World Religions: Buddhism Buddhism ASC.pdf · "Then are you a healer?" "No", Buddha replied. "Then are you a teacher?" the student persisted. "No, I am not a teacher." "Then what

World Religions: Buddhism

cjs/ASC/Buddhism 17/07/2013

The Phenomenological Approach to

R.E.

The focus of this approach is to learn how religions manifest themselves in an observable, physical sense.

It identifies common religious themes or ‘phenomena’ and often compares them across religions.

‘Islamic festivals’ or ‘places of worship’ might be identified and then compared.

The emphasis is on ‘learning about’


Christianity Judaism Islam Hinduism Buddhism Sikhism

Name of festival

When?

Where?

What is it celebrating?

How?

This would be a typical task for such an approach. Students

identify festivals of six world religions, describe them and

compare them.


Problems with the Phenomenological

Approach to R.E.

• It reduces religion down to physical, observable phenomena. Islam is more than what Muslims do on the Hajj, Hinduism is more than the inside of a Mandir, Judaism is more than what boys wear for their Bar Mitzvah.

• It does not hold any meaning to students who are not themselves members of that particular religion.

• There is the sense that R.E. is irrelevant to their lives which leads to disengagement.


An holistic approach to World Religions

17/07/2013 cjs/ASC/Buddhism

• To preserve the integrity of the religion • To provide students with a sense of why world religions are

studied – why is this relevant to me? • To give students a sense of context. • To help them to engage with ultimate questions and • To avoid the sense that religions are odd and have weird

and wonderful rituals, food, worship and clothes an holistic approach is needed. Religions are whole systems, which are underpinned by core beliefs, that are placed in historical, political and cultural contexts.

Studying Buddhism

“The purpose of studying Buddhism is not to study Buddhism but to study ourselves”.

(Suzuki Roshi, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind)

• Buddhism is an individual pursuit.

• There is no prescriptive teaching – ‘this is what you must do’.

• There is nothing ‘out there’ that can be pointed to:

‘That’s Buddhism!’

• Buddhism cannot be contained or categorised; it is something to be experienced

• The Buddha taught that truth comes through mindful observation of what is.

A phenomenological approach only scratches the surface.


Buddhism and Experience


The term ‘Buddhism’ is Western. In the East people who follow the teaching of the Buddha are following the Buddha Dharma. Engaging with Buddhism comes through a careful balance of student learning using ‘information about’ and then experiencing it for themselves. This is where concept cracking comes in! They need to know what the story of Siddhartha is before they can build the bridge and experience it for themselves, they need to know what the Four Noble Truths are before they can build the bridge and experience it for themselves. Beginning each lesson with a meditation is beneficial but be sure to teach about meditation before practicing it. A simple mindful breath meditation is the most effective way of introducing students to the experience of ‘being here now’.

“Buddhism isn’t really in a book or on a website…Rather,

it’s intimacy with your own life: experiencing life genuinely,

completely, just as it is.”

(Gary Gach, Just the FAQs on Buddhism)

It is important to communicate to students from the outset that:-

‘Buddhism’ is something that can be experienced by anyone.

The Buddha did not claim to be God and neither do Buddhists claim that he is God. He is seen as a guide who can lead people to Enlightenment

The image of the Buddha is not an object of worship; it is a reminder of what is experienced.


Concept Cracking and Buddhism

Holistic: Start with Siddhartha Gautama. Unpack the topic: dissatisfaction, materialism, desiring, restlessness, letting go, awakening, meditation, distraction, happiness Select one or two concepts: dissatisfaction and restlessness Experience: Siddhartha’s experience is the same as any human experience and is one that students will be able to relate to. Build that bridge! Relate: Read/watch the story of Siddhartha’s enlightenment and reflect on his experience. Animated World Faiths – The Life of the Buddha http://shop.channel4learning.com/?page=shop&pid=1714


http://shop.channel4learning.com/?page=shop&pid=1714

http://shop.channel4learning.com/?page=shop&pid=1714

• Make a question sheet to go with the film or book to help

book to help direct the focus of your students.

• The story of the Buddha is not about learning facts; it is

facts; it is about looking inward.

• So the questions need to go beyond the ‘facts’ of the story.

the story.

• Your students should find themselves looking in the

mirror: the Buddha’s experience is their experience.

• The Buddha’s teachings come from him looking deeply

within. They can do the same.


