An Analytical Study of the Theravāda Buddhist Moral Concept in Rose La Raine’s Shadow

Abstract

The objectives of this study were 1) to study the novel concept, Shadow, composed by Rose La Reine, 2) to study the moral idea of Theravāda Buddhist morality and 3) to investigate the concept of Theravāda Buddhist morality as shown in the novel, Shadow. This study was conducted using the qualitative research collecting the data from various sources such as the primary resource and the secondary resource  including the Tipitaka and its commentaries and the novel, Shadow, and other related materiels. Then the data had been analyzed and valued for the objectivs of the study.

The study had shown that “Shadow” is Buddhism-based novel symbolized as the principle of Karma like the shadow follows the owner. The moral concept of Theravāda Buddhism can be divided into three levels; primary level as the Five Precepts, middle level as the Ten Wholesome Courses of Action and the high level as the Noble Eightfold Path. After analysing the story by Theravāda Buddhist moral concept, the study has been found that the author has divided the characters into three groups as follows: the good, the bad, and the bad turned the good. All their moral behaviours are always in the eyes of the Yama, the ruler of the kingdom of the dead. The essential factors that affect the different moral behaviours of these three characters come from the surroundings, ie, parenting within the family and friends that how much they contribute to grow in the mind of Theravāda Buddhist morality. After the death, because of the karmic effect, the good are to be born in the happy state but the bad are to be born in the unhappy one. Regarding the unhappy state like the hell, theYama will inform to which hell the bad should go.