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 […]

Join us for the first of our virtual CPD events for teachers of Buddhism. This one, to be held on 20th June 2020, 10-12, is particularly aimed at Scottish teachers of the National 5 or Highers Buddhism RMPS unit. Find out more and register through EventBrite here.  

Buddhism through 108 objects in Scotland: Object 1 – A Gandharan relief of the Dipankara story This image at the National Museum of Scotland Edinburgh shows the Buddha-to-be in a past life, taking a vow to future buddhahood at the feet of the past buddha Dipankara. Confused? A few things to keep in mind: The […]

With so many introductory books about Buddhism out there, most written by and for Buddhists, how can you find a good scholarly textbook to educate yourself or your students? Here are Naomi Appleton’s top three introductions to Buddhism: Damien Keown – Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction The books in this very short introduction series are […]

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” – […]

Here are some resources created by Naomi Appleton and colleagues some years ago, which use stories as a way to open up discussion of key beliefs, values and traditions. They were originally posted here: http://www.storyandreligion.div.ed.ac.uk/schools/resources/ The resources are aimed at upper primary and early secondary school level, and are mapped onto aspects of the Scottish […]