Theatre Scripts

Home , Arya (Buddhism), Sujata (milkmaid)

Women and Buddhism in Playwriting: Two Theatre Scripts

Orada Lelanuja, BA, MA

A Dissertation

FINE ARTS (THEATRE)

Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Approved

Norman A. Bert Chair of Committee

Dorothy Chansky

Dennis Fehr

Jonathan Marks

Mark Webb

Peggy Gordon Miller Dean of the Graduate School

August, 2011

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, May 2011

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the following people for assisting and supporting me in my studies and in this project:

Texas Tech University and the Department of Theatre and Dance for giving me the opportunity to complete this project.

Dr. Norman A. Bert for being my academic advisor, playwriting mentor, and dissertation chair.

Dr. Dorothy Chansky, Dr. Dennis Fehr, Dr. Jonathan Marks, and Dr. Mark Webb for reading my dissertation, being part of the committee, and giving comments and suggestions.

Dr. Narissra Carter for helping me with the communication theories and the presentation of the results of the survey of the audience‘s responses to the production of Arya.

Arya’s production team, cast, and crew for making my script come to life.

Dr. Howard Blanning for introducing me to playwriting and always supporting me in this artistic career.

All my professors, friends, and colleagues at Texas Tech University and elsewhere for all your support and encouragement.

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, May 2011

TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...... ii

ABSTRACT ...... iv

I. INTRODUCTION...... 1

II. WOMEN AND BUDDHISM IN PLAYWRITING: AN UNCOMMON PRACTICE ...... 8

III. ARYA AND UNDER A SORROWLESS TREE: THE WRITING PROCESS ...... 55

IV. LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION, PHYSICALITY, AND AMBUGUITY IN THE PRODUCTION OF ARYA ...... 69

V. CONCLUSION ...... 85

WORKS CITED ...... 110

APPENDICES ...... 101 A. The Script of Arya ...... 115 B. The Script of Under A Sorrowless Tree ...... 220 C. Arya’s Program ...... 318 D. The Survey of the Audience‘s Responses to the Production of Arya ...... 321

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Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, May 2011

ABSTRACT Since the time of Buddhism‘s inception, women have occupied an ambiguous position in the religion, partially because Buddhist arts and literature are almost always created and written by men. The professional problem in playwriting for this project is, therefore, to write two theatre scripts that present certain Buddhist teachings while at the same time emphasizing female characters and their experiences. One of the scripts is an original and the other is an adaptation from a novel. Arya, the original script, tells the story of a spirit and her three different past lives. The adaptation, Under A Sorrowless

Tree, focuses on the journey Vasitthi, a character from Karl Gjellerup‘s The Pilgrim

Kamanita, takes toward the Buddhist enlightenment. Upon completing this project, I hope to contribute works that bring focus to the role of women and Buddhism in the field of contemporary playwriting.

The dissertation is divided into five chapters, with the two scripts included as appendices. Chapter I introduces my background and my approach to the scripts and the dissertation. Chapter II surveys selected Buddhist-related dramas in certain countries in

Asia and discusses how this project fits into these historical practices. Chapter III relates the details of the writing processes of the two scripts. Chapter IV contains the account of the production of Arya, which was presented at Texas Tech University in November of

2009. Chapter V displays the results of the survey of the audience‘s responses to the production of Arya and the analysis of the survey, with an emphasis on the audience‘s reception of the Buddhist content in the script.

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Since the time of Buddhism‘s inception, women have occupied an ambiguous position in the religion, partially because Buddhist arts and literature are almost always created and written by men. As a devout Buddhist and a female playwright, I decided that the professional problem for this project was to write two theatre scripts that focused on certain Buddhist teachings while at the same time emphasizing female characters and their experiences.

Buddhism is often regarded as a male-dominated religion, and in Thailand, which is my native country, Buddhism is often blamed for gender inequality and for providing a moral framework for male domination (Kislenko 130). Nevertheless, Buddhist teaching itself makes no distinction between men and women, which means that they both can equally attain the goal of Buddhism, widely known as enlightenment or Nirvana.

Furthermore, in Buddhist cosmology, sexual identity is not fixed, which also means that a man can be born as a woman in his next life and vice versa. Yet, very few Buddhist arts depict a woman‘s story.

I personally became interested in women and Buddhism as a topic in theatre when

I took up playwriting as my major area of specialization. I was interested in creating thought-provoking theatre that could offer both spirituality and entertainment. Therefore,

I decided to incorporate some Buddhist thoughts and elements in my plays. The school of Buddhism with which I grew up is called Theravada Buddhism, which is based on the ancient Pali canon. However, even though I practice Theravada, I am interested in

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011

Buddhism in general and have also been influenced by Zen Buddhism. For that reason, the Buddhist elements in my writing can vary; I do not intend to focus on the teaching of a specific sect of Buddhism. I am interested in the teaching of the Buddha as a whole, as well as the spiritual aspect of Buddhism in general.

As a female playwright, I personally believe that one can write better when she is writing about the subjects that she knows or has experienced; consequently, most of my plays focus primarily on female characters and their experiences. For this professional problem in playwriting, I decided to combine and emphasize two of the most important aspects about myself as a writer and as a person: femaleness and Buddhism. My primary goal for this project was thus quite personal: I wanted to develop and polish my skills as a playwright in the topic of women and Buddhism, as well as further educate myself about women and Buddhism. Because I set out to write plays about women and

Buddhism, I needed to somehow evaluate whether I succeeded or not. In addition, because I write in order to be produced, I needed to know if what I set out to do is comprehensible to the target audience, which was the Lubbock residents and the students, faculty, and staff at Texas Tech University. My secondary goal for this project, therefore, was to successfully convey the thoughts imbedded in my plays to the general or the target audiences. To put it bluntly, I would like to create theatre that has meaning to me, and hopefully, it will have some meaning to audience members as well.

Even though women have not been widely portrayed in plays influenced by

Buddhism, there have been traditions of Buddhist-related dramas in certain countries in

Asia, including Thailand, China, India, and Japan. Most of these Buddhist-related plays

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 have been written by male playwrights and focus on male characters or different male incarnations of the Buddha. However, some plays from these countries also concentrate on female characters, especially the Woman Plays in the Noh theatre of Japan and the

Buddhist plays by Rabindranath Tagore, the Nobel Prize laureate from India. Therefore, the second chapter of this dissertation will discuss the role of women in Buddhism in general, some selected Buddhist dramas with an emphasis on the works that give more attention to their female characters, and how my project fits into these practices.

One of my scripts written for this project is an original, and the other is an adaptation from a novel. The first script, Arya, is about a female spirit who is prompted to tell the stories of her past incarnations in order for her to peacefully move on to her next life. The title of the script, Arya, is a Sanskrit word meaning noble. The play is directly influenced by the Four Noble Truths, which is one of the core teachings in

Buddhism that emphasizes the existence of suffering and the way to end suffering. The word ―arya‖ is taken from the Sanskrit term for the Four Noble Truths (Catvari

Aryasatyani). According to Buddhist thoughts, suffering is considered noble because it can lead one to the path that ends suffering, and it takes a noble person to realize the true nature of suffering. A good example would be the Buddha, who sought the path that leads to the end of suffering after realizing that life itself is, in fact, suffering. The word

―arya‖ is also a common female name in Thailand. Therefore, the title of the play combines an idea from Buddhist teaching as well as projects a female connotation.

There are twelve characters in Arya: eight female and four male. To further emphasize the roles imposed upon them by the society, all of the characters are named

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 either according to the role they are expected to perform in their society, their function in the family, or how they relate to other characters in the play, i.e. Mother, Wife,

Grandmother, Chief, Widow, etc. Even though the characters‘ names are generic, their stories and experiences are specific. Throughout the course of the play, the audience will see how these characters fulfill or neglect the duties that are assigned to them; for example, how Wife performs her duties as a wife or how Mother fulfills her role as a mother. Eventually, I would like the audience to understand that these characters are much more than the titles they bear, that a mother or a grandmother has more complexity and history than is apparent. The Buddhist ideas are thus inserted and intertwined in the stories and the lives of these characters.

The second script is called Under a Sorrowless Tree, which is an adaptation from the novel The Pilgrim Kamanita by a Danish author named Karl Gjellerup. The novel, written in 1906, was translated into Thai and has been a required-reading text in many high school and college curriculums as a classic of Buddhist literature. The Pilgrim

Kamanita tells the story of Kamanita, a young merchant in search of the way to end his suffering. The script of Under a Sorrowless Tree, on the other hand, focuses on

Kamanita‘s love interest, Vasitthi, and her own journey toward the Buddhist goal. Even though both the novel and the script deal directly with the idea of enlightenment, the texts use a love story to slowly introduce the audience, as well as the characters, to certain

Buddhist thoughts and concepts.

I titled the script Under a Sorrowless Tree because throughout the script I use the motif of a sorrowless tree as a place where Vasitthi can take refuge. A common tree in

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India, the name of the tree itself suggests the duality, as well as the non-duality, of nature, which is found in Buddhist teachings: one can never know or appreciate happiness if he/she never experiences sorrow, and, eventually, through sorrow, one can begin the quest for liberation. By using the world ―sorrowless‖ instead of ―happy‖ or ―joyful,‖ the emphasis is on the absence of ―sorrow‖ as well as the notion of duality of nature itself.

However, in the end, these terms and feelings, including nature‘s duel phenomenon, are merely created by human perceptions. The aim of Buddhism is for one to be aware of these positive and negative notions and ultimately to transcend them. The details of the writing process of both Arya and Under a Sorrowless Tree will be discussed in detail in

Chapter III, and the scripts of both plays are included in the appendices.

As part of the requirements for a professional problem in playwriting dissertation, one of the scripts has to receive a full production. Arya was submitted by a student director and was selected as part of Department of Theatre and Dance‘s 2009-2010 season at Texas Tech University. The play was thus produced in the Laboratory Theatre in November 2009. The account of the production of Arya as well as the problems and challenges I experienced during the production process will be discussed in chapter IV.

Besides my own personal responses to the production, I used a survey to evaluate this project based on how the content in the script of Arya came across to the audience and whether the audience understood what I was trying to communicate to them. In particular:

1. I wanted the audience to understand some issues regarding female experiences

and identity through the context of the play.

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011

2. Although my primary goal was not to educate the audience about Buddhism, I

still wanted the audience to gain some knowledge or some understanding about

Buddhist thoughts or about the nature of suffering based on the content of the

script.

Finding out the answers to the questions in the survey helped me evaluate myself and adjust my writing methods accordingly.

I conducted the survey with discussion questions during and after the production of Arya in November 2009. The survey was not focused on the participants‘ knowledge of Buddhism but more on their understanding and interpretation of the script and its characters. For audience members who already had some knowledge of Buddhism, the survey asked them to compare their previous knowledge in relation to the play. For audience members who had no previous knowledge of Buddhism, they were asked to explain, based on the production, what they may have learned about Buddhism. The goal was not to test their knowledge but to determine the participants‘ understanding of the script and how comprehensible the production was to the audience. The details and the results of the survey will be reported in chapter V.

Because the topic of female experience and Buddhism are not often seen together in current playwriting practices or in other literary forms, I believe this project is worth attempting. I feel that the topic of women and Buddhism is appropriate in this time and age when women‘s voices have been more acknowledged and more people, both in the

East and in the West, have become more interested in the teaching of Buddhism. By

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 joining these two subjects I hope to create and present to contemporary theatre audience new and thought-provoking scripts that embody two important aspects of my identity.

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011

CHAPTER II

WOMEN AND BUDDHISM IN PLAYWRITING: AN UNCOMMON

PRACTICE

Because of the ambiguous and inferior position of women in Buddhism, along with the fact that most Buddhist art and literature up to the twentieth century were created and produced by men, the roles and the images of women in Buddhist art and literature were either negative or inconspicuous.1 The same can be said about playwriting, an occupation and privilege that has been enjoyed mostly by men.

This chapter will explore the relationship between women and Buddhism, feminist theories and their relation to my approach to my writing. I will also examine several Buddhist-related dramas in certain countries in Asia, namely the Buddha‘s birth stories, Noh drama of Japan, Buddhist plays by Rabindranath Tagore, as well as contemporary theatrical practices in Thailand with an emphasis on the emergence of the re-interpretation of the Buddhist classics by modern-day playwrights and performers.

Placing my own work in these historical contexts, I believe that my effort is an important contribution of works by women about women into the male dominated area of Buddhist- inspired theatre.

The Ambiguous Position of Women in Buddhism

Buddhism is a branch of knowledge or religion generating from the teaching of

Siddhartha Gautama, widely known as the Buddha, who is believed to have lived in the

5th century BCE in ancient India (Mitchell 11). There are now two major branches of

1 This statement is my own conclusion from the study of women in Buddhism, as well as Buddhist arts and arts in Thailand in general. 8

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Buddhism: Theravada Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism. Theravada, which literally means the Ways of the Elders, refers to the school of Buddhism that is considered the oldest. Theravada Buddhist teaching is based primarily on the Pali Canon, the first

Buddhist scripture believed to be written in the first century BCE (Mitchell 67).

Theravada Buddhism is currently practiced in Sri Lanka and countries in Southeast Asia; however, the tradition in each country is slightly different based on the country‘s existing belief, history, and culture (Mitchell 69).

Mahayana Buddhism came into being around the first century CE. Translated as the Great Vehicle, Mahayana Buddhism aims to create numerable Bodhisattvas or enlightened individuals who will help all living beings enter nirvana (Mitchell 103-104).

Mahayana Buddhism is widely practiced in countries in East Asia, such as China, Japan, and Korea. In recent years due to the increasing popularity of Zen and Tibetan traditions,

Mahayana Buddhism has become more widely known in the West than Theravada.

Even though Theravada and Mahayana are distinct in their approach to the

Buddha‘s teaching, the final goal of both schools, however, is identical. The final goal of

Buddhism is nirvana, or enlightenment. Because the Buddha did not explain nirvana in details, nirvana is simply known as the end of all suffering, when the cessation of greed, hatred, and delusion takes place (Mitchell 62). To achieve the final end of Buddhism, one needs to follow the Dharma, or the teaching of the Buddha. The core teaching of the

Buddha is called the Four Noble Truths, which consist of:

1. The truth of suffering

2. The truth of the origin of suffering

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3. The truth of the cessation of suffering

4. The truth of the path that leads to the cessation of suffering

In order to talk about the Four Noble Truths, one also needs to learn about the

Three Marks of Existence, which are suffering, impermanence, and no-self.

Buddhism teaches that everything in life is suffering and all living beings keep reincarnating because of our ignorance of this truth. In order to overcome suffering, which is absolutely possible according to Buddhist thought, one needs to understand and realize that life is suffering, that everything is impermanent, and that there is no-self. To do that, the Buddha taught what is called the Noble Eightfold Path, which is the path that leads to the end of suffering, or the end of birth and death. The Noble Eightfold Path is as follows: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. This eightfold path should be practiced together in order for one to realize that there is no self. The Four Noble Truths comprise, therefore, the heart of the Buddha‘s teaching and are central in every branch of

Buddhism.

In order to understand the image of women in Buddhist literature, it is important to look at the cultural context in which Buddhism arose and developed. Modern scholars and historians have placed the birth of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, in the year 563

BCE in Lumbini, south of Nepal. He was the son of Suddhodana, chief of the Sakya clan in Kosala, an ancient Indian region. Prior to the awakening of the Buddha, India‘s major spiritual belief was the Brahmanical system later known as Hinduism. The ultimate aim of Hinduism is the spiritual liberation when the eternal soul of the individual, or the

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 individual‘s true self called Atman, is united with the Supreme Soul known as Brahman

(Mitchell 9-10). In fact, when the Buddha was searching for ways to end suffering, he received training from several Brahmas, or Hindu priests but discovered that the

Brahmas‘ method of training could not lead him to the end of suffering. So he left the

Brahmas to practice on his own. The major break between Hinduism and Buddhism, therefore, lies in the Buddha‘s discovery of the Four Noble Truths and the Three Marks of Existence. Buddhism teaches that people mistakenly believe that their souls are eternal because of worldly attachment and ignorance, and that the Hindu Brahman, the

Universal Spirit, is also the subject of impermanence. Despite this major difference,

Buddhism, however, shares certain characteristics of the Hindu religion, including the view of women in ancient India.

The tension between the maternal aspect and the destructive aspect in women in

Buddhism is believed to be inherited from the Indian mythological structure. Diana Paul illustrates this claim by using the image of the dominant goddess Devi, who is believed to be the mother of the human race, saying that ―when she manifests herself as the fearsome goddess Kali, she is often depicted as an old hag with skull-laden necklaces, gluttonously drinking the blood of her victim‖ (5). There are two conflicting sides of this one dominant goddess; therefore, women in ancient India were generally seen as both maternal and destructive at the same time and needed to be controlled, possibly by the male figures in their lives. ―A girl, a young woman, or even an old woman,‖ states The

Laws of Manu of ancient India, ―should not do anything independently, even in (her own) house. In childhood a woman should be under her father‘s control, in youth under her

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 husband‘s, and when her husband is dead, under her sons‘‖ (Manu 115). The woman‘s place was thus in the home, and her most valuable characteristic was her fecundity (Falk

107).

With the rise of Buddhism, however, the Buddhist community functioned as an escape for women from the ancient rules that controlled and defined them. In spite of the freedom enjoyed by women who decided to take refuge in Buddhism, the beginning of this liberation was filled with contradictions. From the very beginning, Buddhism was ambiguous about women because ―Buddhists advocated both that there is some problem with women and that women are just as capable as men in achieving Buddhism‘s goals‖

(Gross 30). According to I. B. Horner, the idea that having daughters may have been better than having sons and that women could carry on the family line if no son was suitable was recognized and perhaps introduced by the Buddha himself (3). However, in all stories of the founding of the order of the nuns, the Buddha is portrayed as being extremely unwilling to let the community of nuns come into being (Falk 106). The famous story follows: The Buddha‘s step-mother, Mahapajapati, along with a group of women, approached the Buddha three times to ask for ordination. Three times the

Buddha refused. When Ananda, his closest disciple and personal assistant, pressured the

Buddha to answer whether women could equally attain enlightenment, the Buddha then allowed Mahapajapati and the group of nuns to be ordained under the eight special rules which ―subordinated the nuns‘ order to the monks‘ order‖ (Gross 9). Moreover, according to the Vinaya, the book of disciplines, the Buddha told Ananda that since

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 women had gone forth in the Dharma, or the teaching of the Buddha, the true Dharma will not last as long as originally predicted:

If, Ananda, women had not obtained the going forth from home into homelessness

in the dhamma2 and discipline proclaimed by the Truth-finder, the Brahma-faring,

Ananda, would have lasted long, true dhamma would have endured for a thousand

years. But since, Ananda, women have gone forth in the dhamma and discipline

proclaimed by the Truth-finder, now Ananda, the Brahma-faring will not last

long, true dhamma will endure only for five hundred years. (qtd. in Falk 107)

Therefore, even though the Buddha said that women could reach enlightenment and allowed them to be ordained, the ordination of women somehow caused damage to the longevity of the Dharma.

Once the order of the nuns was established, women had a place to go if they became weary of domestic life and wanted a positive vocation for spiritual endeavor

(Horner 14). The writings of these early Buddhist nuns, or the Therigatha, which is found in the Pali Canon, demonstrate their gratefulness to the Buddha and the Buddhist community, as well as their joy of being free:

So freed! So thoroughly freed am I! —

from three crooked things set free:

from mortar, pestle,

& crooked old husband.

Having uprooted the craving

that leads to becoming,

2 Dhamma is the Pali pronunciation of Dharma, which is a Sanskrit word for the teaching of the Buddha. 13

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011

I'm set free from aging & death. (Thanissaro, ―Thig 1‖)

According to the early writings, monks and nuns appeared to be equal in their spiritual duties and achievements. Even though nuns naturally had their own separate quarters, the sexes were not segregated. Together, nuns and monks carried out some of their official acts, such as performing ordination and teaching the Dharma to the laity

(Horner 3). There are also mentions of inspiring female figures in early Buddhism, such as, ―Mahapajapati who founded the order of nuns, Patacara and Sukka, two great preachers, the extraordinary donors Visakha, Mallika the queen, Ambapali the courtesan, and many others‖ (Falk 105). These accounts prove that in spite of the ambiguous nature of their position in Buddhism, women did have an impact on ancient Buddhist communities.

The nuns‘ writings and the accounts of the lives of important women in

Buddhism, however, seem to be insignificant in relation to the number of the stories of the Buddha and his male disciples. In the Apadana,3 there are biographies of forty nuns who are said to have been contemporaries of the Buddha compared to five hundred and forty seven biographies of monks; most of these forty biographies are also found in the

Therigatha, which were written by the nuns themselves (Horner 2). Therefore, because

Buddhist literature has been written mainly by monks, it seldom mentions women‘s achievements and contributions. Furthermore, because nuns could only instruct women devotees, their wisdom and stories remained confined within their own religious order

(Lang 66). This confinement, thus, has limited the role of women as well as the tradition of women writers in Buddhism.

3 The Apadana is the collection of biographies in the Pali canon. 14

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011

Besides the limitation of the nuns‘ writings and recognition, the monks‘ writings also depict women as the hindrance to the monks‘ spiritual awakening. Karen Christina

Lang explores the phrase ―Lord Death‘s Snare‖ in ―Lord Death‘s Snare: Gender-Related

Imagery in the Theragatha and the Therigatha‖ and how the Buddhist monks and nuns interpreted this same phrase differently in their writings. Lang suggests that the life setting of a text, or the cultural and historical context in which the text is written, is of fundamental importance in understanding the text and its formulation, and the formulation of all texts, including the Buddhist canon, occurs within an androcentric patriarchal culture and history (Lang 63). The monks‘ verses depict women ―not only as bonds that tie men to home and family, but also as snares of Lord Death that will entrap them in the mire of sensual pleasure‖ (Lang 70).

Covered with gold ornaments,

Attended by maidservants,

And bearing our son on her hip,

My wife approached me.

I saw her coming,

The mother of my child,

Adorned, well-dressed,

Like a snare of Lord Death laid out. (qtd. in Lang 70)

The monks merely saw their wives—the mothers of their children—as Lord Death‘s dangerous traps.

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011

The nuns, on the other hand, understood that the bodies could be used as traps, but their bodies also taught them about the true and impermanent nature of existence:

Intoxicated with my complexion

figure, beauty, & fame;

haughty with youth,

I despised other women.

Adorning this body

embellished to delude foolish men,

I stood at the door to the brothel;

a hunter with snare laid out.

I showed off my ornaments,

and revealed many a private part.

I worked my manifold magic,

laughing out loud at the crowd.

Today, wrapped in a double cloak,

my head shaven

having wandered for alms,

I sit at the foot of a tree

and attain the state of no-thought.

All ties—human & divine—have been cut.

Having cast off all effluents,

cooled am I, unbound. (Thanissaro, ―Thig 5.2‖)

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011

This verse demonstrates that the nuns understood the danger of the worldly pleasures and determined to cut themselves from the bond that once bound them.

Moreover, while the monks‘ verses concentrated on the female external appearance as the treacherous snare, the nuns, on the other hand, took their own body as the object of meditation:

What difference

does being a woman make

when the mind‘s well-centered,

when knowledge is progressing,

seeing clearly, rightly,

into the Dhamma.

Anyone who thinks

―I‘m a woman‖

or ―a man‖

or ―Am I anything at all?‖—

that‘s who Mara‘s fit4

to address. (Thanissaro, ―Soma Sutta: Sister Soma‖)

This verse stresses the danger of sensual pleasures for both sexes as well as the absence of the duality of being male or female.

In spite of the stories regarding women in early Buddhism and the writings of early Buddhist nuns, the valid ordination for nuns in the Theravada tradition has now

4 According to Thich Nhat Hanh, Mara is ―the Tempter, the Evil One, the Killer, the opposite of the Buddha nature in each person. Sometimes personalized as a deity‖ (Nhat Hanh 17). 17

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 disappeared, and ―contemporary attempts to revive nuns‘ ordination lineages are extremely controversial and are often met with extreme skepticism, or even hostility‖

(Gross 11). Even though women can take on a renunciation lifestyle, they are not officially recognized as monastics and their status is much lower than that of the monks

(Gross 11). Therefore, a woman‘s role in Buddhism was reduced to that of a donor, which is an affirmation of women‘s nurturing and maternal role as seen in some prominent figures in the Buddha‘s life:

One such figure was Buddha‘s wife, Yasodhara, who cooked the food which, as a

Bodhisatta, he offered to the innumerable Buddhas who had gone before him and

which made possible his own Buddhahood. Another was Sujata, the daughter of a

village chief, who presented the fasting Buddha with a dish of rice and milk, thus

ending his period of extreme asceticism; she then became the first female lay

disciple. Her action found a highly receptive audience, and it has been said that

for Buddhist laywomen generally the distribution of food to monks became ‗a

supremely pious act of dana’ of which Sujata was a prime exemplar. (Andaya

12)

Besides Yasodhara and Sujata, other women in the early history of Buddhism were noted and admired because of their maternal quality; for example, some of the well- known stories that have often been told are the stories of the Buddha‘s mother‘s giving birth to the Buddha, the Buddha‘s devoted step-mother, and the Buddha preaching to his mother in heaven. Even though the women and their actions were praiseworthy, it seemed that they were only limited to certain prescribed roles. Consequently, the role of

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 women found in the Brahmanical society continues in Buddhism, where women are reduced to their maternal and domestic realm.

Because a woman‘s basic function is domesticity, ―a woman was a veritable image of becoming and of all the forces of blind growth and productivity which

Buddhism knew as samsara‖ (Falk 110). Since women are the symbol of samsara, the prototype of woman as evil is also found in the Theravada scriptures, or the Pali canon:

When the Buddha was on the threshold of enlightenment, Mara, the sovereign of

the desire realm—and it is desire that blinds us to the human condition—

desperately attempted to prevent the eminent enlightenment of the Buddha. In

order to tempt the Buddha, Mara dispatched his three daughters, personifications

of Lust (Raga), Aversion (Arati), and Craving (Trsna), to appear before the

Buddha. The ultimate in feminine seduction was embodied in these three but the

Buddha-to-be was utterly repelled by them. (Paul 7)

Transcending the bonds of women thus came to be synonymous to the Buddha‘s transcendence of the realm of existence or samsara, which became a favorite theme in the male-written Buddhist literature.

Because women are seen as the symbol of the attachment to this world, to be born as a woman is considered the evidence of ―an inadequate store of merit‖ (Andaya 4). In the Jakatas, or the tales of the Buddha‘s past lives, the Buddha is never portrayed as a woman. However, if a woman is meritorious, she may gain the privilege to be reborn as a man in her next life (Falk 107). In the Mahayana tradition, ―women are advised to seek male rebirth because women are by nature morally defective‖ (Gross 63), and in those

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 texts, rules and advice are also given as to how to achieve a male birth. According to

Gross, the most famous solution to the female birth is found in the Mahayana‘s concept of the Pure Land, the place where ―there will be no female birth and the name of

‗woman‘ will not even be heard‖ and ―women who successfully use the method for gaining rebirth in the Pure Land will be reborn there as men‖ (65). This method, however, is contradictory to the Buddha‘s statement that women can equally achieve enlightenment.

Even though the Buddhist texts from both the Mahayana and the Theravada traditions appear to be androcentric and misogynistic, Gross reminds the reader that the motivation behind these texts is, in fact, pity and compassion (66). These texts were influenced by the gender stereotypes of the surrounding culture that define women as weaker and less intelligent. It is widely known that the Dharma is neither male nor female, and that maleness and femaleness do not really exist; however, ―the discriminations against women, not discriminations against men, are the problem to be overcome by sex-neutral understandings‖ (Gross 73). These discriminations continue in

Buddhist and Buddhist-related literature and drama throughout Asia.

Buddhist and Feminist Influences

From the previous section, we can see that the tension between women and

Buddhism has existed since the time of the Buddha. This section will introduce some feminist theories as they were applied to the content of my two scripts. Jill Dolan

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 suggests that the American feminism5 can be broadly divided into liberal, cultural or radical, and material segments (3). Liberal feminism, which is derived from liberal humanism, proposes ―working within existing social and political organization‖ rather than changing the existing social structure (3). They believe in the idea of inserting women into the main stream of political and social organizations (4). Cultural feminism, on the other hand, ―seeks to reverse the gender hierarchy by theorizing female values as superior to male values‖ (6). Their effort is based on the idea that there is a clear difference between men and women because of their innate biological structures, and while the difference between men and women is emphasized, Cultural feminists tend to ignore the differences between women and assume the generic sameness among them (9).

This assumption thus creates some tension between Cultural feminists and Materialist feminists.

Materialist feminism ―views women as historical subjects whose relation to prevailing social structures is also influenced by race, class, and sexual identification‖

(Dolan 10). Materialist feminists criticize the ideological nature of all cultural products, pointing out that ―dominant ideology has been naturalized as nonideology, since the perceptions of the more powerful have come to serve the standards for the less powerful, who do not have the same access to the media and artistic outlets that create public opinion‖ (15). Gender, therefore, becomes a constructed form that supports the structure of the dominant culture which oppresses both women and men (10).

5 Even though I was born and raised in Thailand, I have received most of my higher education in the United States. Therefore, American feminism has greatly influenced my writing, especially during the process of completing this dissertation. 21

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011

Third-World feminists also believe that the experiences of women have to be examined within their historical, cultural, and geographical contexts (Mohanty 17). The term ―Third-Word women‖ is used ―to designate the majority of the world‘s women, who live outside the industrialized West, and sometimes also to include women of color within the Western countries‖ (Bartkowski and Kolmar 58). The term, as pointed out by bell hooks, generates problems in several ways. Mohanty further emphasizes that the heart of the problems lies in how some Western feminists see the Third-World women as a ―singular, monolithic subject‖ (Mohanty 17). Mohanty suggests that any intellectual and political construction of Third-World feminism must address the internal critique of hegemonic Western feminism, as well as feminist methods that are geographically, historically, and culturally grounded (17). Because of the assumption of women as a single oppressed group introduced by the Western radical and liberal feminisms (39), this analysis of sexual difference leads to what Mohanty calls ―Third World Difference‖, which in turns creates the image of an ―average Third World woman‖ – a representation of women in the Third World countries formulated by Western feminists (19-22).

The invented representation of women creates the notion of the ideological

―Woman‖ in contrast to the real life ―woman‖. Sue-Allen Case points out that the fictional ―Woman‖ is invented by the dominant, patriarchal culture. The invention of

―Woman‖ becomes the standard representation of the female gender and in turn suppresses the real ―experiences, stories, feelings, and fantasies of actual women‖ (7).

The script of Arya was written with the attempt to emphasize and differentiate the notion and representation of ―Woman‖ and ―woman.‖

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011

Arya started out with the idea that the characters would not have a given name; they would be named according to the roles prescribed to them by the society or their own family, such as, Mother, Daughter, Grandmother, Father, Widow, and so on.

Throughout the years, women have been ―framed in terms of sameness defined by women‘s separation from men,‖ and ―the assumption of sameness among women based on the mother/daughter model is coercive, and marginalizes those women who prefer to cut loose from the continual reference to the family or to formulate their gender in other ways‖ (Dolan 9). The script was written so that the characters are trapped in their prescribed roles, with the eye of the society watching and expecting them to perfectly perform their duties.

Even though the characters‘ names are very generic and most of the characters are put in the society where they can hardly speak their mind or show their true feelings, I attempted to create well-rounded characters who do not quite fit in with their cultural and political surroundings. I wanted to demonstrate that in spite of the generic names based the roles given to them, these characters are unique individuals who struggle within themselves because of the conflicts between what they really want and what is demanded from them. To take the materialist feminist standpoint, the male characters in Arya are also assigned the roles that they are supposed to perform in their family and society, for example, Father, Chief, and Friend. Despite being the authority figure in his community,

Chief‘s inner beliefs are in conflict with the ancient rules that he needs to obey. In spite of the fact that Father tries to support his family and his Japanese wife, she is still planning to leave him. And all Friend can do in his situation is be a good friend.

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In the last scene of the play, however, the characters get a chance to speak their minds and to show their true feelings. Wife confesses that even though she died for her abusive husband, she truly despises him and wants him to be punished. She admits that she decided to give up her life partly because she was tired of living and partly because she did not think that she could stand being blamed for causing her husband‘s death.

Grandmother also admits that she wants to be married to Chief, but she has to reject his offer and stay with her grandson because it is what was expected of her. Some of the characters also express the regrets for their decisions, as well as what they have learned from the situations and what they can take to the future. The script was written with the hope that the audience will look at these characters and see how the society has treated them and how they inflict pain and suffering on others and on themselves.

The Buddhist concepts are inserted in the script through the spirit characters and the spirit scenes which are scattered throughout the script. Arya deals mostly with the

Buddhist idea of suffering and how the female and male characters suffer and learn.

Despite the spiritual realm presented in the play, I believe Arya, compared to Under A

Sorrowless Tree, is more earthly, with an emphasis on how to progress spiritually through human pain and suffering.

The script of Under A Sorrowless Tree deals directly with the final goal of

Buddhism, the idea that women can achieve enlightenment (as stated by the Buddha), and that in the end the essence of our being is neither female nor male. In the script of Under

A Sorrowless Tree, I intended to stay true to the original; therefore, I selected the story of

Vasitthi from The Pilgrim Kamanita, changed and added only a few necessary details,

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 and rearranged the events to create her story. Even though the story is taken directly from the novel, I believe that, as a writer, I added my own viewpoint to the play in the way I selected, arranged, and rewrote the events and dialogues.

Despite the stereotypical dramatic types – with Kamanita as a handsome and brave hero, Vasitthi as a beautiful and kind heroine, Satagira as a bad and wealthy villain,

Somadatta as Kamanita‘s sidekick, and Medini as Vasitthi‘s best friend and so on – I attempted to portray these characters as more than only a stereotypical casting from a prescribed mold. Because I intended to stay as true to the novel as possible, the characters and their descriptions are very close to those in the novel. I added my own take on the characters in the details of their dialogues, suggesting that they are much more than meets the eye. For example, Vasitthi is by no means a perfect heroine, and I wanted to portray her as a woman who struggles through life in the context of her own time and culture. She is expected to be an obedient daughter, wife, and disciple of the

Buddha, but at the same time she is struggling between what other people impose upon her and her own thoughts and feelings. Vasitthi is not the only character in the play who is struggling with her place in the society; I believe that other characters, male and female, also suffer from similar circumstances.

In the second to last scene of Under A Sorrowless Tree, Vasitthi and Kamanita are both portrayed as lotus flowers in the Paradise of the West. Even though they are still portrayed as being male and female, they are far removed from the earthly social, political, and cultural influences. And in the last scene of the play, Vasitthi and Kamanita are simply depicted as lights on stage. The characters have transcended the earthly

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 physical realm and their bodies are no longer present on stage. Apart from the actor‘s voice, there is nothing in the scene that can tell the audience the sexes of the characters, and since gender is a construction that results from social, political, and cultural structure of the individual‘s environment, the actor‘s voices cannot represent any gender categories imposed upon the characters either. As Vasitthi‘s light goes out, the only thing that remains is nothingness or the Buddhist concept of no-self.

I believe that the Buddhist notion of no-self is relevant in the discussion of women in Buddhism. Because Buddhism regards everyone and everything as void of self, the construct of a person‘s identity, or self, comes from the person‘s past and present experiences, which also includes the social structure and any ideology associated with the person. As a Buddhist, a feminist, and a playwright, I am aspired to create works that acknowledge and point out some issues faced by women at certain times and cultures, as well as to incorporate Buddhist thought as the underlying foundation of the stories.

Women and the Dramatization of the Buddha’s Birth Stories

Even though classical Buddhist literature does not relate directly to the contemporary practice of playwriting, it is useful to examine the role and the image of women in these classical traditions. Doing so will offer a better understanding of how the old writings can influence or invoke new interpretation or re-creation of female characters in Buddhist-related literature or drama today.

First and foremost, it is important to understand the relationship between

Buddhism and theatre. Originally, theatre had no place in the Buddhist culture.

According to H.V. Sharma in The Theatres of The Buddhists, theatre, or performing arts

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 in general, has been around since the time of the Buddha himself (32). However, performing arts of all kinds were regarded by the Buddha as sensual activities from which devoted disciples must refrain. Moreover, during the time that performing arts were closely related to rituals and ceremonies of other religions, Buddhism did not advise its devotees to perform these activities in order to solve their personal problems; in

Buddhism one is never to solve one‘s problems through rituals, ceremonies, or any other magical means, thus ruling dances, music, and dramatic recitation out of its tradition (40).

This set early Buddhism apart from other religious practices.

From the first century C.E. onwards, with the growth of Mahayanism, or the

Mahayana sect of Buddhism, the Mahayanists were ―traditionally credited with reviving the tradition of drama by way of using it as a means of propagating the faith‖ (Sharma

41). The Mahayanists used the stories of the Buddha, including his many past lives or

Jatakas and the stories of the many Bodhisattvas6 to form the core of the Mahayana‘s dramatic tradition.

The Jatakas are ―morally instructive stories that came about at different times in various parts of Southern Asia, in which the main character is an animal, human, or superhuman being seeking to do good‖ (Miettinen 12). These Jatakas were gathered into a collection of 547 stories in the Pali language, the first language in which Buddhist scriptures were officially recorded (Miettinen 12). As the Jatakas traveled to different countries, they were modified to fit the tastes and the customs of certain locations.

Sharma points out that ―these modifications are justified for the main reason that Jatakas were not mere stories for entertainment but edifying material for promoting ethical and

6 A Bodhisattva is referred to an enlightened being in the Mahayana tradition. 27

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 religious attitudes‖ (92). Later, in the Theravada countries, such as those in Southeast

Asia, the Jataka stories were also established as one of the most important sources of material for theatre (Miettinen 12). Dramatic recitation and theatre have now become part of both the Mahayana and the Theravada traditions.

Of all the Jataka stories, ten of them are termed ―the ten great Jatakas,‖ and illustrate the virtues of existence laid out by the Buddha, namely ―abnegation, perseverance, benevolence, resolution, wisdom, moral thought, patience, equanimity, truth, and giving‖ (Kislenko 44). The Visantara Jataka, one of the ten great Jatakas which relates the last life of the Buddha before he reached enlightenment, has been one of the most popular. Known for his charity, Prince Visantara gives away all of his belongings, including his own two children, to greedy Brahmans. Madri, Visantara‘s wife and the mother of the children, ―lamented but without a word of cmplaint [sic] against her husband. The next to go in charity to Sakra, the lord of the Devas, in the guise of the Brahman, was Madri herself‖ (Sharma 93). Thus, in the famous Jatakas, women are depicted as objects to give away, but never as a protagonist.

The Jatakas have been dramatized in all Buddhist cultures as the monks conceded to requests for rituals and festivals. Eventually, ―the monks themselves tended to worship the Buddha and, in a natural process of assimilation of the native conventions, they evolved and incorporated rituals and festivals around the Buddha as their sole deity‖

(Sharma 68-69). Performing arts such as music, dance, and imitation were included in the retelling of the Buddha‘s virtues and the rituals of the Buddhists.

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In Thailand, the classical masked drama or Khon and the less formal type of drama called Lakon, also draw from the Jataka tales (Kislenko 62). The Ramayana, one of the two great epics from the Indian Sanskrit literature, was adapted into Thai and is considered by the Thai people as the tale of one of the Buddha‘s past lives, with Prince

Rama, the protagonist, as the reincarnation of the Buddha (Miettinen 46). Titled

Ramakien in Thai, the epic tells the story of Prince Rama as he defeats the ogre Ravana and rescues his wife Sita who was abducted by the ogre. The Thai version of this tale was first written by the Thai King, Rama I, and later revised by his son, Rama II. With both entertainment and political purposes, Ramakien became the national epic and has been widely read and performed throughout Thailand. Sita, after going through the pyre of suttee to prove her loyalty to Prince Rama, becomes the symbol of purity and fidelity, the qualities to be sought after by any pious women. Again, in this well-known Jataka, a woman plays a passive role and is praised for her faithfulness towards her husband.

Incidentally, ―Buddhism is often blamed for the inequalities women in Thailand endure.

At the center of Thai culture, it is seen by some as a kind of moral framework for male domination‖ (Kislenko 130). Children in Thailand grow up with these Jataka stories with their image of the male heroes and the passive heroines and, consequently, perceive this stereotype as a normal and acceptable practice.

In a Mahayana country like Tibet, the Jatakas have been dramatized in both sacred and folk theatres. Because the Mahayana tradition also recognizes Bodhisattvas, or the enlightened beings, the sacred drama of Tibet thus ―consists mainly of Jatakas, punctuated by dramatized versions of the lives of the Tibetan and other Buddhist saints‖

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(Sharma 92). Due to the popularity of the Jatakas, it is, however, difficult to identify where the sacred drama ends and where the folk drama, or even the folk opera, begins, because these genres perform the Jatakas commonly (Sharma 96-97). The Jatakas, thus, function as well-known stories with moral lessons that may or may not be told in the

Buddhist setting or context.

In China and Japan, which are also Mahayana countries, the Jatakas, along with the stories of their respective Bodhisattvas, have been dramatized and performed. By the early Tang dynasty in China, a number of important Buddhist sutras had been translated into Chinese and had made their way into the country‘s dramatic literature. Apart from the Jatakas, one of the most well-known Buddhist stories is Journey to the West by an anonymous sixteenth-century novelist (Dolby 142). The novel traces Tang Buddhist monk Tipitaka‘s pilgrimage to India, accompanied by his three male disciples. Filled with adventurous events and Buddhist morality, this novel has inspired countless adaptations and dramatic texts to this day.

In Japan, besides the development of Noh drama, with a close connection to Zen

Buddhism, other dramatizations of Buddhist stories also exist. From The Collection of

Buddhist Plays gathered by Umeyo Hirano, the subjects of dramatization are diverse, including the stories of the Buddha himself, the Buddha‘s disciples, the legendary

Japanese monks, and the historical figures who devoted themselves to Buddhism. Again, female characters rarely exist, and the protagonists in these plays, like those from other

Buddhist cultures, are men.

