Siddhartha: enlightenment and impermanence
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can describe how Siddhartha understood impermanence and what it means for different Buddhists.
Key learning points
- Siddhartha gained enlightenment as he meditated under the Bodhi tree.
- Buddhists aim to become enlightened too.
- Siddhartha discovered everything is impermanent, nothing remains the same. Accepting this is the way to enlightement.
Keywords
Meditating - focusing and clearing the mind
Impermanence - nothing remains the same for ever
Enlightenment - waking up to a deeper understanding of life and the world around you
Common misconception
Siddhartha found the way to enlightement through a message from God.
Siddhartha gained enlightenment through meditation.
Teacher tip
Print the images of Siddhartha meditating for annotation purposes.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.According to Buddhism, for how many years did Siddhartha Gautama fast?
Q2.According to Siddhartha Gautama, what is the cause of suffering?
Q3.What is the first Noble Truth?
Q4.According to Siddhartha Gautama, what does it mean to live the Middle Way?
Q5.Which option is not an example of following the Middle Way?
Q6.Match the keywords to the correct definitions.
Assessment exit quiz
5 Questions
Q1.What is 'enlightenment'?
Q2.Which word means that nothing stays the same for ever?
Q3.Images of the Buddha will often include key symbols. Match the symbols below to what they represent.
Q4.Which attitudes would a Buddhist want to show to help achieve enlightenment?
Q5.When he left the palace, Siddhartha saw four sights. These included sickness, old age and a holy man. Which one is missing?
To help you plan your 5 religious education lesson on: Siddhartha: enlightenment and impermanence, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 5 religious education lesson on: Siddhartha: enlightenment and impermanence, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 religious education lessons from the Buddhists: who was the Buddha and what does he mean for Buddhists? unit, dive into the full primary religious education curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.