Here is a story that I find useful when discussing the five precepts (against killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and taking intoxicants). This story is number 459 in a large collection of past-life stories of the Buddha (the Jātakatthavaṇṇanā) found in Pali and preserved by the Theravada school of Buddhism. The text was probably composed […]

Our third session in the Key Concepts series for RMPS teachers explored understandings of kamma and rebirth, and of the attainment of nibbāna, the exit from the cycle of rebirth altogether. Here you can find a recording of the presentation part (though not the Q&A) and the powerpoint file. The latter contains links to additional […]

Many teachers use images of the bhavacakra (wheel of rebirth, also referred to sometimes as samsāra-cakra) in class as way to prompt discussion. Here is a story of how these images came to exist. Note that it refers to a fivefold wheel, excluding the realm of the asuras (antigods, demons, demigods) that is sometimes added […]

The second session in our Key Concepts series for school teachers of the Buddhism part of the Highers/National 5 RMPS curriculum addressed the three marks of existence, namely the position that all of our experiences are dukkha (suffering/unsatisfactory), anicca (impermanent), and anattā (not-self). The powerpoint slides contain additional notes and links to resources, and the […]

We very much enjoyed this session, the first in our series of events for teachers of RMPS in Scotland, exploring the three jewels or refuges. We here share the powerpoint slides, which also contain – in the notes area – additional information and links. We also have a recording of the presentation (though not the […]

Buddhism through 108 objects in Scotland: Object 2 – Buddha statues for sale in Edinburgh supermarket The vast majority of Buddhist images in Scotland are purely decorative, such as these Buddha statues for sale in my local supermarket. A Buddha image is bought, alongside a gnome, as an ornament for one’s garden, home or business. […]

This is a fun little story from the Pali Jataka book (so early Indian and Theravada in affiliation) that explores a Buddhist karmic response to Vedic sacrifice through the character of a goat: “Feast for the Dead” Jātaka (Matakabhatta-jātaka, Jātakatthavaṇṇanā 18) “If beings only knew…” The Teacher [the Buddha] spoke about the feast for the […]

Here is a short lecture from Dr Naomi Appleton on how Buddhists might respond to the classical “problem of evil”. This lecture relates to Highers / Nat 5 topics such as the three marks of existence, beliefs about human beings and kamma, and meditation practice. It might also be interesting for people studying what other religions […]

Here is a short story about illness and anxiety from an Indian Buddhist text called the Avadanasataka. The text is a Sanskrit collection from around the middle of the first millennium CE, and more information and a full translation of the story can be found in my book Many Buddhas, One Buddha (Sheffield: Equinox, 2020). What I […]

I’m a bit obsessed with jataka stories – tales of the past lives of the Buddha. They are a wonderful way into Buddhist ideas, concerns and characters, not to mention fantastic stories in their own right. I made some teaching resources based around jataka stories for an earlier project – “Approaching Religion Through Story” – […]