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Princess, is she helpless or enlightened.

patbbpatbb Veteran
edited April 2012 in Arts & Writings
Princess, is she helpless or enlightened.

from http://confessionofturtle.blogspot.ca/

I grew up with fairy tale dreaming being a princess and meeting THE prince. Then I was educated to criticize the helpless dependent princess. I was told to be a warrior, an amazoness, an independent woman fighting for her own life rather than waiting for the prince who may or may not come and save me from whatever situation. Apparently, it turned out that I was not a princess type, or I gave up or denied princessness in me. Why people taught me not to be a princess. What is wrong with being a princess if she is a nice one like, snow white, or Cinderella. Poor Cinderella was at one point criticized for her passive manner in her relationship with her evil step sisters and step mom. Then I was thinking if it was really a sign of weakness and passive manner when Cinderella choose to live with up with various forms of non sense from her step sisters and her step mom. I do not see Cinderella was a weak, or a passive individual. I rather see her decision to surrender desire to devoid given situation, and have fun with whatever available to her ( remember that Cinderella made friends with animals and had all fund with them)and enjoyed whatever she did. Cinderella was always happy and always positive. Cinderella did not avoid any aspect of reality, and fully accepted it as it was. Imagine that Cinderella was a warrior and fighter who beat up her mean step sisters pulling hairs and what, and later poisoned her step mother with her boy friend. Where the story can go except falling down like a tabloid news paper gossip about one mean girl. Cinderella is beloved and remembered as a heroin of a beautiful story as she was an individual who accept the reality, embracing what it is,and choose to be happy, which is genuinely zen. Miserable ones were poor step sisters and step mom who were suffering from their own insecurity, rotten ego, and ceaseless desire for materials, and delusional satisfaction from torturing others under the misperception of power and control.

Comments

  • compassionate_warriorcompassionate_warrior Veteran
    edited April 2012
    Beating people up isn't necessarily what a warrior does. A warrior speaks up for the helpless, which would include speaking up for oneself. Who knows what would have happened if Cinderella had been calmly assertive? Buddhism doesn't teach accepting injustice, accepting "what is", in that sense, according to my understanding. Discernment between what can't be changed, and therefore must be accepted, and what can be changed to assist others (or self) to be free from suffering, is Buddhism.

    Cinderella isn't remembered for accepting "what is". She's remembered for fitting her foot into a glass slipper.
  • patbbpatbb Veteran
    Beating people up isn't necessarily what a warrior does. A warrior speaks up for the helpless, which would include speaking up for oneself. Who knows what would have happened if Cinderella had been calmly assertive? Buddhism doesn't teach accepting injustice, accepting "what is", in that sense, according to my understanding. Discernment between what can't be changed, and therefore must be accepted, and what can be changed to assist others (or self) to be free from suffering, is Buddhism.

    Cinderella isn't remembered for accepting "what is". She's remembered for fitting her foot into a glass slipper.
    yeah i think it wasn't "really" about the Disney movie Cinderella ;)
  • ZeroZero Veteran
    Disney has a lot to answer for... ;)

    http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/grimm/bl-grimm-cinderella.htm
  • DakiniDakini Veteran
    edited April 2012
    Disney over-simplified it, but the slipper element is still there. And spending her time weeping over her mother's grave is hardly being happy and positive, and "accepting what is". It seems like this story is more about karma, in a way. There must be other versions of this story. The blogger in the OP writes of a version in which Cinderella is happy and plays with animals.

    Originally, before Grimm's tales were cleaned up, it wasn't a step-mother and step-sisters, it was Cinderella's real mother and sisters. The original version was thought too shocking, so it was changed to step-mother and -sisters.

    Thanks, @Zero.
  • ethereaetherea Veteran
    Princess or not, you have to be assertive and bold as well as compassionate and loving. Subservient and submissive to someone else's will isn't part of the equation.
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