Session 5 - April 18 morning (Lori Meeks on Buddhism)

[Sandra Flores]

I agree with you on cultural appropriation by the outside group and in doing so disrespecting a culture.  I like your idea of having both Buddhas side to side and having the students research each Buddha.  This can be an introduction to a more complex assignment,  Who are our heroes? Who do we celebrate in this country? Who are are unsong heroes?  Why is this a recurring behavior in history? Who do you think should be a hero?

[Samantha Auerbach]

This is a great connection that I previously did not think about. Your connection made me think of another. When we discuss the US constitution we could compare and contrast it to Shotoku's constitution. The students can also connect those articles to our established class traditions.

[Sandra Flores]

I like your idea of comparing the history of Buddha to the story of Jesus.  I teach AP Spanish and one of skills tested on the AP test is a cultural comparison.  I can divide the class into two different groups (Jesus and Buddha) and have them research the history of both.  I can have them present to each other and then, as a class, we can compare and contrast both.  This would be perfect because religion is a topic that needs to be covered in this class.  After the presentations and the class discussion, I can have each student write a comparison and have them present to the class.  The test allots for four minutes to write donw notes and two minutes to actually present.

[Meghann Seril]

Hi Esther. I love this idea of comparing different leaders and the influences of leadership on religious beliefs and vice versa. Henry VIII comes to mind. You could also consider the groups who established the different 13 colonies. Although we have separation of church and state in the United States I'm sure there would be lots of examples for comparison.

[Meghann Seril]

HI Mario and Sandra. I agree that focus on social and emotional learning should be a priority, especially given our current situation. I think about the sudden shift to distance learning and this period we are working through. Whenever we return to the classroom we will certainly need to address emotional trauma faced by our students. Mindfulness should be a part of this work.

[Hilda Dixon]

I am fascinated in how many cultures tend to have similar dilemmas when they respond to new demands. For instance, our religion professor said that in the beginning in ancient China, there was not a concept of karma transmigration. These ideas were new in ancient China. There was not a concept of karma. To make Buddhism accessible these ideas had to be explained. In the same fashion, when Christianity was spreading through other parts of the world the concept of the trinity was not easy to explain, too.  Another concept is the importance to preserve relics inside sacred places. We heard that there was this story in Burma, in which kind and generous merchants received some of Buddha’s hair and parings from his nails.  It is told that the ashes of the deceased Buddha were also divided into several portions and placed in relic caskets known as stupas, a number of which became important pilgrimage sites.  In Christianity, there are many relics of saints, and in some cases, it is said that remains of Jesus are stored in churches built around medieval times in Europe. Why is this? Do these relics have a healing power?  I personally think that by maintaining relics well kept facilitates maintaining the metaphysical concepts alive too. Lastly, the concept of 7.  Buddha’s mom died 7 days after his birth. In the bible, the number seven often symbolizes completion or perfection such as the fact that the world was created in 7 days. The purpose of  Buddha’s mom was to come to this world and to give birth to the enlightened one. Once she gave birth, she stayed 7 days before departing from this world. The number seven also frequently accompanies the fulfillment of promises such as the promise of god regarding that there is not going to be another mega flood. The rainbow has 7 different colors. Is there a kind of universal truth  about numbers?

[Hilda Dixon]

Thoughout history, we have read or known biographies about  people who have high level of consciousnesss. I think as teachers we should reflect in the idea about what steps these exceptional people took in order to achieve a kind of universal level of wisdom. Many people such as Buddha, Jesus, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King underwent on moments of doubt, hesitation and external tests. Many of them knew they could die and chose to press on their preaching their truths aloud in spite of the odds.  They were able to defeat their own fears and come into a high level of consciousness. Indeed, exceptional people like these people do not come very often. Yes!  Buddhas are rare, as exceptional people are too.

