Lesson video

Hello, I'm Ms. Ramalli and thank you for joining me for today's RE lesson.

I'll be guiding you through our learning today and my priority's to ensure you successfully meet our learning outcome.

Hello and welcome to today's lesson.

By the end of the lesson today, you are going to be able to explain how Siddhartha realised that the answer to suffering was to stop craving.

Okay, let's begin.

In today's lesson, there are three key words that are gonna help guide you through your learning.

They are, craving, fasting, and the Middle Way.

Craving is longing for something or someone.

Fasting is doing without food or drink, and the Middle Way is the path that falls between the two extremes of luxury and poverty.

So we are gonna begin on our lesson on Siddhartha: craving and suffering, with Siddhartha the ascetic.

So here I'm gonna introduce two characters to you, Roshan and Lin, and they're both Buddhists.

The story of Siddhartha becoming a Buddha is very important to both of them.

Lin says, "I was taught that Siddhartha grew up as a prince, but foresight led him to question his life of luxury.

He realised that suffering was a part of life." Roshan responds, "I know that story too.

Once Siddhartha had witnessed the Four Sights, his focus became the search for the causes of suffering." Roshan and Lin then go on to discuss Siddhartha's actions after leaving the palace.

Lin says, "I was taught Siddhartha left the palace, he cut off his hair, changed into basic clothing and took off his expensive jewellery." Roshan says, "I think by doing this, Siddhartha let go of everything that was causing him to live in ignorance and kept him from the truth." How could leaving the palace help him understand what the world is really like? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner to consider how do you think leaving the palace could help Siddhartha understand what the world is really like? Fantastic, well done on your discussions.

So let's reflect on what we've just heard.

Why did Siddhartha give up his possessions? A, he wanted his father to have his possessions.

B, he thought they were keeping him from the truth.

C, he no longer wanted to live as a holy man.

Pause the video here and press Play when you're ready to check your answer.

Well done to everybody that said B, Siddhartha gave up his possessions because he thought they were keeping him from the truth.

Well done.

Once Siddhartha had witnessed the Four Sights, his focus became the search for the causes of suffering.

He left his life of luxury as a prince in the palace and followed the example of the holy man he had met.

He began searching for the truth.

An ascetic is someone who chooses to live in a very simple and peaceful way without many of the things that make people enjoy.

They do this because they want to focus on becoming a better person or understanding life more deeply.

Ascetics might do hard things like walking long distances, not eating as much food or staying in quiet places to think deeply.

They believe that by doing tough things, they can become stronger in their mind and spirit.

An ascetic's life is about keeping things simple and focusing on what's inside them, like their thoughts and feelings, instead of always chasing after fun stuff or things that make them feel happy in the moment.

It is like choosing to be peaceful and thoughtful instead of always having the newest or coolest things.

Siddhartha lived as an aesthetic for six years.

He began fasting and ignored his appetite.

He hoped that by doing this, he would discover the truth.

Instead, he suffered from terrible hunger and his body became very weak.

He had still not found the solution to suffering.

Okay, let's reflect on what we've just heard.

True or false? Siddhartha found the solution to suffering through fasting.

Pause the video here and press Play when you're ready to check your answer.

Well done to everybody that chose False.

Fasting caused Siddhartha to suffer from hunger and made his body weak.

It did not give him the solution to suffering.

Fantastic, well done.

One day, Siddhartha was bathing in the river when he saw a girl who was looking after a herd of sheep for her father.

The girl offered Siddhartha a bowl of milk and rice.

Siddhartha accepted because he was so weak and hungry.

Siddhartha felt much better after eating the bowl of milk and rice.

He realised that fasting had not brought him any closer to finding the truth towards the causes of suffering.

He decided to give up his life as an ascetic.

Neither living in luxury nor doing without things helped him.

He needed to find a middle way.

Okay, let's take a moment and reflect on what we have just heard.

True or false? Siddhartha stopped fasting as it didn't help him find the truth about suffering.

Pause the video here and press Play when you are ready to check your answer.

Well done to everybody that choose True.

Okay, so now we are in a good position to put our understanding and knowledge about Siddhartha the ascetic into a practise task.

Sofia is explaining why Siddhartha gave up living as an ascetic.

What mistakes has Sofia made? Rewrite her answer.

Sofia says, "Siddhartha gave up all his luxuries and lived as an ascetic for one year.

He studied alone and learned how to meditate.

He began fasting, which means he ate lots of food and drink.

He realised this wasn't helping him find the cause of suffering." Pause the video here and press Play when you are ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done everyone.

Let's check the answer.

So what mistakes has Sofia made? I asked you to rewrite her answer.

Your answer may include the following points.

Siddhartha gave up all his luxuries and lived as an ascetic for six years.

He studied with other men and learned how to meditate.

He began fasting, which means he went without food and drink.

He realised this wasn't helping him find the cause of suffering.

Brilliant, everyone.

Well done on all your hard work on that task.

So now we are ready to move on to the second and final part of our lesson, the Middle Way and the Four Noble Truths.

The Middle Way refers to living a life that avoids extreme choices and actions.

Lin considers how she tries to live following the Middle Way.

