Our Guest From Sri Lanka
Vesak is an interesting holiday.
It is Buddha's birthday and he died on the same day 80 years after he was
born, so Buddhists also celebrate his passing into Nirvana. Romola
Rassool comes from Sri Lanka, which is an island that is south of India.
She is Muslim, but most people from Sri Lanka are Buddhists and they respect
each other's religion. Romola knew we liked to learn about different
cultures so she came from the Global Classroom program at Metro International
to talk with us. She is in New York City studying at Columbia University.
Kashawn
Buddhists believe that people are
reincarnated and live many different lives before they pass into Nirvana,
which is a place of peacefulness and rest. So they think you should
not spend your time worrying about money and trying to get lots of expensive
things because you can't take them with you into the next life. You
shouldn't be selfish and greedy. You should share with others.
Quanae
We saw pictures of the Buddha on the
Internet. The man who became the Buddha was named Siddhartha.
He was a prince in India and he was very rich. But he decided that
money did not buy happiness and he did not want to just become a king and
live in a palace. So he gave away all of his gold jewelry to the
poor and spent his life praying and teaching about religion. If you
look at pictures of the Buddha you can see that some show him with very
long ears. That is because he used to wear very heavy gold earrings
that weighed so much that they stretched his ears.
Terry-ann
Some pictures of Jesus show him with rays
of light coming out of his head. That symbolizes his ideas of how
to lead a good life and it shows that other people want to learn his ideas
and they believe in his religion. They say that the Buddha was also
enlightened, which means he had wisdom and other people wanted to learn
from him.
Donnell
We made lanterns like Buddhists do
to celebrate Vesak. Romola helped us to tie wooden sticks into diamond
shapes and cover them with bright colored paper with cut out designs.
Then we lit a candle inside to symbolize Buddha's enlightenment, just like
Christians light candles in church when they pray to Jesus. I enjoy
learning about different religions and how people believe in God.
Sierra
Linked Web Sites
Global Classroom, Metro
International
http://metrointl.org/
Buddha
Images
http://www.synaptic.bc.ca/gallery/buddha.htm
Tibetan
Buddhism
http://dharma-haven.org/tibetan/buddhism.html#Tibetan%20Art
Grade 5
Mr. Greenberg, Teacher
Public School 241
976 President Street
Brooklyn, New York 11225 USA