Lesson video

Hi again, my name is Ms. Pauvaday.

Welcome back to another lesson on Buddhism.

Today, we are going to be doing some final deliberate practise going over key terms and just really consolidating those big ideas.

You've done so well, so far learning all this interesting, but quite different ideas, but particularly in Buddhism.

So, today we're going to look at how we consolidate all of that today.

So, today we need a few things to do deliberate practise.

What we need to do is we need to two different kinds of pens, you need some paper and again we need to have our minds nice and switched on nice and focused for today.

Go somewhere that you can get some peace and quiet.

So, move away from anything that's distracting and join me when you're ready.

Okay, today we're going to be doing lots of drilling of terms, key terms in this unit in particular.

That's what we'd like to do for this.

Again, it's going to be in three different subject areas.

We're going to be looking at Practises, Denominations, and then Buddhist Festivals.

So, let's have a look at Practises first.

So what I need you to do, I'm just going to move my face over here, make it a bit smaller.

Study this this mat for at least a minute or so.

You don't need to do it for a minute, but if you really want to challenge yourself to only do it for a minute.

So really study it, have a look at the key terms, what do they mean, and pause it and then join me in a moment for the next task.

So, memorise this and then join me for the next task.

Okay, so let's have a go at completing the text by filling in the gaps.

So I'm going to just move myself out of the camera, out of here so you can see the text nice and clearly.

So, pause on this, write everything out and try and remember using , you've had the terms and the previous slide, try and remember how are we going to fill in the gaps.

So, go ahead and pause, copy this out, fill in the gaps and then rejoin me when you're ready for the answers.

Okay, so here were the answers.

I'm just going to read out the entire text and then just give yourself a tick as you go along, Make any corrections as you go along as well.

Do it in a different colour pen to make it nice and clear.

Okay, so, Buddhists use a wide variety of practises for devotion to the Dhamma.

Many Buddhists visit temples, in Southeast Asia a common type of temple is a Vihara, which often shows the journey towards enlightenment in its design.

Buddhists may practise by meditating to focus the mind.

This practise is an important path in the Eightfold Path and helps Buddhists to develop the skill of mindfulness.

In a Vihara, it is common to see Buddha statues with certain hand positions known as Mudras.

These refer to specific moments or teachings of the Buddha.

Many Buddhists might practise devotion by performing a Puja, a type of ritual that gives thanks to the Buddha and Dhamma.

Some Buddhists may chant involving the use of mantras, which are sacred sounds.

While chanting or during meditation, prayer beads might be used to help maintain focus and count mantras.

These practises can be done at home or in the temple, and they are all designed to help focus the mind so that Buddhists can work towards creating less bad karma and eventually escape the cycle of Samsara.

Okay, so go ahead, pause, make any corrections that you need to, tick all the answers that you have correct, and then join me in a moment.

Okay, now we're going to look at Denominations.

I'm just going to move myself back here.

We're going to look at denominations.

So, again, you've got this memory challenge, have a look at the terms, if you pause it, and you can do it for a minute, you can do for longer if you want to, and look at the terms, look at the definitions, and then in a moment there's going to be another task.

So, join me when you're ready.

Okay, so have a go at matching the denominations, let's see what we can remember.

So Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana.

So, which ones do you think go with the correct image? Again, if you wish to pause, go ahead and join me when you want to.

Okay, let's have a look at the answers.

So, Vajrayana is typically associated with Bodhisattvas.

So, this is a Bodhisattva here.

That's where we've got that picture.

I'm sure many of you spotted that.

Theravada very distinctly known by its orange robes.

So, you might remember from a lesson not that far back.

They're known as Saffron Robes because they often died with this spice saffron spice or turmeric turmeric, which gives the robes this colour.

And, Mahayana, which Vajrayana is actually part of the Mahayana tradition.

But Mahayana also includes a head.

They tend to have different cult robes.

Sometimes they're deep red, maroon kind colour.

But this is a Zen Buddhist monk here in his black and grey robes, and Zen is a type of Mahayana Buddhism.

Good, okay, so hopefully that kind of helps clarify the different traditions in your mind.

Now, have a go at completing the definition.

So, go ahead and pause, write out the texts, and then fill in the correct gaps.

Okay, so let's have a look at the answers and what I will do is I will read them out here so that you can tick them as you're going along.

Therevada and known as the lesser vehicle and is a popular denomination in Southeast Asia.

The Tripitaka is the earliest Buddhist teachings written down in Sri Lanka and separated into three categories.

Mahayana is the largest denomination based in Japan, China, and Tibet.

Mahayana Sutras, texts that are important to Mahayana Buddhists Buddhist.

vajrayana is the most important form of Buddhism in Tibet.

Tantra, a Hindu school that focuses on energies of the mind and body.

Western Buddhism is Buddhist schools that have been transmitted and changed for a Western audience.

Okay, so let's have a look at Buddhist Festivals.

