Lesson video

Hello there.

My name is Mr. Robertson.

How are you?

Well, I'm feeling great today because I get to teach some RE.

And I love RE.

And our key question for this unit is going to be who was the Buddha and what does he mean for Buddhists?

And we're going to learn all about the religion of Buddhism and find out who this person, Buddha, is.

Today's lesson is called The Idea of a Buddha, and it's going to introduce us to this term and get us thinking about what it might mean.

I can't wait to get started with you.

So let's go, shall we?

So by the end of this lesson, you will be able to explain the term Buddha and the fact that Buddhists can be found throughout the world.

As always, in this lesson, we have some keywords, and we're gonna have a go at practicing them.

So are you ready?

Let's get our speaking voices on.

I'll say the words first and then I'm gonna ask you to say them back to me, okay?

So our first words are Siddhartha Gautama.

Excellent.

So those words are the name of the founder of Buddhism, the person who became known as the Buddha.

Our second word is Buddha.

Amazing.

And the word Buddha refers to the enlightened or awakened one.

And finally, we have the words enlightened one.

Amazing.

An enlightened one is a person who has been freed from ignorance.

Now don't worry if you're thinking, "But I don't really know what any of those words mean," because I promise that by the end of the lesson, you will feel a lot more confident about what they mean.

So our lesson today has got two parts.

And in this lesson, we're going to be answering two different questions.

So our first question is this, what is a Buddha?

So let's start by looking at this photograph.

Wow, I wonder what you can see if you really, really look closely.

It's of a statue, and it can be found in Thailand.

I wonder what you can see.

I want you to look really, really carefully.

I wonder what questions you might ask about what you can see.

I wonder if you can think about the materials this statue may be made of.

I wonder if you can look really closely and see the human being.

I wonder if you could have a interpretation or guess about what you might be looking at.

Pause the video and have a think, or talk to the person next to you.

So I wonder what you said.

Well, I noticed that I could see a huge statue of a person.

Can you see the person right at the front of the photograph?

Look at them standing in front of the smaller statue.

That gives you a sense of how enormous this statue must be, doesn't it?

You can see that this person, this statue, is seated cross-legged.

And you might have thought that it must be a significant person for people to have built a beautifully, richly decorated and huge statue.

It looks like it's made of gold, doesn't it?

I wonder what it shows.

I wonder how it's used.

I wonder if there are any other examples of this statue.

I wonder what you came up with.

I wonder what questions you had.

Well, this statue is an image of Siddhartha Gautama.

Now, we saw that it was an enormous statue, haven't we, and beautifully richly decorated.

So that shows that this person, Siddhartha Gautama, is a really significant figure for the people who made it.

He later became known as the Buddha.

And the religion of Buddhism is named after him.

And people who are followers of that religion are known as Buddhists.

Now, looking at photographs like this could help us understand more about Buddhist worldviews because you can find out a little bit about who this person was and why he might be important to people.

Let's just check our understanding so far.

The Buddha was originally known as Siddhartha Gautama.

Is that true or false?

Pause the video and have a think.

Excellent.

It's true.

Well done if you've got that right.

And it's true because the Buddha is a title that was given to a person called Siddhartha Gautama.

We're gonna be learning more about their lives in another lesson.

Now, where is this map showing?

Where in the world are we?

Well, you're right that you're looking at the continent of Asia.

Now, Buddhism was founded around the sixth century BC in around the year 500.

Siddhartha Gautama was born in what's now Nepal, in the mountains in the Himalayas next to Northern India.

I wonder what other religions have origins in the Indian subcontinent.

Hmm, you may want to pause the video here and talk to someone else.

Can you think of any other religions that come from this part of the world?

Yes, you may have thought about the Hindu Dharma.

It comes and originated in India.

And also the religion of Sikhi.

Guru Nanak grew up in the Punjab in India.

And so we have three different religions, Hindu Dharma, Sikhi, Buddhism, all arising in this vast area of the Indian subcontinent.

Let's just check our understanding.

True or false.

Siddhartha Gautama was born in India.

Let's think about that.

Pause the video and have a think.

Excellent.

It's false, isn't it?

Because actually, Siddhartha Gautama was born in Nepal, which is a country that borders India.

In ancient times, this was all one land area and one country made up of lots of different kingdoms, but actually it's now Nepal.

Now the term of Buddha means enlightened one.

And the word enlightened can be split into its etymology so we can understand it better.

En is a Latin prefix meaning in or into.

The word light is from the Latin lux, so into light.

And together, these words combine to mean into the light.

