Lessons that make a difference! Lilli (KS3)

The RS lesson that had the greatest impact on me and inspired me the most was when we learned about Buddhism, and how Buddhists use forms of art to express their faiths, in particular, mandalas. In the lesson, we watched a video of a group of Tibetan monks constructing an extremely intricate sand mandala. It was fascinating to see the amount of detail and sophistication in their art, achieved whilst only using grains of sand.

I think this had a big impact on me because is used to love colouring in mandalas when I was younger, and to reflect on them now when I am older and recognise the religious and cultural significance that they have is truly fascinating. I learnt that the word ‘mandala’ means circle in Sanskrit, and the symbolism behind this is that there is an infinite circle of life, and that everything is connected (interconnectedness). In general, I found our lessons on Buddhism very thought-provoking as the teachings seemed very meaningful and spiritual, which appealed to me even as a non-religious person.

After we watched the video, we had a go at drawing our own mandala whilst relaxing music played in the background. My mandala wasn’t anything special, but the feeling of relaxation and tranquillity that I felt when drawing it was amazing. I genuinely have never felt anything like it since. We got reassured by our teacher that it didn’t matter if it looked ‘aesthetically pleasing’, it was about the experience of drawing it and the meaning that can have. It was through trying to actually draw a mandala myself that I realised how difficult it is to create a piece of art with this level of detail. This realisation made me respect and admire the mandalas and the artists behind them even more.

We also had a go at colouring mandalas in which was also extremely relaxing and calming. I believe the reason this lesson was so impactful was that we actually got to experience and understand the meaning that these mandalas can have firs- hand through creating them ourselves, rather than just making notes or doing dull textbook work. This is what made this lesson stand out to me, and when looking back on past RS lessons, this is the first one that comes to mind.

Before this lesson I didn’t truly have a grasp on why people decided to follow a religion, as I am agnostic. However, after this lesson I had a much better understanding of how much a religion can mean to someone and how they express this, whether it be a visual form of art, a piece of music, etc. I found it extremely inspiring to see the sheer amount of dedication and effort that was put into these mandalas. Overall, it was very fascinating to learn how much meaning there was behind these mandalas, they are not just ‘pretty drawings’, and that they have a profound meaning behind them.