Irreverent Buddhist Tales
Padmousesambhava and the Demons of Tibet
The citizens of Tibet are revolting! The king is told about the peace in neighbouring India and decides to adopt their religion, which seems to be making the people happier. He asks some Buddhist Monk(ey)s to help and they start to build a temple- but the Demons keep knocking it down! They enlist the house of padmasambhava who meditates on the new wall and tells the demons “I’m not afraid of you”. The audience shout and build and warn the puppets in this engaging if irreverent version of the traditional teachings
Siddhartha and the Swan (rabbit)
The story of two cousins, one who gets a bow and arrow for his birthday and shoots an animal in the forest, and the other who finds the wounded animal and cares for it. The audience have to decide who gets to keep the rabbit!
The Fox who conquered fear
The story of a small animal who is frightened by a mango falling near him while he sleeps and, assuming the sky is falling, spreads fear from animal to animal- the story getting wilder with each telling. In the end a wise mouse traces the tale back to the mango tree.
The King’s Dog
Someone has eaten the king’s breakfast! It was a dog, so the king orders all dogs in the kingdom to be put to death. One calls for the help of the guru Padmousesambhava who talks to the king and convinces him to run a test to find out which of the dogs was the culprit – it was the king’s own doggie. The audience gets to vote on the punishment.
Betty the Yeti (Angulimarla)
The story of a yeti living in the mountains who was orphaned as a baby and learns to survive by being fierce. A guru teaches her to be kind to others but she is still mistrusted until she saves another animal in an avalanche and returns it to its family.
The Monkey and the Crocodile
The story of a happy monkey, and a crocodile who wants to be happy so thinks she will eat the monkey. They trick each-other but the monkey escapes and lets the crocodile know there are other ways to be happy and they become friends.