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Being from Thailand where the culture has been heavily influenced by both the

South Asian and the East Asian countries, I grew up reading, watching, studying, and listening to these classic stories and literatures. Even though I have become used to the domination of the male characters, it has occurred to me that the women in these stories, as well as women in general, also have their own stories that have been ignored by the male writers. From the previous section, it is evident that there are strong and important female figures in the history of Buddhism; however, there has been no tradition of female writers, other than the Therigatha, that focuses strongly on the female experiences and their relationship with Buddhism.

Female Characters in Noh Theatre: Japanese Buddhism and the Ideal Beauty

Noh theatre of Japan displays a great deal of both Buddhist elements and the importance of female characters. Noh theatre is a classical form of theatre in Japan that developed from sarugaku, popular entertainments based on mime and miscellaneous performances, and dengaku, a field performance during the agricultural festivals

(Komparu 3). In the fourteenth century, sarugaku noh, the forerunner of what we now know as Noh theatre, was performed in Shinto7 shrines and temples. Kan‘ami Kiyotsugu, the head of a sarugaku troupe, was credited with transforming sarugaku into Noh. Noh theatre, however, reached its full maturity in the fifteenth century during the time of

Zeami, Kan‘ami‘s son, who attracted the attention of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.

Yoshimitsu thus became the patron of Zeami‘s troupe, which gave him a privilege over other groups of sarugaku performers. Known as the most renowned Noh playwright, theorist, and actor, Zeami was influenced by Zen Buddhism, which was the official

77 Shinto is an ancient, polytheistic religion of Japan in which its followers worship gods and goddesses. 31

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 religion of the Ashikaga court, ―and under Zeami‘s guidance Zen artistic principles of restraint, austerity and economy of expression were incorporated into no performance and plays‖ (Brandon 145). As Noh theatre became patronized by the samurai class and the

Shogun courts, Buddhist elements appear to permeate those of Shinto.

Performed by an all male cast, Noh theatre is a typical example of medieval

Japanese art, where art and religion are united in one, the former giving the form, the latter the content (Ueda xxii). Even though in this context religion generally means

Buddhism above all, medieval Japanese Buddhism was not the one with which people are now familiar (Tyler 16).

Zen, although present in a few plays, is unimportant beside the legacy of an older,

richly complex Buddhism that embraced, more or less closely, nearly every

conception of the sacred held in Japan. Even Shinto (the roster of cults of the

‗native‘ Japanese deities) was then continuous in most respects with Buddhism,

and neither excluded the other. God plays like Takasago may seem free of

Buddhism, but the patterns of Buddhist thought are there beneath the surface, as

occasional references to Buddhist matters show. (Tyler 16)

Therefore, medieval Japanese Buddhism, as well as Noh Theatre, incorporated other forms of sacred tradition practiced by the Japanese people.

Zeami was credited with injecting profound Buddhist content into the art of Noh.

The treatises of the secret tradition written by Zeami were strong evidence of Zeami‘s

Buddhist influence. One example is in Zeami‘s use of a series of Buddhist metaphors and questions to explain his idea of the sublime: ―The snow has covered thousands of

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 mountains all in white. Why is it that one solitary peak remains unwhitened?‖ Ueda explains this metaphor:

The beauty of nature, remains, now on a much larger scale. But natural beauty is

not all; there is present also supernatural beauty—the black peak towering among

snow-covered mountains, a seemingly discordant note which yet resolves the

whole into harmony. The style goes beyond the limits of empirical reality and

enters the infinitely deep realm of the mysterious. (xiii-xiv)

Zeami also uses dictums found in several Buddhist texts to clarify the experience of enlightenment sought by Noh performers and viewers. This experience is said to transcend limitations of space and time through the interior eye, for example, ―In Silla, the sun shines brightly at midnight‖ (Ortolani 118). ―The enlightened eye,‖ explains

Ortolani, ―would recognize the above paradox to be as senseless—or as meaningful—as any logical affirmation based on the uncertain fragility of the human illusion‖ (118).

These dictums are similar to the Buddhist koans8 that have been designed to help students gain the awareness of non-duality and spiritual awakening.

Buddhist-related terminologies and concepts are also found in the writing of

Zeami. One of the most important terms in Zeami‘s aesthetic theories is kokoro. Zeami explains that kokoro is ―rooted in true essence of all things, or the all-encompassing, unchanging pure Buddha-nature‖ (Ortolani 124). Mahayana Buddhists believe that everyone possesses the Buddha nature and is able to become a Buddha. Kokoro is, thus, the heart of Noh theatre that all performers ought to find.

8 Koan is a meditation practice utilizing a sentence, a dialogue, or a story to help practitioners gain awareness or insight. 33

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Besides kokoro, the term yugen is another important concept in Noh theatre that comes directly from the Buddhist terminology of the Han period in China. The term yugen originally referred to the hidden meaning behind the surface of the Buddhist sutras, but Zeami uses it to mean the elegant, profound, and mysterious beauty or the sublime

(Ortolani 125). One of the aims of Noh theatre, therefore, is to produce this subliminal stage of yugen.

Women characters play an important part in the Noh repertory and in the attainment of the perfect yugen. Noh plays are divided into five categories based on their main characters which are gods, men or warriors, women, lunatics, and demons. A full performance of Noh theatre consists of one play from each category, which makes up the five-play cycle (Komparu 32). Not only does the complete cycle delineate human beings in ―innocence, fall, repentance, redemption, and final glory, but its orthodox sequence also leads the audience into the mood of yugen or the sublime (Ueda xxi). The five plays are traditionally performed in the passage of one day, with the play about women placed in the middle of the cycle:

Clearly the artistic high point of a Noh performance is the play about woman.

The measure of a play is always the degree of yugen innate in it. The jo-ha-kyu

[beginning-climax-ending principle] of a day of Noh, in other words, means that

the god is a gentle being in the morning; the warrior‘s flashing sword reflects the

blazing noonday sun; the climax of yugen comes at midday, when our energy is at

its height; the depths of madness parallel the sun‘s decline; and the demon is the

personification of the growing darkness. (Komparu 34)

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Woman Plays thus occupy the most important position in the five-play cycle and many of them are the most inspired and best known plays in the Noh repertoire.

Many female characters in Noh Theatre are based on the classical court literature and display the elegant and mysterious yugen. These characters can be a human woman, a deity, or even a ghost; however, they are often portrayed not in their days of glory but in their time of penitence. ―The fact that she is an ideal woman measured by the medieval moral standard does not secure heaven for her,‖ says Ueda. Only when she gains calmness of mind through a contemplation of human‘s mortality does the play approach the sublime (Ueda xix-xx). For that reason, the most refined woman character in Noh is that of the aged woman.

The level of beauty in Noh that goes beyond yugen is the state of rojaku, which is the quiet beauty of old age. Komparu points out that the ultimate aged character is the old woman whose bygone beauty is at its end as she approaches the closing moment of life:

These pieces are considered the most mysterious, profound, and challenging in

the Noh repertoire, not merely because of the difficulty that male performers have

in imagining a woman‘s experience, but also because of the permeating intent to

seek ultimate beauty in a state of kotan (refined simplicity), wabi (subdued

elegance), and sabi (unadorned beauty), a kind of beauty beyond the ethereal

elegance of yugen, that can be expressed by a flower blossoming on a withered

bough. This is the essence of the symbolic beauty of Noh. (Komparu 15)

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The refinement of the aged female character is hence found in both the character herself and in the male performer‘s ability to portray her.

Significant female characters are featured not only in Woman Plays, but also in

Frenzy Plays whose protagonist is ―often a mother who has gone insane because her child was kidnapped. She goes on a lonely journey through many provinces in search of the lost little one, and at last by miraculous coincidence mother and child are reunited‖ (Ueda xx). In Noh theatre, madness is seen as ―a highly spiritual state accompanied by separation from the self‖ (Komparu 37). The mad character becomes deranged, but not to the point of dissolution, and the play follows the character‘s story with poetic beauty

(Komparu 37). The absence of the self is the core of Buddhist teachings, and only when one realizes that, can one become enlightened. Therefore, Buddhist wisdom is embedded in the women characters who hold an important role in reaching the aesthetics of Noh and the attainment of Buddhist awakening.

Nevertheless, even though Noh theatre places a great emphasis on its female characters, these characters appear to serve a certain ideal within a patriarchal system.

Noh theatre, like most classical Asian counterparts, is an art form that belongs exclusively to men. Female characters are created by male playwrights and portrayed on stage by male performers. These characters, therefore, possess the ideal beauty or manner based on the standard of the medieval Japanese society, a society dominated by men. Ueda mentions that the protagonist of a Woman Play is ―usually a lovely court lady most refined in artistic taste‖ who is ―an ideal woman measured by the medieval moral standard‖ (xix-xx). Even though the aged woman is considered the most refined

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 character, the emphasis is on ―the brutality of the burden of aging borne by every beautiful woman and the dread of the ugliness that must come with the passing of the years‖ (Komparu 15). The ideal beauty still dominates despite the fact that the character is an old woman, which means that women who do not or did not meet the standard created by men have no chance of being portrayed as a protagonist in a Noh play. The ideal beauty can also be seen from the Noh masks and costumes that have been created according to types, with the Ko-omote or the ―small face‖ of a young woman illustrating the classical ideal of beauty (Komparu 233). The ideal beauty that attached to the representation of women, therefore, exists in every aspect of Noh theatre.

Even though Buddhism teaches that everyone, male or female, is capable of reaching enlightenment, the Buddhist scriptures acknowledge inherent weaknesses that characterize a majority of women. Thus, the concept of henjo nanshi was created, which is a transformation of female into a male body in order for the enlightenment to be possible. This concept is portrayed in a Noh play called Eguchi, where a courtesan is transformed into a male deity after performing an act of virtue (Terasaki 269-270).

While women in Noh theatre meet the standard beauty, morality, and decorum, they are simply ―a perfect signifier of what men think women should be‖ (Terasaki 286).

Terasaki sees the courtesan Eguchi as a man‘s ideal speaking in the guise of a woman.

Her refusal to shelter the male priest during the storm shows her concern about his reputation and spiritual progress. Eguchi thus stands for the patriarchal ideal of virtuous women beneficial to man and becomes more like a mother who cares about her child

(Terasaki 286). Because letting the priest reside with her during the storm may cost him

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 his reputation as well as his spiritual progress, Eguchi, without a word of unnecessary justification, refuses the priest‘s request. By turning him out in the storm, Eguchi in turn shelters the priest from a more dangerous lure, which is similar to a mother‘s act of protecting her children from greater harm to come. This maternal representation has been repeated throughout Buddhist stories and literatures across the ages and cultures.

The approach and the use of female characters and Buddhist thoughts in both Arya and

Under A Sorrowless Tree are quite different from the Noh Theatre. The goal of Noh theatre in attaining yugen, and the Buddhist thoughts embedded in the stories and their characters present deep and meaningful aesthetic qualities; however, no matter how male playwrights attempt to write female characters, what they achieve is merely the image of women created by the male desires. These characters are what men hope or want women to be, and the male performers portray them according to types and conventions. Noh theatre follows certain stylistic and artistic principles that developed in fifteenth century

Japan, while my plays are the work of a modern playwright who has no formal or stylistic constraints. The Buddhist message in Noh plays is mostly based on Zen Buddhism, which focuses on certain moments of realization while my work simply contains some

Buddhist teachings and concepts that are more straightforward and easier for most people to follow. Moreover, I also attempt to portray women the way I understand them without trying to achieve a certain ideal or standard. In spite of the differences between my current work and Noh theatre, the writings of Zeami have inspired me in many ways.

Moreover, I believe that Noh theatre is not only a historically important genre for

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 studying female characters in Buddhism, but some aspects of Noh theatre, such as the

Noh structure and aesthetics, may also be applicable to modern playwriting practices.

Rabindranath Tagore: The Religious Ideals and the Feminine Value

Most people often see Buddhism as a passive and meditative religion practiced by those who wish to give up the worldly life, but Rabindranath Tagore knew that Buddhism is based upon strength and is meant to bring changes, both to an individual and to society.

Born in 1861 in Calcutta to an influential Pirili Brahman family, Tagore moved to Bengal in 1880 and established himself as one of the writers who introduced Buddhist culture in the field of Bengali literature. Three of Tagore‘s full-length plays, Chadalika, Malini, and

The Court Dancer have been categorized as Buddhist plays. These plays employ female characters as the main agents of the plays‘ actions and express Tagore‘s spiritual and political beliefs.

Even though Tagore‘s works have been influenced by Buddhism, his religious ideals do not come only from the teachings of the Buddha. Kalyan Gupta mentions that the term spirituality is the most appropriate one to describe Tagore‘s poetic thinking (9).

Tagore was deeply influenced by the teachings of loving-kindness and the rejection of apathy, cruelty, and violence found in the Upanishads, the sacred texts of the Hindu tradition. The Buddha‘s teachings also present similar thinking; therefore, Tagore‘s spiritual ideals embrace both the Upanishadic and the Buddhist principles.

Tagore, however, adapted the doctrine of the Upanishads to match his own spiritual outlook: ―while Tagore‘s understanding of spirituality was inspired by the

Upanishads, it does not simply imitate Upanishadic doctrine. Indeed, he emphatically

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 denied that his own position rested on ancient authority‖ (Gupta 9). Sudhansu Bimal

Barua also warns that there is a great difference between Tagore‘s religious ideals and the teachings of the Buddha: ―the emancipation preached by the Buddha might not necessarily be perceptible to the poet. The poet is very much with this world with all its bounteous love and beauty. So he needs not be so eager to free himself from earthly bondages‖ (60-61). Unlike the Buddhist ultimate goal of achieving Nirvana or breaking the bondage of births and deaths, Tagore believed that emancipation could be achieved through attachment and infatuation with the beauty of this world. In his plays, Tagore emphasizes some Buddhist ideals such as compassion and non-violence but never once mentions the Buddhist aim of enlightenment; he only utilizes certain Buddhist ideals in order to serve his political and aesthetic ideology.

Tagore was strongly against the class division and the social oppression in the

Brahmanical Indian society, and his Buddhist plays openly express his opinion. In India, there are four classes according to the Vedic religion: the priests or Brahmans, the warriors, the merchants, and the unskilled laborers, with the untouchables or the outcastes representing the lowest of the lower caste. This ranking is determined by birth so that nobody can move up or down the social status. Tagore‘s opposition to the caste system is shared by the Buddha, who ―not only founded his own religious communities but also spoke about the broader social and political condition of his time. According to the early texts, he often denounced the injustices of the caste system, and the Sangha [Buddhist community] was open to persons of all castes‖ (Mitchell 25). The Buddha also taught

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 that one should earn respect through moral actions and spiritual achievement—not through the basis of one‘s birth—the same idea often emphasized in Tagore‘s plays.

In Chandalika and The Court Dancer, Tagore directly attacks the injustices of the caste system. Chandalika, as suggested by Ananda Lal in the introduction of Tagore‘s

Three Plays, ―reprised once again Tagore‘s recurrent concern with Buddhism and the promise of equality it held for the down trodden class‖ (Lal 25). The play juxtaposes the

Buddhist belief in equality against the harsh conditions in the life of the untouchables and demonstrates that:

In her caste regulations India recognized differences, but not the mutability which

is the law of life. In trying to avoid collisions she set up boundaries of immovable

walls, thus giving to her numerous races the negative benefits of peace and order

but not the positive opportunities of expansion and movement. (Tagore,

―Nationalism in India‖ 67).

The Court Dancer also deals with the social class structure and the Buddhist idea that there is no boundary in one‘s spiritual and ethical achievement. The play demonstrates the narrow-mindedness and the senselessness of the corrupted royal court in the

Brahmanical society as well as the struggle of the lower class who cannot socially advance and have to obey the command of the authority.

The prominence of female characters in Tagore‘s Buddhist plays further emphasizes the differences between Tagore‘s Buddhist ideals and the role of women in the Hindu society. In Tagore‘s plays, women are not valued because of their role as a mother or a wife but because of their inherent morality regardless of how high or low

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 they are in society. Pakriti, the protagonist in Chandalika, is a love-sick untouchable who uses black magic to force a Buddhist monk to fall in love with her. Srimati in The

Court Dancer is a lowly court dancer in the King‘s palace who sacrifices her life to prove her loyalty to the Buddha and his teachings. Malini, the princess in Malini who turns away from the Brahmanical religion and accepts Buddhism, asks for forgiveness for the

Brahman who kills her protector and attempts to banish her. These plays project their female protagonists as outcasts who, either because of their beliefs or their status, do not belong in the orthodox Indian society. These works not only reflect Tagore‘s spiritual outlook, but also his view on the Indian society in general.

Nevertheless, the female characters in Tagore‘s plays seem to be based on his conception of the feminine.

Tagore held that civilization had begun to ignore the individual by becoming

totally masculine in nature, thereby generating more wars and strife among

people. He had a great respect for the feminine principle; in his opinion women

had sensitivity and sympathetic quality and innate spirituality and a freshness of

mind that eclipsed the more earthly desires and attributes of the opposite sex.

(Lal 46)

Like the female characters in Noh theatre, Tagore‘s characters are created based on the male ideals of what women should be. Srimati is depicted as a paragon of virtue thus confirming the Buddhist idea that one‘s birth has nothing to do with one‘s moral character. She is a beautiful, kind, and virtuous woman who is not afraid of sacrificing her life for what she believes in; she is a perfect Buddhist heroine. Malini is also an ideal

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 princess. In spite of the threats and the persuasions from both the Brahmans and her parents, her faith in Buddhism remains strong, and she displays her exceptional virtue by asking her father, the King, to pardon the person who threatens her and kills her supporter.

Prakriti, however, is possessed by madness similar to the characters in the Noh

Frenzy Plays. Prakriti is madly in love with Ananda, the Buddha‘s disciple, and uses her mother‘s black magic to bring him to her. The play portrays Ananda‘s struggle against the powerful spell and Prakriti‘s ruthlessness which results in the death of her own mother. All through the history of Buddhist literature, women have been regarded as uncontrolled creatures that lure men into the realm of samsara and prevent them from the path to enlightenment. In Chandalika, Prakriti perfectly represents this female earthly bond. Prakriti is both the play‘s protagonist and antagonist; the audience sympathizes with her misfortune and the admiration she has for Ananda, but they also despise her for using the black art and consequently killing her own mother. Even though she is determined and powerful in her own way, Prakriti is still weaker than Ananda, the male character who ultimately transforms her in the end.

In these three examples, even though the female characters are powerful and important, they portray certain stereotypes and the feminine ideals perceived and created by the playwright. Though contributing a more positive image of women in Buddhist writing, this idealistic representation is not my goal in writing plays about women and

Buddhism. Some of my characters may match the stereotypes or the characteristics of

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 feminine ideals, but some of these stereotypes and ideals are also based upon real life, which is unavoidable in creating a character.

In Arya and Under A Sorrowless Tree, what I find most similar to Tagore‘s plays is the use of Buddhist teachings and the combination of Buddhism and other religious beliefs. Unlike the Noh theatre, Tagore uses Buddhist teachings in a more literal and noticeable way. One can easily identify the Buddhist teachings in his plays and separate them from other elements of the scripts. Some of the teachings are stated exactly the way they are written in many religious texts, which is quite similar to the spirit scenes in Arya and in some parts of Under A Sorrowless Tree. The idea is to simplify the Buddhist teachings so that people can easily understand what is being conveyed from the stories.

The religious belief in Thailand is a mixture of Buddhism, Hinduism, spirit and ancestor worship, and other belief systems found in Southeast Asia. Thus Buddhist practice in Thailand also includes components and characteristics from other traditions, some of which may not be able to separate from the life of a Buddhist in Thailand. Even though my plays have been influenced by Buddhism, other belief systems or practices may appear, either consciously or subconsciously. Since I do not claim that my plays are categorized as ―Buddhist plays,‖ I think these other elements are only natural. This mixture of different faiths is also seen in classical Buddhist-related literature, Noh plays, and Tagore‘s Buddhist plays. As we move on to the contemporary practice of Buddhist- related theatre in Thailand, we will see that even though playwrights have been attempting to created Buddhist theatre, the playwrights‘ various backgrounds and

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 environments are important in creating the content and the style of the play that may or may not be wholly Buddhist.

Women and Buddhism in Contemporary Thai Theatre

I chose to write about the contemporary theatre in Thailand in this section because it is the environment and setting in which I hope to spend my career. Unfortunately, if going to live theatre is a rare occasion for most modern Thai people, seeing a play with the focus on women and Buddhism would be even rarer.

Modern, Western-oriented theatre was introduced in Thailand in the 1960s by

American educated teachers in the English departments at Chulalongkorn and

Thammasart Universities in Bangkok. The majority of the plays taught and performed came from the Western canon such as those by Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller,

Samuel Beckett, and Bertold Brecht and catered primarily to a small group of academics and a few middle class outsiders (Van Erven 208). Throughout the years, with the popularity of radio, television, and movies, contemporary theatre in Thailand has remained confined within a small community, mostly consisting of university students, professors, and the educated elite.

Not all dramas that contain Buddhist elements should be classified as Buddhist- related dramas. Because Buddhism is a crucial part of Thai life, Buddhism is already included in many kinds of art and entertainment. However, works that simply contain

Buddhist characters or Buddhist monks may not be categorized as Buddhist-related drama if they do not include Buddhist teachings as a significant part of their themes or stories. For that reason, Buddhist stories or themes remain specifically and primarily in

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 classical theatre, arts, or literature and draw directly from Buddhist scriptures or from the

Buddha‘s birth stories. However, as contemporary theatre in Thailand is growing, and as more Thai people are seeking Buddhism as their refuge in the hectic, modern world, certain theatre groups have started to devote some of their plays to the teaching of the

Buddha.

In the recent theatre scene in Thailand, Punnasak Sukee, a professor at Bangkok

University, stands out as a playwright who directly uses Buddhist themes and concepts in his works. According to news articles and online reviews, Sukee‘s Dancing to Nirvana was performed in theatres in Bangkok, Czech Republic, and Singapore from 2007-2008.9

The play tells the story of a Thai woman in modern society who gets lost in the worldly and bodily pleasures and disregards the beauty and serenity of the Thai-Buddhist culture.

Utilizing contemporary dances and multimedia, Dancing to Nirvana was inspired by the lives of modern Thais who are lost in their own desires. When their suffering reaches its peak, with nowhere to turn, these people look to Buddhism as the key to their lost happiness.

The following year, Sukee continued to portray Buddhist philosophy in his production of Dear Death, with the contemplation of death and impermanence as its topic. Dear Death, according to The Buddhist Channel, depicts the story of a young man and his grandmother and their encounter with the god of death. The young man, attached to his grandmother and fearing her death, dreams of a kind-hearted god of death who, on his chariot, picks up people and delivers them to their rightful place. Awakening from

9 Most modern theatre scripts in Thailand are not publicly published; therefore, I have not read any of the modern Thai plays mentioned in this section. I did, however, contact the author of Dear Death and Dancing to Nirvana but did not get a reply from him. 46

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 his dream, the young man looks at life and death from a different view, accepts his grandmother‘s death, and commits himself to doing good deeds. Sukee, who also served as the director, brought the script to life through an amalgam of acting, singing, and contemporary dancing performed by 50 students of Bangkok University‘s Department of

Performing Arts.

From the reviews, the productions of Dear Death and Dancing to Nirvana, both written and directed by Sukee, relied heavily on spectacle. Sukee utilized classical as well as contemporary music, dance, songs, and multimedia to tell the stories on stage. The productions were more like musicals than straight dramas, and the spectacle was as important to the production as the written words in the scripts.

I see some similarities and some differences when comparing my own work to

Sukee‘s work. Our inspiration comes from the same source. We both use Buddhism as a way to understand ourselves, and as we search for peace and happiness, we want to share our faith with other people through theatre. Moreover, his emphasis on the female character in Dancing to Nirvana also demonstrates his interest in female experiences in modern society. The focus of my play, however, has been more on the scripts and not on the performance or the spectacle. This may be due to the fact that I have been working as a playwright who is not much involved in the business of staging the plays; therefore, writing scripts and developing plots and characters have been my primary concerns.

In Mae Naak and Company: The Shifting Duality in Female Representation on the Contemporary Thai Stage, Catherine Diamond examines the changing image of women in contemporary Thai theatre by looking at the classic tale of Mae Naak and other

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011

Thai plays about women. Diamond finds that in opposition to the ideal image of the virtuous and passive heroine in the classical literature and theatre, theatre productions in

Bangkok have demonstrated a shift in attitude toward the traditional ―good girl-bad girl‖ division and have questioned the manner of their representation (115). Therefore, some small experimental groups, university theatres, and commercial companies started to present their revised versions of traditionally compliant women, allowing them to be more self-assertive, thus challenging the established values of Thai womanhood. Some of these plays dramatize the contemporary situations that put women in conflict with their bodies and self-image, the crisis of prostitution, and the degraded roles of women in rural and minority communities (116). This shows the shift in the image of Thai women in general as well as of female characters on contemporary Thai stage.

Diamond uses the many transformations of Mae Naak as the prime example of the shift in the image of female characters in modern Thai plays. Mae Naak is a beloved

Thai tale about the ghost of a dead woman who remains in the world of the living because of the love for her husband. The character of Mae Naak (Mrs. Naak) embodies the contradictory characteristics that have been ascribed to women through the ages. She is a loving and devoted wife and a pitiable mother who loses her life and her only child during childbirth. At the same time, she is a fearful and murderous ghost who will not hesitate to kill if her identity is being threatened. She is everything Buddhism warns against regarding women: the personification of samsara itself. She is attached to the worldly even after her own death and is unable to move on. In the end, she is defeated by

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 a Buddhist monk who confines her for eternity in an enchanted pot at the bottom of a river.

Throughout the years, the portrayal of Mae Naak has moved toward a more sympathetic representation, focusing on her despair and her unconditional love for her husband. The film Nang Naak (1999) by Nonzee Nimibutr was the highlight in the transformation of Mae Naak toward a more sympathetic representation, claiming to have brought to light her love for her husband and tried to tell the story from her point of view.

The recent production of Mae Naak: A Love Story, a three-act opera at the Thailand

Cultural Center in 2003, also ensures the tale‘s popularity and significance.

Even though the story of Mae Naak employs Buddhist characters and ends with the Buddhist monk‘s triumph over a female ghost, I do not see it as a Buddhist-inspired piece of work. It is normal for a Thai play or a Thai story to contain Buddhist characters and end with the victory of good over evil. The author‘s intention and how he or she uses

Buddhist themes and ideas in the story should be taken into consideration, and I believe that Buddhism in Mae Naak is simply used as part of the story‘s culture and religious belief. Nevertheless, the character of Mae Naak and the change in her representation reflect the views of women in Buddhism and in the modern Thai society.

Besides the production of Mae Naak, ―another example of Buddhism repressing female desire appears in the well-known Chinese tale The White Snake,‖ presented in

1998 at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok under the title The White Snake Queen

(Diamond 121). The tale relates the story of a white snake that turns into a woman and falls in love with an ordinary man who also returns her love. After they get married and

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 have a child, a Buddhist monk discovers the white snake‘s true identity and frees the man from what he believes to be her control.

The tale of the white snake was revised for the 1998 production by Daraka

Wongsiri to reflect the snake‘s point of view. Diamond suggests that Wongsiri‘s critical look at Buddhism‘s patriarchal values reveals the misogyny behind the monk‘s destruction of a woman‘s love for her husband and that ―in the stories of both Mae Naak and The White Snake, institutional Buddhism curtails their aspirations and power‖ (123).

However, blaming Buddhism for a Buddhist monk‘s action seems a little unreasonable. I see the monks in both stories as characters that serve the authors‘ purposes in representing the power and authority with Buddhism simply attached to them. The monks‘ moral character may have some flaws and some praiseworthy qualities, but they are by no means representations of the Buddha and his teachings. The productions of

Mae Naak and The White Snake Queen thus aimed to give different interpretations of classic female characters while using Buddhist monks as the authority figures in opposition to the female characters.

Besides Mae Naak and The White Snake Queen, other classic female figures have also received revised treatment on the contemporary Thai stage, including Busba (Inao),

Kaki (Kakati), Sita (Ramayana), and Peesue Samit (Phra Aphaimani):

These new interpretations challenge the one-dimensional aspect of the female

characters in the classical literature from which their names have become

shorthand for admirable or reprehensible behavior. The divisions have been

blurred, suggesting that if female characters are allowed to tell their own stories,

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011

they emerge as more complex and interesting when their motives are considered

as well as their actions. (Diamond 128-129)

Like these new interpretations of classic female characters, my scripts were written to allow the female characters to tell their own stories, or rather, to tell their stories from my perspective as a woman and as a female playwright.

I am not interested in creating idealistic and strong heroines but female characters as I know and understand them. They can be strong, weak, selfish, or all of these and other qualities combined. As a result, the characters are neither good nor bad, and even a protagonist has some negative qualities and vice versa. The male characters are not made to be the bad guys; they too have both positive and negative qualities, strengths and weaknesses. From the Buddhist perspective, if we put ourselves in other people‘s positions, we will be able to better understand their actions and motives; that is how I would like to approach my characters and my scripts. Wongsiri makes the Buddhist monk the most unsympathetic character in The White Snake Queen (Diamond 122), but in my plays, every character is a sympathetic character. This may be the major difference between my works and the works of other female or feminist playwrights in Thailand and elsewhere.

Perhaps the playwright in Thailand who has been incorporating Buddhism into her works the most is the famous actress and director Patravadi Mijudhon, the owner and artistic director of Patravadi Theatre in Bangkok. In 1995, Mijudhon launched a series,

The Buddhist Bible, with its first performance called Rai Phra Trai Pidok or Narrating

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 the Buddhist Sutra, patterning the performance on the Japanese Butoh techniques.10 In

2002, The Buddhist Bible II presented Samuppada or Dependent Arising, which was inspired by a text called Dharma Conversation with a Mae Chii by Sunsanee Stirasuta, a well-known Buddhist female figure in Thailand. The production ―did not address the gender discrimination within the sangha and instead acknowledged the contribution of the underrepresented female voice‖ (Diamond 135). Buddhist Bible II contained a

Western-style disco as the representation of hell, a Japanese Noh devil, and Rangda, the

Balinese female demon. Patravadi theatre is known for highly theatrical and physical performances; the productions of its Buddhist-inspired plays also focus on movements, music, and dance.11

Mejudhon‘s interest in Buddhism did not stop at The Buddhist Bible series. In

2005, she began to sponsor a Dharma Theatre Festival and hosted weekly experimental works that explored social issues from a Buddhist perspective. However, the plays remained ―primarily didactic rather than aesthetic, inviting the audience to intellectually consider the moral duality rather than engaging it emotionally in the manner of highly personalized conflict embodied by Mae Naak‖ (Diamond 137). Most people do not go to theatre for pedantic purposes; instead of attracting them, productions that emphasize the intellectual more than the emotional may drive away the audience who may not be familiar or interested in intellectualized Buddhist dramas.

10 Butoh is a combination of several movement techniques that attempts to mimic the elements of indigenous Japanese performing arts while at the same time reintroduce it as contemporary performance. 11 Apart from Diamond‘s article, the information about Mejudhon‘s theatre also comes from her website: http://patravaditheatre.com/. 52

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011

The scripts of Arya and Under A Sorrowless Tree are didactic in nature; nevertheless, I tried to construct the plots with both the emotional and the spiritual balance. My goal is to present interesting plots and stories without being overly religious or intellectual. The main story and the three sub-stories of Arya can be viewed on their own as stories of love, freedom, honor, self-discovery, and so on, but the Buddhist thought presented in the spirit scenes ties them together and gives them a deeper meaning. I believe, however, that some scenes in my plays could be performed in a stylistic manner, such as the spirit scenes in Arya and the heaven scenes or the puppet scenes in Under A Sorrowless Tree.

While some audience members may not recognize Buddhist ideas behind Arya,

Under A Sorrowless Tree, on the other hand, is directly about the search for Buddhist enlightenment. Even so, in the beginning of the play, the main characters‘ knowledge of

Buddhism may be as obscure as some of the audience members. Consequently, through the unrequited love story filled with heartbreak, despair, hatred, and finally acceptance, the characters as well as the audience are slowly introduced to the world and the teachings of Buddhism. The audience is invited to view the characters‘ search for enlightenment without being forced to accept or agree with any Buddhist thoughts if they do not wish to.

Conclusion

Despite the warning of the Buddha against the lure of the theatre, I believe that

Buddhism and theatre can exist side by side. Theatre may not be able to lead people to enlightenment, but it can function as a starting point or as inspiration. In an enjoyable

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 way it can also educate and inform audiences of other faiths and cultures about

Buddhism. The artists, however, should know and understand the limit of what theatre can offer and be responsible in regard to what should and should not be included in a

Buddhist-inspired drama. As a playwright, I believe I have used my own judgment and tried my best to determine what to include in the scripts of Arya and Under A Sorrowless

Tree.

Compared to the history and the current playwriting practices related to women and Buddhism, I see my works as a unique practice that incorporates both female experiences and Buddhism without radical treatment or intent to attack any established institution or authority. If my aim is successful, Arya and Under A Sorrowless Tree should be able to give the audience an opportunity to appreciate womanhood as seen by a woman and to experience the peaceful and compassionate teachings of Buddhism.

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011

CHAPTER III

ARYA AND UNDER A SORROWLESS TREE: THE WRITING

PROCESS

This chapter contains the account of the writing process of my original script,

Arya, and the adaptation of The Pilgrim Kamanita titled Under A Sorrowless Tree.

Arya: My First Full-Length Script

The first draft of Arya was written in the Spring of 2007 as part of the Playwriting

II class at Texas Tech University. It started with several germinal images that were strung together to form a collage of the original idea. The first image was of a woman lost in an unfamiliar world. While wandering, she heard voices telling her to tell her stories. The second image was of a woman standing by an ocean, waiting for someone, later to be known as her lost husband. In my mind, I saw her long hair and flowing dress blowing in the wind. The third image was of a woman tied up in some sort of an ancient prison. It reminded me of a Thai folktale I heard a long time ago about a woman who had to choose between two men and ended up being executed because she could not make up her mind. These three images became the main story and the two sub-stories of

Arya. When the idea and the plot started to form, however, I felt the need for a third sub- story. As a Thai woman living abroad for many years, I wanted to write about not only the experience of living in a foreign country, but also the desire to go back home. Instead of writing about a student studying abroad, I decided to raise the stakes by creating a

Japanese mother who had to choose between staying with her husband and daughter in

America or returning home to Japan. After deciding on all three sub-stories, I wanted to

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 tie them together to form the stories of the lost woman; she would be a spirit caught in between lives, so a character in each sub-story would be one of her past incarnations.

I knew from the beginning that the play would concern female experiences and certain Buddhist concepts such as the idea of reincarnation and the Buddhist view of suffering. I presented the idea in the playwriting class, and everyone seemed to find it interesting. After the presentation, I followed Sam Smiley‘s method of writing a rough scenario and later a full scenario. The rough scenario describes the play‘s working title, action, form, circumstances, subject, characters, conflict, story, thought, dialogue, and schedule for the writing and completion of the play. The full scenario adds and confirms the play‘s title, circumstances, six character traits, narrative, and the detailed outline of the play (Smiley 36-38). I found the scenarios very helpful in putting ideas into words and getting organized.

The first working title of the script was This Is My Truth, which seemed to capture the essence of the play in its beginning stage. I was planning to focus on the female characters and the roles they were supposed to perform according to the rules or the norms of their societies. As a mother, a wife, or a daughter, a woman may have to hide her true feelings. I, however, wanted the lost spirit to be able to tell the truth about all of these characters and the truth about her past incarnations before she could move on. I wanted the audience to see that even though these characters were portrayed as a mother or a wife, they were much more than just the titles given to them; they had their own stories, their own pain, and their own truths that were hidden from others. Even though I changed the title to Arya, I believe that this essence remains in the script.

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011

I decided early on that the characters would have no given names; they would simply be called ―sister,‖ ―daughter,‖ ―widow,‖ ―grandmother,‖ and so on. I wanted to highlight the roles and the relationships between the characters as well as to demonstrate that in spite of their generic names, their experiences could be unique and fascinating.

After presenting the rough scenario to the class, I began writing the full scenario.

I re-titled the script Arya during the writing of the full scenario. At that time, I decided that the core Buddhist concept in the script would be The Four Noble Truths, or Catvari

Aryasatyani in Sanskrit, which is the heart of the teachings imparted by the Buddha. The

Four Noble Truthsare the following: there is suffering, there is a cause of suffering, there is the end to suffering, and there is the eightfold path leading to the end of suffering.

Arya is the Sanskrit word for noble, but it is also a common female name in Thailand.

This title, therefore, embodies both the Buddhist concept and the female connotation. I also decided at that time that the name of the lost spirit would be Arya.

The most helpful part of the full scenario for me was the narration of the play scene by scene. This was when the plot, the selection and arrangement of the events, started to become clear. It helped me transform the abstract idea into something more concrete. Several facts about the structure of the script were also determined during this time. For example, there would be thirteen scenes in the play; each sub-story would be told in three scenes scattered throughout the play; and there would be three characters in each story: two females and one male; each scene, except for the spirit scenes, would contain only two characters so that all of the sub-stories‘ characters would get equal amounts of scenes, I made a stylistic choice of being a little ambiguous by presenting

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 each sub-story one scene at a time, with other sub-stories in between, and using the spirit scenes to tie all the sub-stories together. The scenes of these sub-stories would also be arranged in a non-linear order but with some sense of chronology—they are scattered throughout the play but each story unfolds in a linear way—thus allowing the audience to follow without difficulty.

In the full scenario, the play would be divided into smaller scenes that covered four different worlds: the spirit world, the ―once upon a time‖ world in a small ancient village, a small Mediterranean island in the early Common Era, and modern day

America. To differentiate these worlds, I would use different styles of language and different rhythms and moods for each setting.

The characters‘ objectives and their relationships were also determined during the writing of the full scenario. I knew who the lost spirit would be in her past lives, but I also loved the possibility that she could be anyone in the sub-stories. Therefore, in the first draft of the script, there was not any clear link regarding the identities of the lost spirit even though most people could have guessed who they were from the emphasis I placed on some of the characters, namely Wife, Sister, and Mother.

Once I was satisfied with my plans for the play, I immediately began drafting the dialogue. I started writing the script one scene at a time, directly following the outline in the scenario. I was aiming for ten pages per scene, but some turned out slightly shorter or longer. I included a dramatic action or a change in each scene, some more subtle than others. For example, in the first scene, after initially refusing to tell her story, Woman finally decides to do so. In the second scene in the village, Wife makes the decision to

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 sacrifice her life for her husband and her son. In scene twelve, Father and Daughter both realize their need for Mother and how significant she is in their life. Besides including a dramatic action in each scene, I also wanted each scene to be its own unit so that later I could take each scene and work on it independently. I believe I was successful in fulfilling these aims even though the order of the scenes was not determined for certain at that time.

The most difficult scenes to write were the spirit scenes. It was difficult to decide how the spirits would talk or behave and how to impart Buddhist teachings without being either too preachy or too vague. In the first draft, I made the male and female spirits speak in formal language without any contractions. These two spirits also finished each other‘s sentences. Their sentences were short and sometimes incomplete. The Buddhist wisdom imparted by them was presented sometimes in questions, sometimes in direct statements. Some of these sentences were also taken directly from well-known Buddhist sayings.

After finishing a few scenes, I took them to class to be read aloud by my classmates. Hearing the sound of the words helped me develop the characters‘ voices and sentence structures. The class gave comments and suggestions after each reading, and I found some of them quite helpful in thinking about and evaluating my plot and characters. For example, I was not sure at first if the story about the woman who sacrifices her life for her son and her abusive husband was probable, but the class reassured me that since the culture and the setting of the scene was similar to a folktale, the story became believable. A student also commented and expressed his admiration for

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 the woman‘s selfless determination, saying that it was quite different from the Western point of view in which people often fought for their right to live rather than accepting, in a very calm manner, their fate to die. As expected, most of the problems arose from the spirit scenes; some readers found them too boring; some found them too preachy; some did not quite understand their intention. I agreed with most of these comments, and, as a result, I tried to solve some of these problems as I saw suitable. In the later drafts, I kept the same style but cut out certain words and sentences that seemed too pedantic and repetitive. As a result, the spirit scenes became shorter and more direct.

At the first reading of the first draft, actors were invited to read the script in class, and the whole script was read in two sessions. Listening to the play helped me determine the order of the scenes based on the emotions and the rhythm of the whole play. After the reading, Dr. Bert also suggested that the first spirit scene, which is the first scene of the play, should be more disoriented, both for the lost spirit and for the audience. He suggested using disembodied voices to distract and to confuse the lost spirit. These voices could come from other characters that were already present on stage and could recite some of the lines that the characters would say later in the play. Even though the lost spirit, as well as the audience, would be confused at first, as the play progressed and as the audience became more situated in the world of the play, things would becomeclearer to them. I liked the idea and added the disembodied voices to the second draft of the script along with the new order of the scenes.

The second draft of the script was the last draft I turned in as an assignment for the class; however, I kept revising the script until it was submitted for production. Most

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 of the re-writes after the second draft aimed to improve the language and the style of the piece, as well as to establish more clarity. I decided to develop a clearer relationship between the lost spirit and her three past lives. I made up my mind that the lost spirit would definitely be Wife, Sister, and Mother and added some clues to strengthen the connection. The clues were not very obvious, however, because I still wanted to have some room for other possibilities and interpretations. One of the clues, for example, is right after scene eight. In scene eight, Wife says that she does not regret her decision and tells Grandmother to forgive her husband. In scene nine, Woman comes out at the very beginning of the scene and says that she did not really forgive him and that she cursed him with her last breath—that is why the cycle continues. Even though Woman does not say who the person she cursed was, the audience can guess that she refers to Wife‘s abusive husband.

After the production, I decided that the script would need to be revised again.

