A note on studying and teaching Buddhism

This essay has only been able to outline some features and aspects of what might be labelled Buddhism. When seeking to learn more, it is important to use a variety of sources – academic texts, texts by practising Buddhists, and actually meeting Buddhist adherents. Academic texts may arise from different disciplines – some may focus on ancient scriptural texts, or historical periods, and others on sociological and ethnographic study of contemporary people. It is important to ask – particularly of random internet sources, but the same applies to books and this essay – who wrote this and why, and whether they are likely to be reliable (and in what way: may be reliable about one Buddhist group but unrepresentative of others). You will gradually build up your own provisional picture of Buddhism.

In teaching Buddhism, it is also important to be clear about why you are doing it and what you wish to achieve. There are now many resources to help, appropriate to different ages of pupils, but the same questions need to be asked about the reliability and representative nature of resources for children as are asked about resources for adults. For example, what impression is given if all the pictures are of men in orange robes?