Talking Buddha.......

Buddhism as a part of the religious education curriculum in the UK has always been a weak subject in most schools and colleges. In an attempt to address this problem I organised a Buddhism workshop on Friday 8th June 2007. The aim of the workshop was threefold:

1. To offer a unique opportunity for the students at the college experience at first hand Mahayana, Theravada and Tibetan Buddhist traditions.

2. To enable a unique opportunity for the students to meet Buddhist monks and to learn about Buddhist monastic life.

3. To raise awareness of Buddhism in Devon.

The day started at 0900am and ended at 1430.Buddhism as a religion/philosophy dates back almost three thousand years, yet its practical philosophy means that it is even more applicable when confronting today's 24/7 lifestyle when the words faith and morality seem to have little meaning. In Buddhism, faith and morality comes not from a sense of believing in something because it is written in a book or attributed to a prophet or taught to you by some figure in authority. The meaning of faith in the Buddhist context is closer to the word “confidence”, knowing that something is true because you have seen it work, because you have observed or experienced that very thing within yourself. In the same way, morality is not a ritualistic obedience to some exterior, imposed code of behavior but that morality, in this case, is a self discipline influenced by the teaching of the Buddha.

For 2500 years the fundimental teaching of the Buddha has remained the same, not as a set of dogmas to be learnt and adhiered to at all cost, but rather as a set of propositions for each individual to investigate for himself. The Buddha was not a special or divine being and therefore being a Buddha is being nothing other than being an ordinary person who is aware of “this” state in their life. The development of this inner life state can enable all people to overcome their problems and live a fulfilled and active life, engaging fully with others and with society.