Some observations of the production process and some changes I plan to make will be discussed in Chapter IV, ―Language and Communication, Physicality, and Ambiguity in the Production of Arya.‖

Under A Sorrowless Tree: The Adaptation from The Pilgrim Kamanita

The script of Under A Sorrowless Tree was written during the Fall of2008 in the

Playwriting III class at Texas Tech University. After a discussion with Dr. Norman Bert about writing my dissertation with the topic of Women and Buddhism and after finding out that Dr. Bert would be offering a course on adaptation, I decided to have an adaptation as my second script. While I was searching for a Buddhist story, The Pilgrim

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011

Kamanita, a novel by Danish writer Karl Gjellerup came into my mind. Translated from

German to English and from English to Thai, this novel has been a required reading text in many high school and college curriculums in Thailand for many years. I had read the novel for my Thai class in high school and now realized that it would make a good stage adaptation.

The Pilgrim Kamanita tells the story of Kamanita, a wealthy merchant who falls in love with Vasitthi, the daughter of a goldsmith from a different city. Unfortunately, their unsuccessful love leads to suffering, and both Kamanita and Vasitthi turn to a spiritual quest for refuge. The story takes place in ancient India during the time of the

Buddha, and the novel is often classified as a Buddhist novel.

The main story of the novel focuses on Kamanita and his journey toward enlightenment; however, the story of Vasitthi is no less important. Because my dissertation would focus on women and Buddhism, I decided to write my adaptation with

Vasitthi as the main character and her pursuit of enlightenment as the main story.

I re-read the novel in English during the summer of 2008, taking notes of what I would include in the script. Since the English translation of The Pilgrim Kamanita was published in 1923, the novel is already in the public domain. All of the writing of Under

A Sorrowless Tree was done in the playwriting class. I started by writing a scenario, which was the technique adapted from Sam Smiley‘s rough and final scenarios. My scenario, however, was shorter and more concise, focusing quite briefly on all the points suggested by Smiley but excluding the six character traits because I believed that only a brief description for each character was enough. I also found it more effective to focus

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 on the main characters and the main action for each scene rather than spending a lot of time on the minor characters and their traits. By combining the rough and the full scenarios and by getting rid of the excessive details, I found it more enjoyable to start writing the script itself.

In the scenario, I divided the play into 13 small scenes, with each scene having its own title and action statement. For example, scene one is called ―The First Encounter,‖ and its action statement is as follows: In spite of her reluctance, Vasitthi confesses to

Medini that she has fallen in love with a stranger she met at the public park. Overall, the structure of the play itself is very similar to Arya; besides breaking the play into smaller scenes, each scene is also its own unit that can be broken apart and worked on individually. I found this strategy extremely helpful in writing and developing the script.

Planning an adaptation is quite different from planning a play from scratch. The material is already available; all I have to do is select and arrange the series of events and provide a clear dramatic action in a dialogue format. Since the length, the treatment of characters, and the format of a novel is different from a play, a lot of events and characters in The Pilgrim Kamanita had to be cut in order to create a more focused stage adaptation. For example, Kamanita is the main character in the original story and appears in every chapter of the novel. Since the adaptation focuses on Vasitthi, Kamanita only appears in three scenes of the adaptation. His story was made shorter, only assisting the understanding of Vasitthi‘s story. Additionally, minor supporting characters in the novel were cut out completely, leaving only a small cast of important characters. Besides focusing on Vasitthi and making the story more concise, the adaptation stays quite true to

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 the novel. Even though Kamanita is no longer the protagonist, his journey still remains in the background of Vasitthi‘s story.

I titled the adaptation Under A Sorrowless Tree because in the novel, Vasitthi and

Kamanita always meet each other secretly under a sorrowless tree. Even though the novel does not mention a sorrowless tree again after their meetings, I used the tree as a motif and added a sorrowless tree to almost every scene throughout the script. I am personally attracted to the name of the tree. By calling the tree a ―sorrowless‖ instead of a ―happy‖ or a ―joyful‖ tree, the name contains both the ―sorrow‖ and the absence of sorrow in one word. Even though sorrowless means without sorrow, the added suffix implies that the word ―sorrowless‖ does not exist alone and that one has to experience sorrow in order to become sorrowless.

Apart from adding a sorrowless tree to most of the scenes, I also introduced a narrator whose concept sprang from a character in the novel. In The Pilgrim Kamanita, a deity resides in the land of Sukavadi, or the Paradise of the West, where Kamanita and

Vasitthi reincarnate as lotus flowers. The deity greets Kamanita, who arrives in Sukavadi before Vasitthi, and informs him about the nature of his new environment. This character is not present in other parts of the novel, but I used her as the narrator whose body or voice is present from the beginning until the end of the adaptation.

There are several performance styles mixed together in Under A Sorrowless Tree.

The play is both presentational and representational, with scenes that should be acted realistically as well as scenes using shadow puppetry. In one scene, Kamanita and

Vasitthi are lotus flowers in the world of Paradise; in another, the characters are depicted

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 as nothing but lights on a dark and empty stage. I decided to write the script this way because the story lends itself to different performance styles, and I wanted to include a variety of ways to tell this episodic story.

Even though the story takes place in ancient India, the dialogues of Under A

Sorrowless Tree were written using modern English because I was writing the script for contemporary audiences and I see the story as a timeless tale that can be told to people of any generation. Due to the nature of the setting where most of the characters are of a respectable class, I kept the language somewhat formal but still simple and relatable to modern day audiences.

After completing the scenario, the process of writing itself was very similar to that of Arya. I began writing the play scene by scene, using the scenario as the outline. After finishing a few scenes, I brought them to class to be read out loud by my classmates. The class then gave comments and suggestions. Because the material was already available, I found myself overwriting some of the scenes. Hearing the scenes out loud and receiving comments from my classmates helped me find more focus in the later revision of the adaptation.

When the first draft was finished, I invited some actors to class to read the whole script. The reading was especially helpful in developing the shadow puppet scenes. I asked one of the actors to read the puppet scenes that contained multiple characters by himself—the practice that was similar to many shadow puppet traditions in Asia. As a result, I learned that one actor could play multiple voices, male and female, for the puppet scenes and that some of the scenes did not need to be as serious as they were originally

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 written. For example, both the puppet scenes about the jealous students plotting against

Ahimsaka and about the Buddha running away from Angulimala could, and perhaps should, be performed as comedies, thus alleviating some tension from what would otherwise be a very serious piece of drama.

After hearing the whole script, I re-wrote it to improve on language, clarity, and focus. Overall, I found the writing and rewriting of this adaptation easier and faster than the writing process of Arya—partly because the story was already available, and by that time I also had a little more experience in playwriting than when I started Arya.

Even though I kept the original Indian setting, I do not believe that the play needs an Indian cast. Depending on the production, in my opinion, only minimal or suggestive scenery and costumes are needed. Although the script may seem difficult to stage, I believe that with some imagination and research, a dedicated director should be able to stage this play successfully.

Looking at both scripts, the focus on women and Buddhism in Under A

Sorrowless Tree is quite different from Arya. Under A Sorrowless Tree tells the story of the journey of one woman from one lifetime in ancient India, to her life as a lotus flower in Paradise, to a star in the Brahman realm, until she finally reaches the end of her existence. Arya also focuses on the journey of a spirit; however, the spirit recalls her three incarnations that are depicted by three different women and cultures. In Arya, each sub-story has its own story that is tied together by the spirit scenes while in Under A

Sorrowless Tree, the whole adaptation contains one main story.

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011

Thus, Arya illustrates the characters‘ lives and the suffering they go through, focusing on some issues encountered by women in different time periods and cultures.

The spirit scenes talk about the cycle of births and deaths, hinting that this cycle somehow needs to end. The play does not mention any specific Buddhist terms, and the characters do not discuss any Buddhist ideas in detail. I intentionally wrote the play with

Buddhism in the background and implicitly demonstrated Buddhist thoughts in the characters and situations. The audience can watch and understand the play without even knowing that it has anything to do with Buddhism.

Under A Sorrowless Tree, on the other hand, is explicitly about Buddhism. Even though the script starts out as a love story, as the plot deepens the audience is slowly introduced to the teachings and the goal of Buddhism. Some of the characters in the play—such as Angulimala and the Buddha himself—can be found in the historical

Buddhist texts. The characters also directly discuss Buddhist ideas, and the last scene of the play portrays the characters‘ attempt to reach the state of enlightenment. By focusing on the female character or Vasitthi, the play illustrates the Buddha‘s words that women can equally attain enlightenment, and, in this case, Vasitthi is the one who assists

Kamanita in his path and achieves the goal before he does.

I chose to present the script of Arya instead of Under A Sorrowless Tree to student directors at the Department of Theatre and Dance to submit for an opportunity to direct because I would personally see my original work produced as part of the dissertation project. Moreover, compared to Under A Sorrowless Tree, I believed that the content and the style of Arya may have appealed more to the target audiences, which are

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 mostly college students, faculty, and staff at Texas Tech University, as well as general

Lubbock residents. In addition, I would also like to find out how the content of my original Buddhist-related play came across to the audience; therefore, Arya was a better candidate for the production submission.

The Future of the Scripts

After completing the dissertation, I am planning to translate both Arya and Under

A Sorrowless Tree into Thai. While Arya may relate to Western and non-Buddhist audiences more than Under A Sorrowless Tree, I believe that Thai audiences will be able to enjoy and appreciate both scripts. Thai audiences may be attracted to the diverse cultures and characters presented in Arya while at the same time appreciating its underlying Buddhist thought and the play‘s universal appeal. The Pilgrim Kamanita has been widely read and studied in Thailand; therefore, by presenting the story from

Vasitthi‘s perspective, the audience will be able to look at the story from a woman‘s point of view, placing Vasitthi in an equal position to Kamanita and acknowledging the presence and the achievement of women in the history of Buddhism.

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011

CHAPTER IV

LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION, PHYSICALITY, AND

AMBIGUITY IN THE PRODUCTION OF ARYA

In this chapter, which is about the production process of Arya, I would like to focus on three major issues that arose during the production. The three issues are language and communication, physicality, and ambiguity. For each of these issues, I will discuss the problems encountered during the rehearsal process, the solutions to the problem or the outcome as seen in the performance, and what I can do to further develop the script for future submissions or productions as well as what I have learned as a playwright working with a production of my original play.

Before progressing to the three issues, I would like to briefly discuss the background of the production. Arya was performed in the Laboratory Theatre at Texas

Tech University, November 2-8, 2009. The rehearsals took place from September 14th through October 31st. The names and classification of directors, assistant directors, dramaturg, designers, and cast members are as follows12:

The Crew

Director – Jen Watson (MFA student in Theatre)

Assistant Director – Teddy Alexis Rodriguez (PhD student in Theatre)

Dramaturg – Jeanne Haggard (PhD student in Art)

Production Stage Manager – Diego Rodriguez (BFA student in Theatre)

Scenic Designer – SaraNeil Stribling (BFA student in Theatre)

12A copy of the program is included in the appendix. 69

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011

Sound Designer – Alex Krus (BFA student in Theatre)

Lighting Designer – Lacee Peloquin (BFA student in Theatre)

Costume Designer – Katie Kloosterman (BFA student in Theatre)

The Cast

Woman – Heather Welch (MA student in Theatre)

Male Spirit – Thomas Nazworth (BFA student in Theatre)

Female Spirit – Robyn Huizinga (MFA student in Theatre)

Wife – Marisa Guinn (BFA student in Theatre)

Chief – Adam Gallegos (BFA student in Theatre)

Grandmother – Mandi Tapia (PhD student in Theatre)

Widow – Kayla Fields (BFA student in Theatre)

Sister – Jessica Schuhman (BFA student in Theatre)

Friend – Stephen McClure (BFA student in Theatre)

Mother – Roxanne Ng (BA student in Music Education)

Father – Nathan Jacobs (MFA student in Theatre)

Daughter – Mallory Flores (BA student Speech, Languages, and Hearing Sciences)

The stage manager and the designer for this production were assigned by the

Department of Theatre and Dance. The cast members, on the other hand, were selected solely by the director. Even though the director and I had a discussion about the casting,

I did not have any input in the decision.

In general, the director, the cast members, and the production team did not have much experience working with new and original scripts prior to this production. The

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 majority, if not all, of the cast and crew also seemed to have very little or no knowledge of Buddhism. Since a dramaturg was assigned to this production, I did not get very involved in providing the background information about Buddhism to the cast, but I did have some discussions with the director and the dramaturg about Buddhism in general as well as the Buddhist and other Asian influences in the script. Nevertheless, I do not believe that the information from the discussion was properly passed on to the majority of the cast members.

After a few rehearsal sessions, the actors playing the spirits started to express their need for information about Buddhism and the Buddhist influence on the script. As a result, the director and the dramaturg arranged a session in which video clips about

Buddhism were shown. The only actors who attended this session were those who played the spirits. Even though the videos were helpful and informative, I still think that there should have been more discussions about the script itself as well as its relationship with Buddhism before and during the rehearsals. I also believe that the whole cast should have been included in the discussionof the play‘s Buddhist background. More details on the production process will be covered as part of the three focused issues mentioned above.

Language and Communication

Writing can be seen as translating, and a production of a play is also a translation of the script onto the stage. In the theatre, there is often a debate regarding the liberty of the director and how faithful the director should be in order to ―serve‖ the script, or in other words, to translate the script, especially in the first production of an original play.

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011

Konstantin Stanislavski, the renowned Russian director, asks in his book An Actor

Prepares, ―Can we use a super-objective that is not right from the author‘s point of view, and yet is fascinating to an actor?‖ He, then, answers, ―No. It is not only useless but dangerous. It can only draw the actors away from their parts and the play‖ (324).

Stanislavski is not the only one who believes that actors should primarily draw their actions and motivations from the script: ―The designer‘s bible,‖ proclaims Richard H.

Palmer in The Lighting Art: The Aesthetic of Stage Lighting, ―is not the book of filter samples or the instrument inventory, or the lighting plot, but that same focus shared by everyone else involved in the production, the play itself‖ (174). These two quotes demonstrate that the script itself, as well as the author‘s intention, is crucial to a successful production.

My question is, if the author‘s intention is of utmost importance, how can directors or designers rest assured that they correctly and genuinely translate the author‘s thoughts from the page onto the stage? Although they can always try, I see a potential problem with the issue regarding the author‘s intention and the reader‘s interpretation because, according to Stanley Fish, ―what is important is not the information itself, but the action of the mind which its possessions makes possible for one reader and impossible for the other‖ (182). Fish emphasizes the reader‘s experience, which creates interpretation, hence generates intention (184). If the play‘s intention is created by the readers, and different readers are working on a production of a play, how can the author‘s original intention be displayed in the performance? In a production like Arya--a play based on certain Buddhist concepts, written by a Thai playwright for whom English is not

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 her native language, produced in a university in Texas, with a production team primarily consisting of American students who have very little knowledge of Buddhism or of Asian culture in general--how can the director, the actors, and the designers work together to display the author‘s intention? I now discuss how we overcame some of these challenges and cultural differences in the production of Arya.

If writing is a translation, since English is not my native language, Arya is a double translation. Besides translating my thoughts into English and writing them on the page, there are four different worlds in the play that require four different types of language. In the spirit world, the male and female spirits speak in a formal language.

They finish each other‘s sentences as if they are one character with multiple personalities and genders. Some of their sentences are also quite confusing and require some interpretation. Woman, on the other hand, is a spirit that is still attached to the human world. Her language is thus more informal than that of the male and female spirits.

The language in the ancient village is also quite formal; I was aiming for language similar to that in a fairy tale. I wanted a somewhat universal language that could be from any time or any place.

Because I do not have a specific location for the Mediterranean island, instead of trying to use an accent, I attempted to create a distinguished pattern of speech. I decided to make the characters speak in short sentences with some repetition, which I found similar to that of free verse.

The language in the modern-day American scenes is simple, modern-day

American English, which is an imitation of everyday life. The characters in these scenes,

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 however, speak different types of American English. The character of Mother is

Japanese, and English is her second language; therefore, her English may be more formal and not as fluent as the character of Father, who is an American. The character of

Daughter is a seven-year-old child who speaks very simple English. These choices exemplify the idea that American English is not one-dimensional and that even though every character speaks some sort of American English, the language of each individual needs to be treated differently.

At the first read-through on September 14th, the director, the assistant director, the cast, the designers, and the dramaturg gathered in the greenroom to read and to listen to the script. The reading went smoothly; the actors seemed to understand my intention in the use of different levels of language and adjusted their voices accordingly. The director, however, dismissed everyone right after the reading without talking about the script or her approach to it. Some cast members, as a result, started to ask me questions about the script, its meaning, and the relationships between the characters, especially the connection between the sprit and the human characters. I answered the actors‘ questions, and the director also became involved in the discussion. Nonetheless, the discussion was very brief, unprepared, and incomplete. After everyone left the room, I was told by the director that she would love it if I communicated with the cast through her only. I agreed to her request, which sounded reasonable at the time. I later discovered, from talking to some of the cast members, that during the whole rehearsal period there was never an in- depth discussion of the script, its theme, its meaning, or its characters. The lack of proper communication had started early in the process.

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011

In the beginning, the director asked that I attend only certain rehearsals because she wanted to experiment with the actors and the script. Therefore, my involvement in the beginning process was quite limited. I later learned that, according to the Dramatist

Guild Resources Directory, playwrights always have the right to attend all rehearsals of their plays (3). Even though the statement from the Dramatist Guild Resources is not the law to be imposed on a college production, knowing that playwrights are usually allowed to attend rehearsals of their plays would have helped me reason with the director regarding my presence at the rehearsals. I did, however, attend all production meetings; unfortunately, my role at these meetings was only that of an observer. I later became more involved in the production and attended more rehearsals. Because the actors expressed their need to discuss the script and their characters with someone—and the director seemed unwilling to comply—I also started to communicate directly with the actors.

During the beginning of the rehearsal process, one of the most common problems was the fact that sometimes the actors and the director did not understand the meaning of certain lines or sentences that I wrote. I believe this has to do mostly with the fact that I was writing in a foreign language and some of the phrases and sentences were influenced by the structure of my native language. In this case, a little bit of explanation on my part and some word changes solved the problem. For example, in the village scene, when

Grandmother tells Chief that he should take her life in place of her granddaughter‘s, I originally wrote the line, ―What would the Chief say?‖ In Thai language, one often refers to oneself or the other person in the third person, which sounds strange and does not

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 make much sense in English. Therefore, I changed the sentence to ―What would your answer be?‖ Also, in the village scene, when talking to Grandmother, Wife originally ended almost all of her sentences with the word ―Grandmother,‖ which sounded awkward and unnecessary. During the rehearsals, almost half the occurrences of the word

―Grandmother‖ were cut so that the English sentences would flow smoothly. Another example comes from the Mediterranean scene. When Friend tells Widow to forget the past, Widow responds, ―The past is what constructs the person. Who we are now is the result of who we have been.‖ The actress admitted to me that she did not know what the lines meant and she had been saying them as if she was angry. I explained to her that to

Friend, the past is something that needs to be let go and forgotten, but for her character, the past becomes a very important part of the person. The actress said she understood my explanation, and the lines stayed the same. Some of the changes made during the rehearsal process will be in the revised version of the script.

Because the production team decided to put the ancient village in a Native

American setting, some of the original words in certain scenes were changed to match that specific location. For example, the word ―sword‖ was changed to ―knife,‖ and

―military training‖ became ―warrior training.‖ I also had to omit the words ―prison‖ and

―door,‖ for instance, because, according to the director and the dramaturg, these words and concepts were not present in the ancient Native American context. These changes, however, were made for this production only; the original words in the script will stay the same. The Native American setting is also specific to this production only.

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011

Another challenge I found in working in this production involves the use of pauses and stage directions and the tendency of most directors and actors to ignore them.

I believe that the playwright‘s job is not only writing dialogue; therefore, stage directions are part of the script and should not be overlooked or ignored. In this production, some of the stage directions were disregarded, at least until I pointed out their significance to the director. For example, I used the imported Japanese magazine as an important motif in the play. To Mother, the magazine represents her connection to Japan as well as her comfort in the foreign land. At the beginning and at the end of each scene, the stage directions state that Mother either looks at or holds the magazine. Consequently,

Daughter mentions in the last scene of the play that whenever she thinks of her mother, she sees a beautiful young woman who always read an imported Japanese magazine, as if it was the closest thing to her home. To make Daughter‘s comment relate to the previous scenes, the audience should be aware of the magazine and Mother‘s attachment to it.

During the early process of the rehearsal, the magazine was simply left on the table like an unused prop. I had to explain to the director how important it was to the character and to the play. The director, who originally saw the magazine as a distraction, compromised with me and followed some of the stage directions. Another instance of disregard for stage directions was the fact that the director did not realize that, in the first scene, the voices from the non-spirit characters were disembodied voices until I pointed out the stage directions to her.

Besides neglecting many stage directions, some of the pauses were skipped completely. These pauses do not merely represent the absence of speech; some of them

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 contain hidden motives and moments of realization. If they are skipped, the moments are lost, and the scenes become rushed and unmotivated, at least from my perspective. For example, before Arya starts to recognize the male and female spirits as someone she has met before, there is a pause. That pause occurs when Arya looks deeply into the spirits‘ eyes or their souls and recognizes some familiarity. If this scene is rushed, the moment that suggests Arya‘s realization will not fully take place.

All through the process, I talked to the director and some actors about certain pauses; some of them were corrected, but some of them continued to be ignored. I believe there is no real solution to this problem; playwrights will continue to write pauses and stage directions, and some directors and actors will continue to ignore them.

Nevertheless, I found an alternative answer to this problem. My solution is not to cut the stage directions or to get rid of the pauses but to become a better communicator on the pages. I still believe that stage directions are part of the script and a means of communication from the playwright to the production cast and crew. What I can do is to make them clearer and stronger. For example, there are countless pauses in Arya, but for the pauses that I find most important, instead of simply writing ―a pause‖ or ―a long pause,‖ I can add a phrase or a sentence to clarify it, such as: ―Pause. A moment of realization.‖ It means that some stage directions will be longer, but some will also be cut so that they are more focused and to the point. Therefore, if an actor or a director cares to look, some clarification is there. Some of those who ignore stage directions will always ignore them no matter how long or short they are; my aim, thus, is to be a better communicator with people through my writing.

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011

Even though I was open to the director‘s and the actors‘ interpretations and motivations, this production is the first production of Arya, and I would have liked everyone to stay true to the script and to respect my original intention. Everybody reads a script with a different background and experience; therefore, an effective and wholesome communication is crucial for everyone to work together at the same level. As a playwright, I have learned from this production that I need to become a better communicator and master the use of different types of language, both on the page and in person.

Physicality

The issue regarding physicality was specific to the spirit scenes. The scenes take place in a made-up spirit world, and all of the characters are spirits: two older spirits and one younger spirit. The spirit characters were masked; the older spirits wore full masks, and the younger spirit wore a half-mask. The costume for all the spirits was a simple flowing dress. From my observation, the spirit scenes were the most difficult to stage, and the actors themselves admitted to me that they did not know how to play these scenes.

The first problem lies in the fact that there was no agreement on what the spirit world looked like or felt like, except for the different levels of watercolored stage and drapery. The second problem arose from the fact that the actors did not understand who their characters really were; as a result, they did not know how the spirits were supposed to move, act, or express themselves. I did not put a lot of information in the script because I felt that the information I included should be enough to lead the director, the

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 dramaturg, or the actors to conduct their own research and make their own decisions. I maintained the courtesy of not stepping on the director‘s toes, but I believe that the lack of focus, research, and decision-making caused difficulty in performing the spirit scenes.

Perhaps the most challenging aspect of the spirit scenes was the fact that the actors had to act in masks. Because the actors‘ facial expressions were hidden, I anticipated some sort of stylized movement and some ways of using the stationary masks to convey meaning and to create interesting images on stage. The actors for this production, however, were trained in the Western style of acting, mostly based on

Stanislavski‘s technique, and they were not used to working with masks and stylized movements. The actors had problems finding motivation to move and to express their emotions. One of the actors even said to me that she felt she could have just stood still, without any movement, and delivered all her lines that way.

Although the spirit scenes were influenced by Eastern theatre which is dominated by stylized movements based on established performance codes, I did not wish for this production to mimic any specific tradition of Asian theatre. The scenes could be performed in many different ways, and many forms of choreography could work. When asked by the director regarding the style of the piece, I informed her that I would leave the decision up to her. Unfortunately, that decision was never made. By and large, the problem regarding physicality was unique to this production because, I think, of the poor communication and the lack of research on any possible movement or acting techniques that could be used in this production. From the very beginning, the actors expressed their need for guidance and some form of choreography, but they were not provided the

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 guidance they sought. All I could do in this situation was to give them background information and to answer any questions they asked.

I include this problem in the chapter because it was one of the biggest problems encountered in the rehearsal process; however, as a playwright, I can write in the script that the scenes may need some stylized movement, mask work, and choreography, but I believe that staging the scenes is the director‘s job. Therefore, the director should be able to judge from the script what needs to be done and come up with his or her own approach based on the research and the spirit of the play.

Ambiguity

There are a lot of ambiguities in the script of Arya: the somewhat unspecified different worlds, the characters and their relationships, and the connection between the main story and the sub-stories. Moreover, the script is heavily influenced by Buddhist thoughts and concepts, but the words ―Buddha,‖ ―Buddhism,‖ or ―Bodhisattva‖ is never once mentioned. I originally wanted the play to be quite ambiguous while leaving some clarity that can lead the audiences to their own interpretation. This production, therefore, helped me decide that I should make some things clearer and some should remain vague.

The production designers made the setting of the play clearer by determining the specific time and location of the different sub-stories. The script states that there are four different worlds in the play: the spirit world, the ―once upon a time‖ world in a small ancient village, a small Mediterranean island during the early Common Era, and modern day America somewhere in the Midwest. The script also states that these four different settings can overlap one another, and the spirit world can utilize the spaces of all the

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 other worlds. For the production, the scenic designer created one abstract setting that represented all the worlds, with some set properties such as a chair, a rug, or moss patches added to distinguish each setting. The production team decided that the ―once upon a time‖ village was Native American. The costume design for the Mediterranean island was influenced by Turkey. And modern day America was in a big city in

Minnesota, with both modern Asian and American design elements. While the human worlds became more or less clear, the spirit world, on the other hand, remained vague. I loved the fact that the set was somewhat abstract but at the same time gave the audience some suggestions of the place and time, which was the idea I had in mind when I first wrote the script.

Arya is a play about reincarnation, and the character called Woman, later to be revealed as Arya, is the spirit or the soul of one of the characters in each of the sub- stories—an idea that some audience members may not grasp. What I had in mind was that Arya was the spirit of Wife in the ancient village, Sister on the Mediterranean island, and Mother in modern day America. The director and the production team agreed with this decision and tried to put forth the idea into the production. The script, however, was written in such a way that different readers could also connect Arya to other characters in the sub-stories; the assistant director believed that Arya was Grandmother in the ancient village, and some actors did not know if Arya was actually Widow or Sister in the

Mediterranean scenes. In order to make their connection clear in the production, the director added certain stage movements and blockings that focused more on Wife, Sister, and Mother, especially in the scenes where everyone was on stage together. Despite the

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 attempt, these subtle blocking details were still too small for some audience members to notice.

After seeing the performance several times and after talking to some of the audience members, I came to believe strongly that the different incarnations of Arya should be left open and ambiguous. Because each character suffers greatly in his or her own way, Arya can represent any one or all of them. Even though most people saw Arya as one of the female characters in the sub-stories, Arya could also be one or all of the male characters. According to Buddhist cosmology, souls are not gender-oriented, which means that one can be a woman in one life and a man in another and vice versa. It is true that the script focuses more on the female experiences, but the male characters are no less important. Moreover, the three sub-stories are merely three out of many other possible lifetimes. Even though certain characters and certain situations in the sub-stories share some similarities, the characters that represent Arya may or may not be a logical progression in the chronology of the three sub-stories. By letting the audiences decide for themselves which characters were Arya in her past lives, the audiences will not have to worry whether they are right or wrong in their guesses; they can use their backgrounds and experiences to interpret and to create the meaning of the play for themselves.

In the last scene, the audience discovers that Arya had met the male and female spirits many times before; however, Arya‘s relationship with them was also unclear.

Initially, the male and female spirits were supposed to be other characters in the sub- stories, but after seeing the production, I would like to leave this part open to the production‘s decision and the audience‘s interpretation as well. The male and female

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 spirits could be the characters in the sub-stories, the people that these characters talk about in their stories, or the same spirits that Arya meets over and over again between lives, and so on. I believe that seeing the live performances of Arya and discussing the play with some audience members helped me lean toward a more indefinite approach to the characters and their relationships. This doesn‘t mean that the play will have no clarity and focus; my original intention will always be in the script; all the necessary details that connect the characters will be kept intact. I now feel that there is no need on my part to try to make everything match perfectly in order to determine the concrete relationship of the characters. Moreover, if the intent to remain ambiguous and open is clear in the script, I believe that directors, designers, and actors should be able to understand this intention without difficulty.

Conclusion

Overall, despite all the challenges and difficulties, I believe the production was a success, considering it was a college production directed and acted by students. The play‘s language, physicality, and ambiguity are the major issues I noticed that arose from the production. These observations will help me in the process of re-writing Arya as well as in my future career as a playwright. Because theatre is a collaborative and communicative art, I am grateful for the experience I have from working in this production. The production of Arya not only gave me an opportunity to see my first full- length play performed for the first time, but it also taught me how to collaborate, understand, and compromise with other theatre artists.

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CHAPTER V

EVALUATION: THE SURVEY OF THE AUDIENCE’S RESPONSES

TO THE PRODUCTION OF ARYA

In this chapter, which is the evaluation of my attempt to write scripts about women and Buddhism, I will focus on the survey I conducted during the production of

Arya. The survey, approved by the Texas Tech University Protection of Human Subject

Committee, is divided into four parts. Part one includes the demographic information of the participants. Part two demonstrates the overall understanding and reaction, based on the scale of one to five, of the audience to seven statements. Part three is a written section that includes four short answer questions asking for the audience‘s overall responses to the production, their conjecture as to the theme of the play, how suffering is viewed in the play, and how the female characters are treated. For part four, the participants chose between one of two questions: If they had very little or no knowledge of Buddhism, they were asked to explain what they learned about Buddhism from the production; if they were Buddhists or had studied Buddhism, they were asked to explain how the content of the play confirms, contradicts, or challenges their previous knowledge of Buddhism. A copy of the survey is included in Appendix D.

There are two versions of the survey. The survey with only part one and part two was given out at the end of the performances to audience members who volunteered to participate. This way, the survey would not take too much of the audience‘s time as they left the theatre. The other survey with all four parts was conducted in classrooms with students who were required to see the production. I was invited to several theatre classes

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 as a guest speaker, and I asked students to complete the survey at the beginning of the class period. For the classes that I did not visit, I gave copies of the survey to the instructors and asked them to distribute the survey to their students. The survey was thus conducted in several classes, including Theatre Appreciation, Introduction to Acting,

Script Analysis, Playwriting, Theatre History, and Historical and Critical Perspectives in

Theatre Arts. I have a total of 172 copies of the completed survey, with 33 participants filling out only parts one and two and 139 filling out all four parts. Because I could not control how the participants completed the survey, some of them skipped certain questions or chose more than one answer. For that reason, the survey may not be completely accurate because not all the questions were answered by all participants. The raw material will be kept in my possession for two years after the dissertation is submitted.

The Participants’ Demographic Information

After collecting all the surveys, I put the results on an Excel spreadsheet and organized the data from parts one and two in two separate tables. Table 1 displays the percentage of the demographic information of all the survey participants.

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Table 1 Demographics

Demographics Number of Participants Percentage (%) Age 18-25 135 78.49 26-34 21 12.21 35-49 13 7.56 50-65 3 1.74 66+ 0 0.00 Religious Background Buddhist 10 5.81 Christian 125 72.67 Hindu 2 1.16 Jewish 4 2.33 Muslim 3 1.74 Other 33 19.19 Race American Indian/Alaskan Native 4 2.33 Asian/Pacific Islander 10 5.81 Asian American 4 2.33 African/African American 9 5.23 Caucasian 113 69.70 Hispanic 26 15.12 Other 8 4.65 Sex Male 83 48.26 Female 84 48.84 Believe in Reincarnation Yes 24 13.95 No 77 44.77 Don‘t know/Possible 67 38.95 Knowledge of Buddhism None 31 18.02 A little 115 66.86 Have studied Buddhism 19 11.05 Buddhist 6 3.49

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From table 1, it is clear that the majority of the participants are college students aged between 18-25 years old (78.49%). Most of them identify themselves as Caucasian

(65.70%) and Christian (72.67%). The ratio between male and female participants is quite even, with 83 (48.26%) male and 84 (48.84%) female. Almost half of the participants (44.77%) say that they do not believe in the idea of reincarnation; 38.96% say that they either do not know if they believe in reincarnation or they think it is a possibility. Only 13.95% say that they believe in the idea of reincarnation. Prior to viewing the production of Arya, 11.05% of the participants had studied Buddhism,

66.86% already knew a little bit about Buddhism, while 18.02% admit that they did not know anything about Buddhism. When asked about their religious background, ten people answered that they are Buddhists, but only six people identified themselves as

Buddhists when asked about their knowledge of Buddhism. This may have happened because some Buddhists may have answered that they know a little about Buddhism or have studied Buddhism before. From my experience, it is possible for a person to know very little about his or her own religion. Whatever reasons there may be, the number of

Buddhists among all the participants is very low.

Because of the location and the setting of the production, it is appropriate that most of the participants turned out to be Caucasian and Christian college students who had little knowledge of Buddhism. The later parts of the survey display the students‘ understanding of a Buddhist-related play and how I, as a playwright, communicated to these audience members through the script and the production.

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Responses to the Production Elements

Table 2 illustrates the percentage of the answers to the questions in the second part of the survey. The seven statements in the survey have been cut to include only some key words to fit the space in the table.

Table 2 Responses to the Production Elements

Statements Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Disagree (%) (%) (%) (%) Agree (%) Confused during first 12.21 19.19 26.16 16.16 16.28 scene Familiar with non- 5.23 19.19 23.84 27.91 23.84 traditional theatre Play became clearer 2.33 3.49 9.30 31.98 33.14 Production elements 6.98 7.56 23.84 30.23 32.56 were helpful Dialogue was audible 2.33 4.56 14.53 34.30 42.44 Wife, Sister, Mother 5.23 12.21 12.21 19.19 51.16 recognized as Woman Positive ending 2.91 5.81 16.86 27.33 47.67

From table 2, 12.21% of the participants did not find the first scene of Arya confusing while 16.28% strongly agreed that they were confused during the scene. The majority of the participants fall in the middle of the scale, with 26.16% agreeing that they were confused, 26.16% neutral, and 19.19% disagreeing. When combining the percentage of the participants who both agreed and strongly agreed that they were confused, the total is 42.44%, which is close to half of the number of the total participants. Because the first scene was written to be somewhat confusing and ambiguous, as discussed in chapter II, the result of the survey was quite expected.

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Because the play was written and produced with some non-traditional Western theatre elements, when asked if they were familiar with this style of theatre, 23.84% of the participants strongly agreed and 27.91 % also agreed. Only nine participants (5.23%) strongly disagreed, and 33 participants (19.19%) disagreed while 41 participants

(23.84%) remained neutral. Even though the plot and the stories in the play are quite easy to follow, an understanding of the style of the piece may help the audience grasp the play and its meaning quicker and more easily. While the neutral participants are more difficult to analyze, the result of question two shows that more than half of the participants may not have had difficulty adjusting to the style of the production.

Even though 16.28% of the participants stated they strongly agreed that they were confused during the first scene, and 26.16% also agreed, as the play progressed, 33.14% strongly agreed that it became clearer, and 31.14% of the participants also agreed with this statement. Only 2.33% and 3.49% of the participants strongly disagreed and disagreed that the play became clearer while 9.30% stayed neutral. Therefore, to most of the audience members who took the survey, the play became clearer as it progressed.

Because the production elements can assist the audience‘s understanding of a play, the audience was asked to rate how the costumes, lighting, scenery, and sound helped them understand this play. The number of participants agreeing and strongly agreeing is greater than those who expressed disagreement or neutrality, with 23.56% strongly agreed, 30.23% agreed, 23.84% neutral, 7.56% disagreed, and 6.98% strongly disagreed. With this result, I understand that the production elements helped a majority

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 of the participants understand the play, and these elements are important communication tools between the work of the playwright and the audience members.

For a playwright, the written dialogue is the primary means of communication; however, the way the actors deliver their lines also contributes to the audience‘s understanding of the dialogue. The fifth question of part two combines these two aspects and simply asks the participants if they were able to follow the dialogue and understand what was being said. It seems that the majority of the participants could understand the dialogue quite well, with 42.44% strongly agreed and 35.30% agreed. Only 2.33% strongly disagreed with the statement while 4.65% also disagreed and 14.83% neutral.

Knowing whether the audience understood what was being said reinforced that their answers in the later parts were reliable.

Because the production put forth the idea that Wife, Mother, and Sister are the reincarnations of Woman or Arya, I am pleased to find that more than half of the participants (51.16%) strongly agreed with the given statement and 19.19% also agreed.

That leaves 12.21% neutral, 12.21% disagreeing, and 5.23% strongly disagreeing.

Because the script is ambiguous in itself, and the stage blockings that focus on Wife,

Mother, and Sister were not very noticeable, it is understandable that some of the audience members paired Arya with other characters or did not even get that these characters are the reincarnations of Arya.

Despite all the tragic events in the sub-stories, I personally think that Arya leaves a hopeful and positive ending. Through pain and suffering, one can learn to become a better and stronger person. Also, according to Buddhist thought, suffering can cause

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 people to seek enlightenment. Even though Arya is ambiguous in many ways, I would like this hopeful message to be obvious so that the audience will not see Buddhism as a pessimistic belief system that only focuses on the negative. In spite of their unfamiliarity with Buddhist thought, 47.67% strongly agreed that the play ended positively, and

27.33% also agreed. This means that 75% of the participants grasped the hopeful and positive message, while 16.86% were neutral, 5.18% disagreed, and only 2.91% strongly disagreed.

Communication Theories and the Interpretation of the Survey

Even though the results from parts one and two of the survey were calculated into percentages, these numbers are merely an indication of the audience‘s overall responses to the production. In the later parts of the survey, in which the participants had an opportunity to choose their own words and write down their answers, common words or phrases written by the participants were used to indicate the participants‘ impressions and thoughts in general. Not all of the answers by 139 participants can be included in this chapter; therefore, only the frequent expressions and ideas will be focused on even though I understand and see from the survey that the participants have many diverse responses and opinions.

Even though people try their best to express their thoughts and ideas, the listeners may interpret what they hear to mean something else. According to Charles Berger, ―the probability of perfect communication is zero‖ (―Producing Messages Under Uncertainty‖

222 ). Berger proposes that an interactive strategy, talking face to face with the other person and asking specific questions, is the quickest way to reduce uncertainty

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(―Communicating Under Uncertainty‖ 46). Although asking the audience members to answer questions in the survey is different from talking to them face to face, I believe it is the most effective way to get feedback from a large number of theatre attendees. Because the participants had to interpret my questions and I had to interpret their answers, the communication is by no means perfect.

Parts three and four of the survey ask for the participants‘ personal opinion and what they may have learned from the play; thus the participants‘ background and experiences can greatly contribute to their answers. According to Standpoint theory, each individual sees the world differently based on his or her gender, race, class, and sexual orientation, among other things (Griffin 438). Therefore, ―a culture is not experienced identically by all members. Instead, cultures are hierarchally ordered so that different groups within them have positions that offer dissimilar power, opportunities, and experiences to members‖ (Wood 251). Because each person comes from a different standpoint, which is quite subjective, there is no possibility of an unbiased perspective that is ―disinterested, impartial, value-free, or detached from a particular historical situation. Instead, each person can achieve only a partial view of reality from the perspective of his or her own position in the social hierarchy‖ (Harding 59). Standpoint theorists believe that the best way to discover how the world works is to start the inquiry from the standpoint of women and other groups on the margins of the society while also keeping in mind that not all women, minorities, or men, always share the same standpoint

(Griffin 482 and 486). From the Standpoint theory, it is helpful to keep in mind that the participants of my survey come primarily from similar religious, cultural, and educational

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 backgrounds; however, they can also have different standpoints which cause them to perceive the play differently.

Because only ten participants answered that they are Buddhists when asked about their religious background and only six identified themselves as Buddhists when asked to rate their knowledge of Buddhism, there was a possibility that a number of the participants may have disagreed with the Buddhist content in the production of Arya.

Leon Festinger explains in Theory of Cognitive Dissonance that the existence of a major dissonance may occur when ―two or more established beliefs or values, all relevant to the area of cognition in question, are inconsistent‖ (6-7). Even though the play does not mention Buddhism, the survey of the audience‘s responses to Arya focuses directly on

Buddhist ideas and concepts and asks the audience for their opinion in regard to these ideas. According to Festinger, ―where an opinion must be formed or a decision taken, some dissonance is almost unavoidably created‖ (5). Therefore, when answering questions, the participants may have had some resistance to the Buddhist themes or even the story of Arya itself, especially if these participants are strictly devoted to their own religions or beliefs.

According to dissonance cognitive theory, there are several sources that can cause dissonance. Dissonance can arise from logical inconsistency, cultural mores, general opinions, or past experiences (Festinger 14). However, there are ways to reduce dissonance. One possible way is to ―add a new cognitive element which, in a sense,

‗reconciles‘ two elements that are dissonant‖ (Festinger 22). Because I had anticipated that most of the audience members at Texas Tech University would not be Buddhists, I

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 phrased my survey questions very carefully. Even though I asked questions related to

Buddhism, I did not ask if the participants agreed or disagreed with Buddhism. I believe that the way I wrote my questions is a method of reconciliation to reduce dissonance between the participants‘ personal beliefs and what I sought to find out from their responses to the survey.

For the answers from part three and part four of the survey, I will go through the questions one by one, presenting the answers that are most common or the ones that are unique or interesting. Because there were 139 participants who completed these parts of the survey, I cannot possibly relay all of their answers here.