Go ahead and pause, and if you need to come back, but just to go and tick, tick, tick your answers and then join me in a moment.

Okay, so why have a look at these festivals, and I want you to think what are they for? What do they actually celebrate? So, you can again now go and pause, think about what these festivals are, what do they celebrate? If you want to write them down, by all means do that.

There will be a task where you get to write this down in a moment, but for now I want you to think, what are they, what do they celebrate, and then join me in a moment.

Okay, so Wesak is the known the Buddha's birthday, but it celebrates all the achievements of His life.

Parinivarna day, celebrated mostly in Mahayana traditions.

This commemorates the day the Buddha died and went into the final Nirvana, which is Parinivarna.

Dhamma Day, is a festival that gives thanks to the day the Dhamma Wheel started.

So, this is when the Buddha first taught the very first sermon called the first turning of the Dhamma wheel.

And it's celebrated because it's kind of commemorating the day the Buddha shared his teachings with the world.

Sangha day gives thanks to the Sangha, some monks and nuns.

It gives kind of commemoration to all of those monks and nuns, who were supporting lay Buddhists.

Songkran is Buddhist New Year in Southeast Asia, and is known as the world's biggest water fight.

And finally, the Moniam festival is a Tibetan festival that gives thanks to all gurus.

So, do pause now, look at this slide, look at your answers, correct all the things that you've got correct and make any changes as when you need to, and then join me in a moment.

Right now, have a go at this gap fill.

So, you're going to pause the slide, read through it, add the appropriate terms that you've looked at so far.

Once you're happy with it, join me again, and I will go over the answers.

I will show you the answers.

Okay, so let's have a look at the answers.

Festivals and celebrations vary across the Buddhists world because different schools have different focuses.

The most common festival is Wesak, which celebrates the Buddha's birthday, but also all achievements.

This is mostly celebrated in Southeast Asia.

Parinirvana commemorates the Buddha's passing.

Other festivals celebrate the Buddhist teachings and this is known as Dhamma Day.

Some countries give thanks to teachers, in Tibet, this is known as Monlan, and in Southeast Asia, it's known as Sangha Day, where the Sangha are acknowledged and thanks are given.

Okay, so those are the answers I was looking for.

They don't have to be exactly like my answers.

You might have slightly put different wording, for example, that's fine, but you need to make sure that you've got them right festivals in the right place.

And if you've done that, you can give yourself a tick.

So, now you can pause, look at the answer, look at what you've written, tick what you've got correct, and make any adjustments if you need to, and then join me in a moment.

Okay, right, so this is your final task.

Become an expert, you are experts.

You've been doing this for a while now, you must know so much.

And the last way of really consolidating this, making sure they're stuck in the mind forever is by teaching it.

So, if you can teach it, then you know it, and you might hear teachers say that kind of thing when they ask you to go and prepare presentations, but that's because it works.

It does work.

If you are having to teach something, that means that you know it's clearly, and if you're stumbling on something, then it's going to help you really work out how you're going to communicate that information clearly.

So, and by doing that, that's helping you really consolidate and clarify your knowledge of the topic, but also it's going to help you remember it as well.

So, really, really good effective way of remembering things.

So, find someone, find someone in your family, maybe your friend, go and tell them, hopefully you've been talking to them throughout these lessons about what you're learning, anyway, now go and consolidate, go and teach them what you have learnt.

And what I recommend you do, you can either go and talk to someone, but it'd be really good if you can use your camera on your phone and record your own two minute lessons on the big ideas that you've learnt.

So, you don't need to remember absolutely everything, just clarify it down to the most important bits that you need to know.

And the way that you can do that is by clarifying the most important things that explain how the denominations have come to be.

So, what's the basis of all that, couple of facts, three or four facts on that.

Then explain two different things about each denomination.

So, just two different things about each denomination, not a lot, but explain how Buddhism came to the West.

So, three or four ideas, three or four facts, how did Buddhism come to the West, and then explain three different festivals.

So, three different festivals, what are they, why are they celebrated? So, you're just kind of really refining, cutting down the basic knowledge, and this will help you explain, it also will help you remember it as well.

And, ask a trusted adult for support with research and filming if you need to.

So.

don't do this by yourself, to get some help if you need to.

And well done, a big well done! Do share your work with us, I would love to see what you're doing at home.

So, a really, really big, well done.

This has been quite a journey, I'm sure you are now walking away feeling like you're experts, you will be experts on Buddhism, and you're going to be really impressive for your teachers, really impressive to people who ask you about what you've been learning.

So, really give yourselves a pat on the shoulder.

Excellent, excellent work.

What I'd like you to do as usual last final two things.

Go ahead, one do the summary quiz, that last, last bit of consolidations that you've got very clearly in your mind.

And secondly, go and tell people what you've been learning, because it just helps you remember.

And, good luck for the future.

I'm sure you will do really, really well in your next Buddhism lessons.

Bye, bye from me.