[Hilda Dixon]

The other day, I was listening to Chris Hedges, and found out that there is some criticism about this novel idea as we see nowadays in western society about his topic. It is said that the corporations have taken the concept Mindfulness to ensure obedience and conformity.  Originally mindfulness is based on the concept of morality and ethics. However, Westerner corporations have taken away the moralistic component, and have make of this mindfulness concept an individualist therapeutic technique that primordially focuses on breathing techniques with the purpose to help one cope with the external societal demands. Because this technique focuses on the individual, this mindfulness idea takes away the idea to come as a collaborative unite to reflect on what our governments and corporations are doing to increase our level of stress or discomfort among other things.  I think it is always good to be open to what others say about mindfulness to make our own arguments.

[Billie Johnson]

Hi Sandra!  I really like this idea of splitting up the class and have both sides research the history.  As a new teacher, I have found that what helps information stick with my students is when they are able to do their own research and present the materials with groups.  I'm not sure why this works because when I was younger I worked on assignments independently. Group projects are excellent and perhaps you can tell students to find lesser known information about each or stories that are not commonly known.

[Alma Ochoa]

I too found it interesting to learned that there were differences among the Buddhism of Korea, Japan and China.  I also had never seen the fasting Buddha.  I was only aware and had only ever seen the fat happy Buddha.  So I love your idea of breaking up your class into 3 groups and assigning each to research one of the three different Buddhist religion.  It would be great for them to analyze their similarities and differences and do presentations. 

[Alma Ochoa]

Wow, I LOVE your story!!!  I remember my 8th grade principal once came to one of my classes and doing a similar exercise like the one you just described and I loved it!  I often think about it and want to do something similar in my class especially before a test.  However, I’ve tried looking for meditative spa type relaxing music and have not found something that I like and I also don’t know anything about doing breathing exercises.  I would love if you could share the resources you or your aide have used or direct me to where I can find some.  Again, thank you for sharing, I love this story!  

[Alma Ochoa]

Billie, I absolutely agree with you that students are more likely to remember something when they themselves do the research and are able to present and talk about it.  As a math teacher I try to do a lot of discovery lessons to solve problems which then leads students to the math formulas and why formulas are what they are and why they work.  I hope that makes sense, LOL   

[Hilda Dixon]

I totally agree with you.  While some call Buddhism a philosophy of life, others call it a religion.  Whatever it is, Buddhism for me is a religion that is perceived positively worldwide because it shares human fundamental teachings that encourage compassion and love with a commitment of no violence.  I think the Buddha’s teaching embraced a lot of spirituality and acceptance of others no matter what religion or ethnicity one can be. This is why it has attracted a lot of followers from every part of the world. Buddhist  teachings are universal and many of us can apply some of that metaphysic into our lives such as detachment and that how we as westerners tend to engage in an endless cycle of not stopping desires that sometimes it is hard to find balance and internal peace. Sometimes, I feel as an observant and as I read I get marveled in how the ancient Chinese were creatively able to make sense of all the diverse Buddha texts in a coherent way. Chinese were committed to tell a full story by engaging in  pilgrimages from china to India in order to bring more texts back.

[Billie Johnson]

I applaud you for being a math teacher.  While I am a matter of fact type of person, I can't do it. As a math teacher, are you able to incorporate lessons that are primarily discussion based?  Perhaps talking about longitude and latitude or less being more at times?  I suppose you could also discuss math origins and show examples, visual artifacts, of what this looked like. I think this would be great at the beginning of the year as I doubt many other teachers incorporate this into their lesson planning.

[Cynthia Stults]

I think your idea is fantastic, Sandra! I know that there was a lot of backlash in my conservative Christian hometown at the idea of Buddhism being taught in school. So many pearl-clutching mothers were so worried that their children would be "converted" to an exotic religion that had no similarities with their own. Yet, when one looks at the story of the first Buddha, there are so many similarities to that of Jesus, its uncanny. Both had miraculous births, both were prophesied as saviors by seers who would die before that would happen, both began their "ministries" at around the same age (29 and 30), both suffered and made physical sacrifices (fasting), and both sought ways to help others overcome suffering. Seeing as religion has been the cause of many wars and conflicts, I think it is incredibly important that we have students find the similarities in religions that may seem diametrically opposed to theirs, to hopefully prevent strife based on religious differences. 

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