The Overall Written Responses to the Production

The first question in part three asks: ―What is your overall response to of the production?‖ This question is not directly related to the topic of women and Buddhism; however, it was designed to help the audience express their feelings or emotions or any opinions about the production before moving on to the more specific questions about the content of the play. The most common word is ―enjoy‖ as in ―I enjoyed it.‖ The various uses of this word are found in 22 surveys while the next most common words are ―well‖ and ―good,‖ both appear on 17 surveys. The word ―well‖ is usually part of a short phrase such as ―well-done,‖ ―well-thought out,‖ ―well-put together,‖ or ―well-written.‖ The word ―good‖ is often attached to a sentence such as, ―I think it was a good show,‖ and so on. The word ―interesting,‖ which is a little more ambiguous, appears 15 times while the word ―great‖ appears 11 times as in ―great story,‖ ―great script,‖ or ―The production was great.‖ There are other words found with quite positive meanings, such as, ―love‖ (9

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 times) as in ―I loved it,‖ ―beautiful‖ (6 times), and ―entertaining‖ (7 times). Some participants expressed that they found the play confusing by using the words ―confusing‖

(10 times), ―confused‖ (5 times), and ―ambiguous‖ (1 time). Two participants found the production ―weird,‖ eight found it ―different,‖ and one said that it was ―not very entertaining.‖

Six participants related their experience of the production to Buddhism, with four mentions of ―Buddhist,‖ and two of ―Buddhism.‖ Some of these sentences are as follows: ―I thought it was an entertaining way to incorporate Buddhist concepts into a story,‖ ―I feel that I understand some of the Buddhist ideas more than before I saw it,‖ and ―I enjoyed the message of the play—though I thought it was a little basic—

‗Buddhism for dummies.‘‖ Four participants mentioned the word ―reincarnation‖ as in

―Adequate portrayal of idea of reincarnation,‖ and ―I am a believer in reincarnation, but the feeling of the play struck me the wrong way. To me, it missed the point of reincarnation as I see it. While I do believe in reincarnation, I don't believe in the way the East largely does.‖ The second example also shows the participant‘s dissonance with the reincarnation illustrated in the play; however, without further explanation, the participant‘s idea of reincarnation is unknown.

Reading through all the answers, there is also a possibility that some of the participants were uninterested in answering the question and simply wrote down something or the first thing that came to mind. However, from the overall responses to the first question, I believe the majority of the participants more or less enjoyed the production.

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The second question asks: ―What do you think is the thought or the theme of the play?‖ I ask this question because even though Buddhism is not mentioned in the script, the theme of the play is based on Buddhist teachings. To me, the play is simply about life and suffering and how the characters learn from them. Nevertheless, if one looks deeply into the Buddhist theme, the play is also about one‘s journey through different lives in an attempt to break the cycle of births and deaths.

The most common word written in the survey is ―life,‖ which is repeated 42 times. It is found in sentences such as ―Life is a journey of learning,‖ ―This life is only a part of your existence and should be valued, but also let go. Death is not a bad thing because it is a step,‖ and ―Life goes on.‖ These examples suggest that the participants saw the play as being connected to ―life‖ in general as well as how one can learn from life. The second most common word found is ―reincarnation,‖ which is seen 29 times.

Arya is directly about reincarnation, and the three sub-stories represent Arya‘s three different lifetimes. I believe that this idea is quite apparent in the production, but I also think that the participants may have obtained the idea and the use of this word from the previous part of the survey when they were asked whether they believed in reincarnation or not. Yet, no matter how or where the participants obtained the idea of reincarnation— since the word reincarnation is not used in the script—the repetition of this word suggests that the audience somehow related the play to this idea.

The next most common words are ―learn‖ (29 times) and ―suffering‖ (27 times) as in ―Learning from your mistakes,‖ ―Life is a journey of learning,‖ ―You learn from struggles and suffering,‖ and ―We get to watch a disoriented soul reconnect with the

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 truths of the spirit world—life is pain but it needn't be suffering—before returning to the cycle of death and re-birth.‖ The combination of these words and sample sentences suggests that a number of the audience members understand that the play is about reincarnation, suffering, and learning through life.

Apart from the common words mentioned above, five participants used the word

―enlightenment,‖ for example, ―I think the theme was that a person will continue to experience suffering in many lives until they attain enlightenment,‖ and ―All experiences, even negative ones, are part of the path to enlightenment.‖ One participant volunteered the Buddhist term ―The Four Noble Truths,‖ which is, in fact, what I planned to be the core concept of the script. Other Buddhist terms such as ―Nirvana‖ and ―The Noble

Eightfold Path‖ are also mentioned once in the responses.

Some of the participants, I noticed, seemed to be against the idea of reincarnation and expressed their view without even being asked. For example, ―I don't agree with reincarnation, thus it was hard for me to enjoy the end. It did offer an idea that we can learn from any situations we find ourselves in,‖ and ―Although I do not believe in reincarnation, I felt the essence of the play was us, as people, moving forward in life and allowing our experiences to change us in a positive way.‖ In part two of the survey, when asked whether they believed in reincarnation or not, which is a yes, no, or maybe type of question, some participants chose ―no‖ and added their own comments, saying that ―It‘s a myth,‖ ―It‘s a lie,‖ or ―I hope it‘s not true.‖ Although disagreeing with the underlying theme of the play and the belief of an unfamiliar culture, I‘ve noticed that the

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 participants at large—mostly Caucasians and Christians—were still able to understand the play as it was without letting their own backgrounds or beliefs interfere.

The third question asks how suffering is viewed according to the production. The play specifically discusses the difference between pain and suffering based on Buddhist teachings. Suffering is a part of life; it is inevitable. There are lines in the play that say:

―Birth. Sickness. Old age. And Death. Life itself is suffering.‖ But Buddhism teaches that life and death, as well as suffering, are impermanent and can be let go; it teaches that ultimately there is no self and that one can be trained to live without being attached to transient materials such as one‘s body and mind. When suffering is gone, what remains is only pain, which is nothing more than a mundane experience. The play also focuses on suffering in the characters‘ lives and how it can help them grow.

The most common word from the answers to the third question is ―learn,‖ which appears 26 times. This shows a relationship between this question and the previous question; suffering is a way to learn—one of the most important messages in the play.

Some of the answers containing the word ―learn‖ are as follow: ―Suffering is viewed as something to learn from,‖ ―Suffering is viewed as a learning process which will help the main character achieve a greater state of being,‖ and ―A learning process.‖

The second most common word is ―pain,‖ which appears 20 times. ―Suffering is necessary to learn, and eventually fades, leaving only pain,‖ wrote one participant.

―Suffering is an essential part of life, different from pain. You learn things through suffering sometimes,‖ wrote another participant. Even though they did not explain clearly what the differences between pain and suffering were, it appears that the

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 participants often connected pain and suffering and discussed them side by side. Some participants admitted that they are confused or did not catch anything regarding suffering in the play. Some mixed up the idea of pain and suffering presented in the play completely. For example, ―Suffering is viewed as pain,‖ ―As something bad and painful,‖ and ―I don‘t know. Not clear.‖ This confusion is, however, to be expected; the discussion of pain and suffering is quite complex, and it is reasonable that some of the audience members may not have caught its significance.

The next most common words are ―part of life‖ (19 times) and ―necessary‖ (16 times). Some participants stated that suffering was a part of life or something necessary in one‘s spiritual growth, which is the way I intended it to be viewed. Some of the responses are ―Suffering is a necessary part of life,‖ ―Suffering is viewed as just a part of life,‖ and ―In a positive light. Suffering is necessary for progress.‖

Because my dissertation focuses on the topic of women and Buddhism, and the script of Arya emphasizes female characters and their experiences, the last question in part three asks the participants how they view the treatment of the female characters in the play. The question is quite open; therefore, some of the participants did not fully understand what they were supposed to answer. One participant wrote that he/she did not understand the question. Another asked if I meant the treatment by the playwright or by other characters in the play. I intentionally left this question open because I felt that the treatments by the playwright and by other characters in the play are connected; I was interested in their responses either way.

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The most common word among the answers to question four is ―strong,‖ which is seen 22 times as in ―I feel they are very strong female roles (dominant),‖ ―I felt each of them represented strong individual,‖ and ―I think that women are the strong ones in this play. The women are the ones making the life changing decision.‖ Overall, the responses to this question vary, with the second most common word, which is

―suffering,‖ found only 11 times. For example, ―The female characters have their own strong will to do what they want. They are all dealt suffering and pain,‖ ―I thought that the female characters were used to demonstrate suffering and that they played a large role,‖ and ―I think they were all victims to their suffering and to worldly circumstances, but also they were villains in their family units and the disruption they caused.‖ Other words that are repeated quite often are ―equal‖ (8 times), ―decision‖ (7 times), ―realistic‖

(6 times), and ―independent‖ (4 times). Two participants mentioned the word ―feminist,‖ saying that ―Positively--the play did an excellent job of dealing with women as characters and not overdoing a feminist agenda, instead portraying the women honestly,‖ and ―They were treated like pre-feminist women.‖ One person also mentioned that he/she liked the diversity of these women.

On the whole, the participants commented on the characters as individuals, as creations by the playwright, as well as how they were treated by other characters and by their societies. There are both negative and positive comments, but for the most part, these female characters are seen as strong women who suffer under certain circumstances but are very dominant in the play.

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The Audience’s Responses to the Buddhist Content

Part four asks the participants to choose between two questions based on their knowledge of Buddhism. The first question asks the participants directly what they have learned about Buddhism from the production: ―If you have very little or no knowledge of

Buddhism, and if you are told that the play is influenced by some Buddhist thoughts, what do you think is the main thing you‘ve learned about Buddhism from this play?

Please explain and provide specific examples.‖ I ask the audience this question because I would like to know what they could draw from the play and whether the Buddhist concepts I put in the play came across to them.

Even though the most common word found in this first question is ―life‖ (44 times), the most common straight answer is ―reincarnation‖ (39 times), which is, in fact, the primary Buddhist thought in the play that links all the sub-stories and the main story together. The second most common words are ―spirit‖ and ―learn,‖ which are repeated

41 times each. The word ―spirit‖ is often mentioned partly because the participants stated that Buddhists believed in spirits and partly because they referred to the characters in the play that are spirits. The word ―learn‖ also has roughly two meanings used by the participants. The first is when they repeated the question and stated that they‘ve

―learned‖ something from the play. The second is when they refer to the learning experience of the characters and how the characters learn from their lives and their suffering. Undoubtedly, the next most common word is ―suffering‖ itself, which is seen

25 times. For example, one participant wrote that ―The only way you can have a full understanding of life is with pain and suffering.‖ Another wrote: ―That in order to stop

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Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 reincarnation you have to learn from not just the good in life but the suffering as well.‖

One participant commented that ―I think the obvious idea is that of reincarnation, however, I was shocked to see how important the act of suffering was to Buddhist ideas.

In certain ways, I felt that suffering was portrayed in a positive light.‖ Even though some participants may have not previously known about the emphasis Buddhism places on suffering, they were able to grasp from the play and understand that suffering is viewed as a part of life and a way of learning.

A small number of the participants stated that they were not aware that Arya had any religious background. One participant commented on the accessibility of the

Buddhist ideas in the play: ―The spiritual view is expressed in a way to make it accessible to the general viewing audience. The play makes the spiritual ideology of Buddhism a natural expectation or possibility.‖ Another group of the participants, on the other hand, seemed to have no clue of what the play was about or what the question was asking. For example, ―I didn‘t even know this play was about Buddhism. I guess that you can come back three times. I am still confused about the whole play. I thought these were her past lives, how could she come back three different times.‖ Another one wrote: ―I didn‘t get a big picture of what Buddhism is.‖ Although there are people who were confused about the play and expressed that they did not acquire any knowledge about Buddhism from the production, they are the very small minority, and it is to be expected.

Some participants, also a small group, expressed their interest in Buddhism after viewing the production. One of them wrote: ―Buddhism has always interested me and I would learn more about it after seeing Arya.‖ Another wrote: ―I would like to

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Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 exhaustively study the beliefs of Buddhism to learn more about the culture and people and ways of life.‖ One of the participants even said that ―I think the basic points and themes of Buddhism that I was already moderately aware of were highlighted and addressed visually, which helped me to understand and possibly remember better.‖

Knowing that my play helped the audience understand Buddhism better or even prompted them to learn more about Buddhism was one of the greatest goals I could achieve as a

Buddhist and a playwright.

Due to the fact that from the question regarding the participants‘ knowledge of

Buddhism in part one of the survey only six participants identified themselves as

Buddhists and nineteen have studied Buddhism before—though the extent of their studies is unknown—the quantity of answers in question two of part four is quite small. The question asks: ―If you are a Buddhist or have studied Buddhism, how does the content of the play confirm, contradict, or challenge your previous knowledge of Buddhism? Please explain and provide specific examples.‖ Even though the participants were directed to answer only one question in this part, a number of participants answered both questions, with the total of 26 participants answering question two. Some people who answered this question actually admitted that they knew very little or nothing at all about Buddhism. I believed that some of the participants did not read the directions carefully; therefore, I will mainly focus on the answers that actually responded directly to the question.

Ten participants stated that the play confirmed their previous knowledge of

Buddhism. Since the number is quite low, I have decided to include all the responses here:

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―The context of the play confirmed the little that I know. For example, that if

Arya continues on her path to enlightenment than she will escape samsara (the rebirth aspect). The play also confirmed the idea I've been taught of hungry ghosts & lost spirits.

If people don't face their own experiences then they can't learn from them and will remain trapped in a realm unable to be reborn.‖

―Confirms my previous knowledge with her different lives (reincarnation). Talks about how suffering is part of life but can be overcome –something to learn from.‖

―It really confirms the idea of "no-self" because there are no names.‖

―The content of the play confirms my beliefs through the representation of a cycle of rebirths/reincarnation. The way that all of the woman's lives would eventually lead to

Nirvana & tranquility also confirmed previous knowledge I had of Buddhism.‖

―I have a few friends who are Buddhist and I have studied Buddhism and attended meetings of prayer. The play does confirm to the Buddhist (Japanese) that I have studied as well as Chinese Buddhism that I am familiar with in Asian Art in art history. Specific examples: Noble Eight Fold Path to Enlightenment. You progress to enlightenment if you learn from the life's lessons; if not then you repeat until lesson is learned. Only you can discern and learn the lesson through the actions of others and how positively you react to learn from the challenge.‖

―Confirm that we have been learning about Buddhism in class. 3 marks of existence was talk or use a lot during the play.‖

―It confirms that Buddhism is very centered around life after death.‖

―It confirms my studied because Buddhist believes in reincarnation.‖

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―My belief system is not Buddhist, but it is influenced heavily by Buddhism in my personal practice. The play was exactly how I view the ‗after-life‘, reviewing, lessons learned, and preparing for the next life.‖

―The play has confirmed my previous knowledge that hardship and challenges are inevitable and that they are necessary for a person to grow and learn.‖

In general, these responses agreed that the play confirmed their knowledge of

Buddhist beliefs in reincarnation, Nirvana, enlightenment, and suffering. One also mentioned the three marks of existence, which are suffering, non-self (another person also mentioned non-self), and impermanence. All of these concepts, though not addressed in the play by these terms, are discussed in the script of Arya.

The following answers give interesting comments regarding the relationship between the script and Buddhism:

―I felt that it was an interesting take on Buddhist doctrine because although suffering was defined I felt though it was a perfect definition, which is to be expected, since Buddhist ideology is based on the idea of dependent origination I felt it inexact for the woman to have a "spirit." In Buddhism it is just a chain of cause and effect, not a continuation of a spirit.‖

―I wasn't really sure how one can learn from past lives in a spirit world. It's hard for me to understand an actual "spirit world" in Buddhism. I know the spirit moves on but even, Nirvana isn't a ‗spirit world‘ to me it for me is eternal, universal ‗oneness.‘ But also they're many different versions of Buddhism too.‖

―Is there, normally, a shared essence that remerges in every reincarnation?‖

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I found the comments on the spirits and the spirit world reasonable. Buddhism teaches that a human being or an animal consists of five aggregates (form, sensation, perception, mental formations, and consciousness) which are, as one participant suggested, based on dependent origination13. However, the essence of these five aggregates, as well as our wholesome and unwholesome karma, continues through our different lifetimes, whether we are reborn in a different realm of existence or as a human being or an animal. Therefore, to make it easier for the general audience to understand, I chose to call Arya a spirit. The Male and Female Spirits were originally intended to be other beings in a different realm that may be equivalent to a Hindu god or goddess, which is also recognized by Buddhism as a higher type of existence, but also subject to the nature of impermanence. These beings have not yet reached Nirvana, andthe spirit world, consequently, is merely a made-up in between state where the characters can view their lives and learn to move on.

As for the statement that a shared essence emerges in every reincarnation, I believe this idea has more to do with Tibetan Buddhism. In general, because a person‘s karma or actions (both mental and physical) determines what he/she will be in the next life, some people who have performed the same types of karma over and over again may have formed a habit that follows them from lifetime to lifetime. Tibetan Buddhism, however, strongly believes that, as in the case of the Dalai Lama, when a person is

13 Dependent Origination or Dependent Arising (paticca-samuppada in Pali) is the term the Buddha used to describe the fact that everything comes into being and passes away because of certain conditions; our body and mind is the chain of cause and effect, as one of the audience members commented. Even though Buddhism does not believe in the idea of an eternal soul that resides in one‘s body, it does, however, believe that, as long as one still does not achieve Nirvana, one‘s existence (or the five aggregates) continues on (as the chain of cause and effect) either in a physical form or a non-physical form. 107

Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 reborn, he or she may remember or possess some of the same habits or likenesses that appeared in the previous life.

One person answered that ―It doesn‘t confirm it,‖ a comment that is quite difficult to figure out because he/she did not provide any explanation. Another participant said,

―Oh, it matches what I know rather well, and I still don't agree with it.‖ This confirms that the content of Arya matches his/her knowledge of Buddhism even though he/she does not agree with it.

Conclusion

The survey of the audience‘s responses toArya has been helpful in evaluating the audience‘s understanding and responses to the production. For the most part, the majority of the participants had a positive response to the production in general and also displayed the basic knowledge of Buddhism embedded in the script. Despite all the challenges and difficulties during the production process discussed in Chapter IV, I am satisfied with the end result of the production, keeping in mind that it is impossible to please everyone or to make every audience member understand the script. The experience acquired from this production and the knowledge gained from the audience‘s responses give me confidence in my ability to present my ideas to the audience and will contribute to my future career as a playwright as I continue to explore the subject of women and Buddhism.

Overall, through this project, I believe I‘ve reached my goals of educating myself as well as polishing my skills as a playwright writing about women and Buddhism. I‘ve seen my development as a playwright from my first full-length work, Arya, to my

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Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 adaptation, Under ASorrowless Tree. I‘d like to say that I‘ve become more skillful and more refined in structuring the play and in working with the English language. The production of Aryaalso gave me an insight into the collaborative process of working with a director, actors, designers, and other people involved.

After completing my degree, I am planning to go back to Thailand, my home country. I am certain that the education that I received from the Fine Arts program at

Texas Tech Universitywill help me in my career as both an educator and as a theatre artist. As a Thai woman who received most of her higher education in the United States,

I would like to combine the Western education – which teaches students to become more critical, argumentative, and confident – and the Thai artistic tradition of refinement and respect. I would like to approach teaching from both the Thai and the Western perspectives, understanding and reserving the positive values of both traditions. As a

Buddhist and a feminist, I would like to continue writing plays and producing work based on the topic of women and Buddhism. I would like to become a part of contemporary

Thai theatre and present works about women that are both spiritual and thought- provoking. This project is the beginning of an exciting journey into which I will venture as a contemporary playwright, a devout Buddhist, and a Thai woman.

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Diamond, Catherine. ―Mae Naak and Company: The Shifting Duality in Female

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Gupta, Kalyan Sen.Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore. Aldershot, England: Ashgate,

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APPENDIX A THE SCRIPT OF ARYA

Cast of Characters

Woman: female, sprit of a woman, behaves like a human, wears a half mask

Male Spirit: male, higher spirit, wears a full mask

Female Spirit: female, higher spirit, wears a full mask

Wife: female, early thirties, any ethnic background

Chief: male, early seventies, any ethnic background

Grandmother: female, early seventies, any ethnic background

Widow: female, mid twenties, European/Mediterranean

Sister: female, mid to late twenties, European/Mediterranean

Friend: male, mid to late twenties, European/Mediterranean

Mother: female, mid thirties, Japanese

Father: male, mid thirties, American, light hair

Daughter: female, seven (but she is in her early twenties in Scene 13), half Japanese half American, speaks American English, should be played by an older actress

Setting The action occurs in four different locations and in four different time periods: the spirit world, once upon a time in a small village, on a small Mediterranean island during the early Common Era, and in the present time America, preferably in the mid-west. The stage should be divided into three different areas according to the three locations, with the spirit world taking place in all areas. The scenic elements of the three areas should also be overlapped.

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Scene 1 ―Tell Me Your Stories‖

(Everyone is on stage except for WOMAN, MALE SPIRIT, and FEMALE SPIRIT. WIFE, GRANDMOTHER, and CHIEF are in the "once upon a time" section. SISTER, WIDOW, and FRIEND are in the "island" section. MOTHER, FATHER, and DAUGHTER are in the "present day" section. Everyone is facing the audience.)

WIFE I want to be free.

FATHER I just want you to be happy. I want us to be happy.

SISTER Please, don't go. Believe me, don't go.

CHIEF You look very beautiful with that wild orchid in your hair.

MOTHER I can't stand it here anymore. I have to leave.

WIDOW Now there are only the two of us. Promise me you'll take care of me.

DAUGHTER I don't understand it, Mom. Can't you speak English?

GRANDMOTHER Promise me that you will never mention it again, as long as you live.

FRIEND When we grow up, I'll build my house next to yours.

WIFE I'm so happy Grandmother. They say my husband is one of our greatest warriors.

FATHER I should‘ve listened to her. I should‘ve tried to understand her.

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SISTER You're my dear little sister. Of course, I promise.

CHIEF Any time you need a friend, you can always come to me.

MOTHER He doesn't know. He doesn't know how I feel. And I don't know why I keep hiding it from him.

WIDOW You're always on her side like everybody else!

DAUGHTER I can't hear you! I can't hear you! I can't hear you!

GRANDMOTHER Don't be afraid, my little one. Come and sit here on my lap and let us breathe together.

FRIEND Do you ever see me? Do you ever see me at all? Anyway, I'm here, if you care to notice. (Lights gradually fade to dim. Everyone turns their back to the audience, one by one, in their own time. Lights slowly come back up. WOMAN enters. She can't see other characters on stage except for MALE SPIRIT and FEMALE SPIRIT, but she can hear all the voices. She appears to be lost.)

WOMAN (Whispering to herself.) I‘m lost. (A pause. A little bit louder.) I‘m lost. (A pause. A little bit louder, as if too scared to admit that she is lost, but at the same time she wants to announce that she is lost.) I‘m lost.

MALE SPIRIT (Off stage.) I cannot hear you.

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WOMAN (A little bit louder.) I‘m lost!

FEMALE SPIRIT (Off stage.) I cannot hear you.

WOMAN (Shouting.) I‘m lost! (MALE SPIRIT enters. He walks around in the space, not looking at WOMAN.)

WOMAN (To MALE SPIRIT.) I‘m lost.

FEMALE SPIRIT (As she enters.) I know.

WOMAN (To FEMALE SPIRIT.) Can you help me?

MALE SPIRIT Do you not remember this place? (WOMAN looks around. She does not respond.)

FEMALE SPIRIT Where do you wish to go?

WOMAN (A pause. She thinks about where she wants to go. Sadly.) I don‘t know.

MALE SPIRIT Tell me your stories.

WOMAN My stories?

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FEMALE SPIRIT Yes, I want to hear your stories.

WOMAN (A pause. She thinks about her stories.) My stories have already been told.

DAUGHTER I don‘t like the people there. They don‘t speak English. (WOMAN looks around, confused. She can hear the voices but she can't see them. The voices can also overlap the conversation between WOMAN, MALE SPIRIT and FEMALE SPIRIT.)

MALE SPIRIT I do not remember hearing your stories.

MOTHER That‘s why you have to learn Japanese.

FEMALE SPIRIT Neither do I.

DAUGHTER I don‘t want to.

MALE SPIRIT Do you remember your own stories?

WOMAN (She tries to listen to the disembodied voices and the voices of MALE and FEMALE SPIRITS at the same time. She is confused and angry.) Of course, I remember! (She retreats back into her thought.)

DAUGHTER Why do you want to go to Japan all the time?

MOTHER Because I want to see my family and my friends. And I can also eat all the food I like over there.

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WOMAN (Disturbed.) What are these voices?

DAUGHTER Mommy, can we have pizza tonight?

WOMAN Where are they coming from?

MOTHER Daddy is making dinner for us tonight, and he‘s not making pizza.

WOMAN They sound so familiar.

MALE SPIRIT Now I am very curious to listen to your stories.

WIDOW You know where to find me.

FEMALE SPIRIT But the question is do you remember your stories.

SISTER That‘s because you‘re always here.

WIDOW I know.

SISTER You should go home now.

WIDOW Not yet.

SISTER It‘s going to rain.

WOMAN (Agitated.) No! My stories are full of suffering! My truths are my suffering!

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WIDOW I know. I like the rain.

MALE SPIRIT Suffering?

FEMALE SPIRIT Interesting.

GRANDMOTHER Why do you have to protect him?

WIFE It‘s a wife‘s duty. You should understand that.

GRANDMOTHER What about his duty to his wife?

WIFE He's the sole provider for our family. He brings honor to our clan.

WOMAN (The voices are disturbing her more and more.) Please help me.

MALE SPIRIT (Kindly.) Tell me your stories.

FEMALE SPIRIT (Kindly.) Share with me your suffering.

CHIEF I want to know the truth from you

WOMAN (Contemplating.) My suffering? I want to forget suffering.

FRIEND You don‘t have to watch the sea today.

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WOMAN (After a pause. Recalling FRIEND‘s voice.) But I once heard that we have to have courage to stand up to the truth.

MALE SPIRIT No matter how painful it is.

FEMALE SPIRIT No matter how happy it seems.

FATHER You want a divorce?

MALE SPIRIT Tell me your stories.

GRANDMOTHER We need to save her.

FEMALE SPIRIT Tell me your suffering.

SISTER I know I can't change the past. But I can wait for the future to be different.

MOTHER Don't you think it's time for me to do things for myself?

WIFE You cannot expect all men to be the same, Grandmother.

WOMAN (Lost in her own thoughts. Images and stories start to come into her mind.) I have been there many, many times before. (Lights fade to black. Everybody exits.)

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Scene 2 ―Decision‖

(Lights up on "village" section of the stage. CHIEF is sitting on a large wooden chair. WOMAN can either be watching in the unlighted part of the stage, or she can be off stage. WIFE enters and kneels in front of CHIEF. CHIEF gets up from his chair and motions WIFE to stand up. WIFE stands up.)

CHIEF You don't need to kneel in front of me. You are not a prisoner. I only want to have a talk with you. (Pause.) I believe you knew the reason I requested your presence.

WIFE Yes, chief.

CHIEF Tell me what happened.

WIFE There were many witnesses around. You know what happened.

CHIEF I want to know the truth from you.

WIFE How do you know that I can give you the truth?

CHIEF I know you. (Pause.)

WIFE Very well then. My husband came home late last night with one of his mistresses. I was asleep in my room, but I woke up because of the loud noises they made. Soon after, the woman opened my door and demanded that I leave the room. My room. She wanted to move into our house and into my room. I refused. We got into a fight, and I hurt her. (Pause.) My room is the only dignity I have left. After all these years, it's the only place I can find peace. (Pause.)

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My husband came in. He was intoxicated. The woman told him that I wouldn't leave the room and that I hurt her. He told me to leave. And again, I refused. He drew his sword and pointed it at my throat. By that time the servants were gathering around to see what happened. My son came in, and when he saw my husband with the sword, he drew his own sword as well. (Pause.) You know what happened after that.

CHIEF Your husband is one of our greatest warriors. It's difficult to believe that he could be easily injured by a young boy.

WIFE As I said before, my husband wasn't in his right mind. He was very much intoxicated. He was out at the public house all night. Even though my son is only in his teens, he's been trained well, and he could fight a drunken warrior.

CHIEF Like father, like son.

WIFE My son has no desire to be like his father. He will only become greater than him. (Pause.) How is he?

CHIEF They are both fine. Our physicians are taking care of them.

WIFE Thank you, Chief.

CHIEF (Sighs.) I didn't ask you to come here only to inform me about the incident last night.

WIFE I know.

CHIEF This is going to be hard, not only for you, but for me as well.

WIFE I understand. (Pause.)

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CHIEF In our village, we value peace more than anything. A person who attempts to harm others, or worse than that, to take others' lives, has to be punished. And everybody knows what that punishment is.

WIFE It's death.

CHIEF A complication arises because we cannot execute both your husband and your son. They are the only male descendants in your clan, and your family line has to continue. You know that to have a male in a family is the greatest honor; for that reason, one of them will be spared.

WIFE (Laughs.) Which one?

CHIEF That is for you to decide. One of them is your husband, and the other is your son. You are the closest relation to them both.

WIFE How can you make a woman choose between her son and her husband?

CHIEF It's the rule that we've followed since ancient times.

WIFE How can a loyal wife agree to put her husband to death? And how can a loving mother kill her own son? (Laughs. Pause.) I cannot do it.

CHIEF I know how you feel.

WIFE No, you don't.

CHIEF I've seen you since you were born and I've loved you as my very own granddaughter. I know what happens between you and your husband. Everybody does. This shouldn't be a difficult decision.

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WIFE I understand what you're implying, but I can't kill the father of my son.

CHIEF Your son's father almost killed his only son.

WIFE And his son did the same to him.

CHIEF You have to make the decision.

WIFE I've decided not to.

CHIEF Do you know what will become of you if you can't make up your mind?

WIFE I do.

CHIEF And you still refuse to make the decision.

WIFE I refuse to make any decision.

CHIEF Listen, a truly strong woman has to make up her mind even in the hardest condition.

WIFE I'm afraid I'm too weak.

CHIEF You can save yourself.

WIFE I may be weak, but I'm not a coward.

CHIEF So you came here, knowing that you would give up your own life for the person who couldn't be spared?

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WIFE I came here hoping to find mercy for both my son and my husband.

CHIEF I'm afraid the only mercy you can give them is your own death.

WIFE Then that is the way it should be.

CHIEF Tell me one last time, is this really your decision?

WIFE It is.

CHIEF (Sighs.) Your execution will take place the day after tomorrow. Today you will be taken and locked up in the prison. Your husband and your son will be released once they are recovered. They can visit you tomorrow along with any other visitors who wish to see you one last time.

WIFE Thank you, Chief.

CHIEF I'm sorry.

WIFE Please don't be.

CHIEF I admire you.

WIFE If only your admiration could save us all.

CHIEF I'm really sorry.

WIFE I understand. You only follow the rule that has been passed on since ancient times. (Lights fade to black. WIFE and CHIEF exit.)

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Scene 3 ―Sit Properly‖

(Lights up on the "present day" section of the stage. MOTHER is sitting on an armchair, looking at an imported Japanese fashion magazine. DAUGHTER is sitting on the floor, playing with her dolls. All the dolls are girl figures with long blonde hair. DAUGHTER is sitting on the floor in the Japanese style that looks almost like kneeling with her weight on the heels. After awhile, when MOTHER is not looking, DAUGHTER moves and sits with her legs straight in front of her.Later DAUGHTER also puts her legs apart.)

MOTHER I saw that!

DAUGHTER What?

MOTHER Your legs.

DAUGHTER What's wrong with my legs?

MOTHER Don't act so innocent. I saw it.

DAUGHTER Oh, Mommy, my legs hurt. I had to change them.

MOTHER That's why you need to practice. You'd only been sitting like that for one minute, and it hurt already. Once you get used to it, it won't hurt anymore. Now, move them back to the previous position.

DAUGHTER But it hurt.

MOTHER Now.

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DAUGHTER Okay. (Reluctantly puts her legs back to the Japanese sitting position.)

MOTHER Good. And remember, a decent girl never sits with her legs apart like you just did. (Continues looking at the magazine.)

DAUGHTER (After a long pause.) Mommy, how come I have black hair?

MOTHER Because I have black hair.

DAUGHTER How come you have black hair?

MOTHER Because your grandpa and grandma have black hair.

DAUGHTER How come they have black hair?

MOTHER Because they're Japanese. I'm Japanese. We have black hair.

DAUGHTER How come Daddy doesn't have black hair?

MOTHER Because he's American. That's why he has blond hair.

DAUGHTER No, my friends are American, but some of them don't have blonde hair.

MOTHER Daddy is Norwegian American.

DAUGHTER What's that?

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MOTHER Norwegian?

DAUGHTER Yes.

MOTHER Norwegians come from Norway.

DAUGHTER What's Norway?

MOTHER It's a country in Europe.

DAUGHTER What's Europe?

MOTHER It's a faraway place.

DAUGHTER Like Japan?

MOTHER Yeah. (Pause.)

DAUGHTER Mommy?

MOTHER Yes.

DAUGHTER Am I American?

MOTHER You're half American.

DAUGHTER How come I don't have hair like Daddy?

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MOTHER Because you have my hair.

DAUGHTER How come I have your hair?

MOTHER Because you're very lucky.

DAUGHTER Lucky?

MOTHER Yes, you're very lucky to have beautiful black hair like me.

DAUGHTER But I don't want your hair. I want Daddy's hair.

MOTHER What's wrong with my hair?

DAUGHTER Your hair's ugly.

MOTHER What?

DAUGHTER It's ugly.

MOTHER You think I'm ugly?

DAUGHTER No, you're old. You don't count.

MOTHER I'm old and I don't count?

DAUGHTER Yeah.

MOTHER And?

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DAUGHTER (Pause.) I think I'm ugly.

MOTHER You're not ugly! You're my beautiful little daughter. (Pause.) And I'm not that old. (DAUGHTER doesn't seem to listen. MOTHER continues looking at the magazine.) DAUGHTER Mommy, why are you Japanese?

MOTHER Because your grandma and grandpa are Japanese.

DAUGHTER How come they're Japanese?

MOTHER Stop it.

DAUGHTER (After a long pause.) Mommy?

MOTHER Yes.

DAUGHTER Can I make my hair like Daddy?

MOTHER What?

DAUGHTER I want Daddy's hair.

MOTHER No.

DAUGHTER Please.

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MOTHER No.

DAUGHTER I want to look like Daddy.

MOTHER No.

DAUGHTER Why not?

MOTHER Because you have very beautiful black hair and you should be proud of it.

DAUGHTER If I have Daddy's hair, I can be proud of it too.

MOTHER No.

DAUGHTER Please.

MOTHER No. (DAUGHTER spreads her legs in front of her again.) I saw that!

DAUGHTER Can I take a break?

MOTHER Does it hurt already?

DAUGHTER Yes.

MOTHER Okay. But only a little one. (Pause.)

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DAUGHTER Mommy?

MOTHER Yes.

DAUGHTER How come you're sitting on the chair?

MOTHER What?

DAUGHTER I have to sit on the floor like a Japanese girl. How come you sit on the chair?

MOTHER I sit on the chair because I know how to sit like a Japanese already.

DAUGHTER But we're not in Japan.

MOTHER We'll be there soon.

DAUGHTER We will?

MOTHER Yes.

DAUGHTER Again?

MOTHER Yes.

DAUGHTER When?

MOTHER Next month.

DAUGHTER Do I have to be there too?

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MOTHER Of course, and when we get there you'll have to show your grandma and grandpa that you can sit like a good Japanese girl.

DAUGHTER Can't they come visit us? I'll show them how to sit like a good American girl.

MOTHER We're going to visit them.

DAUGHTER But I don't want to go.

MOTHER Why not?

DAUGHTER I don't like it there.

MOTHER But it's your country.

DAUGHTER It's my country?

MOTHER It's where I'm from.

DAUGHTER It's where I'm from too?

MOTHER (Sighs.) Why don't you like it there?

DAUGHTER I don't like the people there.

MOTHER What?

DAUGHTER I don't like the people there. They don't speak English.

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MOTHER That's why you have to learn Japanese.

DAUGHTER I don't want to.

MOTHER Then you won't be able to understand anybody.

DAUGHTER Then I don't have to go.

MOTHER You're going no matter what.

DAUGHTER Will Daddy come too?

MOTHER No.

DAUGHTER Why not?

MOTHER Daddy has to work.

DAUGHTER Don't you have to work?

MOTHER Nope.

DAUGHTER Why not?

MOTHER I have my vacation.

DAUGHTER How come Daddy doesn't have his vacation?

MOTHER He just doesn't.

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DAUGHTER But if Daddy stays here I want to stay here too.

MOTHER You're coming with me.

DAUGHTER Why do you want to go to Japan all the time?

MOTHER Because I want to see my family and my friends. And I can also eat all the food I like over there.

DAUGHTER Yuck!

MOTHER What's that supposed to mean?

DAUGHTER I don't like the food you eat.

MOTHER What?

DAUGHTER It's so weird.

MOTHER What's so weird about it?

DAUGHTER The weird raw fish with that spicy green toothpaste and the slimy green worms. Yuck!

MOTHER They're not worms! They're seaweed! And they're delicious and nutritious. You should learn to eat them.

DAUGHTER Yuck!

MOTHER What kind of food do you like then?

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DAUGHTER Pizza!

MOTHER That's not food.

DAUGHTER Mommy, can we have pizza tonight?

MOTHER No.

DAUGHTER Please.

MOTHER Daddy is making dinner for us tonight, and he's not making pizza. Now you have to practice sitting like a good little Japanese girl.

DAUGHTER Mommy, I'm half Japanese. MOTHER So?

DAUGHTER Can I sit like a half Japanese girl?

MOTHER No.

DAUGHTER Please.

MOTHER No.

DAUGHTER Please.

MOTHER Stop complaining and sit properly. (DAUGHTER turns her back to MOTHER and spreads her legs even wider. MOTHER looks at her

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SCENE 4 ―Dreams‖

(Lights up on the "island" section of the stage. WIDOW is standing by the ocean. SISTER enters.)

SISTER There you are.

WIDOW You know where to find me.

SISTER That's because you're always here.

WIDOW I know.

SISTER You should go home now.

WIDOW Not yet.

SISTER It's going to rain.

WIDOW I know. I like the rain.

SISTER You don't have to watch the sea today.

WIDOW I do.

SISTER He's not coming back.

WIDOW Don't say that.

SISTER It's been five weeks since they've lost him.

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WIDOW I know. He will come back any moment now.

SISTER What if he doesn't?

WIDOW He will.

SISTER You should stop waiting.

WIDOW I can't.

SISTER He's not coming back.

WIDOW He promised.

SISTER People change.

WIDOW I haven't changed.

SISTER People die.

WIDOW I'm still alive. (Pause.)

SISTER It was a very heavy storm.

WIDOW They could have searched for him.

SISTER They did. You know that. But they couldn't find him.

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WIDOW They could have tried harder.

SISTER The storm was violent. The ship turned over. Everyone had to save themselves first.

WIDOW (To herself.) Why does it have to be him? (Pause.)

SISTER Look at the sky. You should go home with me now. (Pause.)

WIDOW I'm pregnant.

SISTER What?

WIDOW I wanted him to be the first to know.

SISTER (Pause.) I understand.

WIDOW I can't give up on him. He will come back to me. He will come back to his first child.

SISTER (After a pause.) Listen, there is something I need to tell you.

WIDOW (Disinterested.) What is it?

SISTER I'm telling you this because I'm your sister. I don't want you to keep waiting.

WIDOW What are you talking about?

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SISTER Your husband is not coming back.

WIDOW He's coming back to me. I know it.

SISTER Listen to me. He is not coming back.

WIDOW How do you know? Did you hear it from the traders?

SISTER Come home with me.

WIDOW Tell me what you know. (Pause.)

SISTER I had a dream.

WIDOW Nonsense.

SISTER He was dead.

WIDOW It was only a dream.

SISTER It was not only a dream. It was real. I saw him. Cold. Dead.

WIDOW It was only in your dream.

SISTER Do you remember what I told you before Mother died? (Pause.)

WIDOW I don't want to talk about it.

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SISTER Do you remember? (WIDOW doesn't respond. Pause.) One week before Mother died, I had a dream. In my dream Mother was walking into the sea. It was dark. The moon was hiding that night, and there she was. I saw her, and the ocean, and the stars in the sky. I saw her from the back, but I knew it was her. Her long dark hair fell across her back. She slowly walked into the water until it covered all of her body. I couldn't save her. I screamed and begged for her to come back. But she didn't seem to hear me.

WIDOW Stop it.

SISTER I told you about it, and you laughed at me.

WIDOW I don't want to hear it.

SISTER You have to listen. You have to understand. I also had a dream the day Mother disappeared. In my dream we found her body. She was wet and pale. There was no life left in her. And then I knew. I knew that my dreams were real. They really happened. And I never told anyone about them.

WIDOW It was only a coincidence.

SISTER Those were not the only times that my dreams came true.

WIDOW You're lying to me.

SISTER I would never lie to you. You know it. (Pause.)

WIDOW What did you see? In your dream. What happened to him?

SISTER You don't need to know.

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WIDOW What did you see? (Pause.)

SISTER I saw his face. And water. A lot of water. His face was distorted. He screamed for help. He struggled for air. I saw hope in his eyes. And then fear. And then despair. I tried to reach for him, but he was too far away. And then the struggle stopped. His face was emotionless. (Pause.) Life had departed from him.

WIDOW This can't be true.

SISTER I want you to understand.

WIDOW I don't want to understand.

SISTER You have to. (Pause.)

WIDOW When was this dream?

SISTER It doesn't matter.

WIDOW When was this dream?

SISTER It doesn't matter now, does it?

WIDOW When did you dream about my husband? (Pause.)

SISTER Three days before he left.

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WIDOW And you didn't tell me about it?

SISTER Listen...

WIDOW You let him leave when you knew he was going to die?

