Letter+from+father+Suddodhana+to+son+Siddartha+about+why+should+stay+within+palace+walls+-+written+in+first+person

You are to write a letter (in the first person) to Siddhartha Gautama as his father. You are wealthy King Suddhodana, whose wife (Queen Maya), died shortly after your son's birth. Write a convincing essay as to why Siddhartha should remain home & give at least 2 reasons to stay & 1 counterargument. REASONS WHY SHOULD STAY: Example: Dearest son, My incredible son, my life, my everything, please do not leave the palace, the place where you were born and have been raised your life thus far. I have provided all that I can for you, and will continue to do so all the days of your life. The thought of you not being near me breaks my heart, and I am not sure if I could go on knowing that you will not be the heir to my kingdom. You have great responsibilities as my son- you are destined to become a great leader, so why do you think that going off the royal grounds will prove to be anything but painful? There are so many reasons for you to stay. First of all, witnessing suffering, old age and death is horrible. That is why I have protected you thus far from these ghastly aspects of life. Why should you suffer if you do not have to? There is no purpose, my son, in witnessing those that have less than you. You are a PRINCE, a RAJA, and you are above them. WE are members of the Brahmin caste- the highest caste of all the land, and therefore there is no reason for you to involve yourself with the lower members of society. Stay above the fray and stick to those upperclassmen on your esteemed level. Moreover,______________ You may think it is better to leave our kingdom. Perhaps you are thinking______________However,_____________ In conclusion my son, do not leave your father. Warmest wishes, Your dad
 * 1) Queen Maya has died and you are all I have left in this world- you are my only family
 * 2) Why should you suffer when you don’t have to? I can give you everything you wish for
 * 3) If you leave, you would abandon your wife Yasodhara and baby son Rahula- how could you do that to them?
 * 4) Who will be in charge of the kingdom if you leave? You will leave an empty space that no one can fill as well as you- this will leave us open to outside invaders and our entire kingdom could be destroyed!

Some student examples: Example #1 Dear Siddhartha,My dearest son I could not express my deep love for you with words. I hear that you may be considering leaving. This would hurt me so much for a number of reasons. One of those things is that you are to the heir to my throne. Think about how India would survive without a king? There are many who would love such a marvelous job. You would make all of the important choices have utmost respect from all people and would know you are making your father happy. Could you do that to me let me down. The next thing is that you have a wife and newborn son. How could you leave them? Your son would have to go through the same pain you did of only having one parent. Would you really leave your son to that same fate but to know that you willingly gave it to him? And your wife, she would be heartbroken to see you go and leave her. Think about when your mother died. I was heartbroken but in your case it is different you would be willfully leaving you. She would have to try to raise your son without a male role model in the house. This could lead to him doing some bad choices when he grows up. And the last reason is because I love you. You are my only child and all of my love is directed towards you. I love so dearly my wonderful son and I hope you choose to stay with me and your family.Love,Father --- Example #2 My darling son Siddhartha Gautama-I understand that you want to explore the world and all, but why do you want to leave your father who adores you? You are my only son, so all of my love is directed to you. Ever since your mother died, you have been my only happiness. In the mornings when I awaken, you are the only thing that I look forward to in the new day. You bring me hope when we are in a terrible situation. You are everything to me, so why do you want to bring grief upon me as you leave to discover the world? I think it is wonderful that you are so interested in nature and you are trying to bring peace, but I would much rather have you stay here with me in the palace and become the king. I know that you might not want to become king because it is a lot of pressure, but do you want to let your people down? And most importantly, do you want to let me down? I mean, you grew up in this gorgeous palace and I have given you everything you have ever wanted; do you want to throw all of that away?I know that you are still considering leaving because it is a great opportunity to venture and learn more about the world because you have only left the palace a few times. Although you want to explore, why can’t you go for a couple of days and then come back? Must you go and never return to the palace? I mean I love you so dearly and I would suffer so much if you left me. When you were born, you mother Maya and I made an oath to protect you. On that day, I promised I would try with all of my heart to keep the family tradition of royalty going by you becoming king. Many people would die for this job; I mean, you get the fame, the fortune, what is not to love? The other thing, is do you really want to abandon your wife and newborn son. Do you want Yaśodharā to have to raise Rahula all alone? It would be like what your aunt Maha Pajapati and I had to do to raise you. When your mother died, we had to raise you without her, so you grew up without a nurturing mother. Do you want your son to experience that horrible feeling? When he grows up, he will have to say that when he was a baby, his father abandoned him and instead of becoming king, he went on adventure around the world trying to make peace? Just think about your wife and son and how much pain they would be in if you left them.I know that you are going to say that you don’t want to have the duties of king and that you feel that it is your destiny to go on this expedition, but we will all miss you dearly, you will be letting your people down, and think about your dear wife and son that has just arrived into this wonderful world. I deeply disagree with your decision to explore the world to become a pacifist, but even if you do a fabulous job on your venture, I will be proud of you because it is my destiny to support your choices and. I will take pride in you either way although I would much rather you stay with me and become the wonderful prince of India! I bid you goodbye with lots of love and recommendation!Your loving father,Suddhodana --- Example #3 Dear, my beloved son, Siddhartha,I wish I could call you Buddha, but I don’t approve. I love that you are trying to make peace in the world and help the people in need. But I need you with me at our home, the place I raised you, where you were born, where I made a perfect utopia for you to live in. Where Maya and I swore to protect you for whatever comes and try’s to harm you, until our death. This for Maya was soon. With your dear mother dead, you are the only one I have left in this world, and hope you can carry on our family’s linage of being royalty, and become king. You are the only son of the king and Queen and everyone will cherish the ground you walk on. This is everybody’s dream and anybody would take your place in a heartbeat. I however don’t trust anybody but you. This is not supposed to be a punishment, but a privilege. You have family here. A loving, beautiful wife and a young soul that has just been welcomed into this earth. They need you. Now if you are still thinking of leaving I got some more news for you. If you leave you will be letting down your whole kingdom. And me. You will be walking out on those starving people who count on you to be their leader. And then when I die what will happen! Your son can’t rule the kingdom at that age. It will be like letting a 13 year old run an empire. Oh, wait that is what will happen! I trust your son but not to rule a realm, alone, at age 13. But someone will eventually ask him, “do you want to raise the taxes on the people’s food, and let some of them starve so you can run another empire, or do you want to find another way to pay for another empire.” And do you know what he will say “ennie meeni minnie mo, my daddy says to pick the very best one and you are it.” Then he will say, “ boy, I wish my dad was really hear to tell me what to do.” And you know what I will say, nothing because I will be dead, so you will have to be hear watching him! You must be king.“Do I have reasons I don’t want you to go, yes. Good reasons, yes. Do I need a reason, no, I don’t want you to go.” Your wife needs you, your son needs you, your people need you, I need you. You say you are going to go out into the big bad world an help people in need, well you don’t have to even travel anywhere to help the people that need you the most. Us.Sincerely, your dear old father, Suddhodana.