Lin says, "Siddhartha realised neither living in luxury or being an ascetic had worked.

I try and follow this example by doing my homework before going out with my friends.

It is important to work hard, but also to have time having fun and relaxing." The Middle Way explains how to follow a path between extreme luxury and poverty.

Siddhartha believed this was the answer to end suffering.

And here we have some examples of how a person might follow the Middle Way.

We have extreme poverty and extreme wealth, and the Middle Way would be having enough money to live comfortably.

Then we have the extreme of never exercising or spending all day exercising, and the Middle Way would be exercising once a day.

Then the final example is never watching TV as one extreme, or watching TV all day, and the Middle Way would be watching TV for one hour a day.

Can you think of any other examples of living the Middle Way? Okay, let's take a moment and just pause and reflect on what we have just heard.

True or false? Living the Middle Way is following the path of extremes.

Pause the video here and press Play when you are ready to check your answer.

Well done to everybody that said False.

Following the Middle Way is the path that falls between the two extremes of luxury and poverty.

Well done everybody.

For many Buddhists, the Four Noble Truths are the central teachings of Buddhism.

Roshan explains their importance.

"They were discovered by Siddhartha when he was trying to achieve enlightenment.

The Four Noble Truths are important to me because they teach me how to overcome suffering." Okay, let's reflect on what we've just heard, true or false? The Four Noble Truths identify the causes of suffering and how it is overcome.

Pause the video here and press Play when you're ready to check your answer.

Well done to everybody that choose True.

The first Noble Truth is that all life involves suffering.

Aisha and Alex discuss British interpretations of suffering.

Aisha says, "For many Buddhists, suffering can be caused by physical pain, such as having a headache.

Suffering can also be emotional such as feeling anxious or disappointment." Alex says, "For all other Buddhists, suffering is a feeling of not being satisfied even when you get what you think will make you happy." Can you think of other examples of suffering? The second Noble Truth identifies the cause of suffering.

Alex says, "I really want a new bike.

Aisha has a new bike and it's not fair.

If I had a new bike, I could show it off to my friends at the park." What does Alex want? How might this be causing him to suffer? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner.

Fantastic discussions, everyone.

Well done.

According to Buddhist teachings, the cause is craving.

So Alex is suffering because he's craving a new bike.

Okay, let's pause and reflect on what we've just heard.

According to Siddhartha, what is the cause of suffering? A, fasting.

B, living the Middle Way.

C, craving.

Pause the video here and press Play when you are ready to reflect on your answer.

Well done to everybody that choose C, craving.

The third Noble Truth is that suffering can end.

Alex says, "Would a new bike really make me happy? I don't think it would.

I had a new bike last year.

I'm just craving something that I don't need.

I need to let go of that feeling of craving." What does Alex realise about craving? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner.

Fantastic, well done.

According to Buddhist teachings, suffering can end if people learn to let go of the feeling of craving.

Okay, let's reflect on what we've just heard.

True or false? The third Noble Truth is that there is no end to suffering.

Pause the video here and press Play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody that shows False.

Suffering can end if people learn to let go of the feeling of craving.

Well done everybody.

The fourth and final Noble Truth is there is a path to end suffering by following the Middle Way.

Alex says, "I will enjoy riding my bike with Aisha.

I'll use it until I grow out of it.

Then I can get a new one.

Instead of craving a new bike, I will focus on my friendship with Aisha." What does Alex realise about craving? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner.

Excellent discussions.

Well done.

According to Buddhist teachings, suffering can end if people learn to let go of the feeling of craving.

Okay, let's reflect on what we've just heard.

True or false? According to Siddhartha, following the four Noble Truths ends suffering.

Is that true or false? Pause the video here and press Play when you're ready to check your answer.

Well done to everybody that chose T, True.

The Four Noble Truths identify the cause of suffering and how to overcome it.

Fantastic, well done.

So now we're at a great point where we're gonna show our understanding of the Middle Way and the Four Noble Truths.

Alex is asking to write a paragraph that explains why I was suffering and how I overcame my suffering.

In your answer, you should include the following words, craving, bike, unhappy, suffering, friendship.

You may like to use some of those words more than once.

Pause the video here and press Play when you are ready to check your answer.

Fantastic, well done everybody.

So you are asked to show your understanding of the Four Noble Truths.

In your answer, you may have included: Alex was craving a new bike.

He realised that craving something he did not need was causing him to suffer.

He needed to let go of the feeling of craving.

Alex stopped craving a new bike because he realised that this was making him unhappy.

He chose to focus on his friendship with Aisha instead.

Well done everyone for all that hard work on the task.

So this brings us to the end and the summary of our lesson on Siddhartha: craving and suffering.

After seeing the Four Sights, Siddhartha left the palace and lived as an ascetic for six years.

Siddhartha became very weak after fasting, but he had still not discovered the cause of suffering.

Siddhartha taught that the Middle Way was the best way to live.

According to Buddhist teachings, suffering is caused by craving.

And to end suffering, live the Middle Way and follow the Four Noble Truths.

Fantastic, well done.

Thank you for joining me on today's lesson, goodbye.