Examples of questions on the life of the Buddha

1. Describe the kind of life that Siddhartha was born into. Is this appealing to you?

2. What did the wise man say to Siddhartha's father about Siddhartha’s future?

3. What conditions did Siddhartha’s father set up to ensure that his wish was realised?

4. What did he want to protect Siddhartha from? Why did his father think that these conditions would protect him from this? Did they?

5. How are (knowledge of) suffering and wisdom connected?

6. Siddhartha could have had anything he desired. Did this give him happiness?

7. Do you equate wealth with happiness? Does the rich list=the happy list?


One of his students asked

Buddha, "Are you the messiah?"

"No", answered Buddha.

"Then are you a healer?"

"No", Buddha replied.

"Then are you a teacher?" the

student persisted.

"No, I am not a teacher."

"Then what are you?" asked the

student, exasperated.

"I am awake", Buddha replied.

Further ideas for exploring who the Buddha was.


Activity Go through each of the suggested ‘identities’ of the Buddha, explore what each one means and why the Buddha did not identify himself with any of them.

Unit: The Four Noble Truths

The Four sights

• Sickness

• Death

• Old Age

• Man who has in search of the truth.

What would it have been like for Siddhartha when he saw the first 3 sights for the first time?

The Four Noble Truths

• Life involves suffering

• The cause of all suffering is attachment to desire

• Our suffering can be eased, dissolved

• There is a way to achieve this


‘Turning Straw into Gold’ (Jack Kornfield, A Path with Heart)

The Four Noble Truths are four aspects of one truth, “I teach about suffering and the end of suffering”. It is practical: it is an invitation to do things to ease suffering rather than statements to believe. ‘Truth’ is not an objective fact, rather something to be realised and practised for yourself. When exploring the Four Noble Truths with students, bring the teaching back to their own experience as much as possible. BUILD THAT BRIDGE! The Buddha’s experience is their experience. The ‘straw’ of suffering can be transformed into the ‘gold’ of wisdom through practising the Four Noble Truths.



Introducing the Four Noble Truths to Students: Why do we suffer?

When teaching about the Buddha, the following is a useful

analogy:-

The Buddha is likened to a doctor.

When you have a persistent headache, what do you do? Go to the doctor and describe your symptoms.

What does the doctor then do?

Identifies the cause of the symptoms.

What does he then do? He prescribes the remedy that will cure the symptoms.

The Buddha identifies that we suffer, what the cause

of our suffering is and how our suffering can be eased.

The First Noble Truth: Dukkha

Life involves suffering – a deep seated internal condition of dissatisfaction, a sort of restlessness.

Because we have a mind and because we have a body we suffer. It is inevitable.

Ask students whether they know this to be true.

Now ask students whether they accept this. Do they live their lives accepting this truth?



“The unawakened mind tends to make war against the way things are…Ours is a society of denial that conditions us to protect ourselves from any direct difficulty or discomfort. We expend enormous energy denying our insecurity, fighting pain, death and loss and hiding from the basic truths of the natural and our own nature. To insulate ourselves from the natural world we have air conditioners, heated cars and clothes that protect us from every season. To insulate ourselves from the spectre of aging and infirmity, we put smiling young people in our advertisements, while we relegate our old people to nursing homes and old-age establishments. We hide our mental patients in mental hospitals. We relegate our poor to ghettos. And we construct freeways around these ghettos so that those fortunate enough not to live in them will not see the suffering they house. How do we manage so consistently to close ourselves off from the truths of our existence? We use denial to turn away from the pains and difficulties of life…” (Jack Kornfield, A Path with Heart)

Q. How do you communicate this to students?


A. By relating it to their world

Define suffering. It doesn’t have to be on a grand scale. Project images of objects which we use to avoid, bury and distract us from suffering. Obvious ones: hair dye, air conditioning units and bottles of alcohol. Less obvious ones: a brand new cream couch, fast-food, any electronic device that you can be ‘plugged into’, a direct transfer from the airport to the enclosed hotel walls.


Now ask students, “What the function of each object?”

The function of hair dye is to turn you hair from a colour you don’t like (which concerns you) to a colour you do

like.

The function of an airport transfer in a coach with black out windows and air con is to maximise our convenience without having to engage with any local surroundings that we may not want to see (because it’s upsetting and we’d

rather not know).

The function of a new couch is to replace the old one (which causes you considerable consternation because it

is a bit tatty and you don’t like the colour) with a new one.

etc. etc. etc.

Now suggest to your students that all of the objects have the exact same function. Ask them what this might be.

