Buddhists are people who follow the teachings of the Buddha. They believe it's important to show kindness to all living things.
Following the Buddha's teachings is called Buddhism.
Many Buddhists try to live a peaceful life and help others at their temple, at their home, in their community and anywhere else they go.
Watch: Find out how Milo shows care in his community
Video about the different ways Buddhists show care.
Milo: Hi, I’m Milo, and I’m a Buddhist.
In Buddhism, we follow the teachings of the Buddha, which includes doing kind things for other people.
We have a word, ‘dana’, which means giving or charity.
And we also believe in karma, the idea that good actions make ourselves and the world a better place.
One way we do this is by making the temple open and welcoming to everyone.
There can be over 100 visits in a year from schools, colleges and other groups!
When people come, monks teach them about Buddhism and about the temple.
We also teach classes to people.
Anyone can take meditation classes and reflect on how to be kind and helpful.
Or they can learn about Thai music or dancing. These are very popular and happen four times a week.
The temple helps our neighbours, and they also help the temple.
During big festivals, such as Vesak, the Buddha’s birthday, we have as many as two hundred people volunteer to help.
And many other volunteers help to maintain the temple’s garden all year round.
It’s nice that our community does so much for the temple… and that we can do so much for our community!
What do Buddhists believe?
Buddhists do not worship a god.
They try to learn lessons from the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, a spiritual leader. He lived over 2,500 years ago.
Buddhists believe the Buddha is an important person, who helps them understand how to live a good and peaceful life.
How Buddhists show care
Buddhists learn and practise metta. This means showing loving-kindness to all living things and helping them not to get hurt.
Many Buddhists also practise dana, which means showing generosity. They do this by giving to other people.
The temple is a place where Buddhists and other people go to meet, A way to practise concentration and think clearly. and learn about Buddhism.
Here are some examples of how Buddhists do this:- reading the Buddhist texts containing rules, teachings from the Buddha, and teachings from the Buddha's companions.
- meditating with others
- practising dana
- looking after the temple gardens
- attending classes and community groups
- helping to organise community events.
Story
Watch the story about how the Buddha showed loving-kindness.
Watch the video to find out more about the Buddhist religious story.
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