SISTER I didn't want him to leave. I didn't want him to die. But what could I have done? If I told you, would you have believed me? Would he have believed me? (Pause.)

WIDOW I need to be alone.

SISTER Come home with me.

WIDOW Please leave me alone.

SISTER I can't leave you. I'm your sister.

WIDOW He was my husband. And you let him die.

SISTER I didn't let him die. Nobody would have believed in my dreams.

WIDOW You should have told me.

SISTER I'm sorry.

WIDOW (To herself.) You should have told me. (A long pause. SISTER slowly exits. Lights fade to black. WIDOW exits.)

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Scene 5 ―Pain and Suffering‖

(Lights up on all sections of the stage. WOMAN, MALE SPIRIT, and FEMALE SPIRIT are on stage.)

WOMAN My stories end here. I don‘t think I can go on.

FEMALE SPIRIT Why do you think that?

WOMAN You don‘t understand. I‘ve lived those stories before.

MALE SPIRIT As I have lived mine.

WOMAN You‘ve lived your stories before? You‘ve been there before?

FEMALE SPIRIT We all have been there before.

WOMAN (A pause. Realizing that the spirits are not much different from her.) Then you should know how difficult it is for me.

MALE SPIRIT And that is why we need to hear your stories.

WOMAN (A pause. Looking and walking around.) I just want to leave this place.

FEMALE SPIRIT Where do you want to go? (WOMAN walks around the space but cannot find the way out.)

MALE SPIRIT Where are you going?

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WOMAN (Hopelessly.) I don‘t know. (A pause.) I want to get out of this place. Yet, I don‘t want to begin another story.

FEMALE SPIRIT You do not want to begin a new story.

MALE SPIRIT Simply because you cannot finish the previous ones.

WOMAN What are you talking about? They‘re all finished! Done!

FEMALE SPIRIT You may not know this.

MALE SPIRIT But it is all right to admit your own fears.

WOMAN But my stories are filled with pain and suffering! Every story is the same! Every experience is the same!

FEMALE SPIRIT Are they really the same?

WOMAN What?

MALE SPIRIT Pain.

FEMALE SPIRIT And suffering.

MALE SPIRIT Are they really the same thing?

WOMAN They‘re exactly the same! When you experience pain, you suffer.

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FEMALE SPIRIT But can you suffer without experiencing pain?

WOMAN What?

MALE SPIRIT And can you experience pain without suffering?

WOMAN What are you talking about?

FEMALE SPIRIT As a human being.

MALE SPIRIT Pain is inevitable.

FEMALE SPIRIT Suffering is not.

MALE SPIRIT Birth.

FEMALE SPIRIT Sickness.

MALE SPIRIT Old age.

FEMALE SPIRIT And death.

MALE SPIRIT Life itself is suffering.

FEMALE SPIRIT But let me tell this.

MALE SPIRIT Suffering can be overcome.

FEMALE SPIRIT Life itself can be overcome.

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MALE SPIRIT And when suffering is gone.

FEMALE SPIRIT What remains is only pain.

MALE SPIRIT Nothing more.

FEMALE SPIRIT Than a simple.

MALE SPIRIT Mundane.

FEMALE SPIRIT Ordinary.

MALE SPIRIT Experience.

WOMAN (After a pause.) But why does it have to happen to me? Why pain? Why suffering? I just want to be happy like everybody else!

FEMALE SPIRIT (Chuckles.) Like everybody else?

MALE SPIRIT Think about the people you know. (A pause. WOMAN is thinking.)

FEMALE SPIRIT Are they happy?

WOMAN (Reluctantly.) No. They‘re not happy. But still, why suffering?

MALE SPIRIT Because the understanding of your suffering can lead to the end of suffering itself.

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WOMAN What‘s wrong with happiness then?

FEMALE SPIRIT There is nothing wrong with happiness.

MALE SPIRIT Happiness, too, needs to be rightly understood.

FEMALE SPIRIT Happiness often results in attachment.

MALE SPIRIT Attachment leads to suffering.

FEMALE SPIRIT And the cycle goes on.

WOMAN (A pause. A recollection.) I‘ve heard these before.

MALE SPIRIT You have.

FEMALE SPIRIT But words cannot set you free.

MALE SPIRIT Only you yourself can.

WOMAN What will happen if I don‘t continue my stories?

FEMALE SPIRIT What you should ask is.

MALE SPIRIT Why you do not want to continue your stories.

WOMAN (A pause. She makes the decision.) All right, I‘ll admit. It‘s because of all the pain and suffering. I don‘t want to face them again.

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FEMALE SPIRIT Listen.

MALE SPIRIT In order to move on.

FEMALE SPIRIT Your mind has to be resolved.

MALE SPIRIT There are many things you have yet to learn.

FEMALE SPIRIT There are many things you have yet to experience.

MALE SPIRIT But you will not be able to fully experience them.

FEMALE SPIRIT If you are not able to understand your past.

MALE SPIRIT And your present.

WOMAN (A pause.) But how do I get rid of the pain, I mean, the suffering?

FEMALE SPIRIT Confront your pain.

MALE SPIRIT Study it.

FEMALE SPIRIT And observe it mindfully.

WOMAN And accept it?

MALE SPIRIT Eventually, yes.

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WOMAN Even the experiences that I hate?

FEMALE SPIRIT Everything that you do is a part of you.

MALE SPIRIT Accept it.

FEMALE SPIRIT Learn from it.

MALE SPIRIT And let it go.

FEMALE SPIRIT And as you continue your stories.

MALE SPIRIT Do not be ashamed of our human flaws or weaknesses.

FEMALE SPIRIT Do not judge yourself.

MALE SPIRIT Do not judge others.

FEMALE SPIRIT Just observe.

MALE SPIRIT And learn. (WOMAN breathes deeply and steady for a few moments. She becomes calm, ready to continue her story. Lights fade to black.)

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Scene 6 ―Hope‖

(Lights up on the "island" section of the stage. SISTER is standing by the ocean. She is, however, at a different spot from Scene 4. FRIEND enters.)

FRIEND There you are.

SISTER You know where to find me.

FRIEND Because you're always here.

SISTER I know.

FRIEND You should go home.

SISTER Not yet.

FRIEND It's going to rain.

SISTER I know. I like the rain.

FRIEND You don't have to watch the sea today.

SISTER I do.

FRIEND You shouldn't be watching the sea at all.

SISTER I want to.

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FRIEND You shouldn't be waiting for him.

SISTER I want to.

FRIEND He's your sister's husband.

SISTER So what?

FRIEND It's wrong.

SISTER I love him.

FRIEND He loves her.

SISTER People change.

FRIEND People die.

SISTER I know. (Pause.) I told her today.

FRIEND What?

SISTER I saw her standing there, waiting for him like a good little wife. It was a beautiful picture. And I knew I had to destroy it. I had to destroy her hope. I had to destroy her dreams. I wanted her to stop waiting for him. I wanted to be reassured that I'm the only one who would be waiting for him, even when I know that he will never come back. (Pause.) So I told her about my dream.

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FRIEND How could you be so cruel?

SISTER You are the one who said that I should tell her.

FRIEND But not like that. Not because you wanted to hurt her.

SISTER She stole the person I love.

FRIEND She didn't steal him. They loved each other.

SISTER I met him first. (Pause.) I loved him first.

FRIEND It doesn't work like that.

SISTER How does it work then? She was younger. She was more beautiful. Is that how it works?

FRIEND No. (Pause.)

SISTER If only she didn't exist.

FRIEND Don't say that.

SISTER He would've chosen me.

FRIEND You don't know that.

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SISTER He told me. He told me genuinely as a friend. He told me that if it wasn't for my sister, it would've been me. He had no idea how I felt when I heard that.

FRIEND Forget it. Forget him. It's over now.

SISTER It's not over yet. She's blaming me for letting her husband die.

FRIEND You did not let him die.

SISTER I did. I let him go.

FRIEND You told him about your dream. And he laughed at you. He didn't believe you.

SISTER But if I had told her, she would've stopped him. She would have saved him. Wewould have saved him.

FRIEND You can't do anything now.

SISTER I could have tried harder.

FRIEND You can't change the past.

SISTER I know I can't change the past. But I can wait for the future to be different.

FRIEND Waiting for the person who will never come back?

SISTER Yes.

FRIEND What for?

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SISTER Because when you wait, you hope. And hope is what keeps me going.

FRIEND False hope.

SISTER Don't say that. (Pause.) I hope that my dream will not come true this time.

FRIEND Maybe it already came true.

SISTER You don't know that.

FRIEND Your dreams were never wrong before.

SISTER They were only dreams.

FRIEND Even if your dream didn't come true this time. Even if he was still alive. What's the point of waiting for him? He would be coming back to your sister, not you.

SISTER It doesn't matter. As long as I can see him, talk to him, be close to him. Nothing matters as long as he's alive.

FRIEND You shouldn't do this to yourself.

SISTER There is nothing else I can do.

FRIEND Forget him.

SISTER I can't. (Pause.)

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FRIEND Marry me.

SISTER What?

FRIEND Forget him and marry me.

SISTER Are you out of your mind?

FRIEND I love you.

SISTER You are out of your mind.

FRIEND I never mentioned it before because I didn't want to upset you. (Pause.)

SISTER I'm sorry. But I can't marry you.

FRIEND Why? Because of that dead person who belonged to someone else?

SISTER Because I don't love you. Not like that.

FRIEND And he doesn't love you. He didn't love you.

SISTER It doesn't matter.

FRIEND It does. You can't wait for him forever. It's time to move on.

SISTER I don't want to.

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FRIEND If he didn't exist, you would you have chosen me?

SISTER He did exist.

FRIEND Not anymore.

SISTER But he did. And for me he still exists. We can always hope that he will come back.

FRIEND Even if it's false hope?

SISTER False hope is better than no hope at all. (She turns away from him.)

FRIEND (Pause. To himself.) You're right. False hope is better than no hope at all. (FRIEND exits reluctantly. Lights fade to black. SISTER exits.)

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Scene 7 ―Home‖

(Lights up on the "present day" section of the stage. MOTHER is sitting in the armchair, looking at an imported Japanese magazine. FATHER enters. He just arrives home from work.)

FATHER I'm home!

MOTHER We need to talk.

FATHER Uh oh. (He puts his car keys on the table.)

MOTHER Have a seat.

FATHER (Jokingly.) Is that the way to greet your husband who just got home from work?

MOTHER I really need to talk to you about something. Have a seat.

FATHER This is so formal.

MOTHER I just want you to take this seriously.

FATHER What is it?

MOTHER Promise me that you won't get upset.

FATHER What is it? (Pause.)

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MOTHER I want our daughter to go to Japan with me.

FATHER I already thought she was going to Japan with you.

MOTHER I want her to stay there.

FATHER For how long?

MOTHER I want her to go to school there.

FATHER What?

MOTHER There's a really good international school in Tokyo. She can learn both English and Japanese there. She will learn the Japanese customs as well as American curriculum.

FATHER Let's back it up a bit. You want her to go to school in Japan? But we live here.

MOTHER Well, I'm thinking I could move there with her.

FATHER What?

MOTHER I want to move to Japan.

FATHER Are you out of your mind?

MOTHER I'm not.

FATHER What about me?

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MOTHER You want to come with us?

FATHER What?

MOTHER You can come with us if you want.

FATHER You were meaning to leave me here alone?

MOTHER No, I didn't mean to leave you alone. But I didn't think you'd want to move to Japan.

FATHER You're right. I don't want to move to Japan.

MOTHER But I do.

FATHER Wait, I'm confused. You want to move to Japan? For good?

MOTHER I don't know.

FATHER Do you remember that you're married to me?

MOTHER Of course, I do.

FATHER So?

MOTHER I thought that maybe we can live apart for awhile. Not every married couple lives together, right?

FATHER You mean divorced couple?

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MOTHER I mean, some married couples have a long distant relationship. When I was in high school my uncle was sent to work in Osaka, and his wife stayed in Tokyo with their children. He was living in Osaka for four years, and they visited each other on holidays and weekends.

FATHER That was Tokyo and Osaka. Now, we're talking about America and Japan. Do you know how long the flight is? MOTHER (Pause.) Seventeen hours?

FATHER (Sarcastically.) Correct! Seventeen hours on a non-stop flight! And do you know how much that costs?

MOTHER (Pause.) About...a thousand?

FATHER Yes! A thousand dollars! Per person!

MOTHER Well...we don't have to visit that often.

FATHER We don't have to visit that often? You're my wife, and you're taking my daughter to live in Japan without discussing it with me first.

MOTHER We're discussing it right now.

FATHER I can't believe it. (Pause.) Can you tell me why you want her to live in Japan?

MOTHER I just...want her to be there. To learn our culture. To speak Japanese.

FATHER She can do that when you go there on holidays.

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MOTHER But it's not the same. She wouldn't speak Japanese with me. She wouldn't even sit properly. She hates everything about Japan.

FATHER She doesn't hate everything about Japan.

MOTHER I know she doesn't. She loves Pokémon. But she's so American.

FATHER What's wrong with that? She's American. She was born here. She lives here.

MOTHER Well, I want to go back there and I want her to come with me.

FATHER You really want to go back there? For good?

MOTHER I said I don't know.

FATHER But you never liked it there. (He waits for her to respond. She doesn't.) You told me that you liked it here better, that you'd never want to go back there to live again.

MOTHER I know.

FATHER Before we got married, you said that you wanted to settle here in America.

MOTHER I know. You don't have to remind me about that.

FATHER Then why all of a sudden do you want to go back there?

MOTHER I've actually been thinking about it for awhile.

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FATHER For how long?

MOTHER For quite some time.

FATHER And you never told me?

MOTHER I wasn't really sure about it myself. I thought that it would go away. But now I know that I really want to go back to Japan.

FATHER Why?

MOTHER I don't really know. It's hard to explain. I just miss it there. When I first came here for grad school, everything was new and different. Everything looked better. People even looked more beautiful. And everyone was really nice to me. Then I met you, and I thought that I could live here forever. If I wanted to talk to my family and friends, I could just do that on the phone or on the internet. If I wanted to eat Japanese food, I could just go to a Japanese restaurant. No big deal. And in the beginning I truly believed that I could live like that. But after ten years, things are different now. I want to go home. And I don't want to go there just to visit like a tourist. I want to live there.

FATHER (Pause.) I don't know what to say.

MOTHER I'm sorry.

FATHER I had no idea.

MOTHER I'm sorry. (Pause.)

FATHER (Sarcastically.) You know you fit the stereotype perfectly. You're good at keeping everything inside and hiding your feelings.

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(Pause.) You completely fooled me.

MOTHER I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to keep it from you. (Pause.)

FATHER What are you going to do there?

MOTHER I could get a job. I told you I could get a better job in Japan. A job that I like.

FATHER Is that why you want to leave?

MOTHER It's part of the reasons.

FATHER You told me it was okay to work at the bank.

MOTHER I thought it was okay back then. I used to think that any job would be fine as long as we had a good family together. I thought that was all I really wanted. But I can't work in the bank forever. I don't like business. I don't like numbers. I was an English major. If I go home I can get a job teaching at a university. You can teach over there with a Master's degree.

FATHER You said you didn't care about that.

MOTHER You don't understand. You're American. English is your first language. We have the same degree but you got a job at the publishing house right after you graduated. I went to hundreds of interviews, but I knew they wouldn't hire a Japanese person to correct their English. If I go back to Japan, I can put my education to good use. There are more opportunities for me over there. I didn't come all the way here so that I can work in the bank.

FATHER You're the one who stopped looking for jobs when you started working at the bank.

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MOTHER That's because I was tired of looking, of going to interviews, and getting rejected. Plus, it's harder to go to those interviews when you already have a full time job.

FATHER And now you want to leave me for a better job in Japan? You want a divorce?

MOTHER I don't want a divorce. I just want to go back there and stay there for awhile. To see what happens. Maybe I'd come back here sooner than I expect.

FATHER So you think you can come and go whenever you want?

MOTHER I didn't mean that.

FATHER And you want to take my daughter with you?

MOTHER Well, she's my daughter too.

FATHER She will never want to go with you.

MOTHER She will.

FATHER You can't just take her away like that. You can't just leave me like that.

MOTHER I'm sorry.

FATHER ―I'm sorry?‖Is that your way of saying you're going to do whatever you want? (Pause.)

MOTHER I already got a job offer.

FATHER What? You were doing all this behind my back?

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MOTHER I was applying just for fun. I didn't know if I was going to get it.

FATHER How can you be so selfish?

MOTHER Selfish?

FATHER When you got married, you made a commitment. And now you‘re just doing whatever you want? You don't care about me. You don't care about our daughter.

MOTHER You think I'm selfish? I left my home, my family, my friends, my way of life, so that I could be with you. I struggled to find a job and ended up with the one that I don't like. And I've worked there for the past seven years. Don't you think it's time for me to do things for myself?

FATHER Nobody forced you to leave your life in Japan. You came here because you wanted to. It was all your decision.

MOTHER I know. And now it's time for me to go back there. Now I know that it's where I really want to be.

FATHER It took you a long time to find that out.

MOTHER Some people just need some time to figure out what they really want. (FATHER grabs his car keys and starts to leave.) What are you doing?

FATHER I'm getting out of here. I can't take this right now.

MOTHER Where are you going?

FATHER Does it still matter to you?

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(FATHER leaves. MOTHER is about to follow him but changes her mind. She sits back on the chair and picks up the magazine. She stares straight ahead in the distance, lost in thoughts. Lights fade to black. MOTHER exits.)

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Scene 8 ―Breathe‖

(Lights up on the "village" section of the stage. WIFE is sitting on the floor in an outdoor prison cell. Her hands are tied together. GRANDMOTHER enters. WIFE stands up.)

WIFE Grandmother. I'm sorry, Grandmother.

GRANDMOTHER Stupid woman! You're the most stupid woman I've ever known.

WIFE I'm really sorry.

GRANDMOTHER You don't have to say sorry to me. Why didn't you choose him?

WIFE I'm sorry.

GRANDMOTHER Your life is worth more than his.

WIFE That's not true.

GRANDMOTHER You are far more important than him.

WIFE Only to you, Grandmother. My husband is one of our...

GRANDMOTHER Greatest warriors! I'm so tired of hearing that! So what if he is our greatest warrior? Does it mean that he's a better human being?

WIFE He's done so much to keep our village in a peaceful state.

GRANDMOTHER All he's ever done is killing. Killing his enemies. And now he's killing his own wife.

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WIFE It was my decision.

GRANDMOTHER He tried to kill your son. His own son.

WIFE He didn't mean to.

GRANDMOTHER (Laughs.) You're so blind, my granddaughter. How many women has he brought home to insult you? How many nights has he spent at the public house? How many times have you come crying to me because he was hurting you?

WIFE He's a man. He's allowed to do that.

GRANDMOTHER I know he's allowed to do that. But he can choose not to. It's his decision. There are other men out there who are not dishonoring their wives.

WIFE You can't expect all men to be the same, Grandmother.

GRANDMOTHER Listen, I just came from the chief. You can still change your mind. It's not too late.

WIFE I've already made up my mind.

GRANDMOTHER Why do you have to protect him?

WIFE It's a wife's duty. You should understand that.

GRANDMOTHER What about his duty to his wife?

WIFE He's the sole provider for our family. He brings honor to our clan.

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GRANDMOTHER Honor? You can't take honor with you when you die, can you? (Pause.) The chief is on our side. He will help you.

WIFE The chief shouldn't be on anybody's side.

GRANDMOTHER He's a virtuous man. He knows right from wrong.

WIFE Then he should know that I'm doing the right thing.

GRANDMOTHER Listen, you have to change your mind. I beg you.

WIFE Please, Grandmother, don't do that.

GRANDMOTHER I saw your parents die. Now I have to see you die too?

WIFE It's inevitable.

GRANDMOTHER It‘s not. Your words can change everything.

WIFE What if I don't want to change my words? What if I really want to do this?

GRANDMOTHER Then think about your son. Doesn't he need his mother?

WIFE He has his father.

GRANDMOTHER (Laughs.) Father? How can he continue calling that man his "father"?

WIFE He will.

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GRANDMOTHER Don't leave him like this.

WIFE It will be a lesson for him. It will make him strong.

GRANDMOTHER It will break his heart.

WIFE But soon his heart will be mended. And it will never be broken again.

GRANDMOTHER What about me then? Can you break an old woman's heart?

WIFE Leaving you is the hardest thing for me, Grandmother. But we will eventually have to leave each other one day. That day only comes sooner than we expected.

GRANDMOTHER I've lived long enough. I should be the one to go first.

WIFE Age has nothing to do with it. Some people have shorter lives.

GRANDMOTHER Why does everybody I love always leave me first? Your grandfather, your father, and now you want to leave me as well.

WIFE I don't want to leave you, Grandmother.

GRANDMOTHER Then don't.

WIFE Please don't make it harder than it already is.

GRANDMOTHER I can bring the chief here. And you just have to tell him that you have changed your mind. Tell him that if you had to choose between your son and your husband, you had to let your son live. It's not about choosing someone to die. You're choosing someone to live, and it has to be your son.

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WIFE I can't do that. No matter how you put it, it's the same thing. Someone will die. And if someone has to die, it should be me. I can't let my son live without his father. (Pause.)

GRANDMOTHER This is really my fault. I was the one who arranged your meeting with him.

WIFE Don't blame yourself, Grandmother. Nothing is your fault.

GRANDMOTHER It is. Everything is my fault. After your parents passed away, I felt like I had to find someone to take care of you. I thought I knew how to read people, but I made the biggest mistake of my life. I can never forgive myself.

WIFE Please don't say that, Grandmother.

GRANDMOTHER You didn't want to meet him in the first place. I forced you to.

WIFE You didn't force me, Grandmother. I was just pretending not to want to meet him. That's what a girl's supposed to do. I saw him sometimes in the village.He just started his military training then. And everybody had been talking about him. They said he had more potential than all the other young men. They said he was going to have a bright future. All the girls had been talking about him too. When I found out about our meeting, I considered myself the luckiest girl in the village.

GRANDMOTHER He was a good-looking boy. I should have known that he wasn't going to be a kind and faithful husband. I had more experience than you, and I still made the mistake. I should be punished for my crime.

WIFE It wasn't a crime. And it wasn't your mistake either. I fell in love with him. And this is the price I have to pay. I don't regret it, so you shouldn't.

GRANDMOTHER But you're my only granddaughter. You're my only family. I can't let you go.

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WIFE You have your great-grandson. He will take care of you. He's a good boy, and he will never disrespect you.

GRANDMOTHER But he's not you. He's not my granddaughter.

WIFE He will take care of you.

GRANDMOTHER He can't take care of me. He's merely a child himself. Where will I live if you're not around? I have nowhere to go.

WIFE What are you talking about, Grandmother? You have a home.

GRANDMOTHER A home? It's not my home. It's your husband's home. And I only stayed there because you were there. How can I continue living in his household when my heart is filled with hatred and disgust every time I think of him?

WIFE Grandmother, can you please forgive him?

GRANDMOTHER Now you're making me laugh!

WIFE But I mean it. Can you forgive him for my sake?

GRANDMOTHER You know the answer. I can never forgive him for what he's done to you.

WIFE He's only a person. He makes mistakes.

GRANDMOTHER He does everything with intentions. He will never change or correct himself.

WIFE That's why you need to help him. Forgiveness is the first step.

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GRANDMOTHER I can forgive anyone but him.

WIFE But you always told me to forgive others no matter what they'd done.

GRANDMOTHER I'm afraid that was my mistake.

WIFE Think about yourself, Grandmother. If you can't forgive him, what are you going to do after I leave you? GRANDMOTHER I'm hoping that it will never happen. Not too soon. Not like this. Not for the person who isn't worth sacrificing your life for.

WIFE Grandmother, this is a request from your granddaughter. Please forgive my husband and continue living in his household.

GRANDMOTHER What for?

WIFE For yourself. And for your great-grandson. He needs you as much as you need him. He needs an example from you. He needs to learn to forgive. He needs to learn that life does not always turn out the way you intend it to be. He needs to learn that people make mistakes, and he has to have enough virtue to understand and to forgive.

GRANDMOTHER Why does a good person like you have to face so much misfortune in life? Why do you have to die for someone else's wrongdoing?

WIFE Maybe I'm not as good as you think, Grandmother.

GRANDMOTHER You've always been a good granddaughter. You've always been good to me.

WIFE And my son will take my place when I'm gone. Please. Promise me that you'll be there for him, that you'll teach him the same way you taught me. Please promise me that you will help him reconcile with his father. (Pause.)

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GRANDMOTHER (Reluctantly.) I promise.

WIFE Thank you.

GRANDMOTHER My life will be empty without you.

WIFE Everything will be all right.

GRANDMOTHER No, it won't.

WIFE Grandmother, do you remember when I was a little girl? When there was that big summer storm in the village? I was very scared and I was crying. You put me on your lap and you told me to close my eyes. And breathe. You told me to concentrate on my breathing. And everything was going to be fine. So I sat there on your lap. And I breathed. Soon I could feel you breathe too. And we just stayed like that until the storm subsided. From that moment onward, whenever I face adversity, I stop and breathe.And I imagine myself when I was a little girl, sitting on your lap. And I tell myself that everything is going to be fine. The storm will eventually cease, and all the bad things in life are the same. Do you remember teaching me that?

GRANDMOTHER Of course, I do.

WIFE Now, it's your time, Grandmother, to breathe. Your pain will eventually subside, like the storm.

GRANDMOTHER Death is not the same as the summer storm.

WIFE But they both have the same nature, don't they? Everything arises, everything falls away.

GRANDMOTHER But I don't want you to fall away like this.

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WIFE The Elders often said that death is a crucial part of life.

GRANDMOTHER I don't understand how you can be so calm.

WIFE Because maybe death is only a continuation of our being. (Pause.) Maybe we will meet again in the end. (Lights fade to black. WIFE and GRANDMOTHER exit.)

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Scene 9 ―Will‖

(Lights up on all sections of the stage. WOMAN, MALE SPIRIT, and FEMALE SPIRIT are on stage.)

WOMAN They say that you should treat others the way you want to be treated. But it's not just that. I told them to forgive. I told everyone that I could forgive. But I didn't mean it. It wasn't true forgiveness because my heart was still filled with hatred and anger. (Pause.) In that ancient village, I cursed him with my last breath. (Pause.) And the cycle goes on. And we keep meeting the same people, the same souls. (Pause.) Now I wonder what happened to them. (Pause. To FEMALE SPIRIT.) Do they come here as well?

FEMALE SPIRIT Some of them do.

WOMAN Do they see the same stories?

MALE SPIRIT Some of them do.

FEMALE SPIRIT There are many more stories than the ones you see.

WOMAN But how do you choose which stories for them to see? How did you choose which ones for me to tell?

MALE SPIRIT We are not the ones who chose your stories.

FEMALE SPIRIT You are.

MALE SPIRIT Everyone chooses their own time.

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WOMAN (As if to complete MALE SPIRIT‘s sentence.) Everyone chooses their own stories. (Pause. A realization.) You mean I chose to be here? (MALE and FEMALE SPIRITS do not reply.) But I was lost! I was trying to get out of here! And then I met you. And you told me to tell my stories.

FEMALE SPIRIT Everything happens because you wished for it to happen.

MALE SPIRIT We are here because of your request.

WOMAN My request.

FEMALE SPIRIT Yes, you may not remember it.

MALE SPIRIT Deep within your soul.

FEMALE SPIRIT You long for the higher meaning of your existence.

MALE SPIRIT When the right time comes.

FEMALE SPIRIT You are guided to the direction that you wished to go.

WOMAN (After a pause.) You mean I planned everything?

MALE SPIRIT You did not plan anything.

FEMALE SPIRIT Everything happens the way it should.

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WOMAN But if everything happens the way it should, how do we change our path in life? How do we progress? Why do some people lose their ways? Why are there wandering spirits and hungry ghosts?

MALE SPIRIT Things happen the way they should happen.

FEMALE SPIRIT Things also happen the way you want them to happen.

WOMAN I don‘t understand.

MALE SPIRIT You will.

FEMALE SPIRIT When the right time comes.

MALE SPIRIT So be patient.

FEMALE SPIRIT And continue your stories.

MALE SPIRIT Continue to observe them mindfully. (Lights fade to black. MALE SPIRIT and FEMALE SPIRIT exit. WOMAN can either remain on stage or exit.)

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Scene 10 ―Answer‖

(Lights up on the "village" section of the stage. CHIEF is sitting in the same chair as in Scene 2. GRANDMOTHER enters. When CHIEF sees GRANDMOTHER, he stands up. Brief silence.)

GRANDMOTHER She would not change her mind.

CHIEF She is very much like her grandmother.

GRANDMOTHER We need to save her.

CHIEF The only person who can save her is herself.

GRANDMOTHER That's not true. You are the chief of the village. You can save anyone if you want to.

CHIEF I can't do that. I have to follow the rule and set a good example for the villagers.

GRANDMOTHER Good example? You think punishing the innocent is a good example?

CHIEF I respect your granddaughter's decision.

GRANDMOTHER You have to save her. You are the only person who can.

CHIEF I'm sorry. (Pause.)

GRANDMOTHER Take my life instead.

CHIEF I knew you would say this. I knew you would.

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GRANDMOTHER What would your answer be?

CHIEF I can't take your life. You have nothing to do with this.

GRANDMOTHER I do. She's my granddaughter.

CHIEF You can't replace life like that.

GRANDMOTHER You replaced his life with hers.

CHIEF She chose to save her husband and her son. It was her decision.

GRANDMOTHER Listen to me, listen to me as an old friend. I've lived long enough. If you take my life, I will not regret it.

CHIEF I can't do that.

GRANDMOTHER But you have to. My granddaughter is still young. You have to let her live. It's not her fault that her husband and her son got into a fight. In fact, she and her son are both the victims. That man is the one who should sacrifice his life for them.

CHIEF I know you're hurt and angry. But your wound will heal.

GRANDMOTHER How can you say that? Do you have no heart? You've seen her since she was born. You've always treated her as if she were your own granddaughter. And now you're going to kill her?

CHIEF I am the chief of the village. I have to put my feelings aside.

GRANDMOTHER How could a person with no feelings govern others? How could a person who puts his feelings aside be compassionate to the need of his people?

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CHIEF I've been the chief of this village for over thirty years. Obeying the rules of the Elders is what keeps our village in peace.

GRANDMOTHER You were not like this before. Now you're not the person I used to know.

CHIEF I'm still the same person.

GRANDMOTHER You've changed. You used to be a loving, kind, good-natured, and even a little hot- tempered young man. You would do what you believed was right. And you never cared about the rules or the authority. Now you've completely changed.

CHIEF People need to change sometimes. Especially since I've become the authority.

GRANDMOTHER You were never a cold-hearted person.

CHIEF You can say whatever you think of me. But I have to perform my duty as the chief of this village. GRANDMOTHER I know. That's why I said that you're not the person I used to know. You never wanted to be the authority. You never wanted to become the chief of the village. You always wanted to be a hunter or a farmer, living a carefree life. If you were the person I used to know, you would never take my granddaughter's life.

CHIEF There's no use talking about the past.

GRANDMOTHER The past is what constructs the person. Who we are now is the result of who we have been.

CHIEF I guess you're right.

GRANDMOTHER What happened to you? What changed you?

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CHIEF Don't you know?

GRANDMOTHER Me?

CHIEF Yes, don't you understand what changed me? (A long pause.)

GRANDMOTHER It couldn't be.

CHIEF Now you understand.

GRANDMOTHER But it was a long time ago. You should have moved on.

CHIEF I did. I became the chief of the village. (Pause.) And you married the man you loved.

GRANDMOTHER But we were friends.

CHIEF We were. The three of us were best friends. But you chose him, not me.

GRANDMOTHER That was a long time ago.

CHIEF I was going to ask you that day. That afternoon, I was going to take you to the bank of the river where we used to play as children. I was going to put a wild orchid in your hair and ask you to spend the rest of your life with me. But that morning, the two of you came into my house, hand in hand, and told me that you were going to get married.

GRANDMOTHER It was such a long time ago.

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CHIEF I know it was. Do you remember when I was drunk on your wedding day and confessed everything to you?

GRANDMOTHER I remember. And we promised never to speak of it again. Do you remember?

CHIEF I do.

GRANDMOTHER Then keep your promise.

CHIEF But why? He's already dead. He's been dead for over thirty years.

GRANDMOTHER Don't talk about him like that. He was your best friend.

CHIEF Why wouldn't you marry me?

GRANDMOTHER Do you know that women in our village marry for two reasons? One is for love. The other is for shelter and protection. After my husband died, I didn't need to marry again because my husband's family took care of me.

CHIEF If they refused to take care of you, you would have married me?

GRANDMOTHER It was quite possible.

CHIEF How could you answer me like that? How could you answer as if you had no feelings?

GRANDMOTHER Because that's what a woman has to do. (Pause. Laughs) It's funny how a moment ago I said you had no feelings, and now you're saying the same thing to me.

CHIEF I'm doing what I am because of my duty. But you...I don't understand you at all.

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GRANDMOTHER My duty now is to protect my granddaughter.

CHIEF I'm afraid you can't do that.

GRANDMOTHER Please help me. My life does not matter to me anymore.

CHIEF It matters to me.

GRANDMOTHER You have to understand. I can't live without her. Her son can't live without her.

CHIEF Time will gradually settle everything.

GRANDMOTHER Really? (Pause.)

CHIEF You can reconsider my request.

GRANDMOTHER What request?

CHIEF You can come live with me. You and your great-grandson.

GRANDMOTHER I can't do that.

CHIEF You can marry me for shelter and protection this time.

GRANDMOTHER Marry you? Do you know how old I am? I'm very close to my grave now.

CHIEF Maybe we can depart this world to our graves together.

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GRANDMOTHER I'm sorry. I have to stay with my great-grandson. And he has to stay with his father.

CHIEF Can't you reconsider?

GRANDMOTHER Can you break the rule and spare my granddaughter's life?

CHIEF I'm sorry. I can't.

GRANDMOTHER Then I can never be with you. (Lights fade to black. GRANDMOTHER and CHIEF exit.)

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Scene 11 ―Change‖ (Lights up on the "island" section of the stage. FRIEND is standing by the ocean, the same place as in Scene 4. WIDOW enters.)

WIDOW It's you.

FRIEND Who did you think it was?

WIDOW Nobody. (Pause.) What are you doing here?

FRIEND To keep you company.

WIDOW I don't need company.

FRIEND You do.

WIDOW I want to be alone.

FRIEND There's no need to be alone.

WIDOW But I want to.

FRIEND You're already alone.

WIDOW I don't need you here.

FRIEND You've always been alone.

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WIDOW Just leave.

FRIEND You need a friend.

WIDOW You don't know what I need.

FRIEND You need your sister.

WIDOW I don't.

FRIEND Your husband is never coming back.

WIDOW You don't know that.

FRIEND I do.

WIDOW She told you?

FRIEND Yes.

WIDOW She said she never told anyone about her dreams.

FRIEND She needed someone to talk to.

WIDOW When did she tell you?

FRIEND Does that matter?

WIDOW It does.

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FRIEND Can it change the past? (Pause.)

WIDOW No.

FRIEND Then you don't need to know.

WIDOW I do.

FRIEND I think you already know the answer.

WIDOW I want to hear it from you.

FRIEND Why do you want to know something when it can easily hurt you?

WIDOW Because the truth is always the truth. No matter how much it hurts. (Pause.) When did she tell you?

FRIEND The day after she had the dream.

WIDOW And she never said anything to me.

FRIEND She came to see me in the morning. She was very worried.

WIDOW And you never said anything to me.

FRIEND Would you have believed me? Would you have believed us?

WIDOW You should have tried. You should have tried to be a friend.

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(Pause.) Did she tell him?

FRIEND She did.

WIDOW And he didn't believe her.

FRIEND Most people would never believe her.

WIDOW I would.

FRIEND She didn't know that.

WIDOW She didn't care.

FRIEND She did. She does.

WIDOW She only cares about herself.

FRIEND Don't say that.

WIDOW It's true. (Pause.) She's always jealous of me.

FRIEND She's not a jealous person.

WIDOW She's always been jealous of my happiness, of my marriage.

FRIEND You shouldn't say that about your sister.

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WIDOW But don't you know it? Didn't she confide in you?

FRIEND She doesn't tell me everything.

WIDOW You know it.

FRIEND What are you talking about?

WIDOW I'm talking about my husband. Didn't my sister tell you that she's been in love with my husband all these years?

FRIEND You know?

WIDOW Yes.

FRIEND How?

WIDOW You think I wouldn't notice?

FRIEND How did you find out? When did you find out?

WIDOW On my wedding day. I went looking for her. And I found her with you. She was crying. She was crying like mad. I'd never seen her cry like that before. Not since Mother passed away. At first, I thought she was crying because she was happy for me. But I was wrong. She was crying because she loved him. (Pause.) She still loves him, does she? (No response.) I know she does. She always has strong feelings. She tries to suppress it, but I know.

FRIEND You should feel sorry for her.

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WIDOW Why should I?

FRIEND She's your sister.

WIDOW And what about me?

FRIEND She never told you because you are her little sister. She doesn't want to hurt you.

WIDOW She doesn't trust me.

FRIEND That's not true.

WIDOW She never shares her feelings with me.

FRIEND She doesn't know how.

WIDOW She's kept everything to herself since Mother died. She's stopped being lively. She's stopped being the sister I used to have.

FRIEND That's her way of dealing with grief.

WIDOW But she speaks to you. She speaks to you about her feelings.

FRIEND What difference does it make now?

WIDOW Why didn't she tell me how she felt before I got married?

FRIEND Because you loved him. (Pause.)

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WIDOW But I never did.

FRIEND What?

WIDOW I was fond of him. He was good-looking. He was a kind person. And he made me happy. If I was going to marry someone, it would be someone like him. But I didn't really love him. I never had such strong feelings. And then everybody started talking about the wedding. And it seemed so beautiful. So I agreed to marry him.

FRIEND Why didn't you say anything about this before?

WIDOW Because I never knew how she felt. And when I saw her crying, I felt trapped. Betrayed. There was nothing I could do. If she had told me. Before the wedding. Before everything started. I would have been very angry. But it would pass.It would. (Pause.) I would have given him to her.

FRIEND It's over now.

WIDOW Is it?

FRIEND It's nothing but the past.

WIDOW (Laughs.) She failed to save my husband.

FRIEND It's over.

WIDOW My husband who I have come to love.

FRIEND It's already in the past.

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WIDOW We are the collection of our past doings. Who we are now is the result of who we have been.

FRIEND We have the future.

WIDOW What for?

FRIEND The collection of our present. (Pause.)

WIDOW I hate her.

FRIEND I know. But you shouldn't. She suffers. Like you do. (Pause.)

WIDOW Why don't you marry her?

FRIEND She rejected me.

WIDOW She has strong feelings. She will not forget him. Not now.

FRIEND I know. But time will settle everything. (Pause.) You should go home soon.

WIDOW Not yet.

FRIEND Look. It's going to rain.

WIDOW I know. I like the rain. (Lights fade to black. FRIEND and WIDOW exit.)

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Scene 12 ―Far Away‖ (Lights up on the "present day" section of the stage. FATHER is sitting on the armchair, reading the newspaper. DAUGHTER is sitting with her legs spread on the floor, playing with her dolls.)

DAUGHTER Daddy?

FATHER Yes.

DAUGHTER Where is Mommy now?

FATHER Mommy's...probably...on the plane right now.

DAUGHTER Is Mommy in the sky now?

FATHER I think so.

DAUGHTER Can we call her?

FATHER No, we can't call her when she's on the plane.

DAUGHTER Why not?

FATHER She's not allowed to use her phone on the plane.

DAUGHTER Why not?

FATHER You miss Mommy?

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DAUGHTER Yes.

FATHER She'll be back soon.

DAUGHTER When?

FATHER Soon.

DAUGHTER Tomorrow?

FATHER (Laughs.) No, not tomorrow. Tomorrow she'll get to Japan. Her flight is very long. She has to be on the plane for seventeen hours. Do you remember when you went to Japan with Mommy and Daddy last time?

DAUGHTER Yeah.

FATHER Did you like being on the plane?

DAUGHTER No, I puked.

FATHER (Laughs.) Yeah, you and your Mommy. You both always get air sick. (To himself.) I wonder if she remembered to take the medicine. (Pause.)

DAUGHTER Daddy?

FATHER Yes.

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DAUGHTER Come sit here with me. (She pats the floor beside her.)

FATHER Okay. (He sits on the floor.) What now?

DAUGHTER (She gives him one of her dolls.) You're Sally.

FATHER What?

DAUGHTER Play with me.

FATHER Oh, I'm a boy. I don't play with dolls.

DAUGHTER You have to! Mommy always played with me.

FATHER But I'm not Mommy.

DAUGHTER Mommy's not here, so you have to play with me. (She pushes the doll into his hand.) Here's Sally.

FATHER (He takes the doll.) So what do I do?

DAUGHTER Play.

FATHER I don't know how.

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DAUGHTER Just play.

FATHER (He plays with her, imitating a girl's voice.) Hi. I'm Sally. What's your name?

DAUGHTER (She manipulates her dolls.) I'm Michelle. And I'm Amanda.

FATHER Nice to meet you, Michelle and Amanda.

DAUGHTER Do you want to have tea with us?

FATHER No, I don't like tea.

DAUGHTER Do you want some coffee instead?

FATHER No, I don't like coffee.

DAUGHTER What do you want then?

FATHER (He resumes his normal voice.)

I want to read the newspaper.

DAUGHTER Daddy!

FATHER You asked me what I wanted to do.

DAUGHTER I asked you what you wanted to drink!

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FATHER Can you get me a coke?

DAUGHTER Daddy!

FATHER (Laughs.) I'm sorry. I told you boys don't play with dolls.

DAUGHTER What do you want to play?

FATHER I want to play...Sudoku...in the paper.

DAUGHTER What's Sudoku?

FATHER Here, I'll show you.

DAUGHTER Okay. (FATHER takes the paper and a pen from the table. DAUGHTER and FATHER look at the paper.)