Now ask them again whether we live accepting the fact

that life involves suffering.

The Second Noble Truth: Tanha


Identifies why we suffer. All suffering has a single origin: attachment to the desire for things to be different to how they are. Not desire itself but attachment to it. It is generated by the mind. Tanha – attaching, grasping, clinging, craving. The cause of all suffering, whether it be a tooth ache, jealousy, bereavement or anger, has a single source: mental attachment.

Q. How do you communicate this to students?


A. By relating it to their world

Cause of dukkha (2)

Recent experience of dukkha (1)

In what ways was this caused by wanting things to be different to how they are? (3) (Tanha)

BLANK

Tooth decay Toothache I don’t want a toothache

Lack of food in tummy

Hungry I want food in my tummy

Lack of interest in what I am doing

Bored I want to be doing something different

Not allowed to go to party

Anger I want to be allowed to go to the party

I want the IPhone that my friend has

Jealousy I don’t want my current phone. I want a new one

Broken leg Painful leg I don’t want my leg to be broken


Now ask students what they think the recommended action is. letting go, accepting the present, abandoning desire, being with what is. Students often ask how you can ease the suffering of a physical ailment if the pain can still be felt as a sensation. The answer to this is that the physical sensation of the toothache is there, it hurts and is to be felt, but the suffering is generated by the mind clinging to the desire for the toothache not to be there. Although the pain remains, the suffering eases once the desire is abandoned and the pain is accepted. The students can now experience this for themselves by looking at the Third Noble Truth.

The Third Noble Truth: Nirodha


The cessation of suffering is not only something that is known, it is

something that should be made real: it needs to be experienced.

Cause of dukkha (2)

Recent experience of dukkha (1)

In what ways was this caused by wanting things to be different to how they are? (3) (Tanha)

How would the experience change if you were able to accept and let go? (Nirodha)

Tooth decay Toothache I don’t want a toothache

Lack of food in tummy

Hungry I want food in my tummy

Lack of interest in what I am doing

Bored I want to be doing something different

Not allowed to go to party

Anger I want to be allowed to go to the party

I want the IPhone that my friend has

Jealousy I don’t want my current phone. I want a new one

Broken leg Painful leg I don’t want my leg to be broken

Another Activity


Another way for students to relate the first three of the Four Noble Truths is to look at advertising. We are told almost constantly that the key to our happiness lies in things which are external to us. Your students will be bombarded with this everyday. What you are trying to teach them runs counter to a very powerful message which is reinforced constantly – GET THIS, BE HAPPY!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxNtoJerwV4&NR=1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfE90BrM-qU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxdL5Wgnsjw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxNtoJerwV4&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxNtoJerwV4&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfE90BrM-qU




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxdL5Wgnsjw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxdL5Wgnsjw&feature=related


Ask students to make the link between media and advertising and the first 3Noble Truths that they have studied. A task could be to find some examples and bring them to next lesson – they could look on the internet, in magazines, on television, on billboards, on the radio, in shops – anywhere! They will come to the lesson with some great examples. Ask them: What is the advertisement promising? What is it inviting you to want, to crave, to attach to? How this is inviting you to change what currently is? Another way of phrasing this is how is it inviting you to resist the what currently is? How does this make you suffer? How can your suffering be eased? Now ask them to share each other’s and ask the same questions. Suggest that they be mindful of this next time they are looking at an advert and are resisting what is as a result of that advert.

Meditation: Reflecting on Difficulty


This is a meditation taken from A Path With Heart by Jack Kornfield . You could practise it with your students or you could turn it into a written exercise. A good introductory book for meditation is Hurry up and Meditate by David Michie Sit quietly, feeling the rhythm of your breathing, allowing yourself to become quiet and receptive. Then think of a difficulty that you face. As you sense this difficulty notice how it affects your body, heart and mind. Feeling it carefully, begin to ask yourself a few questions, listening inwardly for their answers. How have I treated this difficulty so far? How have I suffered by my own response and reaction to it? What does this problem ask me to let go of? What suffering is unavoidable, is my measure to accept? What great lesson might it be able to teach me? What is the gold, the value, hidden in this situation?

Unit: The Three Marks of Existence


ANNICA – Nothing is permanent. Change is inevitable and necessary and is a condition of impermanence. This is neither positive or negative. It is a clear view of the world. But we constantly seek to create permanence, to attach ourselves to things. Therefore… DUKKHA – Suffering is inevitable but it has a beginning and a cessation ANATTA – No Self. Nothing is permanent., including ourselves. We are a constantly changing combination of forces and energies. This is not a doctrinal statement but if you watch the conditions of body and mind, you realise that they come and go. The belief that we have a fixed self causes dukkha.

