ritual purity. Also, nothing would always default to the highest social group like in the caste system. In the caste system, Brahmins always get the best of everything, and they hold the most highly regarded positions such as priests.

Second, women have more control over themselves and their lives in Buddhism. In Hinduism, women’s lives are controlled mainly by their husbands. Women can only do so much in Hinduism because their husbands are always above them, often holding them back from their true potential. In Buddhism, depending on the circumstances, women may not get married as part of their lifestyles as Buddhists. Even if a Buddhist woman does get married, Buddhism doesn’t seem like the type of religion that would give husbands automatic superiority over their wives. Also, Hinduism says that “a woman is never fit for independence.” Buddhism, on the other hand, does not differentiate between the freedoms and expected roles of men and women.

Third, Buddhism provides a way for women to overcome suffering. By following the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, women can put an end to desire which causes suffering. In contrast, Hinduism does not have a specific way to get rid of suffering. Instead, if someone has karma that puts him or her into a low caste, there seems to be a lot of suffering because of actions done in the past. Sometimes, in the case of Isidasi, people’s karma can put them so low that they become reincarnated as animals which cannot improve their karma in that lifetime. Buddhism also has a lot to do with meditation and reflection which is relaxing and calming on its own even when it is not specific to Buddhism.

Fourth, and most importantly in my opinion, Buddhism makes knowledge and enlightenment available to women. In Hinduism, “Women have no business with the Veda.” In Buddhism, Isidasi is able to become enlightened in seven days. That is only one week compared to the six years it originally took Siddhartha! With Isidasi’s enlightenment came the knowledge of the reason for the karma that kept coming back in multiple lives based on past actions. In Hinduism, women aren’t allowed to learn the Veda, and therefore have no first-hand knowledge or understanding of the rituals and beliefs of Hinduism. In Hinduism, women must learn about religion as told by the men. Buddhism allows women to find knowledge for themselves.

In conclusion, Buddhism offers women many things that Hinduism does not. Buddhism provides an escape from the caste system and from suffering. Buddhism allows women to have control over their own lives without depending on men. Enlightenment and knowledge are available to Buddhist women, and since knowledge is power, Buddhism allows women to have power.

This week in class we started learning about Buddhism. We read about the story of how Siddhartha Guatama became the Buddha. We also learned about the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path.

My favorite thing we learned this week was the legend of how Siddhartha became the Buddha. I found it very interesting how Siddhartha’s quest for enlightenment started. Something about seeing suffering for the first time was what ignited a passion inside of him to be the one to search for the answer. He decided to become a monk and begin his spiritual journey for enlightenment.

One thing that caught my attention about the text was the amount of description. It enables the reader to visualize and understand the novelty of the events in the text. Also it gives the story a heroic tone that I enjoyed. Here are some of my favorite lines from the text:

“… Guatama devoted the final phase of his quest to a combination of rigorous thought and mystic concentration.” (Page 45)

“…assailed the future Buddha with torrents of flaming rocks… turned into blossom petals when they entered the field of his yogic concentration.” (Page 46)

“… his mind pierced the world’s bubble, collapsing it to nothing… restored with the effulgence of true being.” (Page 46)

I liked how Siddhartha decided to take it upon himself to find his enlightenment instead of waiting for someone else to tell it to him. He was determined to search for the answer to the question of suffering, and he was successful. The enlightenment Siddhartha received was the Four Noble Truths.

To summarize the Four Noble Truths, life is suffering. Suffering is caused by “desire for personal fulfillment.” One can overcome suffering by overcoming desire, and the way to overcome desire is by following the Eightfold Path.

Without going into much detail about the Eightfold Path, I do like how the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path are related. The text points out that the Fourth Noble Truth is to follow the Eightfold Path. The first part of the Eightfold Path is to have knowledge of the Four Noble Truths. This connects the two processes and shows that becoming a successful Buddhist requires both.

Lastly, in class we briefly talked about pain versus suffering and how they are not the same. We learned the saying, “Pain is mandatory, but suffering is optional.” This didn’t make a lot of sense to me at first, but I could understand its meaning when I thought about how it relates to the Four Noble Truths. It seems like suffering is caused by desire when what a person desires is not what happens in real life. Since desire is an emotional feeling, suffering must also be an emotional feeling since it directly correlates to desire. This leaves pain to be a physical feeling that is therefore unrelated to desire.

Based on this, if someone gets a paper cut, he or she has physical pain that is largely unavoidable. However, like we said in class, someone can have pain without suffering. If the person who has the paper cut realizes that it will soon heal, he or she does not have to suffer emotionally because of the paper cut. Additionally, without the desire to not have a paper cut, having a paper cut will not cause a person to suffer.

In conclusion, Siddhartha Guatama was exposed to suffering and went on a journey to find enlightenment. When he was enlightened, he became the Buddha and taught about the Four Noble Truths of life.