Sunday Dhamma School

 

Course Details for the Dhamma School STEP-2 of Dharmapala Institute 

Objectives
1. The Buddha
o To introduce students to the life story of the Buddha to inspire them to follow his teachings
and his life an example.
2. What the Buddha taught
o To help students realize that the Dhamma is a truly unique gift, conducive to personal and collective peace and happiness.
o To inspire students to want to find out more about the Dhamma and its philosophical bases.
o To encourage students to practice moral teachings in Buddhism for their own sake and desire a better world.
3. Buddhist stories
o To the moral teachings of Buddhism via Jataka stories

Teaching Units
o The course material for The Buddha and What the Buddha Taught has been organized into a lesson plan divided into teaching units. This approach has been designed to enable the teacher work systematically through the material. The teacher could choose to select items from the course material, using it as a resource kit.

o Buddhist Stories contains the fundamental teachings of Buddhism and contain select material
for additional dhamma teachings/instructions for young children. These contain the teachings
from Buddhist Jataka Tales (stories of the past lives of the Buddha)and are designed to introduce the history of Buddhism, principles of Buddhist concepts, ethics and morality in family and society, and aspects of humanity.

Lesson Plan for the STEP-2 Dhamma School 2020

January
Jan 26th:  Introduction to the Spring session of the Dhamma School 
o Kathahari Jathaka
February
Feb 9th
o Mudhita
o Sukhavihari Jathaka
Feb 23rd
o Upekka
o Nigrodha-Miga Jathaka
March
March 22nd o Special Bodhi Pooja
March 29th o Application of ‘Brhamavihara’ in everyday life
o Nandivisala Jathaka
April
April 19th o Mindfulness and Brahmavihara
o Kulavaka Jathaka
April 26th o Sinhala and Tamil New Year Celebration Event
May
May 10th o Vesak Celebration Event
May 17th o Revision and conclusion of the Spring Dhamma School
June July August Summer Break
September
Sep 20th: Introduction to the fall session of the Dhamma School
o Nacca Jathaka
Sep 27th o Do we see from ‘eye’ or ‘mind’
o Macca Jathaka
October
Oct 18th o Samma Ditti -1
o Vattaka Jathaka
Oct 25th o Samma Ditti-2
o Khadirangara Jathaka
November
Nov 8th o ‘Seeing is believing’ Is it or is it not?
o Losaka Jathaka
December
Dec 6th o Revision and conclusion of the Fall Dhamma School

Class structure
The class structure is as such that the students will take part in active interaction all the way through and is organized in a way to guide the children to teach themselves. Below is a template of a typical class structure:

i. Brief introduction on the aims of the lesson for that day.
ii. Review of the texts assigned on ‘The Buddha’, and ‘What the Buddha taught’.
iii. Discussion of the lesson material where children are actively engaged in this effort
using their own judgment, experience and ideas.
iv. Additional contemplation (or meditation) practice, if time permits. Students will be given
a topic and guided by the teacher.
v. After the break time (~10 minutes): Recital of The Buddhist storyassigned for that day,
by the teacher, and then engage the children in a discussion on the moral teaching.
vi. Sinhala Language Learning is scheduled for the final half-hour of the class.

Class components

  • Each student will be given a folder to keep all the lesson sheets and additional leaning material collected during the course. The lesson sheets contain material that will be discussed or practiced in each class. The lesson sheets will help maintain the continuum from one class to another, and the students will be be able to incorporate what they have learnt in their Buddhist classes into their daily life
  • Each discussion will contain the exchange of ideas in simple terms focusing on the subject assigned for that day and using simple examples from students’ daily lives.
  • Contemplation’s (reflective thinking or meditations) will also be introduced during the course. These sessions are to introduce the basics of Insight and Loving-kindness meditation to the students.

Recommended books

The following text book material will be used for the course. Please find the PDF copies of all the books in our Dhamma School web-page :https://buddhistvihara.net/dhamma-school/

1. Biography_of_sakyamuni_buddha
2. Jataka-Tales-of-the-Buddha_Part-I
3. Jataka-Tales-of-the-Buddha-Part-II
4. Jataka-Tales-of-the-Buddha_Part-III
5. Mahinda-and-Sanghamitta

END – Year 2020

 

Dhamma School  Calender 2019
(From 3.00 – 5.00 PM)

  • January – Jan 20th Jan 27th
  • February – Feb 17th Feb 24th
  • March – March 17th March 24th
  • April – April 14th April 21st
  • May  • June • July – Summer break
  • August – Aug 25th
  • September – Sep 15th Sep 22nd
  • October – Oct 6 Oct 27th
  • November – Nov 10th Nov24th
  • December – 8th
  • Winter break

 

Dhamma School Materials 

STEP-1 : 

STEP-2 :

Additional Reading  Materials/Resources

Registration

 

 Incorporated under # 1817281 on 3-13-1992 as a religious charitable organization approved by the state of California and federal government.

409 S Temple drive, Milpitas CA 95035
Tel: (408) 934-3985
Email: temple@buddhistvihara.net