FATHER You have to put the numbers one to nine here. In any order. And in here you also have to put the numbers one to nine. And you can't use the same number twice. Here, you put five here. (He writes on the paper.) And I think here's seven. No, not seven. Let's see. I'll put three here. (FATHER continues doing Sudoku for awhile. DAUGHTER grabs the pen from his hand.)

DAUGHTER Can I draw?

FATHER Okay. Here, Let me get you some paper.

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(He grabs some paper from the table and gives it to her. She starts drawing. FATHER grabs another pen from the table and continues with Sudoku.)

DAUGHTER (After a pause.) Daddy?

FATHER Yes.

DAUGHTER When is Mommy coming back?

FATHER I don't know.

DAUGHTER How come she wants to go to Japan all the time?

FATHER It's her home.

DAUGHTER It is not.

FATHER Where is her home then?

DAUGHTER Right here.

FATHER That's what I told her. But she wanted to go back to Japan.

DAUGHTER How come she's going there alone?

FATHER Because I have to work.

DAUGHTER What about me?

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FATHER You have to go to school.

DAUGHTER I don't want to go to school.

FATHER You don't?

DAUGHTER I want to go to Japan with Mommy.

FATHER But you said you didn't want to go.

DAUGHTER I never said that.

FATHER You did.

DAUGHTER No, I didn't. I want to go with Mommy now.

FATHER You can't go now.

DAUGHTER Why not?

FATHER She already left.

DAUGHTER Can we follow her? Can we go to the plane now?

FATHER No, we can't.

DAUGHTER Please.

FATHER No.

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DAUGHTER Please.

FATHER Next time.

DAUGHTER When?

FATHER I don't know. But when she goes to Japan next time we can go with her.

DAUGHTER Tomorrow?

FATHER Not tomorrow.

DAUGHTER When?

FATHER I don't know.

DAUGHTER How come you don't know anything? Mommy knows everything.

FATHER Do you really miss Mommy?

DAUGHTER I miss her very much.

FATHER I miss her too. (Lights fade to black.)

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Scene 13 ―Truths and Beginning‖ (Lights up on all sections of the stage. WIFE, GRANDMOTHER, and CHIEF are in the "village" section. SISTER, WIDOW, and FRIEND, are in the "island" section. MOTHER, FATHER, and DAUGHTER are in the "present day" section. Everyone is facing the audience as in Scene 1. WOMAN, MALE SPIRIT, and FEMALE SPIRIT are off stage.)

MOTHER I want to go home.

WIFE I didn't really forgive him.

GRANDMOTHER I wanted to live with him and depart this life with him. But I had to keep my promise.

MOTHER I wanted to have a better life, but I ended up losing everything and everyone I love.

FATHER I miss you. I miss you so much.

DAUGHTER (She stands up. She is now in her early twenties.) My mother never came back to us. She couldn‘t. Her flight got to Japan safely, but on her way home from the airport, she got into a car accident. The flight arrived there late at night, and her taxi got hit by a drunk driver. She left when I was seven, and it took me a long time to realize that she‘d really gone. Dad told me that Mom went to heaven. But I thought that heaven was just a place where people could come and go as they wished, like getting on a plane from America to Japan. (Pause.) Now, when I think of Mom, I think about this beautiful young woman, with long black hair, sitting on a couch, looking at an imported Japanese magazine, as if those magazines were the closest thing to home. (Pause.) Dad never got married again, and he makes sure that we save enough money so that we can go to Japan to visit Mom‘s grave often. (Pause.)

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As I grew up, I appreciated the Japanese culture more. I took Japanese in college, and next year I‘m going to Japan to teach English. I‘m really looking forward to it. And I‘m really looking forward to living in the country that my mother loved so much.

MOTHER I wish I'd stayed with them. I wish I'd never left.

FRIEND Don't ever regret anything you do. The past is over. It becomes nothing but a lesson.

MOTHER But how can you learn a lesson when your body is no longer here? When you no longer have a life to make any difference?

SISTER Maybe...maybe death is not the end of everything.

GRANDMOTHER Maybe there is more than just one life.

FATHER Maybe we will meet again in the future, in the next life, in the end.

WIFE I hate my husband. I hate him so much. I told my grandmother to forgive him, but I couldn't forgive him myself. (Pause.) But I couldn't let him die either. My grandmother told me that if I let him die, I could have a new life. I could get married again. And I could have a good family this time. (Pause. Thinking) No, it's impossible. How can I live when I put my own husband to death? I would become a killer. I would become a mother who killed her son's father. (Pause.) No, I can never live like that....But I want to live. I want to see my son grow up. I want to take care of my grandmother until the end of her days. (Pause.) But I'm so tired. I don't want to go on. I don't want to get married again. I've been a slave to one man for many years. I do not wish to become a slave to another man again. (Pause.) Death is my liberation.

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MOTHER Do you think that death is the end of everything? Do you think that death can make you free? If you seek death as your liberation, you will continue to exist in the realm of births and deaths forever.

SISTER Like a cycle.

WIDOW And your pain will continue. (Pause.)

SISTER I had a dream last night. I saw my sister in her grave.

FRIEND Stop talking like that.

SISTER I woke up. And my sister is still alive.

FRIEND Stop it.

SISTER My dream did not come true this time. And I regret it.

FRIEND You love your sister.

WIDOW I loved my sister. I saw her cry on my wedding day.

SISTER I cried on my sister's wedding day.

WIDOW I felt betrayed.

SISTER Because I wished it had been me.

WIDOW I felt pity for her.

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SISTER I knew him first.

WIDOW I felt pity for myself.

SISTER I loved him first.

WIDOW Pity turned to anger.

SISTER Anger turned to jealousy.

FRIEND Jealousy could lead to many wrongdoings.

SISTER But I never wanted to see him die.

WIDOW She let him die.

SISTER Or maybe I did. (Pause.) I wanted him to die.

FRIEND Don't say that.

SISTER I'd rather see him die than seeing him with her.

FRIEND That's not true.

WIDOW Maybe she didn't let him die.

SISTER I did.

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WIDOW She told him. He didn't believe her.

SISTER I knew he would never believe me.

FRIEND (After a pause.) I just want to see you happy. That's all I want.

FATHER I let you go because I wanted what was best for you. I didn't know that it would end up this way.

CHIEF It pains me to see you suffer. But there's nothing else I can do. There's nothing else I can offer.

GRANDMOTHER I got married at the age of fourteen to my beloved childhood friend. I became a widow at the age of twenty. And I remained a widow all my life. I had three sons before my husband passed away, but I outlived all of them. They died at the tribal wars. So I lived with my only granddaughter. She also got married at the age of fourteen. But I outlived her too. She gave her life for her husband and her son. But somehow, I felt that she gave her life for herself. Death is the continuation of life, she once told me.

DAUGHTER Do you think that we'll meet again? (Pause.) Or have we already met?

FRIEND You looked so familiar.

FATHER When I first met you, you spoke with a strange accent, but somehow, I felt like I'd heard your voice before.

CHIEF I'm glad that you outlived all of them.

GRANDMOTHER I'm sorry that I can't be with you. I made a promise.

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WIDOW I want him to come back to me.

MOTHER I miss my daughter.

SISTER I just want to forget my past.

FATHER The present is the collection of our past.

WIDOW Who we are is the result of who we have been.

MOTHER I've heard those words before.

SISTER I should have told her. I should have been a better sister.

MOTHER I should have thought about my husband and my daughter. I was so selfish.

CHIEF Who am I to judge others, to take others' lives?

GRANDMOTHER Sometimes some things are inevitable. We can't control everything.

FATHER I was angry, but now I can forgive.

WIDOW Maybe we should take things as they come.

FRIEND If a good friend is all I can be, then I don't regret it.

DAUGHTER I'm going to live for the moment.

WIFE I forgive you. I forgive them. And I think I can forgive myself now.

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FATHER I will not deny my pain.

FRIEND I will not deny my experience.

CHIEF I will not deny who I am.

MOTHER Who I was.

DAUGHTER Who I want to be.

GRANDMOTHER Whatever happens.

SISTER I will learn from it.

WIDOW I will let it help me grow.

WIFE And one day, I will transcend the realm of births and deaths, the realm of suffering. (WOMAN enters. She can see everyone on stage, but they do not interact.)

WOMAN I remember looking up at the stars in the sky from that small ancient village. I remember standing by the cliff, looking out at the ocean, waiting for someone. I remember traveling to a foreign land, finding love, and losing it. I remember the faces of the people I knew, the people I loved, and the people who only passed me by. I remember hurting them, and I remember being hurt by them. I remember birth, sickness, old age, and death. I remember pain. And I remember suffering. But most of all, I remember the reasons why I was there, why I am here, and why I need to move on. (Pause. MALE SPIRIT and FEMALE SPIRIT enter from different sides of the stage. During the following dialogue, other characters slowly turn their back to the audience, one by one, in their own time. This process can take as long or as short as it

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needs to, but when the scene ends, none of them will face the audience.)

FEMALE SPIRIT You have come to the end of your stories.

MALE SPIRIT As needed to be told.

FEMALE SPIRIT But it is not the end of your experience.

MALE SPIRIT It is not the end of your existence.

FEMALE SPIRIT Your stories will continue.

MALE SPIRIT You characters will live on.

FEMALE SPIRIT Your direction will change.

MALE SPIRIT Your compassion will grow.

WOMAN It may take a thousand lifetimes for me to learn what I need to know. But I‘m not in a hurry. FEMALE SPIRIT It may take a thousand lifetimes.

MALE SPIRIT Or only one second.

FEMALE SPIRIT Everything depends on you.

MALE SPIRIT Every moment has meaning.

FEMALE SPIRIT Every moment.

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WOMAN/MALE SPIRIT Is enlightenment.

WOMAN Maybe we will meet each other again sooner than we think. (Pause.) Wait a minute. (WOMAN tries to look into MALE SPIRIT's and FEMALE SPIRIT's eyes, their souls.) Have we met before?

FEMALE SPIRIT I knew she would remember.

WOMAN I can't see your face, but I can feel the familiarity. We've met each other before, right? (Pause.) And I know that it wasn't here. I know that it wasn't in this realm. (Pause.) We've met in the physical realm. (Pause. WOMAN is feeling the presence of MALE SPIRIT and FEMALE SPIRIT.) It's you.

MALE SPIRIT I knew she would remember.

WOMAN I can't believe it. You're here. You've been helping me all along. It's you. You're always here for me.

FEMALE SPIRIT Now you know.

MALE SPIRIT You are never alone.

FEMALE SPIRIT And you will never be alone.

WOMAN After recalling these stories, after knowing that I would have to move on, I wondered if I'd see you again, if our lives and our journeys would cross paths again. And now you're here, right in front of me.

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MALE SPIRIT There are many lives you have yet to meet.

FEMALE SPIRIT Old friends from ancient times.

MALE SPIRIT New friends you have never met before.

FEMALE SPIRIT Strangers who can change your life.

MALE SPIRIT Many stories will be told.

FEMALE SPIRIT Many lessons will be discovered.

WOMAN But now that I've found you, I don't want to go. I don't want to leave.

MALE SPIRIT Do cling to your memories.

FEMALE SPIRIT Do cling to your past.

WOMAN But I don't want to leave you again.

MALE SPIRIT This is the very reason you need to go.

FEMALE SPIRIT The human world will assist you.

MALE SPIRIT You will become strong.

FEMALE SPIRIT You will learn to let go.

MALE SPIRIT Nothing is permanent.

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WOMAN But we will meet again, right?

FEMALE SPIRIT Everything is impermanent.

WOMAN But you said that I'll never be alone. You said that I'm never alone.

MALE SPIRIT Sometimes you will feel alone.

FEMALE SPIRIT Sometimes your pain will grow.

MALE SPIRIT Sometimes your suffering will be unbearable.

FEMALE SPIRIT Be strong.

MALE SPIRIT And it will pass.

FEMALE SPIRIT And someday.

MALE SPIRIT We will meet again.

FEMALE SPIRIT When that time comes.

MALE SPIRIT You will tell us about your pain.

FEMALE SPIRIT But not your suffering.

MALE SPIRIT You will tell us about your experiences.

FEMALE SPIRIT Without denying their existence.

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(Pause.)

WOMAN I know. I know I have to move on. I've already made up my mind. I just didn't expect to see you here. (Pause.) What will I be like? In the next life?

MALE SPIRIT You will become a woman.

FEMALE SPIRIT You will be named Arya.

WOMAN Arya...I like it.

MALE SPIRIT It means noble.

FEMALE SPIRIT Remember that suffering is noble.

MALE SPIRIT Remember that truths are noble.

FEMALE SPIRIT Remember that suffering can be overcome.

WOMAN I'll live by the noble truths of my name.

MALE SPIRIT Remember that…

FEMALE SPIRIT …you do not have to follow the old cycle for eternity.

MALE SPIRIT The only moment you have is the present.

FEMALE SPIRIT Live it well.

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WOMAN I will. And one day I'll break the cycle of births and deaths. One day I‘ll never be reborn.

MALE SPIRIT It is time for you to go.

FEMALE SPIRIT You will not remember anything that happens here.

MALE SPIRIT You will not remember us.

FEMALE SPIRIT You will not remember your stories.

MALE SPIRIT But the lessons you have learned.

FEMALE SPIRIT Will always be with you.

MALE SPIRIT Use them well.

WOMAN Thank you, for everything. I understand that this is the way it should be, the way I intended it to be. (Pause.) How do I get out of here now?

FEMALE SPIRIT/MALE SPIRIT You will find your own way. (MALE SPIRIT and FEMALE SPIRIT exit together. WOMAN looks after them until they disappear.)

WOMAN I've been there many times before, and now I'm ready to begin my journey again. (Pause.) And I know that one day I will transcend the realm of re-births and re-deaths. I will transcend the realm of suffering. (WOMAN exits at the opposite direction that MALE SPIRIT and FEMALE SPIRIT exited. Lights slowly fade to black.)

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END OF PLAY

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APPENDIX B THE SCRIPT OF UNDER A SORROWLESS TREE

Cast of Characters

Narrator: a female deity in the realm of Sukavadi (heavenly bliss)

Vasitthi: late teens to mid-twenties, female, daughter of a rich goldsmith

Medini: late teens to mid-twenties, female, a faithful friend of Vasitthi

Somadatta: early to mid-twenties, male, Medini‘s boyfriend and later husband; son of Kamanita‘s host

Satagira: early to late twenties, male, son of a powerful magistrate

Angulimala: thirties to forties, male, mass murderer, later Buddhist monk

Kamanita: early to mid-twenties, male, son of a rich merchant

Puppet characters: Buddha, Angulimala, Master, Student 1,2,3, Vasitthi, Medini, King, Satagira

Lights characters: Brahma, Vasitthi, Kamanita

Setting The play takes place in ancient India about 2500 years ago. The set should be minimal and should include a small lotus pond, a sorrowless tree, a white screen that will be brought on stage for the shadow plays, and a dark empty stage for the heaven scenes.

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Scene 1 ―The First Encounter‖

(NARRATOR is standing by the lotus pond. She is talking to the audience.)

NARRATOR Do you know that true love can lead to one‘s spiritual enlightenment? (Pause.) You don‘t believe me? I will tell you a story. (She gestures at the lotus flowers.) Look at these two lotus flowers here. I‘ve been watching them for a long time. One day they started to come up together, and I‘ve watched them grow side by side. Sometimes with deep anxiety. Why? Soon after its birth, the blue flower here began to noticeably shrivel up and sink beneath the surface of the water. I thought it was going to die that way, but then, all of a sudden, it raised itself up again. It became fuller and brighter until it started to bloom. The white flower, on the other hand, grew slowly but steadily; however, on the day when it should have opened, it looked as if it was unexpectedly attacked by some illness. It wilted and almost died. But miracle happened, and it gradually recovered until it became the beautiful white flower you see before you. (Pause.) Deep down, on the surface of the earth, two souls were being reincarnated. But they did not know that they had been born together many thousand times before. The story I‘m going to tell you is about love that is deeper than an ocean, higher than all the stars in the sky, and stronger even than Mount Meru, the home of all the gods and goddesses. We will begin our story under this sorrowless tree, where our lovely Vasitthi, our heroine, enters. (Vasitthi enters and sits under the tree. She is carrying a bracelet in her hand. She keeps looking at the bracelet and staring in the distance as if she is lost in her own thought. Medini enters from behind the tree.)

MEDINI There you are! Why are you hiding here in the dark when everybody is having fun at the festival?

VASITTHI I don‘t want to go back there.

MEDINI Come on! It will be fun. You always like festivals. (She sees the bracelet in VASITTHI‘s hand.) Oh, no, you‘re still thinking about it.

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VASITTHI No.

MEDINI Nobody noticed it.

VASITTHI Of course, they did!

MEDINI I hardly noticed it.

VASITTHI Of course, you did! You kept talking about Satagira and that stranger falling all over each other trying to catch my bracelet. It was embarrassing. How could I easily drop it like that? And what if they don‘t let me dance at the festival again?

MEDINI Vasitthi, you‘re one of the best dancers in the city. Dropping your bracelet while dancing is not going to change that. (Laughs.) But it was really funny when those two were trying to catch it at the same time.

VASITTHI Stop laughing! It wasn‘t funny. They caused a scene in front of everyone, and it‘s all because of me and my stupid bracelet.

MEDINI Just forget about it. It‘s over now. Let‘s go back to the festival. Somadatta is waiting for us.

VASITTHI You can go. I‘ll stay here.

MEDINI What‘s wrong with you?

VASITTHI Nothing. (MEDINI looks at VASITTHI. VASITTHI avoids her look.)

MEDINI Something‘s wrong.

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VASITTHI What?

MEDINI I don‘t know. You have to tell me.

VASITTHI Nothing is wrong.

MEDINI You‘re sitting here under the sorrowless tree when everyone else is having fun at the festival. Of course, something is wrong.

VASITTHI I said nothing.

MEDINI Every time you say nothing it‘s always something. (Pause.) Is it because of Satagira? He‘s been looking for you all over the place. He was really angry that that stranger caught your bracelet before he did. He was looking for him everywhere too. I think he wanted to teach him a lesson or two.

VASITTHI Did he find him?

MEDINI I don‘t think so. He was still angry when I left and he got even angrier when he couldn‘t find you. Why are you avoiding him anyway? He‘s rich and handsome. Every girl in the city would be happy if only he looks at her. And he really likes you. You‘re such a strange person, Vasitthi.

VASITTHI I just don‘t like him.

MEDINI Why don‘t you like him?

VASITTHI He‘s rich and handsome. So what? He‘s also arrogant and rude.

MEDINI But has he ever been rude to you?

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VASITTHI No. MEDINI You see? He‘s very nice to you.

VASITTHI It doesn‘t matter. He shouldn‘t be nice only to me. He should be nice to everyone else too.

MEDINI How can you expect a person like Satagira to be nice to everyone? As long as he‘s nice to you, that‘s enough.

VASITTHI But your Somadatta is a very kind person. He‘s nice to everyone.

MEDINI Well, Sommadatta is not the son of a magistrate.

VASITTHI I don‘t think it matters whose son you are. You shouldn‘t use your father‘s rank to determine your behavior.

MEDINI You‘re a stupid girl, Vasitthi. Talking to you makes me exhausted.

VASITTHI (After a pause.) So he didn‘t find him?

MEDINI Who didn‘t find whom?

VASITTHI Satagira and that stranger.

MEDINI I don‘t think he did. That man seemed to disappear after your dance.

VASITTHI Oh….

MEDINI You know, I think he‘s quite good-looking.

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VASITTHI Who?

MEDINI The man who picked up the bracelet for you.

VASITTHI Oh, really?

MEDINI Didn‘t you see him? He‘s even better looking than Satagira.

VASITTHI You think so?

MEDINI Yes, in fact, I was looking for him at the festival too. I wanted to thank him for helping my friend.

VASITTHI That‘s childish.

MEDINI How could gratitude be childish?

VASITTHI You just wanted to look at him!

MEDINI Don‘t you want to look at him too?

VASITTHI Why should I?

MEDINI I was watching him during your performance. He couldn‘t take his eyes off you.

VASITTHI Nonsense.

MEDINI But there‘s no point talking about him. I don‘t think we‘ll ever see him again.

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VASITTHI Why not?

MEDINI He‘s clearly not from this city. Didn‘t you see his clothes? He must be a traveler or a merchant on a business trip.

VASITTHI (Subtle disappointment.) Oh….

MEDINI Come on, let‘s go back to the festival.

VASITTHI I told you I want to stay here.

MEDINI Come on, Vasitthi, I don‘t want to go alone.

VASITTHI You‘re not alone. Somadatta is waiting for you.

MEDINI But it‘s not fun without you.

VASITTHI Liar! You two always leave me alone whenever you feel like it.

MEDINI You wouldn‘t be alone if you had a boyfriend.

VASITTHI I don‘t want a boyfriend.

MEDINI Liar! Every girl wants a boyfriend.

VASITTHI If I can‘t find a decent one I‘d rather not have one at all.

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MEDINI (Jokingly.) You‘re too picky. Be careful. If you don‘t find one yourself your parents will find one for you, and you‘ll have to marry him whether you want it or not. (Pause. Teasingly.) They might even make you marry Satagira.

VASITTHI Oh, stop it, will you? MEDINI (Laughs.) All right, all right. If you want to sit here by yourself then it‘s up to you. (Pause. Teasing her.) Wait a minute! Are you waiting for someone? Are you having a rendezvous?

VASITTHI No, I‘m not!

MEDINI You‘re blushing!

VASITTHI I‘m not blushing.

MEDINI (Teasingly.) Ahh… Satagira is going to be angry.

VASITTHI I told you I‘m not meeting anyone.

MEDINI Really?

VASITTHI Really!

MEDINI (Examines VASITTHI. Her eyes finally rest at the bracelet in VASITTHI‘s hand.) Oh, my goodness! Are you meeting that man?

VASITTHI What man?

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MEDINI The man who picked up this bracelet for you.

VASITTHI No!

MEDINI And I thought something was suspicious!

VASITTHI I‘m not meeting him.

MEDINI Don‘t lie to me, Vasitthi.

VASITTHI I‘m not lying!

MEDINI You have been looking at this bracelet since the dance was over. And you didn‘t even put it back on.

VASITTHI It‘s broken!

MEDINI You could have fixed it easily! (VASITTHI sighs.) Are you really meeting him?

VASITTHI (Disappointingly.) No.

MEDINI But why are you sitting here like this?

VASITTHI I just don‘t want to go back to the festival.

MEDINI That man might still be there.

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VASITTHI Satagira will be there too.

MEDINI I got you! You‘re in love with the stranger!

VASITTHI No, I‘m not!

MEDINI When I said that that man might still be there you said that Satagira will be there too. That means you want to see that man but you don‘t want to see Satagira. VASITTHI That‘s not true.

MEDINI You‘re blushing again.

VASITTHI I‘m not!

MEDINI You can‘t fool me! You really want to find him, don‘t you?

VASITTHI (Embarrassed.) I just want to thank him for picking this up for me.

MEDINI And then what?

VASITTHI That‘s…it.

MEDINI Come to think of it. He looked rather kind and gentle. The complete opposite of Satagira. It‘s obvious that you find him attractive.

VASITTHI I didn‘t say anything like that.

MEDINI Well, forget it, Vasitthi. He‘s not from this city. He may be handsome and kind, but you will probably never see him again.

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VASITTHI I know.

MEDINI Oh, well, unrequited love is very romantic.

VASITTHI I‘m not in love. How can I possibly be in love with someone I‘ve never even spoken to?

MEDINI Maybe you‘ve been together many thousand years ago.

VASITTHI Stop joking around, Medini.

MEDINI All right, I‘ll stop. Somadatta must be looking everywhere for me now. I have to go back to him.

VASITTHI Well, have fun.

MEDINI If you change your mind, then…well…I don‘t know where you‘ll find us.

VASITTHI It‘s alright. I‘ll be heading home soon.

MEDINI See you later then.

VASITTHI And tell Somadatta to behave!

MEDINI I will. Bye.

VASITTHI Bye! (MEDINI exits. VASITTHI looks at the bracelet in her hand. A pause. She sighs.) So I guess we‘ll never meet again. (Lights fade out.)

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Scene 2 ―The Magic Portrait‖

(The stage for this scene is divided into three playing areas: NARRATOR‘s area, KAMANITA‘s area, and VASITTHI‘s area under the sorrowless tree. Lights up at NARRATOR‘s area.)

NARRATOR It had been two weeks since their first encounter, and Vasitthi still couldn‘t get the stranger out of her mind. But Vasitthi wasn‘t the only one. That stranger himself couldn‘t get the beautiful dancer out of his mind either. (Lights fade to dim. Lights up again at KAMANITA‘s area. He is in his bedroom; however, the set should be minimal. A chair should be enough to suggest that he‘s in a room. KAMANITA is sitting on the chair with drawing papers and a writing utensil in his hand. He is about to finish what he‘s been drawing.)

SOMADATTA (Off stage.) Kamanita! (KAMANITA hurries to hide the drawing papers under the chair as SOMADATTA walks in.) What are you doing? What is that you‘re hiding? (KAMANITA tries to prevent SOMADATTA from seeing the papers.)

KAMANITA Nothing. (SOMADATTA snatches the papers out from under the chair. KAMANITA tries to get it back but fails.)

SOMADATTA What do we have here? (He looks at the papers. There are several drawings of VASITTHI on each of the papers. Laughs.) And I thought our guest here was training to become an ascetic! You haven‘t been eating much for the past two weeks, and I even worried that you might‘ve been sick. Well, you‘re sick alright. Sick in love!

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KAMANITA Somadatta, shut it!

SOMADATTA Come on, there‘s nothing wrong about being in love. So who‘s the girl?

KAMANITA I don‘t know.

SOMADATTA You don‘t know? (He examines the drawings.) Wait a minute! This is Vasitthi!

KAMANITA You know her?

SOMADATTA Know her? She‘s Medini‘s best friend! So she‘s the one you‘ve been obsessed about? Why didn‘t you tell me about her earlier?

KAMANITA Tell me, who is this Vasitthi?

SOMADATTA She‘s Medini‘s best friend. You‘ve been busy following my father to learn about his business so I haven‘t had a chance to introduce Medini to you yet. Vasitthi and Medini grew up together. She‘s the only daughter of the richest goldsmith in Kosambi. How did you meet her anyway?

KAMANITA We didn‘t meet.

SOMADATTA You didn‘t meet?

KAMANITA I was at the festival when I first got here two weeks ago, remember? She was dancing, and she dropped her bracelet. I picked it up and handed it to her while she was still dancing. I didn‘t get a chance to meet her afterwards because you father was in such a hurry to introduce me to the ambassador.

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SOMADATTA (Laughs.) So you‘re that stranger who picked up the bracelet! Medini has been talking about you nonstop! She‘s been talking about this handsome stranger that Vasitthi fell in love with.

KAMANITA Vasitthi fell in love with me?

SOMADATTA That‘s what Medini said. She kept looking at the bracelet that the stranger picked up for her.

KAMANITA But did she say anything?

SOMADATTA Vasitthi? No, she never said anything. She didn‘t admit that she fell in love with that stranger.

KAMANITA Stop calling me ―that stranger.‖

SOMADATTA Alright, alright. She wouldn‘t admit that she fell in love with you. Vasitthi is a shy girl. She wouldn‘t admit anything like that. But my Medini knows Vasitthi‘s every thought even if she doesn‘t say it.

KAMANITA (Depressed.) Your girlfriend might be wrong. How could someone as beautiful as Vasitthi fall in love with a stranger she‘s never even spoken to?

SOMADATTA Well, how could a handsome stranger like yourself fall for a girl you‘ve never even spoken to? My friend, Kamanita, anything is possible. Let us make a plan.

KAMANITA What plan?

SOMADATTA A plan to get you and Vasitthi to meet. But this has to be a secret. We can‘t let anybody know about you and Vasitthi.

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KAMANITA Why?

SOMADATTA Do you remember when I told you about Satagira? He‘s had an eye for Vasitthi for a long time. If he finds out, you and I will get in trouble.

KAMANITA What can he do?

SOMADATTA What can he do, my friend? He will do anything to get rid of anybody who gets in his way. He‘s a selfish and cruel human being. You would never want to anger him.

KAMANITA But what about Vasitthi?

SOMADATTA What about her?

KAMANITA Does she know how he feels about her?

SOMADATTA Of course, she does. That‘s why she‘s been avoiding him all this time. Vasitthi is a bright girl. She can tell what type of person Satagira is even when all the girls in town are crazy about him. Now, what can we do impress our lovely Vasitthi? (He looks around and sees KAMANITA‘s drawings.) Aha! Let‘s send her one of your drawings!

KAMANITA No way.

SOMADATTA Yes way. Girls are always pleased when someone presents them with their portraits, especially if that someone is a handsome young man who admires their beauty from a distance. The portraits will surprise them, and they will even be more pleased.

KAMANITA Are you sure?

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SOMADATTA Even though I myself cannot draw, I have before sent ladies their portraits, and the results were always satisfying.

KAMANITA Wait, how many girls have you got, Somadatta?

SOMADATTA I used to court many girls at the same time, I admit. But now that I‘ve met Medini, I have only one girl. Anyway, let‘s not talk about my past experience and focus instead on your plan.

KAMANITA It‘s your plan.

SOMADATTA Yes, my plan for you! (He looks through the drawings.) How about this one? It looks the most like our Vasitthi.

KAMANITA That‘s fine.

SOMADATTA Now, my friend, I‘d like you to write a poem.

KAMANITA A poem?

SOMADATTA Yes, a love poem. And write it on the back of the portrait.

KAMANITA But I‘m not a poet.

SOMADATTA Every man in love is a poet, Kamanita.

KAMANITA (He takes the portrait from SOMADATTA. Pause.) Let‘s see. (KAMANITA writes something on the back of the portrait. He gives it to SOMADATTA who reads it and looks at KAMANITA.)

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SOMADATTA You may be a decent artist but clearly not a poet. (He starts to leave.) So long, my friend. I‘m taking this to Medini. (He exits.)

KAMANITA (Shouts after him.) Do you think it will really work?

SOMADATTA (Off stage.) Trust me! (KAMANITA sits back on the chair. Lights fade to dim. Lights up again at NARRATOR.)

NARRATOR Well, my friends, our Kamanita was indeed a poet and a good and cunning one too. His verse was written in simple language and related to the incident involving Vasitthi‘s bracelet. However, when read backward, it stated that the bracelet which she had dropped was like Kamanita‘s own heart. He picked it up and gave it back to her even at the risk of her rejecting it. But if one read the verse perpendicularly from top to bottom, the message was of his despair in separating from her. And if one read it in the opposite direction, the reader would learn that nevertheless, Kamanita dared to hope. (Lights fade to dim. Lights up at VASITTHI‘s area under the sorrowless tree. VASITTHI is sitting under the tree. MEDINI enters.)

MEDINI What are you doing looking so glum under the sorrowless tree?

VASITTHI I‘m not glum!

MEDINI Of course, you are. You‘ve been looking like this for two weeks now. But don‘t worry. Your pain is about to end today.

VASITTHI What pain? I‘m not in pain.

MEDINI No, not physically. But emotionally.

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VASITTHI Stop joking around, Medini.

MEDINI I‘m not joking around. I have a present for you.

VASITTHI What is it? (MEDINI hands VASITTHI her portrait.) That‘s me!

MEDINI Yes, indeed.

VASITTHI Who is it from?

MEDINI Look on the back. (VASITTHI looks at the back of the portrait and reads the poem silently.) I must admit he‘s not a very good poet.

VASITTHI How did you get this?

MEDINI Do you remember when I told about a guest from Ujjeni who has been staying with Somadatta? Two weeks ago he went to the public park and saw beautiful ladies performing a dance. One of them dropped a bracelet and he picked it up for her.

VASITTHI You must be lying!

MEDINI No, I‘m not. Somadatta said that Kamanita hasn‘t been eating since then and just locked up himself in his room.

VASITTHI Is that his name? Kamanita?

MEDINI Yes, yes. Anyway, this morning Somadatta went into Kamanita‘s room and found his drawings of you.

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VASITTHI I can‘t believe it. I‘d never thought I‘d see him again.

MEDINI So you wanted to see him again? (VASITTHI nods quietly.) And you‘ve been lying to me that you had no feelings for him!

VASITTHI That‘s because I didn‘t think I‘d see him again, especially since he‘s from a different city.

MEDINI Well, what are you waiting for? Write him back.

VASITTHI Now?

MEDINI Yes, I brought some paper for you. (She hands VASITTHI paper and a writing utensil.) Somadatta is waiting at my house. He wants to get your answer back to Kamanita as soon as possible. ( Pause. MEDINI watches VASITTHI as she‘s about to write.)

VASITTHI Don‘t look at me like that. I can‘t think of anything if someone‘s watching me.

MEDINI Alright, alright. (She moves away. VASITTHI writes something on the paper. She looks at it with satisfaction and hands it to MEDINI who reads VASITTHI‘s poem.) You‘re not a poet either! Anyway, your unusually pretty handwriting should be enough to get his attention. I‘m going to take this to Somadatta now and I‘ll be right back. (She exits.)

VASITTHI (After a pause. She speaks to herself.) Of course, Kamanita is a great poet. I read his verse in every way I could and I fathomed every message he wishes to give me. (Pause.) Isn‘t it funny that he‘s been staying with Somadatta all this time? (Lights fade out.)

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Scene 3 ―A Promising Departure‖

(Lights up at NARRATOR.) NARRATOR Vasitthi and Kamanita met that night under the sorrowless tree. After they saw each other, they knew right at that moment that they were meant to be with each other. They felt comfortable in each other‘s presence, as if they were an old married couple, even though they were neither old nor married. After the first night, they met up every night under the same sorrowless tree. (Lights fade to dim. Lights up at the sorrowless tree. Some of the tree‘s orange and yellow flowers have fallen on the ground. VASITTHI and KAMANITA are under the tree.)

KAMANITA (He picks up one of the yellow flowers.) Look at these flowers, Vasitthi. They‘re beginning to fall already. Soon you‘ll have enough to make a garland.

VASITTHI (Laughs.) Why would I want to make a garland with these flowers?

KAMANITA Well, I guess you wouldn‘t want a yellow garland if you read the Golden Book of Love.

VASITTHI (Laughs.) No, I‘ve never read the Golden Book of Love. Why would I read such a book?

KAMANITA I thought every girl would read this book.

VASITTHI Not me.

KAMANITA But don‘t you want to know what is said in the Golden Book about the color of love?

VASITTHI What does it say?

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KAMANITA (He gives her the yellow flower that he picked up.) ―It is called Saffron, Yellow Affection, when it attracts attention but then later fades away; it is called Scarlet, however, when it does not fade but later becomes only too apparent.‖

VASITTHI (Laughs.) You can recite passages from the book?

KAMANITA (Jokingly.) Yes, I‘m very devoted to the Book of Love.

VASITTHI (Laughs.) I can‘t believe it!

KAMANITA I‘ve found out that most girls are usually impressed by my recitation from the book.

VASITTHI Well, I‘m not impressed.

KAMANITA You‘re not?

VASITTHI As you may well know, I‘m not like most girls.

KAMANITA Indeed, you‘re not.

VASITTHI And I don‘t agree that the color of love is scarlet either.

KAMANITA You don‘t? Why‘s that?

VASITTHI Because I don‘t think scarlet is the right color.

KAMANITA What is the color of love then?

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VASITTHI My love has the color of no flower.

KAMANITA Is that right?

VASITTHI Listen to this and tell me what you think. I‘ve heard that the color of the truest love is not red but black. You know, the blue-black color of Shiva‘s throat when he swallowed the poison that would otherwise have destroyed all living beings. True love is like that. It must be able to withstand the poison of life, and it must be willing to taste the bitterest in order that the loved one may be spared. And from that bitterest suffering, love will choose its color, which is deeper and truer than any colors that are derived from happiness or flowers.

KAMANITA You‘re such a philosopher tonight, Vasitthi.

VASITTHI But isn‘t it true? If you love someone, you would want that person to be happy. True love is selfless, and being selfless can sometimes make us suffer.

KAMANITA I just hope that we don‘t have to suffer for our love.

VASITTHI We never know. (Pause.) I heard that you‘ll be leaving tomorrow.

KAMANITA Who told you that?

VASITTHI Why didn‘t you tell me, Kamanita?

KAMANITA I was going to tell you, but I didn‘t know how to say it.

VASITTHI It‘s not that hard.

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KAMANITA I don‘t want to leave. But I‘ve been postponing it for weeks now. My father is getting anxious, and the ambassador told me that if I don‘t leave with the caravan now it will be a long time before I can leave again. You know the roads are dangerous, and I shouldn‘t be traveling alone without the ambassador‘s men.

VASITTHI I know.

KAMANITA I‘m sorry I didn‘t tell you earlier.

VASITTHI So tonight is our last night?

KAMANITA Tonight isn‘t our last night, Vasitthi. I will come back. I promise you.

VASITTHI But what if you don‘t? What if you meet a girl in your city and your father wants you to get married?

KAMANITA I will not marry any girl but you, Vasitthi. I promise. I will come back and I will bring you back to Ujjeni with me. And we will not meet in secret anymore. I will ask for your parents‘ consent. And you will be the wife of the richest merchant in Ujjeni.

VASITTHI Can you promise me, Kamanita, that even if we never get to see each other again in this world, we will still remain faithful?

KAMANITA We will meet again. I promise.

VASITTHI But if we don‘t, when this life on earth is ended, will you promise that we will find one another in Paradise?

KAMANITA Don‘t be silly, Vasitthi. We will find one another again before our life here on earth is ended.

VASITTHI But I‘m scared.

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KAMANITA You shouldn‘t be.

VASITTHI Here on earth everything is so uncertain. But it will be different in Paradise.

KAMANITA (Laughs.) Where is Paradise, then, so I can meet you there?

VASITTHI Where the sun sets lies the Paradise of Infinite Light. (KAMANITA laughs.) Don‘t laugh at me, Kamanita! I‘m being serious! A pure heart of a lotus flower will be waiting upon those who have the courage enough to renounce the worldly. And the first longing for that Paradise will cause a bud to appear in the holy waters of the crystal pool. Every pure thought, every good deed will cause it to grow and develop. While unwholesome deeds and thoughts will eat the flower up like caterpillars and will cause the flower to wither and die.

KAMANITA Is that where we‘ll meet? In the crystal pool where the sun sets?

VASITTHI Yes.

KAMANITA I will make sure that we‘ll meet again in this world before we meet in Paradise.

VASITTHI You have to be careful.

KAMANITA What are you talking about?

VASITTHI On your journey.

KAMANITA Don‘t worry about it. I‘ll be traveling with the ambassador‘s men and they‘re very familiar with the roads.

VASITTHI But still, you have to be careful.

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KAMANITA What‘s wrong, Vasitthi? You‘ve been acting strange tonight.

VASITTHI (Pause.) Satagira came to see me this morning.

KAMANITA What did he want?

VASITTHI He knows. He knows about our meetings. Kamanita, I‘m scared.

KAMANITA There‘s nothing Satagira can do.

VASITTHI He was very angry. He told me to tell you to be careful.

KAMANITA Don‘t worry about it. He wouldn‘t do anything to me.

VASITTHI He would. He would do anything to get what he wants. You have to really be careful, Kamanita.

KAMANITA I will. I‘ll take care of myself so that I can come back to you.

VASITTHI Promise?

KAMANITA I promise. (VASITTHI takes off her bracelet and gives it to KAMANITA)

VASITTHI Do you remember this bracelet, Kamanita?

KAMANITA Of course, how can I forget?

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VASITTHI I want you to keep it. And when we meet again, you can give it back to me. (KAMANITA takes the bracelet.)

KAMANITA Do you remember the poem I wrote you?

VASITTHI This bracelet is like your own heart.

KAMANITA I picked it up and gave it to you even at the risk of you rejecting it.

VASITTHI I hope that your heart will return to me soon.

KAMANITA It will.

(Lights fade to dim. Kamanita exits. VASITTHI is sitting alone under the sorrowless tree. Lights up. Some time has passed. MEDINI enters.)

MEDINI Vasitthi!

VASITTHI Medini! What are you doing here so late at night?

MEDINI It‘s Kamanita!

VASITTHI What happened? What happened to Kamanita?

MEDINI He was attacked.

VASITTHI Attacked?

MEDINI He was ambushed by two assassins on the way back to Somadatta‘s house.

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VASITTHI Assassins?

MEDINI Yes, even if Kamanita is a good sword fighter, handling two assassins at once was almost impossible.

VASITTHI What happened to him?

MEDINI He‘s fine now. He‘s injured but they didn‘t kill him. Somadatta came out to look for him and he scared them away.

VASITTHI Medini, I have to go see him.

MEDINI No, you can‘t.

VASITTHI Why not?

MEDINI Don‘t you understand?

VASITTHI Understand what?

MEDINI You know who did this, don‘t you?

VASITTHI …Satagira….

MEDINI It wouldn‘t be safe for you or for Kamanita if you see him again tonight. Satagira‘s people are everywhere. We have to be careful.

VASITTHI Kamanita won‘t be leaving tomorrow then.

MEDINI He will.

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VASITTHI But he‘s injured!

MEDINI He‘ll manage. We have to get him out of Kosambi as soon as possible.

VASITTHI I can‘t believe it. (Pause.) How bad was it? How bad was his injury?

MEDINI He was cut by the swords a couple times. Some of the cuts are quite deep, but they didn‘t hit any major organs. He was asking for you too, Vasitthi. But Somadatta told him that it wouldn‘t be wise for him to see you right now.

VASITTHI And they still make him leave in the morning?

MEDINI There is no other way. They will have to leave before the sun rises.

VASITTHI But he‘s not in the condition to travel.

MEDINI It‘s for the best, Vasitthi. And Kamanita agreed to leave tomorrow morning. For his own sake and also for you.

VASITTHI So tonight might have been the last night that we were together.

MEDINI Don‘t be stupid, Vasitthi. The ambassador‘s men will take care of him. And he will come back to you. Satagira wouldn‘t dare attack the caravan.

VASITTHI I wish I could be there with him. I wish I could travel with him to his homeland.

