Buddha Grows Up
From The Prince Who Ran Away by Anne Rockwell adapted by Kathy Keleher
Source: Wisdom from the World’s religions
Spiritual Theme: Yearning
Materials:
 Underlay
 Palace underlay
 Brown baby
 Elephants
 Flowers
 Blocks
 Felt road
 House, fresh plants
 Figures: Rajah; Loving Queen; Cousin Ananda; Prince Siddhartha; Old man, Sick
woman;
 Driver with carriage
 Funeral Wheel
 Basket with World Religions Source symbol
Presentation:
Now, watch carefully where I go to get the story so that later, if you wish to make it your
work, you will be able to find it.
Walk to shelves and take the basket Take the Buddha figure from the place
where different symbols stay. Come back to circle and place the basket on floor
next to you. Spread out the underlay.
More than 2000 years ago, there lived a rich rajah and a loving queen. In Nepal, beyond
their palace rose the Himalayan mountains.
Place the palace underlay in the corner of the underlay.Place the rajah and the
queen in the palace.
The rajah and loving queen had a baby. The baby’s hair was black and shining as the
night, and his skin was burnished dark gold like the morning sun. As soon as he was
born, a pair of elephants came and showered the baby with warm, then cool water from
their trunks. Flowers fell from the trees and covered him. His baby cries were like the
singing of the birds that flew around him. His name was Siddhartha Gautama.
Place the elephants, flowers and birds around the baby.
His name was Siddhartha Gautama and he lived in the palace.
Buddha Grows Up adapted
Spiritual Theme: Yearning
1
Place Prince Siddhartha in the palace.
His father the rajah decided that the prince would stay in the palace and its gardens.
Place blocks about 1 inch away from the palace it simulate it’s walls.
There were storytellers and musicians and dancers and all kinds of games in the palace.
Every day ice was brought down from the mountains to make sherbets with tasty fruit
juices. Teachers came from all over India and even China and Prince Siddhartha learned
all their languages. He was never lonely because his cousin Ananda became his
playmate and best friend.
Place Ananda next to Prince Siddhartha.
A servant went with Prince Siddhartha, holding an umbrella and a fan so that the prince
might never feel the heat, the cold rain, or even the dry dust that might make him
sneeze. No person or creature who was old or sick or suffering in any way was allowed
to stay within the walls. At night gardeners picked off the wilted flowers so everything
would be fresh and perfect the next day.
But Prince Siddhartha begged his father to let him go outside the walls. Finally the rajah
had to say yes, because he had built a great park with places for every kind of sport. To
get there one had to travel through the city.
Place the felt road on the underlay beginning at the palace.
But first the rajah had all the houses in the city painted like new. Fresh plants replaced
any that were not perfect. All the people were given new clothes, and they were told to
keep any old or sick or disabled people inside on that day. Only healthy attractive young
people and their children were to line the roads and smile at the prince.
Place a beautiful house, fresh plant, beautiful flowers on the underlay on
the‘road outside the place gate. Place Siddhartha and Ananda in the carriage
outside the gate too.
As the prince rode in his carriage to the park, he saw someone bent over and walking
with a cane. He asked, “Why is that man’s hair thin and without any color? Why
doesn’t he stand up and walk straight and tall?”
Place the old man by the road.
The driver answered, “He’s very old and lame, as we all will be someday.”
Buddha Grows Up adapted
Spiritual Theme: Yearning
2
“Will you be old someday? Will I change like that? Will my father? Will Ananda?”asked
Siddhartha.
“Yes, every one of us will grow old, Prince, even your horse,” answered the driver.
A little further on lay a woman who was sick and in pain.
Place the sick woman by the road, pause, and then the funeral.
Then they passed a funeral and saw mourners sobbing and wailing in grief.
Place the funeral wheel on the road.
In that one day Prince Siddhartha learned of old age, sickness, and death even though
his father tried to protect him and keep this knowledge from him.
Prince Siddhartha thought of all that the driver had told him about sadness and
suffering and all he had seen this day. He wondered if there wasn’t a way to end
suffering. He yearned to end the suffering. He grew sadder and sadder as his
compassion for everything in the world grew deeper and deeper.
Wondering Questions

I wonder if you have ever seen or heard any of this before?

I wonder which part of this story is the most important?

I wonder which part you like the best?

I wonder where you might be in this story?

I wonder if you have ever seen someone suffering that made you sad?

I wonder if you have ever seen something that you asked questions about to try
to understand?

I wonder what it would be like to never see anything sad?

I wonder what it would be like never to see anything that was hard to
understand?

I wonder if suffering is necessary to being alive?
Buddha Grows Up adapted
Spiritual Theme: Yearning
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
I wonder what each of us can do to try and help people with their sadness and
suffering?

I wonder what you would want to do to help people be happy?

I wonder where the Spirit of Love and Mystery might be in this story?
Now watch how I put this story away, so that if you make it your work, you will be able
to get it ready for the next person.
Place each object back into the basket in reverse order, naming them as you go,
and then fold up the underlay and place on the basket before you take the basket
to the shelf.
Now watch where I go to put this basket away so that you will know where it is found in
the classroom.
Place basket on shelf.
Buddha Grows Up adapted
Spiritual Theme: Yearning
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