When you begin to touch your heart or let your heart be touched, you begin to discover that it's bottomless, that it doesn't have any resolution, that this heart is huge, vast, and limitless. You begin to discover how much warmth and gentleness is there, as well as how much space. — Pema Chodron, American teacher of Tibetan Buddhism

Introduction

This workshop introduces Buddhism, an ancient faith whose great number of adherents makes it the fifth largest religion in the world. Buddhism is founded on rational principles rather than faith. Instead of focusing on their souls, practitioners seek to harness, focus, and expand their minds through discipline and practice.

Activity 3, UU Buddhists involves a guest speaker from the congregation who practices Buddhism. If none is available, make alternate arrangements.

Alternate Activity 2 involves showing a two-hour video, The Buddha. If you think this might be a useful activity for the group, read the Preparation for Activity for ways to include it in the program.

Goals

This workshop will:

• Introduce youth to fundamental concepts of Buddhism
• Relate Siddhartha Gautama's life and the emergence of Buddhism from his teachings
• Explore parallels between Buddhist concepts and Unitarian Universalism
• Identify the elements of the Eightfold Path.

Learning Objectives

Participants will:

• Understand and discuss fundamental tenets of Buddhism
• Identify similarities between Buddhism and Unitarian Universalism.

Workshop-at-a-Glance