MEDINI I‘m sorry, Vasitthi. (Pause.) It‘s getting really late now. I‘ll walk you home.

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VASITTHI You can go home. I want to be alone for awhile.

MEDINI But it‘s not safe.

VASITTHI Satagira won‘t hurt me.

MEDINI (Pause.) All right. (She exits reluctantly.)

VASITTHI Why can‘t he understand it? Why can‘t Satagira understand that I can never love him? Why can‘t he just swallow the poison of life and let us be? (Pause.) Is it because that we human beings are so weak, and we can‘t be compared to Shiva‘s selfless love? Is it because human love is supposed to be possessive and self-centered? (Pause.) Is there a possibility that human love can be as pure as the lotus flower in Paradise?

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Scene 4 ―The Rite of Truth‖

(Lights up at NARRATOR.)

NARRATOR Two years after that promising departure, Vasitthi still had not heard a word from or about Kamanita. All she could do was wait patiently. Could he be dead? Could he have forgotten her? Nobody knew. At the same time, there was constant news about a band of robbers, led by a famous mass murderer, Angulimala. Angulimala killed mercilessly. And every time he killed his victims, he would cut off their thumbs and string them together to hang around his neck. During these two years, Satagira also came to Vasitthi‘s house to court her daily. Being true to her heart and to her word, Vasitthi was determined to be faithful to Kamanita. (Lights fade to dim. Lights up on VASITTHI under the sorowless tree. )

VASITTHI (She‘s speaking to the tree.) It seems like you‘re my only friend nowadays. You‘re the only one who listens to me and comforts me. (Pause.) My father threatened me this morning, saying that he‘d beat me to death if I mentioned Kamanita‘s name again. And all mother can do is weep. She wants me to be happy and she believes that Satagira can give me happiness. (Pause. MEDINI runs in.)

MEDINI (Excitedly.) They caught him! They caught him! Vasitthi, they finally caught him!

VASITTHI What are you talking about, Medini. Who caught whom?

MEDINI The mass murderer! Angulimala! Satagira and his men caught him!

VASITTHI (Disinterested.) Oh…

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MEDINI Why are you acting like this, Vasitthi? You should be excited. Angulimala has been terrorizing the people in our city for months. Thanks to Satagira we can now live without fear. (VASITTHI doesn‘t seem to respond.) I don‘t know why you‘re still acting like this, Vasitthi. Kamanita is gone. He‘s the past. Forget him. What you have now is Satagira. He‘s your present. And future. And he‘s not as bad as you think he is. VASITTHI (Softly.) Can you stop it, Medini?

MEDINI What‘s so good about Kamanita? He promised you he‘d come back but where is he now? Just forget him and marry Satagira.

VASITTHI (Raising her voice.) Can you stop it, Medini? (Pause.)

MEDINI Your parents are worried about you too. All you have done these past two years is sit here and look depressed. And your father has been pressured by Satagira‘s father about the marriage. They want a wedding. Soon. And how long do you think your father can postpone the minister‘s request. They‘re powerful people, Satagira and his father. This is not only about you. It‘s about your family as well.

VASITTHI Medini, please.

MEDINI (She doesn‘t listen to Vasitthi.) Your parents want you to be happy, Vasitthi. They want you to marry the man you love. But where is that man? It only takes two weeks to travel from Kosambi and Ujjeni. I repeat, two weeks, not two years! Think about it. If he were to come back, he would have been here by now.

VASITTHI I promised to be faithful to him.

MEDINI But does he keep his promise?

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VASITTHI It doesn‘t matter if other people keep their promises or not. I know my word and I‘m determined to keep it.

MEDINI You‘re such a stupid girl, Vasitthi.

VASITTHI I may be stupid but I‘m not fickle. What I say is what I do. And nobody can change that. Not even the minister of state.

MEDINI But what if they harm your family?

VASITTHI (Pause.) I don‘t know.

MEDINI If you don‘t think about yourself, you should at least think about them.

VASITTHI I just want to wait for a little while longer.

MEDINI For what?

VASITTHI I don‘t know. For a miracle? (SATAGIRA enters with ANGULIMALA. ANGULIMALA‘s hands and feet are in chains. He looks beaten up.)

SATAGIRA (To ANGULIMALA.) Hurry up, you filthy beast!

MEDINI What are you doing, Satagira? Who is this man?

SATAGIRA This man is the very much feared mass murderer, Angulimala.

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MEDINI What? Why are you bringing him here?

SATAGIRA Don‘t worry, Medini. This murderer now is like a dirty rat in my hand. He will die as soon as I clench my fist.

MEDINI But why are you bringing him here?

SATAGIRA Because he has something to tell us. (He looks at VASITTHI.) But I think it concerns you more, Vasitthi.

VASITTHI Is this another one of your dirty schemes, Satagira?

MEDINI Vasitthi! Why are you talking to Satagira like that?

SATAGIRA It‘s alright, Medini. Vasitthi can say whatever she wants. (To ANGULIMALA.) Now, Angulimala, repeat to this lovely maiden what you have confessed to me.

ANGULIMALA (He speaks without looking up to face VASITTHI.) Two years ago we attacked a caravan on its return to Ujjeni in the region of Vedisa. We killed everyone except this young merchant and his servant. We took the young merchant prisoner and sent his servant to Ujjeni for ransom. The servant never came back so we had to put the merchant to death according to our custom.

SATAGIRA And that young merchant, Vasitthi, was Kamanita.

VASITTHI How do you know that? (SATAGIRA throws a bracelet at VASITTHI‘s feet. She picks it up. It‘s the bracelet that VASITTHI dropped at the public park and KAMANITA picked it up for her.) How did you get this bracelet?

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ANGULIMALA I normally cut off the thumb of the person I murder and make it into a necklace. But I didn‘t murder that young man. He was taken prisoner and done away with according to the robbers‘ custom so I couldn‘t take his thumb. I found this bracelet among his belongings so I kept it instead.

SATAGIRA Now, Vasitthi, do you still believe that Kamanita will come back to you one day?

VASITTHI I don‘t believe you. You‘re a robber and murderer. Your word has no value to me. You may have said what you were commanded to say by someone with more power, someone who can determine whether you live or die. (Pause.) And you do not dare to look me in the eye either. You, the mighty Angulimala, can‘t even look in the eyes of a weak girl because you‘re telling a coward lie that has been commanded by this man right here!

ANGULIMALA (He laughs but does not look up.) What good would it do if I look you in the eye? I leave that to the young man who desires you. If you can‘t believe a robber‘s word, how can you believe his eyes? (He steps closer to VASITTHI.) Well, maiden, if you still don‘t believe me, be witness to the Rite of Truth. (A pause. ANGULIMALA kneels on the ground. He looks up at the sky and speaks with a loud and powerful voice as if to extend it to the moon.) You who tame the tiger, snake-crowned Goddess of Night! You who dance by moonlight on the pinnacles of the mountains, your necklace of skulls swaying your blood-filled skull-cup! Mother Kali! Mistress of the robbers! You who have led me through a thousand dangers, hear me! Truly as I have never withheld a sacrifice from you; truly as I have ever loyally observed your laws; truly as I did deal with this Kamanita according to our statute – the statute which commands us Senders when the ransom does not arrive by the appointed hour, to saw the prisoner through the middle and cast his remains on the public road – just as truly stand by me now in my direst need, rend my chains, and free me from the hands of my enemies! (ANGULIMALA‘s chains rattle and shatter. He is free and runs away.)

SATAGIRA (As he runs after ANGULIMALA.) Guards! Don‘t let him escape! Don‘t let Angulimala escape! (He exits.)

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VASITTHI (Devastated.) This can‘t be true!

MEDINI It has to be, Vasitthi. Even though these robbers are murderers, they value honor more than anything else. I‘ve heard about the Rite of Truth before. A robber like Angulimala could never lie while performing it.

VASITTHI (To herself.) This can‘t be true. (Pause.) He didn‘t forget about me. He didn‘t forget our promise. He didn‘t forget about our time under the sorrowless tree. He was killed. I should have known. I shouldn‘t have doubted him.

MEDINI Vasitthi, it‘s over. Now you know. Everything is settled. You don‘t have to wait anymore.

VASITTHI (Still to herself.) Can death really settle things? (Pause.) What about the one who‘s still living?

MEDINI Vasitthi, let‘s go home. I‘ll walk you home.

VASITTHI I don‘t want to go anywhere. I want to be with Kamanita.

MEDINI Vasitthi, you‘re still young. There‘s life ahead of you. You can grieve now but little by little you will feel less pain. And one day you will find happiness again.

VASITTHI Can you ever feel less pain when you lose someone you love?

MEDINI Vasitthi, people die. People die every day. We have to deal with it.

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VASITTHI I want to be alone now.

MEDINI I can‘t leave you alone. (SATAGIRA enters.)

SATAGIRA We captured him, that filthy rat! (He looks at VASITTHI.) I‘m so sorry, Vasitthi. I had no idea that he‘s been dead these two years. (He tries to put his arm around VASITTHI. She pushes it away.)

VASITTHI (After a pause.) Satagira, leave me alone.

MEDINI (To SATAGIRA.) Leave her alone, Satagira. Come back in the morning.

SATAGIRA All right, I‘ll be back in the morning. Take good care of her, Medini.

MEDINI I will. (SATAGIRA exits.)

VASITTHI (Looks at the bracelet.) He can‘t come back to me, but he still sent me back his faithful heart. (After a pause.) I hope he remembers his promise.

MEDINI What are you talking about now? What promise?

VASITTHI (To herself, as if speaking to the invisible KAMANITA.) We promised to meet where the sun sets. In the crystal pond. In Paradise. (Lights fade out.)

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Scene 5 ―The Mournful Marriage‖

(Lights up on NARRATOR.)

NARRATOR In her despair, Vasitthi agreed to marry Satagira. And one year after that mournful Rite of Truth, the wedding between Satagira and Vasitthi took place. Soon Vasitthi bore him a daughter who died in her second year. Satagira, therefore, took a second wife who bore him a wished-for son. As Vasitthi retreated to her grief and despair, Satagira‘s second wife received the first place in his household. After the death of his father, Satagira succeeded him as the Minister of State. (Lights fade to dim. Lights up at a sorrowless tree. However, it‘s a different tree from the tree in the previous scenes. VASITTHI enters. MEDINI follows after her.)

MEDINI Wait up, Vasitthi! Where are you taking me anyway?

VASITTHI Come on! We‘re almost there. (VASITTHI stops at the sorrowless tree.) Here it is!

MEDINI What?

VASITTHI A sorrowless tree.

MEDINI So…what?

VASITTHI I never thought that there would be a sorrowless tree in Satagira‘s household. But yesterday when I went for a walk, I came to this deserted area and I found this.

MEDINI So what? You can find a sorrowless tree anywhere in this city.

VASITTHI But this is the only one around here.

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MEDINI And?

VASITTHI Do you remember the sorrowless tree by my father‘s house?

MEDINI Yes, I remember.

VASITTHI There are a lot of memories under that tree, both painful and pleasant memories.

MEDINI Vasitthi, you shouldn‘t be thinking about the past anymore.

VASITTHI (Ignoring MEDINI‘s comment.) I want to build a house here.

MEDINI What?

VASITTHI A small house. Do you think Satagira will agree? Since I‘m not really needed in his household anymore.

MEDINI You‘re needed, Vasitthi. You‘re the one who has deserted it.

VASITTHI He took a second wife.

MEDINI He‘s a man. He can do that.

VASITTHI Some men are not like that, Medini. Kamanita promised me that I would be his only wife.

MEDINI (Coarsely.) Kamanita is dead, Vasitthi.

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VASITTHI I know that!

MEDINI Then stop talking about him. You‘re Satagira‘s wife now. And he loves you.

VASITTHI Love? I don‘t even know what love is anymore. He said he loved me. And I thought I could love him back but I couldn‘t. I loved Kamanita but he left me. I loved my beautiful daughter but she left me all the same. Maybe there is no love for me in this life, Medini. Now all I can do is to live in my memories and hope that there will be a happy meeting high above. In Paradise. In a place where I will never be disappointed.

MEDINI Vasitthi, you‘re still young. You‘re still beautiful. Surely you can get Satagira back from that girl.

VASITTHI Don‘t you understand, Medini? I don‘t want to get him back. I don‘t care who he loves. (Pause.) I‘m so tired, Medini, tired of living.

MEDINI Vasitthi, you can‘t live like this. You can‘t live with the feeling that you‘re tired of life. I‘m sure you can be happy again one day. And your husband can help you, believe me. Just be nice to him. Stop ignoring him. You can give him more children. And the smiles on your children‘s faces will bring happiness into your life.

VASITTHI I want to believe you but I‘m afraid I can‘t.

MEDINI Why can‘t you?

VASITTHI I don‘t want to love anyone again.

MEDINI That‘s not true.

VASITTHI It is. What‘s the point of love when you know that one day you will lose the person you love? I know how it feels. It happened to me twice. And I will never let it happen to me again.

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MEDINI But what is life without love, Vasitthi? You have to find a reason to live. (VASITTHI looks up at the sky and then looks over to a distant place.)

VASITTHI Where the sun sets lies the Paradise of Infinite Light.

MEDINI Do you really believe that?

VASITTHI I do.

MEDINI You‘re not a child anymore. The lotus flowers of the crystal pond may not exist, Vasitthi.

VASITTHI It doesn‘t matter. As long as it gives me some hope.

MEDINI Vasitthi…

VASITTHI So do you think Satagira will build a house for me here? I just want a small house for myself right by this sorrowless tree.

MEDINI (Sighs.) Of course, he will. Satagira will do anything to see you smile again. (VASITTHI smiles at MEDINI. It is a smile from a person who no longer hopes for happiness. Lights fade out.)

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Scene 6 ―Angulimala‘s Vengeful Return‖

(Lights up on NARRATOR.)

NARRATOR Satagira built a small house for Vasitthi by the sorrowless tree as she requested. Vasitthi moved out of Satagira‘s household and spent most of her time by herself in this house, reminiscing about the past and mourning her marriage. Little did she know that something was about to happen that would change her life, her existence, forever. (Lights fade to dim. Lights up on VASITTHI under the sorrowless tree. It is night time.)

VASITTHI (To herself.) Kamanita, are you already waiting for me in Paradise? I wonder what the color of your lotus petals would be. I always think that they would be blue. Like the clear blue sky after the rain. (Pause.) What would be the color of my flower? (Pause.) I hope that mine would be white. Like the color of the clouds flying high above, decorating the blue sky. Sometimes the sky is so clear that I cannot see the clouds. But I know that on most days the clouds will always be there to keep the sky from loneliness. And that is where I want to be… (Pause.) It‘s so quiet here at night. (Laughs.) It‘s quiet here during the day too. (Pause.) It reminds me of the first time I met you, Kamanita. That evening everything outside was quiet, but my heart was beating so loudly as if it was going to jump out of my body. (Pause.) I sat there under the sorrowless tree with Medini, waiting for your arrival. (A shadowy figure slowly approaches VASITTHI but she doesn‘t see it.) And then I saw a shadowy figure coming toward us. And I knew it was you. (Laughs.) You were in such a hurry to come and meet me that you left Somadatta behind. (VASITTHI sees the figure in the dark. As if in a dream, she walks toward the figure in wonder but also in a welcoming manner. When she gets closer to the figure, she sees that it is ANGULIMALA. VASITTHI steps back in horror.)

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ANGULIMALA (Laughs.) Whom did you expect?

VASITTHI Not you.

ANGULIMALA A spirit?

VASITTHI Yes.

ANGULIMALA Kamanita‘s spirit?

VASITTHI Yes.

ANGULIMALA When you walked toward me and made your movement of welcome, I thought that you had a lover who visited you here at night.

VASITTHI You were wrong.

ANGULIMALA I know I was. You were merely expecting a ghost! (VASITTHI stares at him.) Oh, no, I‘m not a ghost. Even though I appear at night, I am not the spirit of Angulimala. I am Angulimala himself, a living human being just as you are.

VASITTHI But you were dead. Satagira killed you.

ANGULIMALA (Laughs.) He could only wish! (VASITTHI steps away from him.) Don‘t be afraid. I‘m not here to harm you.

VASITTHI You‘re a mass murderer and you killed Kamanita!

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(VASITTHI starts to run. ANGULIMALA grabs her and put his hand over her mouth.)

ANGULIMALA Shhh! I don‘t want you to wake anyone up! (Pause.) My lady, you should know that you have no reason to fear me. (Pause.) In fact, you‘re the only person this robber Angulimala has ever been afraid of. (VASITTHI tries to break away from ANGULIMALA. He lets her go.)

VASITTHI You? You‘re afraid of a woman like me? You expect me to believe you?

ANGULIMALA It‘s true. You‘re the only person whom I dare not look in the eye. Because…as you said…I was deceiving you.

VASITTHI You were deceiving me!?

ANGULIMALA Yes

VASITTHI (After a pause.) So you didn‘t kill Kamanita?

ANGULIMALA I did not kill Kamanita.

VASITTHI Kamanita is still alive?

ANGULIMALA I believe so.

VASITTHI This can‘t be true. Why did you lie to me?

ANGULIMALA Why do you think I lied to you?

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VASITTHI (After a pause.) Satagira…

ANGULIMALA Yes, we both have something to avenge and on the same man: Satagira.

VASITTHI I can‘t believe it.

ANGULIMALA Kamanita and his caravan fell into my hand in the forest of Vedisas. He defended himself bravely but because of his previous wounds, he was captured. We sent his servant for ransom and it arrived in good time. He was sent home and arrived safely in Ujjeni.

VASITTHI (Sighs.) He‘s still alive? (Pause.) But why didn‘t he come back to me?

ANGULIMALA When I fell into Satagira‘s power, he looked through all my belongings and recognized at once the bracelet that was given back to you. He ordered all the guards to leave the room and promised to give me my freedom if I would swear in your presence that I had killed Kamanita. He said that my oath alone would not convince you but you would believe in the Rite of Truth.

VASITTHI And you agreed to what that filthy beast told you to do?

ANGULIMALA I knew that I shouldn‘t have trusted him but I saw no other way of escape.

VASITTHI You‘re as rotten as Satagira.

ANGULIMALA You can say that. (Pause.) But Satagira didn‘t keep his word. He filed through the chain to let me escape, but as soon as I stepped out of the city I was ambushed by a mass of armed men. Although the pieces of chain hanging on my wrists were my only weapon, I managed to kill every one

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VASITTHI (Pause.) I guess I can‘t blame you for saving your own life. At least you didn‘t murder Kamanita.

ANGULIMALA Now, my noble lady, I believe that I need your help as much as you need mine.

VASITTHI I need your help?

ANGULIMALA Yes, I can perceive that you also thirst for revenge. And that is why I have come here. I‘ve learned from a sure source that in the next few days, Satagira will leave for the valleys in the East where there‘s a legal dispute between two villages. I need to know for certain the hour that he will travel and what road he will take. And I hope to learn it from you.

VASITTHI What gives you the right to believe that I would sink low enough to take a robber and murderer as my ally?

ANGULIMALA As I said before, you need me as much as I need you. I am your only hope for future happiness. Kamanita lives. And as long as Satagira‘s still alive, you will never have a chance of seeing the man you love again. Think about it, Vasitthi, Satagira has known all along that Kamanita‘s alive. (Laughs.) He also knows that I‘m alive. I don‘t think he can ever sleep soundly at night.

VASITTHI (After a pause.) What makes you believe that I can get the information from Satagira? Haven‘t you heard about me? I‘m not really his first wife anymore and I‘ve cut myself out from his household. That‘s why I‘m here. All alone in the deserted part of his property.

ANGULIMALA (Smiles.) Of course, I‘ve heard about you. I‘ve heard about Satagira‘s first wife who is now living in her own grief. But it shouldn‘t be difficult for a beautiful woman to draw a secret from her husband. (Pause.)

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Satagira adores you.

VASITTHI (After a pause.) Then I shall try.

ANGULIMALA Great! Tomorrow, as soon as it gets dark, I will come here again to get the information from you. (He bows deeply and disappears into the dark.)

VASITTHI (After a pause.) Kamanita still lives. He arrived safely in Ujjeni. But why didn‘t he come back to me? Why didn‘t he keep his promise? Did he meet a beautiful girl and marry her? I‘d been waiting for two years. Why didn‘t he come back to me? (Pause.) But I didn‘t keep my promise either. I promised to be faithful even if we would never see one another again in this world. (Pause.) He must‘ve heard of my marriage. How weak, how faithless I must appear in his eyes! (Pause.) Satagira, you‘re the one to blame. If I was a man, I‘d kill you myself! (Pause.) But why didn‘t he come back? It doesn‘t take two years to travel from Ujjeni to Kosambi. (Pause.) Why didn‘t Kamanita come back to me? (Lights fade out.)

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Scene 7 ―Satagira‘s Request‖

(Lights up on NARRATOR.)

NARRATOR Kamanita was still alive. But why did he not come back to his lovely Vasitthi? The only person who could answer this question would be Kamanita himself. After agreeing to assist Angulimala by obtaining information from Satagira, Vasitthi started working on her plan early the next morning. She left her little house by the edge of Satagira‘s property for Satagira‘s main household. (Lights fade to dim. Lights up on the interior of SATAGIRA‘s household. The set should be minimal. SATAGIRA is sitting, having his morning tea in the dining room. A table, two chairs, a tea set, and some writing instruments would be enough. VASITTHI enters. She walks behind SATAGIRA slowly but with intent of making him notice her.)

SATAGIRA (Without looking back to see VASITTHI.) Who is that?

VASITTHI It‘s me, Vasitthi.

SATAGIRA (Stands up. With surprise and joy.) Vasitthi! It‘s been a long time since I last saw you here. Come and have tea with me.

VASITTHI I‘m only here to get some herbs and spices.

SATAGIRA You can get them later. Come sit here with me now. (He brings her to the table. VASITTHI sits down reluctantly. SATAGIRA prepares tea for her.) You should move back here, Vasitthi. I‘ve missed you so much. And it‘s not safe to live by yourself in that little house.

VASITTHI Why wouldn‘t it be safe?

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SATAGIRA Haven‘t you heard of this band of robbers? Their leader kills in the same manner that Angulimala once did. You remember that robber and murderer Angulimala, don‘t you?

VASITTHI How could I forget?

SATAGIRA Angulimala is already dead but this robber has been using his name to terrorize people and his cruelty isn‘t any less than that of Angulimala.

VASITTHI I hope he‘s not related to that mass murderer!

SATAGIRA That‘s why we should be careful. I was the one who captured and killed Angulimala. If this robber wants to exceed Angulimala in his greatness, it would be natural for him to come and seek me.

VASITTHI Then you shouldn‘t be traveling anywhere for a while. It‘s safer at home where there are a lot of people around.

SATAGIRA I‘m afraid that would be impossible.

VASITTHI Why is that?

SATAGIRA I have to travel East to settle a village quarrel and, as suggested by my assistant, I shouldn‘t arrive in these villages with the whole army. That wouldn‘t be very diplomatic. For that reason, I will only bring thirty men with me. My assistant will make all the necessary preparation and will pretend that I will leave the city tomorrow morning with an army of solders to capture the robbers. The robbers, with their accomplices in town would then be deceived. In the meantime, I will start my journey with my thirty men an hour after midnight, going through the South gate and go around the Southeast direction. It will take longer but it‘d be sure to avoid the robbers. (Pause.) Even though we‘ve taking the detour, I‘d still like to avoid the main road. And Vasitthi…I need you help…

VASITTHI I don‘t understand how I can help you with your journey.

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SATAGIRA Your father‘s summer residence is located in the Southeast of the city. You must know every road in that area from your childhood. Vasitthi, you will be able to help me greatly in this matter.

VASITTHI Let me think. (Pause. Nervously.) I think you should take the path that leads through the ravine.

SATAGIRA The ravine.

VASITTHI Yes, this ravine is very narrow, and for a short distance, even two men could not ride through it side by side. However, I believe that only few people know about this path that even if the robbers expect that you make a detour, they wouldn‘t possibly imagine that you would take this route.

SATAGIRA Really?

VASITTHI Yes, I use to play in this ravine with Medini when we were little. It was usually deserted and only local people would know of it.

SATAGIRA That‘s great! (He gives her paper and a writing utensil that are on the table.) Now, Vasitthi, please draw the map of that area for me. (VASITTHI takes the ink and paper. She starts drawing with a trembling hand.)

SATAGIRA (Notices VASITTHI‘s hand.) Are you alright, Vasitthi?

VASITTHI I‘m fine. I‘m just…a little tired. That‘s all. I didn‘t get much sleep last night.

SATAGIRA You should take better care of yourself, Vasitthi. You‘ve lost a lot of weight these past years.

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VASITTHI I know. (SATAGIRA looks at her with affection.)

SATAGIRA I‘ve missed you, Vasitthi. I‘ve missed you very much. (VASITTHI ignores him and continues drawing. After a moment, VASITTHI looks up and gives SATAGIRA the paper.)

VASITTHI It‘s done. (SATAGIRA takes VASITTHI‘s hand and looks at her in silence. A pause.)

SATAGIRA Can you imagine how happy I was when you agreed to become my wife? (A long pause.)

VASITTHI You have another wife right now.

SATAGIRA (Seriously.) But you‘re the only one I love, Vasitthi. And if you want, I‘ll make you my first wife again.

VASITTHI That‘s not what I want.

SATAGIRA What do you want, Vasitthi? (No response.) I know what you want. Do you think I don‘t know that? But he‘s dead! He‘s been dead for years! Can‘t you just forget about him? (No response.) Can‘t you love me? (No response.) I‘m not asking you to love me the way you loved him. I‘m not asking you to love me as much as you loved him. But can‘t you love me just a little? Can‘t you just pay a little attention to me and stop ignoring me like you always do? (A pause.)

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VASITTHI I have to go.

SATAGIRA Vasitthi, please stay. I‘ll give you anything you want.

VASITTHI I‘m sorry, Satagira, but I really have to go. (She withdraws her hand from his and exits. Lights fade to dim. Lights up at VASITTHI under the sorrowless tree.) Is it true that I wish to band myself together with a robber and murderer in order to get rid of the man who once led me around the nuptial fire? The man who has just confessed to me that he loves me? (Pause.) Satagira is a monster, but still, he loves me. And I don‘t know where in this world I can find another person who will love me as much as he does. (Pause.) Kamanita? (Pause.) Where are you now? Do you still love me? (Pause.) I know I would be happy if I could love Satagira. But why can‘t I love him? (With horror.) And now I‘m going to kill him? Can I really kill the man who loves me so deeply? The man who would do anything to obtain my love? (Pause.) No, I have to kill him! He‘s the person who ruined the hope of all my happiness. And when he dies, I can go to Kamanita. (Pause.) But what if Kamanita doesn‘t want me? What if Kamanita has already forgotten his Vasitthi? (Pause.) If you kill someone, can you still be born as a lotus flower in the holy water in Paradise? (Lights fade out.)

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Scene 8 ―Angulimala‘s Story‖

(Lights up on NARRATOR.)

NARRATOR Vasitthi finally made up her mind to give Angulimala the information she had obtained from Satagira. After nightfall, Vasitthi went to the sorrowless tree and waited for Angulimala. (Lights fade to dim. Lights up on VASITTHI under the sorrowless tree. She sits quietly under the tree. Soon after, Angulimala enters.)

VASITTHI You‘re right on time.

ANGULIMALA Did you obtain the information we need?

VASITTHI We? I can‘t believe that I‘ve really become your accomplice!

ANGULIMALA You have. Did you get the information?

VASITTHI I did. I know the hour that he will travel, the strength of his escorts, the direction that he will take, and the path over which he will go. I know everything.

ANGULIMALA You did a very good job. I told you that it shouldn‘t be difficult for a beautiful woman to draw a secret from her husband.

VASITTHI I didn‘t have to do anything to get the information from him. He simply offered it to me with his own freewill.

ANGULIMALA He must love you very deeply.

VASITTHI Don‘t say that! I hate him. He ruined my happiness and he deserves to die.

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ANGULIMALA You‘re right. He deserves to die.

VASITTHI But before I tell you what I know, you have to promise that you will only kill him but you will not torture him.

ANGULIMALA Is that it?

VASITTHI (Pause.) You have to also promise that you will kill only him and not even one of his escorts, unless it‘s for self-defense.

ANGULIMALA Is that all?

VASITTHI You must promise me with a solemn oath, otherwise I won‘t tell you of Satagira‘s plan. And you can kill me if you want to.

ANGULIMALA Alright. (He kneels down and looks up at the sky. Seriously.) Truly as I have been to this day, a faithful servant of Mother Kali, so truly I will kill none of Satagira‘s escort and so truly he shall suffer no torture. (He stands up and looks at VASITTHI.)

Is that enough?

VASITTHI (She gives him a piece of paper.) Here, I drew a map for you. Satagira will travel South through this ravine by my father‘s summer residence. The opening of the ravine is quite wide but it gets narrower and narrower as you approach its end. That‘s where you should be waiting to kill him.

ANGULIMALA (He takes the map.) And so it would have happened.

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VASITI What?

ANGULIMALA You, a gentle wife who never intentionally injured even the smallest of animals, would now have been in alliance with the vilest of human beings, in order to kill your husband. That is what would have happened if you had now been speaking to the robber Angulimala.

VASITTHI (Confused.) What are you talking about?

ANGULIMALA Have no fear, Vasitthi, all this has not yet happened. And it will not happen.

VASITTHI What are you talking about? Have you given up your plan of vengeance of Satagira? (ANGULIMALA smiles but says nothing.) How dare you! Do you know what I had to go through to carry on with this plan? Do you know how much I had to struggle with the thought that I had to kill my own husband? I finally made up my mind to do it and now you‘re telling me that you‘ve abandoned our plan? You dishonorable villain! You coward beast!

ANGULIMALA I know you‘re angry, Vasitthi. But you have angered me not with your harsh words. Even if someone had said something worse, I would be grateful to them for giving me an opportunity to test myself.

VASITTHI What are you talking about? Are you out of your mind?

ANGULIMALA I‘m not out of my mind, Vasitthi. The Master himself has taught me, ―Like the Earth, you should exercise evenness of temper. Even as one casts upon the Earth both that which is clean and that which is unclean, and the Earth is neither pleased nor horrified, humiliated or disgusted at that – so also like the Earth, exercise evenness of temper so that pleasant and unpleasant experience will not invade your mind.‖ Vasitthi, you‘re no longer speaking with the robber Angulimala, but with the disciple of a great Master.

VASITTHI What disciple? What Master?

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ANGULIMALA They call him the Buddha, the Enlightened One. He is my Master. Haven‘t you heard of him before? VASITTHI No.

ANGULIMALA Then I am very happy to be the first to inform you about him.

VASITTHI Who is this Buddha? And what does he have to do with this strange behavior of yours? And why should you be happy to inform me about him?

ANGULIMALA Even hearing the name of the Enlightened One is like seeing the first shimmer of light to one who sits in the darkness. Vasitthi, I will relate everything to you, including how we met and how he changed my way of life. But first, I will tell you how I became Angulimala the robber and murderer. (Lights fade to dim. A white screen is brought to the stage. The following scene is played by both live actors on stage and shadow puppets behind the screen.) Before becoming the robber and murderer Angulimala, my name was Ahimsaka. Ahimsaka means non-violence, and I believe I myself was once a very gentle and kind person. I was educated in the city of Takasila and I so excelled in every subject that all other students seemed to be jealous of me. (STUDENTS as puppets enter behind the screen.)

STUDENT 1 I can‘t stand Ahimsaka anymore.

STUDENT 2 Me neither. Our teacher always praises him. And only him.

STUDENT 3 He thinks he‘s the best!

STUDENT 1 Everybody thinks he‘s the best!

STUDENT 2 We have to get rid of him.

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STUDENT 3 Yes, we have to get rid of him. And I think I have a plan.

STUDENT 1 What is it?

STUDENT 3 Shhh! The master‘s coming! Just follow my lead! (MASTER as a puppet enters behind the screen. STUDENTS approach him.) Master!

MASTER What are you doing here? Why are you not studying? Why can‘t you be like Ahimsaka? He‘s always diligent and studious.

STUDENT 3 Master, haven‘t you heard?

MASTER Haven‘t I heard what?

STUDENT 3 Ahimsaka was drunk last night and he was bragging that he was more intelligent and more knowledgeable than you! He said that he‘s better than you in every way. He also said that one day he will become the master and you, master, will become his disciple!

MASTER Impossible! Ahimsaka isn‘t a drinker! Ahimsaka doesn‘t drink!

STUDENT 3 Oh, he drinks all the time, master. Everyone knows that. He only pretends to be a good student when he‘s around you.

MASTER And he said that he‘ll be greater than me?

STUDENT 3 No, Master, he thinks that he‘s greater than you already!

MASTER (Turns to STUDENT 1&2.) Is that true?

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STUDENT 1&2 Yes, master.

MASTER I can‘t believe it! That ungrateful little beast!

STUDENT 3 What are you going to do, master?

MASTER I will expel him! (Exits.)

STUDENT 3 The plan is working! (STUDENTS exit. AHIMSAKA as a puppet enters. He seems to be studying. MASTER enters.)

MASTER Ahimsaka!

AHIMSAKA Yes, master.

MASTER You‘re expelled! From now on, don‘t ever let me see your face again!

AHIMSAKA Expelled? What are you talking about, master? What have I done?

MASTER What have you done? You should know what you‘ve done! Now, get out of my sight!

AHIMSAKA I don‘t understand!

MASTER What don‘t you understand? You‘re expelled from my school!

AHIMSAKA But master….

MASTER I am no longer your master! I said get out of my sight! Now!

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AHIMSAKA Master, please, let me be your student! Let me learn from you! I don‘t know what I‘ve done to anger you but I‘ll do anything you want. Please don‘t expel me.

MASTER You‘ll do anything I want?

AHIMSAKA Yes, master, anything.

MASTER Even murder?

AHIMSAKA Yes, master, I‘ll do anything you want…even if it‘s murder.

MASTER Very well. I want you to kill a thousand people.

AHIMSAKA A thousand people?

MASTER Yes, and I want you to cut off their right thumbs and give them to me as proof. Once I receive a thousand human thumbs from you, I‘ll take you back as my disciple.

AHIMSAKA I‘ll do what you want, master! (Exits.)

MASTER (Laughs.) Now, I‘ll never see that ungrateful beast again! (Exits.)

ANGULIMALA (As a live character.) Being born under the constellation of robbers, killing fellow human beings came easy for me. Blinded by this thirst for knowledge and learning, I started killing innocent people and collecting their thumbs. In order to keep all the thumbs together, I tied them into a garland and hung them around my neck. Therefore, I became to be known as Angulimala, which means garland of thumbs. Soon killing became my habit, and I forgot about my master and the reason why I started killing in the first place. I joined a band of robbers, and after proving my worth, became their leader.

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(Pause.) Because of the news of Angulimala‘s band of robbers, nobody dares to travel alone on that path. But this morning, as I stood at the edge of the forest looking over the city of Kosambi, I saw a solitary traveler on the road which leads to the Eastern gate of the city. (BUDDHA as a puppet enters behind the screen.) His closely cropped hair and his ochre robe indicated that he was a monk. He walked with a gentle and easy motion as if he had no worries in the world. (ANGULIMALA as a puppet enters behind the screen. ANGULIMALA talks as a puppet.) How dare you! Everyone around here is afraid of this great robber Angulimala. How dare you walk alone on this path like a conqueror! You‘re only a monk! How dare you openly challenge the power of Angulimala like this! I will kill you and cut off your thumb to complete my garland! (ANGULIMALA follows BUDDHA. BUDDHA keeps walking without noticing ANGULIMALA behind him. ANGULIMALA takes out his bow and arrow.) These monks are all hypocrites. They feed on other people‘s superstition in order to gain profits. They deserve to die. (He shoots, but the arrow flies over BUDDHA‘s head.) That‘s impossible! I‘ve never missed a target before! (He shoots again and again but all of his arrows miss BUDDHA. BUDDHA keeps walking with ease.) If I can‘t shoot him with my arrow, I‘ll kill him with my own hands!

ANGULIMALA (As the live character.) I started to run after the monk, but there was still a great distance between us. While I was running after him, he seemed to walk leisurely. No matter how fast I ran, I couldn‘t keep up with this monk.

ANGULIMALA (As the puppet.) This is impossible! I‘ve outrun frightened elephants and fleeing deer before! How can I not keep up with this stupid monk?! (He shouts at BUDDHA.) Stop! Monk, stop!

BUDDHA (As he continues walking.) I have. I have stopped.

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ANGULIMALA You filthy liar! I said stop!

BUDDHA I have stopped, Angulimala. You should stop too. (ANGULIMALA stops running.)

ANGULIMALA I‘ve stopped. Now‘s your turn. Stop, monk!

BUDDHA (As he continues walking.) But I‘ve told you before. I have stopped. You‘re the one who hasn‘t.

ANGULIMALA You‘re the one who‘s walking and you‘re telling me you‘ve stopped? I, on the other hand, am standing still, and you‘re telling me that I‘m walking? Are you out of your mind?

BUDDHA (Stops walking.) No, Angulimala, I‘m not out of my mind. I have stopped forever. I abstain from doing harm to living beings. I am at rest and wander in the cycle of birth and death no more. But you, you still have desire to harm other living things. You still wander ceaselessly from one place of suffering to another. Even though you‘ve stopped walking, you‘ve not stopped, Angulimala.

ANGULIMALA (Confused. To himself.) I‘ve heard before that we wander forever. But I‘ve never before heard that we can ever stand still and stop wandering. I‘ve never heard that we can escape from the cycle of birth and death. (To BUDDHA.) Can we as human beings stop wandering forever?

BUDDHA Of course, Angulimala, we can.

ANGULIMALA But I don‘t understand. Explain it to me, monk. And I swear I will not harm you. I‘ll grant you peace.

BUDDHA This is the second time, Angulimala, that you have sworn falsely.

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ANGULIMALA Second time?

BUDDHA Yes, the first time was the false Rite of Truth.

ANGULIMALA How did you know that? Nobody‘s supposed to know about it!

BUDDHA And, Angulimala, you can grant me no peace.

ANGULIMALA What?

BUDDHA It would be better if you allow yourself to experience peace. (Lights shift to the live character ANGULIMALA and VASITTHI.)

ANGULIMALA (As the live character.) I was so taken in by this monk‘s bravery, calmness, knowledge, and also his strange way of talking that I let him enlighten me with his teaching. We sat down in the shade of a large tree and he began to teach me of wholesome and unwholesome deeds. (Pause.) Now I have come to you, Vasitthi, not as the robber Angulimala, but as the disciple Angulimala. I‘ve given up killing and the thought of harming all living beings. There is only peace and loving-kindness in my heart.

VASITTHI Why should I believe you?

ANGULIMALA I‘m not trying to make you believe me. I‘m simply telling you the truth. Whether you will believe it or not you‘ll have to experience it for yourself.

VASITTHI (Reluctantly.) Where do I find this Master, this Buddha, then?

ANGULIMALA That is a very good question, Vasitthi. It is for this reason that I came here tonight. At present, the Buddha resides in the Simsapa wood that you drew on the map. In the

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Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 evening he will be at Krishna Temple to speak to monks, nuns, and everyone who is present. You can go there tomorrow. And you can experience for yourself whether I spoke the truth or not.

VASITTHI I will be there tomorrow. And I‘ll see for myself how great this Buddha is that he could change the mind of a mass murderer like you. (ANGULIMALA smiles, bows, and exits. A Pause.) …The Buddha…I wonder what kind of person he is… (Pause.) But can I really believe Angulimala‘s words? Can I really believe that in this world there is such a person who could tame the heart of the most savage being? But if Angulimala‘s words were true, could this Master tame my heart as well? Could he banish all the grief and suffering from my life? But what about Kamanita? What about Satagira? Could this Buddha guide me and tell me what the best thing for me to do? (Lights fade out.)

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Scene 9 ―A Pure Offering‖

(Lights up on NARRATOR.)

NARRATOR That night, Vasitthi sat under the sorrowless tree for a long time, contemplating Angulimala‘s words. The next day, she sent a message to Medini, asking Medini to accompany her to Krishna temple, to meet the Master whom everyone called the Buddha, the Awakened One. (Lights fade to dim. Lights up on VASITTHI under the sorrowless tree. She is wrapping some packages in a beautiful piece of cloth. MEDINI enters.)

MEDINI Vasitthi! I came here as soon as I got the message from you! I‘m so excited!

VASITTHI (Laughs.) What are you so excited about?

MEDINI I‘ve always wanted to go see this Buddha! I‘ve heard people talking about him for a long time. And now that he‘s staying so close to our city I really want to go see for myself what everybody‘s been talking about.

VASITTHI You heard about him before?

MEDINI Of course! Who hasn‘t?

VASITTHI I didn‘t know about him until yesterday.

MEDINI Vasitthi, you live alone in this little house right here. And you don‘t go out to the marketplace or to the public park anymore. How could you hear about him when you live like this?

VASITTHI True. But if you‘re so curious about him, why didn‘t you go to see him before?

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MEDINI I couldn‘t. Somadatta wouldn‘t let me. He worried that people would talk. You know, his business is going very well and he doesn‘t want people to talk about his wife going off into the forest to see this so-called Master who could just turn out to be a lunatic.

VASITTHI But I‘ve heard good things about him.

MEDINI Me too. He started to have disciples everywhere now. And if he wasn‘t a great teacher, nobody would have become his disciple, right? I just want to go to see him once so I know what people are talking about.

VASITTHI You always want to know what people are talking about, Medini!

MEDINI I can‘t help it. What do you want me to do? Staying home all day and telling our servants what to do is getting really boring.

VASITTHI You‘re lucky that you have a nice home. Some people don‘t even have that.

MEDINI I know. I know I should be grateful. (Pause.) So, how did you hear about the Buddha?

VASITTHI From…a friend.

MEDINI Who?

VASITTHI A friend.

MEDINI Which one?

VASITTHI Someone you don‘t know.

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MEDINI But I know everyone in the city!

VASITTHI I know you do. But you don‘t know this person.

MEDINI Who is it?

