Year 10 - Religious education
Kamma and rebirth
Buddhism: Practices
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
In this unit pupils will examine practices in Buddhism such as puja and meditation. They will understand the considerable diversity of these practices among Buddhist adherents. Following that they wil look at the role of precepts and how these look different in Therevada and Mahayna Buddhism.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to explain Buddhist beliefs on kamma and rebirth, why these beliefs are important and how they influence Buddhists today.
Key Notes
- Karma/kamma is the belief in cause and effect.
- Most Theravada Buddhists want to achieve positive karma/kamma to avoid samsara and rebirth.
- Most Mahayana Buddhists want to achieve positive karma/kamma to be reborn as a Bodhisattva.
- Compassion (karuna) and loving-kindness (metta) are ways to achieve positive karma/kamma.
- Many Buddhists adopt the five moral precepts (panchasila).
Vocabulary To Learn
- enlightenment: a state of wisdom that enables total clarity and understanding of the truths of existence
- karma/kamma: the belief in cause and effect
- Nirvana/Nibbana: liberation from the cycle of birth, death and rebirth
- rebirth: refers to the belief that when a being dies they are reborn
- samsara: the cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Karma and rebirth is the belief in a 'self' or 'soul' that is reborn. Many people assume that karma dictates the fate of a permanent, unchanging soul that carries over from one life to the next.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the lesson in two key points.
Karma/kamma is the belief in cause and effect. Most Theravada Buddhists want to achieve positive karma/kamma to avoid samsara and rebirth.
2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'enlightenment'
a state of wisdom that enables total clarity and understanding of the truths of existence.
3. Correct this common mistake.
Mistake: Karma and rebirth is the belief in a 'self' or 'soul' that is reborn. Many people assume that karma dictates the fate of a permanent, unchanging soul that carries over from one life to the next. Correction: There is no eternal, unchanging self or soul. Instead, Buddhism teaches the concept of anatta, meaning 'no-self'. What is reborn is not a permanent soul, but a continuing process or stream of consciousness influenced by past actions (karma).
More Lessons In This Unit
- Buddha rupa, artefacts and offerings Study Guide
- Celebrations: origins and significance of Wesak and Parinirvana Day Study Guide
- Ceremonies and rituals associated with death and mourning Study Guide
- Compassion and loving-kindness Study Guide
- Samatha meditation Study Guide
- The five moral precepts: do not take life or what is not given Study Guide
- The five moral precepts: senses, falsehoods or intoxicants Study Guide
- The nature and importance of diverse places of worship for Buddhists Study Guide
- The role and significance of Puja for Buddhists Study Guide
- The six perfections in the Mahayana tradition: generosity and morality Study Guide
- The six perfections in the Mahayana tradition: meditation and wisom Study Guide
- The six perfections in the Mahayana tradition: patience and energy Study Guide
- Vipassana meditation Study Guide
- Visualisation of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas Study Guide
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