So I wonder why we might use the word Buddha to mean enlightened.

And I wonder what it means to come into the light.

We're going to think about that a bit now.

I want you to do some imagining for me.

I want you to imagine that you're in a dark room and you can't see.

It's completely black.

You're standing there and you cannot see anything around you at all.

How would you feel in that situation?

And then I want you to imagine switching the light on and suddenly being able to see your surroundings clearly.

I wonder how you would feel now.

Maybe you though about being in that dark room.

You might be thinking, "Oh, I don't really like being in the dark.

I can't see anything.

I wonder what's in the corners of the room.

" You might have thought, "I'm worried about falling over.

I want to get out of this place.

I don't like being here.

I don't like that feeling of being in complete darkness.

It's a bit scary.

" And I wonder how you might feel with the light on.

Would you feel a sense of relief?

"Oh, everything's okay.

Oh, I see where I am now, I'm fine.

I can see how I can get out.

I feel free.

I feel able to escape.

" So this moment of seeing the light, that experience Buddhists talk about waking up to reality, understanding the world as it really is, that's what it means to be a Buddha.

Enlightenment means seeing the world as it really is.

So Siddhartha Gautama was given the title Buddha, which means the enlightened one.

And for many Buddhists, Siddhartha Gautama gained understanding about the true nature of life.

He woke up to reality and was no longer ignorant.

So another meaning of enlightenment is to be awake, to be truly awake, to look around you and understand everything, how the world is and what life is all about.

So I want you to think about this idea of enlightenment.

Which two statements make us and help us understand this idea?

Is it a, being free from ignorance?

Is it b, being full of light?

Is it c, waking up to reality?

Think about what we've just been learning.

Excellent.

It's a, being free from ignorance, and c, waking up to reality.

Well done if you've got that right.

Now to help us understand Buddhism and Buddhists, it's really good to be able to meet people from those different worldviews.

So let's meet Linn.

Linn is a Buddhist.

And listening to her can help us understand this Buddhism and Buddhist worldview better.

Linn says, "For me, the Buddha is a hugely significant figure as he is the enlightened one.

He discovered the truth of reality.

By following his teaching, I have a path to follow to lead a meaningful life.

" So why is the Buddha important to Linn?

Well, she says she can follow his teaching, and that means that she too can lead a meaningful life.

Let's check our understanding.

I have another true or false for you.

The Buddha is a significant figure for many Buddhists.

Significant means important.

Do we think that's true or false?

Pause the video and have a think.

Excellent.

It's true, isn't it?

We saw and we heard from Linn that Buddha is a significant person for her.

We also saw a huge statue of the Buddha, which shows that it's a significant thing for people in Thailand as well.

Okay, let's just check our understanding through this task.

I've got some sentences for you with some missing words, and I'd like you to think what the missing words could be.

Buddhism originated around the, century BCE.

Siddhartha was given the title The, which means the, one.

This describes a person who is free from.

Looking at photographs can help us better, Buddhist worldviews.

What words would you put in those sentences?

Really look forward to seeing how you do it.

Good luck, everyone.

Well, what did you put?

So Buddhism originated around the sixth century BCE.

Siddhartha Gautama was given the title The Buddha, which means the enlightened one.

This describes a person who is free from ignorance.

Looking at photographs could help us better understand Buddhist worldviews.

Brilliant if you managed to get those right.

Well done.

Okay, so in the second part of this lesson, we're gonna be thinking about where do we find Buddhists?

Here is another statue of the Buddha, and this time it's in China.

Again, I wonder what links you can make with the statue we saw in Thailand.

I want you to pause the video and look really, really carefully at it to see what you notice.

I wonder if you could see anything about how Buddhists might see the Buddha by looking at it and also what this might tell us about where we find Buddhism.

Well, what did you see and what did you spot?

This is actually a really incredible statue, isn't it?

Have you noticed how enormous it must be?

Look, I've zoomed in.

Look at all those people.

Look how tiny they look compared to this enormous Buddha.

I mean, I thought the one in Thailand was enormous, but this is just simply massive, isn't it?

How might people see the Buddha if they want to create something absolutely enormous?

This photograph really helps us understand the significance of Buddha to many Buddhists.

It's also in China, which tells us that Buddhists can be found in other countries in Asia.

We've seen that Buddhism began in India and Nepal, but we've seen now a huge statue in Thailand and also in China.

So that tells us, doesn't it, that Buddhism didn't just stay in India.

It spread to other countries as well.

And those countries, people also think that the Buddha is a really significant thing.