VASITTHI Why do you want to know?

MEDINI Now you‘re making me curious.

VASITH Well, he‘s just…a wandering disciple of this Master. He came to the gate yesterday and he told me about his Master.

MEDINI Oh.

VASITTHI If you‘re so curious, you‘ll see him when we get to the temple.

MEDINI I can‘t wait to see the Buddha. Do you know that he used to be a prince?

VASITTHI Really? I didn‘t know that.

MEDINI Yes, he was the prince of the Sakya clan. His name was Siddhartha. He was supposed to become the king but he gave up his worldly life before that. I also heard that he was a very handsome prince. All the girls in that area wanted to become his princess.

VASITTHI But he didn‘t like any of them?

MEDINI He liked one of them! He married Yasodhara, the princess from a nearby kingdom. They even had one son together.

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VASITTHI But when did he decide to give up his life as a prince then?

MEDINI It was actually on the day that his first son was born! Can you believe that? They said he‘d been thinking about leaving the palace for a while.

VASITTHI Why would he want to leave the luxurious life in the palace to live in the forest?

MEDINI They said that he‘d been contemplating on the four stages of human existence.

VASITTHI Four stages of human existence?

MEDINI Birth, old age, sickness, and death. And he concluded that life is suffering. And even if you‘re a king, you can never escape from it.

VASITTHI But he was right. Nobody can escape from these things.

MEDINI So he decided to leave the palace in order seek the end of human suffering.

VASITTHI But on the day his first son was born?

MEDINI Yes, there was a big celebration for the birth of his son in the palace. They said that…

VASITTHI Who did you hear these things from?

MEDINI I just heard people talk about it. Anyway, he realized that all the beautiful things in the palace were just illusions so he was determined to find truth. He left the palace, his wife, and his first child. And I guess one day he realized the truth, the way to end suffering.

VASITTHI What is it? What is the way to end suffering?

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MEDINI I don‘t know. But I wish I knew.

VASITTHI Me too.

MEDINI But we‘ll find that out today. When we meet him. (She looks at VASITTHI‘s packages.) What have you got here?

VASITTHI My offering to the Buddha.

MEDINI Oh, I completely forgot about that.

VASITTHI It‘s all right; we can offer it to him together. This morning I went to the city to buy some medicine. I also got some honey, preserved fruits, sugar, and some blankets. I hope this is enough.

MEDINI I think it‘s more than enough, Vasitthi.

VASITTHI Should we get going now?

MEDINI That sounds good. (VASITTHI and MEDINI pick up the packages and exit. Lights fade to dim. A screen is brought to the middle of the stage. Lights up. VASITTHI and MEDINI reenter from a different side of the stage. ANGULIMALA enters from the opposite side.)

MEDINI (She sees ANGULIMALA.) Vasitthi, Vasitthi, I think that person looks very familiar. I think I‘ve seen him somewhere before. (VASITTHI smiles.)

ANGULIMALA Welcome to Krishna temple, my noble ladies.

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VASITTHI This is my friend, Medini.

ANGULIMALA I think we‘ve met before.

MEDINI We have?

ANGULIMALA Yes, many years ago, when I was captured by Satagira.

MEDINI What?

VASITTHI Medini, this he Angulimala.

MEDINI (She is more excited than is she scared.) The mass murderer? That‘s why you look familiar. But this is impossible. You‘re dead. Satagira killed you.

ANGULIMALA Satagira didn‘t kill me. But you were right, the old Angulimala, the robber and murderer Angulimala is already dead. The person who‘s standing in front of you here is Angulimala, the Buddha‘s disciple.

MEDINI I can‘t believe it…

VASITTHI Medini, he‘s the friend who told me about the Buddha.

MEDINI This can‘t be true.

VASITTHI But it is true, Medini. There is also something that you don‘t know. Kamanita is still alive.

MEDINI What?!

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VASITTHI Angulimala didn‘t kill him. It was all Satagira‘s plan.

MEDINI Why didn‘t you tell me earlier?

VASITTHI There are many things that I didn‘t tell you, Medini. But they‘re not important now. The most important thing is that we meet the Buddha today.

ANGULIMALA Please follow me this way. (VASITTHI and MEDINI follow ANGULIMALA. Lights fade to dim as they exit. Lights up on the screen. The Buddha, as a shadow puppet, is sitting cross legged under a large tree. VASITTHI, MEDINI, and AUGULIMALA enter, as shadow puppets.)

MEDINI I can‘t believe you don‘t tell me things anymore. And I tell you all the gossips I know from the city!

VASITTHI Shhh!

MEDINI Don‘t shhh me… (She sees BUDDHA and stops talking.)

ANGULIMALA (To VASITTHI.) Approach, nobly lady, the Master himself will receive your offering. (VASITTHI approaches BUDDHA with her offering. She sits down on the floor and places the offering by BUDDHA.)

BUDDHA Thank you, Vasitthi, your offering is a pure offering that has been accepted by our community.

VASITTHI A pure offering?

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BUDDHA Yes, a pure offering is given by the giver who is purified to the receiver who is also purified. (To ANGULIMALA.) Angulimala, please take this offering and place them in the storage with all the others. I will show our noble guests to the seats in front of the temple steps where I shall speak to those who are present today. ( Lights fade to dim. The screen is taken away from the stage. Lights up on NARRATOR.)

NARRATOR The Awakened One spoke to his disciples and guests at the temple. He spoke about Truth and about suffering. He spoke about ways to end suffering. He spoke about attachment and the impermanent nature of all beings. Vasitthi listened to the Buddha‘s teaching with an open mind. She could understand some of the teaching, but some was too complex and too difficult for her untrained mind. For the most part, Vasitthi‘s heart started to fill with peace that it had never encountered before. She was drawn to the Buddha‘s teaching and the hope that she too may end her grief and suffering. (Lights fade to dim. Lights up at VASITTHI and MEDINI, as live characters, under the sorrowless tree.)

MEDINI I don‘t understand it. He said that there‘s a way to end suffering, but he didn‘t tell us how.

VASITTHI Of course, he did.

MEDINI How?

VASITTHI Didn‘t you listen?

MEDINI I did. But he started talking about right view, right intention, right action, right speech…

VASITTHI Right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. The Noble Eightfold Path. You got it right, Medini.

MEDINI So I know all these things but how are they going to stop me from suffering?

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VASITTHI You don‘t just know it, Medini. You have to practice it in order to experience it. Anybody can listen to the Buddha‘s teaching. Anybody can memorize his teaching. Anybody can even claim to understand his teaching. But everything is useless if you don‘t practice. And as the Buddha said, it might take you a lifetime of practice to truly grasp the real meaning of it.

MEDINI A lifetime?

VASITTHI Yes, but it‘s worth it.

MEDINI Do you think you understand it, Vasitthi?

VASITTHI I don‘t know. But his words are not like anything I‘ve heard before. They make me happy. But it‘s not the kind of happiness that I felt when I heard Kamanita‘s voice or the voice of my child. It‘s a different kind of happiness. When I listened to him, I felt like I could be free again.

MEDINI Free from what?

VASITTHI I don‘t know. From life? From pain? From suffering?

MEDINI But he also said that we can‘t escape from life.

VASITTHI No, we can‘t. But with the right understanding we can live our life without being attached to it. And then we can be free. I‘ve been so attached to love, to Kamanita, to my daughter, to my hatred toward Satagira that I couldn‘t live my life. But with the Buddha‘s help I believe that I can start to live again.

MEDINI Do you really mean it?

VASITTHI I do. I want to become his disciple. I want to follow him wherever he goes.

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MEDINI Then you‘ll just be attached to him.

VASITTHI But wouldn‘t it be great to be attached to someone so wise, so compassionate like the Buddha.

MEDINI But isn‘t it still an attachment?

VASITTHI I don‘t know. All I know is at the moment I want to follow him like his other disciples. How wonderful would that be, Medini?

MEDINI You really want to do that?

VASITTHI Yes.

MEDINI You want to leave everything behind to follow this man that you‘ve just met.

VASITTHI Yes, Medini, I want to do that. I want to leave all the painful past behind. I want to become a new person. And the Buddha is the only one who can help me.

MEDINI But I don‘t want you to leave me, Vasitthi.

VASITTHI I‘m not leaving you.

MEDINI Yes, you are. You want to become a nun!

VASITTHI Don‘t say it in such a negative way, Medini. I want to become the seeker of Truth.

MEDINI But what about Satagira?

VASITTHI He‘s still on his journey to the East. I‘ll talk to him when he gets back.

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MEDINI If you‘ve already made up your mind, there‘s nothing I can say or do. I really want you to be happy, Vasitthi. And if you truly believe that the Buddha can help you, then I wish you all the best.

VASITTHI Thank you, Medini.

MEDINI But Satagira will be the most difficult person to persuade.

VASITTHI I know. I‘ve been tied to him by law and I‘ll need his permission if I want to leave his household.

MEDINI I hope he lets you do what you want to do.

VASITTHI I hope so too.

MEDINI After all, he has a new wife and a son. (Pause.) It‘s getting late. Somadatta must be worried about me now. Are you going to see the Buddha again tomorrow?

VASITTHI I am.

MEDINI I‘ll come by at the same time so I can go with you.

VASITTHI Thanks, Medini.

MEDINI See you tomorrow.

VASITTHI See you tomorrow. (MEDINI exits. Pause.) When I listened to the Buddha‘s teaching, I felt great joy and great sorrow at the same time. In order to end my suffering, I have to abandon all my desires. But I desire so

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Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 much to meet Kamanita. To be his wife. The desire that can never be fulfilled as long as Saragira‘s still alive. My only hope was to meet with him in Paradise. (Pause.) But today, the Master said to everyone: ―To be born is to die; All-destroying, Oblivion‘s breath holds sway; As in the gardens of Earth, Flowers in Paradise fade, and pass away.‖ He directed his words to everyone who was present, but I feel as if those words were only meant to be for me. Could he be wrong? Can the flowers in Paradise really fade and pass away? (Lights fade out.)

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Scene 10 ―Vasitthi‘s Request‖

(Lights up on NARRATOR.) NARRATOR Every day, Vasitthi went to the Krishna temple to listen to the Buddha as well as to practice and to converse with his other disciples. She was immersed in the Buddha‘s teaching and in the idea that she too could attain enlightenment. For some people, it may take only a word or a phrase for them to realize Truth. For others, however, it may take lifetimes of practice. But in the end, one will eventually receive the fruit of his or her action. (Pause.) Two weeks after Vasitthi‘s first encounter with the Buddha, Satagira came back from his trip to the East. Little did he know of what had happened while he was gone, either to his wife, his king, or the state of his city. (Lights fade to dim. Lights up at VASITTHI under the sorrowless tree. Satagira enters quietly, lost in his own thoughts.)

VASITTHI I heard that you came back this morning.

SATAGIRA Yes, as soon as I got here I was summoned to see the king.

VASITTHI Is everything all right? Did you settle all the trouble in the East?

SATAGIRA Thanks to you and to your direction, we didn‘t encounter any danger on the way. And everything has been settled. The villages are in a peaceful state again. (He sighs.)

VASITTHI Then what‘s troubling you?

SATAGIRA (Pause.) Angulimala is back, Vasitthi. The king sent his men to investigate and he found out that Angulimala has been alive all along. He found out that I had lied to him and to the people of Kosambi when I told them that Angulimala had been captured and killed many years ago. Now we know that Angulimala is alive but we don‘t know where he is. The king‘s men said that Angulimala‘s people are staying not too far from the city gate and he also has accomplices in the city. Everyone in the city is terrified, Vasitthi. We don‘t

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Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 know when he‘s going to attack. And I‘m sure that he will. Soon. He‘s here for revenge.

VASITTHI What did the king say about this?

SATAGIRA He‘s very angry that I lied to him and he wants me to capture Angulimala again. But this time he wants me to bring the robber to him so that he can make sure that Angulimala is killed. He‘s giving me three days. Three days! And if I can‘t bring Angulimala to him in three days, I will be the one to be punished! We might be banished…or even put to death!

VASITTHI Don‘t worry, Satagira.

SATAGIRA Don‘t worry? You‘re a woman! You don‘t understand how important this matter is!

VASITTHI Even though I‘m only a woman, I believe I can assist you in this matter. If you follow my counsel, you won‘t need three days to find Angulimala. If you follow my counsel, this matter will be settled before the sun sets this evening.

SATAGIRA (Laughs.) What is this counsel of yours then?

VASITTHI Go back to the palace and persuade the king to come with you to Krishna temple. Tell the king to seek advice from the Buddha.

SATAGIRA The Buddha? I‘ve heard about this Buddha before. They said that he‘s the wisest person on Earth.

VASITTHI What do you think?

SATAGIRA Vasitthi, this is brilliant! You‘re such a wonderful wife! You‘re such an intelligent and wise woman! If the king seeks advice from the Buddha, then, everything will be settled beautifully! I‘m going back to the palace now!

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VASITTHI Satagira, wait!

SATAGIRA What is it, my lovely wife?

VASITTHI I have a request too.

SATAGIRA Anything you want, I will give it to you. I will even send my second wife and her son back to her parents if you want me to.

VASITTHI (Laughs.) I don‘t want that.

SATAGIRA What is it then?

VASITTHI If you take the king to see the Buddha and if you win favor back from the king again, you‘ll have to grant me a wish. And no matter what it is, you will not reject it.

SATAGIRA I give you my word. If I could resolve this matter by seeking advice from the Buddha, then I will do anything you want.

VASITTHI Thank you, Satagira. Now you can go back to the king. And I‘ll meet you at the Krishna temple. (STAGIRA exits. VASITTHI sits down under the sorrowless tree. Lights fade to dim. VASITTHI exits. A screen is brought to the stage. All the characters will now enter as puppets. BUDDHA is sitting under a large tree with some of his disciples, including ANGULIMALA, beside him. SATAGIRA, KING, and VASITTHI sit facing BUDDHA.)

BUDDHA What troubles you, noble king? Has the king from one of the nearby kingdoms threatened your land with wars?

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KING No, sir, none of the kings from the nearby kingdoms has threatened our land with wars. But there is a robber named Angulimala who lives in my land. He is very cruel and blood-thirsty and he has no mercy for any living beings. We know of his existence, as well as the existence of his comrades. And we also know that soon he will attack the city. He will cause danger to the people in our city, as well as to you and your disciples. We need to capture and kill him at once.

BUDDHA But if you, great king, should see Angulimala with hair and beard shaven, clad in a monk‘s robe and forswearing the act of murder; no longer a robber, modest in his behavior, virtuous and altogether noble, what would you do with him then?

KING I would greet him respectfully, sir. I would invite him to be seated, beg him to accept robes, food, lodging and medicine for possible sickness, and would bestow upon him protection, shelter, and defense. But, Vulnerable Sir, how could an unruly and malignant being experience such a change towards virtue? (BUDDHA points to a monk that is sitting next to him.)

BUDDHA Great king, this is Angulimala. (Brief silence.)

SATAGIRA Oh, no! That is Angulimala! What an idiot I am to have listened to a woman and to have brought the king to this dangerous place! (Pointing at ANGULIMALA.) This demon has deceived us all! He deceived the Buddha as well as my gullible wife! Now we‘ve walked into his trap!

VASITTHI Calm yourself, Satagira, and restrain your cowardice! I assure you that no trap has been laid here, and there is no danger either. Now I will tell you everything, including how this respectable monk, Angulimala, has transformed from a ruthless murderer into a disciple of the Buddha. (Lights fade to dim. Lights up on NARRATOR.)

NARRATOR Vasitthi told the king and her husband everything, including how she was persuaded by the robber Angulimala to plan an attack on Satagira and how she was frustrated by the transformation of her ally to the good and virtuous. When Satagira heard how near he had been to death, he sank hopelessly to the floor.

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(Lights fade to dim. Lights up on the screen.)

VASITTHI My great king, please forgive my husband for all he‘s done as I have forgiven him. Let compassion drive your action and transform him as the Buddha has transformed the robber Angulimala.

KING (Laughs.) Wonderful! This is wonderful indeed! You, sir, have tamed the untamable! (To SATAGIRA.) I forgive you, Satagira.

SATAGIRA Thank you! Thank you, my noble king!

VASITTHI Satagira, now that I‘ve fulfilled my promise, you to have to keep your word as well.

SATAGIRA Anything you want, my lovely wife, I‘ll give to you.

VASITTHI I would like to enter the sacred order of the Buddha and become his faithful disciple. (Everyone looks at SATAGIRA.)

SATAGIRA (Sighs.) You may have your wish. (Lights fade out.)

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Scene 11 ―The Master‘s Final Words‖

(Lights up on NARRATOR.)

NARRATOR Vasitthi had become a sister in the order of the Buddha and lived among the Buddha‘s disciples. Three months of Rains Retreat had passed, and one couldn‘t expect the Master to always remain in Kosambi. As he prepared to set out on a journey to the Eastern provinces, his disciples were asked to go to him one by one on order to receive a subject of contemplation which would be a spiritual guide for their future endeavors. (Lights fade to dim. Lights up on the screen. All the characters are puppets. BUDDHA is sitting under a tree. VASITTHI is seated in front of him.)

BUDDHA Vasitthi, I offer you this to investigate: ―where there is love, there is also suffering.‖ (A brief pause.)

VASITTHI Is that all?

BUDDHA All, and enough.

VASITH And will it be permitted to me, when I have fully understood it, to make a pilgrimage to you to receive a new sentence?

BUDDHA Certainly, if you feel the need of asking.

VASITTHI How should I not feel the need? Are you not our Master, our refuge?

BUDDHA Seek refuge in yourself, Vasitthi. Take refuge in the Buddha‘s teaching.

VASITTHI But Master, your very self is your teaching. And you said that you permitted me to go.

BUDDHA The way is long, Vasitthi. The way is longer than you think, far longer than human imagination is able to realize.

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VASITTHI Even if the way leads through a thousand lives and over a thousand worlds, it will not tire me.

BUDDHA Good, farewell then. Look into your contemplation deeply and it will reward you. (VASITTHI bows deeply and exits. Lights fade to dim. Lights up at NARRATOR.)

NARRATOR The Master left to the Eastern provinces with several of his disciples and attendants. Vasitthi, as well as Angulimala remained in Kosambi. (Lights fade to dim. Lights up under a sorrowless tree. It‘s a different tree from the previous scenes. VASITTHI is sitting under the tree. She looks sick and pale.)

VASITTHI The Master must have seen through me. He must have seen deep within the deceit of my heart. I wanted to follow him. But there is also someone else I long to follow. (Pause.) Kamanita, where are you now? Are you well? Vasitthi is feeling ill because she misses you so much. Do you miss me as well? (Pause.) The Master said that where there is love, there is always suffering. Is it always true? (Pause. Angulimala enters.)

ANGULIMALA I heard that you‘ve been ill.

VASITTHI I think so.

ANGULIMALA You haven‘t been eating, Vasitthi. And you‘re spending most of your time alone under this tree.

VASITTHI The sorrowless tree. It seems like they follow me everywhere. As if to comfort me.

ANGULIMALA What‘s wrong, Vasitthi?

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VASITTHI There are so many memories that took place under a sorrowless tree.

ANGULIMALA Do not cling to your memories, Vasitthi. Live in the present moment.

VASITTHI Do you know why they call it sorrowless tree?

ANGULIMALA Because if you don‘t first experience sorrow, you will never know what it‘s like to be happy, to be sorrowless.

VASITTHI It‘s like a reminder.

ANGULIMALA Yes, we have to experience suffering in order to understand it and to overcome it.

VASITTHI What about love?

ANGULIMALA You have to understand love as well.

VASITTHI Does love always lead to suffering?

ANGULIMALA It depends on what kind of love it is. If you love someone based on compassion and understanding, you might suffer less.

VASITTHI I am sick, Angulimala. I am sick because of love.

ANGULIMALA I know.

VASITTHI You do?

ANGULIMALA You still love Kamanita.

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VASITTHI The Master seems to know it too.

ANGULIMALA He does.

VASITTHI Angulimala, please help me. I don‘t know what to do. I don‘t think I can rest without knowing how Kamanita is. Please, Angulimala, help me.

ANGULIMALA How can I help you, Vasitthi?

VASITTHI Please go to Ujjeni for me and bring me certain news of Kamanita, whether he still lives and how he is. Please Angulimala.

ANGULIMALA I will go to Ujjeni for you, Vasitthi. And I will bring news of Kamanita to you. (He exits. Lights fade to dim. Lights up on NARRATOR.)

NARRATOR Angulimala journeyed to Ujjeni just at the time that Somadatta‘s life came to a sad end. His passion for the fatal dice had gradually enslaved him, and, after gambling away all his wealth, he had drowned himself in the river Ganga. Medini, deeply distressed by her loss, now entered the order of the Buddha as well. Vasitthi and Medini often spent time together like they always did when they were young under the tree by the Krishna temple. And on the day of Angulimala‘s return, they‘re sitting together under the sorrowless tree. (Lights fade to dim. Lights up on VASITTHI and MEDINI under the tree. ANGULIMALA enters.)

VASITTHI (She gets up.) Angulimala! Did you see him? Did you see Kamanita? Did you speak to him? How is he? Is he still alive?

ANGULIMALA I went to Ujjeni as I promised and I‘ve met and spoken to Kamanita. He lives in his native town as a wealthy and powerful merchant. He has two wives and several children.

VASITTHI Oh.

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ANGULIMALA When I arrived at his house, well, it looked more like a palace, his wives came out and scolded me, calling me names. Kamanita had to drive them away. I spoke to him and I apologized for everything that I had done to him.

VASITTHI He has two wives….He lives in a house as big as a palace…. He must be very happy then. ANGULIMALA I hope the information I gave you can put your mind to rest.

VASITTHI Thank you, Angulimala.

ANGULIMALA Now that I‘ve carried out your request, I have to say goodbye to you.

VASITTHI Where are you going?

ANGULIMALA I‘m going on a pilgrimage, to the East, to follow the Master. Take care, Vasitthi. Good bye, Medini.

MEDINI Goodbye, Angulimala. (ANGULIMALA exits.) Now you know, Vasitthi. You can forget about him.

VASITTHI I should‘ve forgotten about him a long time ago. The Master is right; love can only lead to suffering. It‘s all an attachment. But loving-kindness is different. Loving-kindness doesn‘t make you focus on yourself or on your feeling; it only makes you wish other people happiness. It‘s selfless. And when loving-kindness is based on the nature of impermanence, you understand that everything that arises will fall away. And you suffer less.

MEDINI What do you want to do now, Vasitthi?

VASITTHI I want to make my own pilgrimage. I want to follow the footsteps of the Master. I think I‘m ready for a new sentence. Will you come with me, Medini?

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MEDINI Of course. (Lights fade to dim. Lights up on NARRATOR.)

NARRATOR The next day, Vasitthi and Medini went to say farewell to the older monks and nuns in Krishna temple and informed them of their decision. ―I hope you get to him in time,‖ said an older monk. ―Why is that?‖ asked Vasitthi. ―Don‘t you know?‖ said the monk, ―about two months ago when the Master was in Vesali, he himself foretold that he would enter Final Nirvana in three months‘ time.‖ The monk‘s words shook Vasitthi‘s heart. Now that she decided to give up on Kamanita, the Buddha became her everything, her only hope to find peace and happiness. Vasitthi and Medini hurried on their journey. But the way was difficult and long. And Vasitthi‘s state of health didn‘t help either. They had to stop often so that she could take some rest. But Vasitthi didn‘t lose her courage. Even if the Master were to go to yonder summit in order to pass from the peak into the highest of the regions above, Vasitthi was determined to follow and reach him. After one month, they arrived in the city of Kusinara where the Buddha was waiting for his last hour in this world. (Lights fade to dim. The screen is brought to the stage. All the characters are shadow puppets. BUDDHA is resting under a tree. Many disciples, including, ANGULIMALA, are sitting around him. VASITTHI and MEDINI enter.)

VASITTHI Have we come too late? (MEDINI starts to weep.)

ANGULIMALA I see you are here, Vasitthi, Medini.

VASITTHI I can‘t believe it. The Master is leaving us. What am I to do now? He alone could solve all the doubts of my troubled heart. And only he, of all the world, is able to restore me to peace I once tasted. He can‘t leave…

ANGULIMALA Vasitthi, we shouldn‘t disturb the last moment of the Master with our sorrow. We have to be strong.

BUDDHA (He addresses everyone that is present.) My disciples, it may be that in your thought, you think that the world has lost its Master, that you no longer have a Master. But that‘s not true. The teaching and discipline that I

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Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 have taught you, that will be your Master when I am gone. Therefore, cling to no external support. Hold fast to the teaching as your island, your support. Be your own light, be your own island. (Pause.) Now, disciples, I declare to you: All created things are of the nature to pass away – mindfully advance towards the final Goal. (Lights fade to dim. Lights up on NARRATOR.)

NARRATOR Those were the last words of the Master. (Pause.) And they were the last words that Vasitthi heard here on Earth. (Lights fade out.)

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Scene 12 ―The Blossoms of Paradise‖

(Lights up on NARRATOR. The stage is now a garden with a large lotus pond. There are lotus flowers in the pond. The flowers are as big as a person.)

NARRATOR Here, in the Paradise of the West, is where I tend my lotus flowers. Not too long before Vasitthi lost all of her life-force, this blue flower opened up, and Kamanita emerged from it. He is now somewhere in this garden, examining all of its existence, as well as his own. (NARRATOR exits. Kamanita enters. He is dressed in blue with some lotus petals attached to parts of his body. He walks to the lotus pond and looks at the white flower.)

KAMANITA It looks like you‘re going to blossom very soon. You are the most beautiful lotus flower in this pond. I wonder what kind of being you will be. (The white flower starts to blossom slowly. When the flower is in full bloom, Vasitthi, dressed in white, with some white lotus petals attached to her body, emerges from it. Kamanita stares at her. They stare at each other for a moment.)

KAMANITA Vasitthi…

VASITTHI Kamanita…

KAMANITA You kept your promise…

VASITTHI Where am I?

KAMANITA The Paradise of the West. Remember? Where the sun sets lies the Paradise of Infinite Light where souls are to be reborn as lotus flowers in the holy water of crystal pond.

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VASITTHI Are we really here?

KAMANITA Yes, we are.

VASITTHI (She looks around.) The Master! Where‘s the Master?

KAMANITA What Master?

VASITTHI Haven‘t you heard? The Master is the person everyone called the Buddha. He‘s the person who has found Truth and he can lead you to peace.

KAMANITA I‘ve heard of the Buddha. But I haven‘t seen anyone like that around here.

VASITTHI I need to find him.

KAMANITA We‘re in Paradise, Vasitthi. We don‘t need to find him or anyone else. (Pause.)

VASITTHI When did you get here?

KAMANITA Not too long ago. (Pause.)

VASITTHI What…happened to you? I mean…what happened to you…after you left me.

KAMANITA I was captured by the robber Angulimala.

VASITTHI I know that. And I know you escaped. What happened after that? Why didn‘t you come back to me?

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KAMANITA I did. But it was too late. (Pause.) After I arrived in Ujjeni, I learned that misfortune had befallen my family. My father had lost all the goods and all the people in my caravan in addition to my ransom. He was delighted to see me but he prevented me from taking another journey to Kosambi, at least not when Angulimala was still alive. I was trying to send a message to you but nobody would dare to travel on the path that Augulimala occupied. I stayed in Ujjeni and helped my father reestablish his business and reputation. Finally, when I heard that Angulimala was captured by Satagira, I started on my journey to Kosambi.

VASITTHI But I never saw you again after we parted that night under that sorrowless tree.

KAMANITA When I arrived in the city of Kosambi on that beautiful morning, I noticed that the main street was decorated with flags, banners, and flowers, as if for some pageant. I asked one of the people who were standing on the street, and he told me that Satagira, the son of the Minister of State, was celebrating his marriage. Then I saw a gigantic elephant coming toward us. The animal was decorated with many beautiful colored jewels as well as exquisite patterns on its skin. As I was admiring a loose spray of lancet-shaped sorrowless leaves with yellow, orange, and scarlet flowers painted on the elephant‘s trunk, I heard one woman say to another: ―But the bride, she doesn‘t look at all happy!‖ I glanced upward and a strangely uneasy feeling stole over my heart as I caught sight of the figure sitting on the beautifully decorated elephant. And as I looked at her sad face, an icy fear crippled me because the face I saw was that of my Vasitthi. (Pause.)

VASITTHI I‘m sorry, Kamanita…I, too, have a story to tell you. But let us take a walk, shall we? And you can show me all the beautiful things in this Paradise. (VASITTHI and KAMANITA slowly exit. NARRATOR enters.)

NARRATOR Vasitthi and Kamanita spent days and nights together in the garden of Paradise. They had forgotten all their past worries and fears. Until one day, something different unexpectedly occurred. (NARRATOR exits. VASITTHI and KAMANITA enter.)

KAMANITA Look, Vasitthi!

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(He approaches the pond.) The flowers are withering! This is impossible! Look at the water! It used to be so clear and now it‘s turning gray!

VASITTHI (To herself. After a pause.) To be born is to die; All-destroying, Oblivion‘s breath holds sway; As in the gardens of Earth, Flowers in Paradise fade, and pass away.

KAMANITA What are you saying, Vasitthi?

VASITTHI Nothing, I was just appreciating this wonderful phenomenon.

KAMANITA What is there to appreciate? Paradise is falling apart!

VASITTHI As the Master once said. (She smiles. KAMANITA looks at her with bewilderment.)

KAMANITA How could you possibly feel pleasure at such a sight, Vasitthi?

VASITTHI Of course, Kamanita, it is possible to feel pleasure in such a sight: that if all this were lasting and did not pass away, there could be nothing higher; for this does pass, and beyond it there is that which knows neither genesis nor decay. Just this quality is what the Master called ―joy in transient,‖ and for that reason he says, ―If you have discerned the ephemeral nature of all created things, then truly you know that which is Uncreated.‖

KAMANITA Yes, Vasitthi! You‘re right! We‘re here in the Paradise because we did not aim high enough. Flowers must wither because it‘s in their nature. But stars, Vasitthi, stars are eternal!

VASITTHI I once heard of the kingdom of the Hundred-thousandfold Brahma, where purity turns one‘s soul into a star. And that soul is then raised above the sphere of mortality.

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KAMANITA Then, let us turn our whole hearts to entering again into existence in the kingdom of the Hundred-thousandfold Brama. (Lights fade to dim as the sound of rushing river is heard. The sound grows stronger and turns into silence as the lights go out completely.)

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Scene 13 ―The Journey Ends‖

(The stage is dark. Small specks of light start to appear. There is a larger light appearing on one side of the stage. Two smaller lights appear together in the middle. These two small lights represent Kamanita‘s and Vasitthi‘s existence as stars in the kingdom of the Hundred-thousandfold Brahma. This can be done by attaching lights to live actors dressed in black. This way, the audience will see a faint shadow of live actors on stage. The lights can also move around in the dark. There can also be other moving lights in the background.)

NARRATOR (Her voice is heard but she is not seen on stage.) Now Kamanita and Vasitthi had become stars in the kingdom of the Hundred- thousandfold Brahma. Gifted with sight on every side, each was able to look, at one and the same moment, towards every point of unending space. And everywhere they saw countless stars like themselves, flashing of whose rays they instantly caught and returned. (Pause.) Throughout this whole luminous Brahma-world time now flowed on silently and imperceptibly. This imperceptible passage of time was their eternity. And this eternity was a delusion. So also was all that it embraced – their knowledge, their godliness, their joy in existence, their world-life, and their own individual life – all was steeped in delusion – all was overlaid with the color of delusion. (The largest speck of light on the one side of the stage, the Hundred-thousandfold Brahma, starts to fade.)

KAMANITA Vasitthi, do you also see it? What is happening to the Hundred-thousandfold Brahma?

VASITTHI What is happening to the Hundred-thousandfold Brahma is that his brightness is diminishing.

KAMANITA How could this be? I never thought that the brightness of the Hundred-thousandfold Brahma could ever decrease.

VASITTHI The brightness is decreasing steadily.

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(The brightness of the Hundred-thousandfold Brahma is now taken on a red shimmer.)

KAMANITA I wonder what that may signify…

VASITTHI That signifies that the brightness of the Hundred-thousandfold Brahma is in the process of being extinguished.

KAMANITA Impossible! What would then become of all the brightness and the splendor of this whole Brahma world?

VASITTHI He had that in mind when he said: ―Upward to heaven‘s sublimest light, life presses – then decays. Know, that the future will even quench the glow of Brahma‘s rays.‖

KAMANITA Who ever uttered such terrible sentences?

VASITTHI Who other than the Master, the Knower of the Worlds, The Awakened One – The Buddha himself.

KAMANITA You seem to know the words of the Buddha so well, Vasitthi.

VASITTHI Of course, Kamanita, I saw him daily for more than half a year before my life on earth ended, and I even heard the last words he uttered.

KAMANITA Then I believe you must be the wisest being in the whole Brahma-world. Look at all these stars around us. They flicker and blink, and even the Hundred-thousandfold Brahma himself has become restless. But you, you give a steady light like a lamp in a shelter spot.

VASITTHI One who has seen the greater, Kamanita, is not moved by the less.

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KAMANITA Then you know of something higher than this Brahma world?

VASITTHI This Brahma world, as you see, passes. But there is that which does not pass, which shall have no end and which has no beginning. ―There is,‖ said the Master, ―a realm where there is neither earth nor water, neither light nor air, neither infinitude of space nor infinitude of consciousness, neither this world nor another world, nor moon or sun; and this I call neither a coming or a going, nor a staying, neither dying nor a birth; it has no basis, no evolution and no support; it is the end of suffering, the place of rest, the island of peace, the invisible Nirvana.‖

KAMANITA I guess that foolish old man was right after all!

VASITTHI What foolish old man?

KAMANITA The monk with whom I spent the last night of my earthly life with, in the hall of the potter in the suburb of Rajagaha.

VASITTHI You never told me about this.

KAMANITA That foolish old man, he was trying to expound to me the teaching of the Master and did not especially succeed. But now I guess he was right.

VASITTHI But how did you end up in the hall of the potter, Kamanita?

KAMANITA It was because of Angulimala.

VASITTHI Angulimala…

KAMANITA Yes, Angulimala, the robber and mass murderer. He came to my house, disguised as a monk. I did not recognize him at first, but when he uttered the words he claimed to have heard from the Buddha, I knew it was the murderer Angulimala. I ran into the house to get my servants, along with my weapon, but when I returned back to the gate, Angulimala had disappeared. I knew he would attack. And I knew he would attack that

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Texas Tech University, Orada Lelanuja, August 2011 night. I gathered all the best warriors in town and sent my wives and children away. My palace was like a battle ground, ready to receive my enemies. I was afraid. I was terrified of fighting Angulimala and his fellow robbers. But I waited. I waited all night. But he did not return. To my surprise, I was disappointed. And then I realized. I realized that my current life had no meaning to me anymore. I realized that I was actually waiting for Angulimala to kill me, so I could escape, so I could fulfill my promise and wait for you in Paradise. Then I made up my mind to leave everything behind, to become a pilgrim. I heard about the Buddha, the Awakened One, and I was determined to find him.

VASITTHI Did you find him?

KAMANITA Unfortunately, no. After spending the night in the hall of the potter, I woke up and went to the well across the way. A maiden who was drawing water told me that the Buddha had just arrived in Rajagaha and he was staying in the Mango Grove on the far side of town. Without saying goodbye to the old man, I rushed to see the Buddha. Because of my carelessness, I failed to see a raging bull that was coming my way. The next thing I knew, I was stabbed in the stomach by its horns. Among those people who rushed to help me and witnessed the last moment of my life was a monk, a disciple of the Buddha. I begged him to take me to the Mango Grove to see the Buddha. But he informed me that the Buddha wasn‘t there, that nobody had seen him since the day before. Then everything around me grew dark. I lost my consciousness. The next time I opened my eyes I was already in the Paradise of the West.

VASITTHI It was your determination to seek Truth that got you to Paradise.

KAMANITA I believe so. But I really wanted to see the Buddha. (Pause.) Vasitthi, can you do one thing for me? Can you please visualize the image of the Buddha until you see him as when you saw him face to face? I believe that in consequence of our spiritual companionship, I will somehow share your vision. And even if I didn‘t have a chance to see the Buddha when he was on Earth, seeing him in spirit will surely bring me some peace.

VASITTHI Gladly, Kamanita.

NARRATOR And so Vasitthi began to recall the image of the Master as he was about to enter into Final Nirvana.

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(As VASITTHI begins to recall the image of the Buddha, all the lights on stage, except for VASITTHI and KAMANITA, slowly begin to fade until there are only two lights left.)

VASITTHI Do you see him, Kamanita?

KAMANITA Not yet.

NARRATOR Unmoved and self-possessed, Vasitthi looked upon the Buddha likeness as an artist upon her work, full of but one thought – to reveal it to Kamanita.

KAMANITA Now I begin to see a figure.

NARRATOR Vasitthi looked around in space to the image of the Buddha she was trying to convey to Kamanita. Then it seemed to Vasitthi as though she heard a clear and gentle voice, but she was unsure whether it emanated from the image before her or from the depth of her innermost soul.

BUDDHA So you are here, Vasitthi. Are you finished with your sentence?

VASITTHI I am finished with it.

BUDDHA And the long way did not tire you?

VASITTHI It did not tire me.

BUDDHA Do you still need the help of the Buddha?

VASITTHI I no longer need the help of the Buddha.

BUDDHA Have you sought refuge in yourself? Do you rest in yourself, Vasitthi?

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VASITTHI I have learned to know myself: a body and a mind of changing forms in which there is nothing eternal, nothing that offers permanence. And so this self of mine is given up – this is not me, this does not belong to me, this is not my self.

BUDDHA Even so, Vasitthi. Do you now cling firmly to the teaching of the Buddha?

VASITTHI The teaching has brought me to the goal. As one crossing a stream by means of a raft, neither clings to the raft when she has reached the farther side, nor drags it along with her, so I no longer cling to the teaching of the Buddha but let it go.

BUDDHA Clinging to nothing, attached to nothing, you will rise again in the Place of Peace.

VASITTHI That we shall rise again there, the Buddha has said, that is not true of that place, and that we shall not rise again there, is also not true. And even the teaching that neither is it true to say that we shall rise again or yet to say that we shall not rise again, even this itself is not perfectly true. No thing is true any longer, and, least of all, is nothingness true. Thus there is perfect understanding at last.

NARRATOR Then, on the face of the Buddha likeness, there appeared a glowing, scarce-perceptible smile.

KAMANITA Now I‘m able to see the face. I think I recognize it vaguely. Hold it fast. Steady it, Vasitthi.

NARRATOR Vasitthi looked around her in space. (Pause.) Space was empty. (The light representing Vasitthi‘s existence begins to dim and finally disappears. Pause.) As Kamanita observed that Vasitthi had suddenly disappeared, a searing wave of grief shook him to the core of his being. His heart froze. His senses became stupefied. But, strangely enough, soon the feeling passed. For, as one who is dying leaves a legacy, so had Vasitthi left to Kamanita the Buddha likeness. This alone remained with him in all of space, and now he clearly recognized it…

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KAMANITA That old wanderer with whom I spent the night in Rajagaha and whom I blamed for his foolishness! That was the Buddha!

NARRATOR Then the vision of the Buddha drew near like an on-coming cloud and enveloped him in a radiant mist. (Pause. Kamanita‘s light grows brighter and brighter.)

KAMANITA All created things are of the nature to pass away – mindfully advance towards the final Goal.

NARRATOR Those were the last words of the Buddha. (Pause.) Those were the last words left by Vasitthi to the pilgrim Kamanita. (Pause.) And those were the last words I leave with you as we end our journey that started under an earthly sorrowless tree. (Kamanita‘s light starts to dim slowly and gradually until it disappears. The space is now empty.)

END OF PLAY

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APPENDIX C ARYA’S PROGRAM

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APPENDIX D THE SURVEY OF THE AUDIENCE’S RESPONSES TO THE PRODUCTION OF ARYA

Arya By Orada Lelanuja Survey and Discussion Questions

NOTE: Please do not fill out this survey if you are not 18 or older.

Part I: Please provide us with your background information

Religious Background Age __Buddhist __18-25 __26-34 __Christian __35-49 __50-65 __Hindu __66 and above __Jewish

__Muslim __Other (Please specify) ______Race __American Indian or Alaskan Native __Asian or Pacific Islander Sex __Asian America __Female __African or African American __Male __Caucasian __Hispanic (non-White) __Other (Please specify) ______Prior to this production, how would you rate your knowledge of Buddhism? Do you believe in the idea of __I don‘t know anything about reincarnation? Buddhism. __Yes __I know a little about Buddhism. __No __I don‘t know. / It‘s a __I‘ve studied Buddhism. possibility. __I‘m a Buddhist

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Part II: On the scale of 1-5 with 1 being “strongly disagree” and 5 being “strongly agree,” please answer the following questions

Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree

1. I was confused during the first scene. 1 2 3 4 5 2. I am familiar with non-realistic theatre practices. 1 2 3 4 5 3. The play became clearer to me as it progressed. 1 2 3 4 5 4. The production elements (costumes, lighting, scenery, and sound) helped me understand the play. 1 2 3 4 5 5. I was able to follow the dialog and understand what was being said 1 2 3 4 5 6. It is clear to me that the three women in each story (Wife, Mother, Sister) are the reincarnations of Woman (the lost spirit). 1 2 3 4 5 7. I feel that the play has a hopeful and positive ending. 1 2 3 4 5

Part III: Please answer the following questions in 1-2 phrases or sentences. 1. What is your overall response of the production?

2. What do you think is the thought or the theme of the play?

3. According to the play, how is suffering is viewed?

4. How do you view the treatment of the female characters in this play?

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Part IV: Please answer one of the following questions

If you have very little or no knowledge of Buddhism, and if you are told that the play is influenced by some Buddhist thoughts, what do you think is the main thing you‘ve learned about Buddhism from this play? Please explain and provide specific examples.

If you are a Buddhist or have studied Buddhism, how does the content of the play confirm, contradict, or challenge your previous knowledge of Buddhism? Please explain and provide specific examples.

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