Transcript Kisagotami PowerPoint

Buddhist Beliefs
Impermanence
Today’s Learning Intentions
• I can describe Buddhist beliefs about impermanence
• I can reflect on the implications of these beliefs for followers of
Buddhism
What are our success criteria?
Class Discussion
Is it better to learn
from experience
or to be told
something?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN5oYLvTEfs
Class Discussion
Can you think of
anything important
you have learnt by
discovering it for
yourself?
Listen
Kisagotami and the Mustard Seed
• This is a story about a mother whose son dies. She goes to the
Buddha to ask for help.
• Listen and read along to the story.
Read
Once upon a time there was a young woman called
Kisagotami. She married and had a son, a lovely little boy.
Disease struck the village, and the young child got sick and
died. Kisagotami was distraught, and could not accept what
had happened. She carried her child from house to house
asking for medicine to cure her little boy. Time after time the
people tried to tell her the child was dead, but she would not
believe them.
Eventually a kindly villager told her, “I can’t give you medicine,
but I know a man who can. Go and visit the Buddha in his
monastery.” Kisagotami followed his directions and
approached the Buddha.
“Please give me medicine to cure my son!” she entreated the
Buddha. The Buddha replied, “I can cure your son if you can
fetch me a mustard seed.” “Of course!” responded
Kisagotami, delighted by how simple this requirement was.
“One thing, though,” added the Buddha, “the mustard seed
must come from a house in which nobody has ever died.”
So off Kisagotami went again, knocking on the doors of the
village, asking for a mustard seed. Everyone could spare her a
seed, but when she asked if anyone had died in the
household, the reply every time was: “Yes, of course.”
After a while, the truth began to dawn on Kisagotami. Death
was everywhere. Everyone had lost somebody they loved. She
was selfish to think she was special, or that her child could be
spared.
At last Kisagotami was able to accept that her child had died.
She had a funeral performed, then returned to the monastery,
where she thanked the Buddha for his teaching, and asked to
become a nun. She was ordained and became one of the most
high achieving nuns in the Buddha’s community. After diligent
practice, Kisagotami achieved nirvana, and was thereby freed
from the cycle of death and rebirth.
Discuss in Pairs
Reflect on the story
1.
Why can’t Kisagotami understand that her son is dead?
2.
Why doesn’t the Buddha just tell her that everyone dies, rather than
send her off on an impossible mission?
3.
What does Kisagotami learn as she goes house to house seeking a
mustard seed?
4.
What effect does this experience have on Kisagotami?
Class Discussion
Impermanence
• Today’s key word is impermanence. It is an important belief in
Buddhism. Another way of expressing this word is ‘not permanent’.
• Watch this video clip: https://youtu.be/u5d8NnvZvHU
Discuss:
• Using what we’ve considered so far, what do you think impermanence
means?
• Why do you think this is important to Buddhists?
Impermanence
Think
• Impermanence is the belief that nothing in life stays the same, and
everything will eventually come to an end.
• Buddhists would say that understanding this is important, because if we
try to hold on to things that do not last, we will become unhappy – just
like Kisagotami did in the story.
• Buddhists believe they need to learn to stop ‘clinging on’ to things that
won’t last, because these things will only make them unhappy.
For example…
I got a brand new phone, great! I love it! It makes me so happy!
But….
What if you break it?
How would you feel?
What if a newer phone comes out, and everyone gets it apart from
you?
How would you feel?
Discuss in Pairs
Task
• Working in pairs, can you think of any thing in your life that will last
forever? What about:
• Friendships?
• Possessions?
• Feelings?
• What happens if we try to ‘cling on’ to these things? In the end, will
we be happy or sad?
Class Discussion
Reflection
• Do you think Buddhist teachings about impermanence are a helpful
way to think about the world?
Write
Task
• Compose your own story that describes impermanence.
• You can create your own story entirely or you can base it on the story
of Kisagotami. It’s up to you.
• You can choose the characters and the objects.
Write
Answer these questions
1) What do Buddhists believe about impermanence?
Buddhists believe impermanence is…
2) How might beliefs about impermanence impact the way Buddhists live
their lives?
Beliefs about impermanence impact the lives of Buddhists by…
Did we achieve our learning intentions?
• I can describe Buddhist beliefs about impermanence
• I can reflect on the implications of this beliefs for followers of
Buddhism
Read
Think
Class Discussion
Discuss in Pairs
Write
Discuss in Groups
Video
In Groups
Listen