The Fourth Form had a wonderful opportunity to enhance their understanding of Buddhism with a trip to the Cambridge Buddhist Centre. In the Michaelmas term, the children had an introduction to the key Buddhist concepts and practices. The Buddhist hosts at the Centre built on this by answering the children’s questions and putting across the ‘flavour’ of a modern Buddhist life.
The children were fascinated to see the beautiful shrine and to feel the sense of calm in the shrine rooms. They examined different Buddhist artefacts and learnt about the significance of each element of the shrine; the flowers are a reminder of the important concept of impermanence, and the candles are a reminder of how following Buddhist principles can be a light to follow one’s path through life. The hosts explained their own journeys towards becoming Buddhist, and what living as a Buddhist means to them. The children had many curious and imaginative questions and discovered many new things about Buddhism through their questioning. Having taken part in walking and breathing meditations many of the children commented on the depth of meditation they could achieve in such a serene atmosphere.
'Some Buddhist traditions have simple shrine rooms, with mats for sitting and a very simple Buddha figure. Other shrine rooms will be very ornately decorated, with 'thangkas' (richly embroidered wall hangings), 'rupas' (Buddhist statues) and shrines filled with candles and the air full of incense fragrance.
The highly enjoyable trip to the Buddhist Centre resulted in the learning of many facts about the Eightfold path and the main Buddhist rituals and details of the history of the Buddha - Siddhartha Gautama - were told by our guides'.
'I never knew until the trip that there are different types of meditation which allow Buddhists to enter different modes of thinking and reflection'.