Now, huge statues of Buddha are found across Asia.

And it also helps us understand that Buddha has been important for many, many centuries.

This is not a new thing.

This is an ancient tradition which has been important to many people.

So we can find these huge statues in other Asian countries too.

Here is a statue of the Buddha in Taiwan.

Again, you could see some similarities.

This one's standing up, isn't it, rather than seated, but a similar face, similar clothing.

And this is a statue of the Buddha in Japan.

Again, we have an enormous statue.

We have a seated figure.

We have a similar calm face.

So Thailand, Taiwan, China, Japan.

We see Buddhism has spread through many countries in Asia.

Okay, so let's think about this.

What can photographs of statues of Buddha help us understand about Buddhist worldviews?

A, Buddhism spread beyond India to Asia, b, Buddhist countries are rich as the statues are huge, c, many Buddhists see the Buddha as a significant figure.

What do you think thinking about what we've learned so far?

Pause the video and have a think.

Excellent.

It's a, isn't it?

We can tell, these photographs show that Buddhism spread beyond India to Asia.

And c, it tells us that many Buddhists see the Buddha as a significant figure.

Now, we can also find images or statues of the Buddha in the UK.

But not every image we see is always owned or used by a Buddhist.

You may have seen some figures of the Buddha yourself.

Here is an example from a shop.

Here is an example in a garden center.

And here is an example in a home.

Have you ever seen images of the Buddha?

Maybe you know somebody or maybe you have some in your own house.

Maybe you've noticed them in the garden center, or in a shop, or in someone's home.

Even if you don't know anything about Buddhism or Buddha, you may have experienced or seen images like this.

This photograph shows a Buddhist Vihara, or place of worship, in London.

I wonder what this photograph might help us understand about where Buddhists might be found now.

So if there's a Buddhist Vihara in London, what does this tell us about where we might find Buddhists today?

Excellent.

It helps us understand that Buddhists can be found in the UK as well as Asia.

So even though this religion originated in India and Nepal and then it spreads to Asia, the fact that we have Buddhist Viharas, place of worship, in Britain today shows us that Buddhism has also spread here as well.

And the photographs help us understand this.

Linn, we've met her before, she's going to explain about her family origins.

She says, "My Mum is originally from Thailand.

She's Buddhist.

She married my dad, who is British.

We live in the UK and I would call myself a Buddhist.

I go to the Vihara with my mum sometimes.

" So how and why is Linn Buddhist?

Well, she's Buddhist because her mum is Buddhist.

Her dad and mum married.

Her mum's from Thailand.

Her dad was originally British.

Now they live here together.

And so her heritage and culture is from Buddhism.

Let's think about what we've learned so far.

True or false?

You only see statues of the Buddha in Asian countries.

Think about what we've just been looking at.

Is that true or false?

Pause the video and have a think.

Excellent.

It's false, isn't it?

But why?

Well, we know that Buddhism had its origins in Nepal and Asia, but Buddhists now live all over the world.

We've seen statues of the Buddha in the United Kingdom, haven't we?

So we've shown that it spread out of Asia and around the world.

We've got a final task now for you.

Lucas and Sofia are talking, and they're discussing about where we find Buddhists today.

I wonder who shows a better understanding and why.

Lucas says, "Buddhists are found in Asia.

I know this because I've seen photographs of some of the huge Buddha statues in Thailand and China.

" Sofia says, "Buddhists are found in Asia.

But they're found in other countries like the UK.

I know this because we have photographs of Buddhist statues and Viharas in the UK.

Hmm, who do you think has understood this better?

Pause the video and have a think.

Excellent.

I think that Lucas does understand that there are statues of Buddha in Asian countries, and he's talked about them being really huge, which shows that they're really significant for people.

But Sofia shows a better understanding as she also mentions we see statues of Buddha and Viharas in the UK as well.

So photographs could be really helpful to help us understand how we find out about different religions and worldviews.

Well done if you got that right.

So let's summarize what we've learned today.

Siddhartha Gautama is the founder of Buddhism.

Siddhartha Gautama was later titled the Buddha, meaning the enlightened one.

Buddhists believe an enlightened one is someone who is free from ignorance.

Buddhism has its origins in India and Nepal, but today Buddhists live all across the world.

And we can better understand the diversity in Buddhist worldviews by looking at different photographs.

Thank you so much for learning with me today.

I hope this has given you a bit of a taste of the incredible religion of Buddhism.

And I look forward to seeing you in some more lessons where we can dive deeper and learn more about the Buddha.

See you soon.