ANNICA


Exercise: Students turn their attention to the natural world and notice how it changes. Ask for examples of this. Extension: Ask students to suggest anything that they think is unchanging. For senior students this could lead onto a discussion of Platonic Forms or a discussion on the philosophical concept of God being infinite.

The seasons, day and night, flowers, the shape of the moon are all good examples. Ask them to just observe rather than judge whether this is a good or bad thing.

http://www.alexanderandthings.com/Moon Phase Page.htm


Exercise: Ask students to observe their own thoughts. This is more difficult. Notice how each thought passes You could do this as a meditation where students become the watchful observer of their own thoughts. They do not judge the thoughts or identify with them; they simply notice that they are.

Exercise: Students turn their attention to man-made objects. Pick anything from the classroom and notice how it is impermanent. Again, they just notice rather than cast judgement on this: it’s neither good nor bad, it just is. Now revisit previous lesson and notice how all things are impermanent. Observe how no moment, no feelings, no thought is permanent.


ANATTA

Exercise Because things are constantly changing, they are made up of other things which are themselves constantly changing. There is no fixed identity or separate self. Consider whether this is the case for:- Cakes Cars Trees People. What is the ‘essence’ of each of these? Do any of these have a fixed, unchanging identity? When does a cake become a cake? At what point does a car become a car? When did you become you?

Unit: Interbeing


All things are made up of other things (which are in a constant state of flux - anicca) So all things are interdependent, not independent: they inter-are. Modern Physics On a quantum level, there not a bunch of separate objects in a room, they all connect, they are all a bunch of interbeing molecules and atoms which are in a constant state of flux


INTERBEING suggests that all things are made up of other things, that

nothing is independent. All things are interdependent: they inter-are.

Exercise

1. Read ‘Interbeing’ from ‘Peace in Every Step by THICH NHAT HANH where he describes

how a sheet of paper interbes with everything in the Universe.

2. Choose an object, preferably one that you can see from where you are, and look deeply into

it in the same way that the writer in the passage looks deeply into the sheet of paper.

3. Now write down what you see in it. You might like to do this in the form of a spider

diagram. Explore just how much you can find in this object. Imagine that the spider diagram

is a 3D spider web. All the points of the web interbe with all other points. They inter-are.

4. Read the passage ‘Flowers and Garbage’ which explains the relevance of interbeing in

social terms. How might the recognition of interbeing affect the way we see and treat the

following: the food we eat, the environment, the people whom we dislike?


Right view requires us to be very mindful all of the time! It is having direct, insightful knowledge that:- All things are made up of constantly changing other things Everything arises and everything passes away All things interbe The concept of separateness (not interbeing) is the root of anger and violence.

Interbeing, Right View and The Roots of Anger

Right View is the first of the eight factors in the Noble Eightfold Path


Interbeing and Separateness The belief in the separateness of all things can influence us to adopt a particular understanding of relationships between ourselves and other people…

‘ME and THEM’ We feel this most acutely when we dislike someone. This can lead to blame, anger and violence. But if we look deeply then we see that they interbe with everything, including us. We start to ask questions – why are they like that? Why did they do this? What do they interbe with?

Exercise: Students read ‘The Roots of Anger’ by Thich Nhat Hanh. Ask students for examples from the news or from their own lives where they can ask these questions and gain understanding. Ask them to feel in their bodies and minds how anger can begin to dissolve. This links very well to a unit on forgiveness.


Please Call Me by My True Names

After a long meditation, I wrote this poem. In it there are three people: the twelve-year-old girl, the pirate and me. Can we look in each other and recognise ourselves in each other? The title of the poem is “Please Call Me by My True Names”, because I have so many names. When I hear one of these names I have to say, “Yes” Thich Nhat Hanh

The poem is about the rape of the girl on a boat by a sea pirate.

Exercise Students write a poem ‘Seeing All Sides” which explores how interbeing can help us to find understanding of, and compassion for, those we dislike. They can write it in the same style as ‘Please Call Me by My True Names’ or otherwise. They should use real people whom they have encountered or peoplewho are vilified by the media.

Documents

World Religions: Buddhism Buddhism ASC.pdf · "Then are you a healer?" "No", Buddha replied. "Then are you a teacher?" the student persisted. "No, I am not a teacher." "Then what