Introduction to Buddhism

Today we began to study our fourth religion: Buddhism.

Buddhism is sometimes called a "philosophy" rather than a religion, since many Buddhists choose not to focus on the question of whether god (or another higher power) exists. In this class, though, we are going to classify Buddhism as a religion.

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The Buddha was very interested in the topic of suffering. He asked a number of deep questions: Why do people and other creatures suffer? Is it possible to escape from suffering? How can humans lessen the amount of suffering in the world?

To begin thinking about these questions, I posed a couple of "thought questions" to the students today. They came up with fantastic responses:

What would you think if you saw a bird eat a worm? How would you feel?

Joey: I would feel sad, but I wouldn’t regret that worm being eaten. I feel this way because (1) if the bird didn’t eat the worm, then the bird would suffer a greater pain of starvation, and (2) it's in the bird's nature - it doesn’t know any better than to feed itself.

So there is no bad guy, but it’s unfortunate.

James: If I see a normal bird eat a normal worm, I would feel a little bit bad for the worm, but mainly I would think of the food chain and how the worm might be a good dinner for baby birds, and they might one day be eaten by a bigger type of bird. If some creatures did not get eaten, all meat eating animals would not be here now.

I just would hope that the worm had a good, long life for a worm, before he played his part in the food chain.

Kalani: I would be proud of the bird for eating the worm. The bird might have just given birth and been extremely hungry from feeding her babies.

What would you think if you saw a 5th grader being mean to a 3rd grader? How would you feel?

Olivia: If I saw a 5th grader bullying a 3rd grader I would think that the 5th grader must feel insecure about himself. I would feel angry and sad (unless the 3rd grader was really mean and needed to be taught a lesson). 

Unlike the bird eating the worm, where the worm is dying in order to give the bird food so it can survive, when the 5th grader bullies the 3rd grader nothing good comes out of it. It only hurts the 3rd grader's feelings.

Kendall: I would be mad because he has no right to pick on a 3rd grader. That is not the circle of life. You should be kind and love each other. I would also feel sorry for that 3rd grader because he was the one out of all the 3rd graders who was chosen to be picked on.

Matteo: I would feel sad that somebody could be so mean in this school. I would tell the 5th grader to stop, and if he didn't stop I would get a teacher to help.

Fletcher: I would feel bad if I saw a 5th grader bullying a 3rd grader. Creatures eating other creatures is natural because we need food to survive. People being mean to other people is pointless and unneeded for survival. Because of that, I think it is wrong and it would make me feel bad.

The most interesting part of class was the discussion about whether the students felt more sadness for the worm (that was eaten) or the 3rd grader (who was bullied). A majority of students said that they felt worse for the 3rd grader, but Alexa, Cole, Lilly B. and Carter L. made strong arguments for why we should feel more sadness for the worm.

Musical Mondays: We listened to the Buddhist chant Om Mani Padme Hum and talked about the idea of a mantra.