Name:Tricia Lea
School: Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School
Project Title: Karma and Vipaka
For Starters
 

 

 

Seminar- Part I:  Buddhism Basics

Objective

Identify the life and times of the Buddha
Locate important physical spaces in the Buddha's life and in Buddhist History

Procedure

In part one of two lectures, explain the life of Buddha. First, help students identify important geographic landmarks, key figures and events essential to the study of Buddhism.You can search this web site or other NEH web sites for useful photos of the Himalayas, maps of the region, the Buddha's birthplace, Bodh Gaya, and any other historical Buddhist sights. I find that students appreciate and learn a great deal from seminars like this, as long as there are "stimulants" (a bit of discussion, time for questioning, objects to pass around, etc.) to break up the 30 minute time period. Students can sustain a longer attention span with visual stimulation. Furthermore, they also serve as useful tools to encourage interest and reinforce understanding.

Try to limit the seminar to about thirty minutes. I hope to add a power point to this section of the website to help with the dissemination of information and also to elongate their attention span.

Links to life of Buddha

1. Listen to Karen Armstrong, author of numerous books about religion, talk about the life of Buddha

2. Buddhanet has an extensive and very well organized section on the Buddha's life. The title of the section is "Life of the Buddha for Secondary Students". His life is broken down in to 30 some odd sections, and each section follows with discussion questions. Great site!

3. Buddhanet also has many wonderful ebooks available for free. This link is to a coloring book about Buddha's life. Knowing how much high school love to color, this kind of activity is perfect for body kinesthetic learners who need to have their hands busy while receiving and processing information in an academic setting.

What's coming up in the Seminar Part II

Part II of the Buddhism Basics attempts to get at the heart of Buddhists' beliefs. Since the focus of this website in karma, it is important to include:

 

 

 

This site was created by Tricia Lea at the NEH Summer Institute "Cultures and Religions of the Himalayan Region," held at the College of the Holy Cross, Summer 2006