Lời Nói Đầu

Cuốn sách này được dịch nguyên văn từ tác phẩm Buddhism key stage one của Jing Yin Ken Hudson. Tôi dịch cuốn sách này và gửi đến Thư viện Hoa Sen với các lý do :
- Đạo Phật được truyền bá rộng rãi cho mọi người. Đặc biệt là các em thiếu nhi. Những mầm non cho tương lai mai sau. Các em cần phải hiểu biết Đạo Phật.
- Đây là món quà thành kính dâng lên Đức Phật, mong ngài ban phước lành cho mọi người; cho gia đình tôi; cho bạn bè; cho tất cả mọi người.
Rất mong Thư viện Hoa Sen duyệt và chọn đăng để làm tài liệu cho các em thiếu nhi học tập.

Đà Nẵng, ngày 14 tháng 10 năm 2009.

Hoàng Phước Đại; Pháp danh Đồng An

The present publication constitutes the first out of four textbooks on Buddhism devised for children between five and seven years of age. The primary aims of these textbooks are to help young pupils to acquire the essential knowledge about the life of the Buddha, his fundamental teaching and the historical development of Buddhism. The information is basically factual, although it places a marked emphasis on the salient character of Buddhist morality and its constructive attitude towards people and society.

Buddhism for Key Stage One provides an introduction to the basic concept of the Triple Gem, namely the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. These three elements constitute the three pillars of Buddhism.

The Buddha is the founder and teacher, the Dharma represents the Buddha’s teachings, and the Sangha denotes the Buddhist community as a whole, living in accordance with the Buddha’s teachings. In addition to these three elements covered in separate chapters, the textbook also includes ten selected Buddhist stories, which are to serve as additional aids to help the pupils gain a better grasp of Buddhist principles and see their
application in various contexts.

The accompanying Pupil’s Workbook contains various types of exercises based on standard teaching methods. They are intended for revision purposes and should be used at the discretion of the teacher. The

English grammar and vocabulary are adapted to the level of an average pupil of Key Stage One. However, some pupils may need further assistance with the reading of this book. All Buddhist terms, printed in blue, (which are hyperlinked in this PDF) are listed in the glossary.

The subjects covered in this and the remaining issues of this series are in accordance with the syllabus prescribed in the UK by the revised National Curriculum in 1994.

This textbook is produced by the Buddhist Education Foundation. It is a charitable organisation which aims to promote the education of Buddhism in this country.

The authors of the text are Jing Yin and Ken Hudson. Jing Yin is a Buddhist monk from China. He studied Buddhism in China and Sri Lanka. Currently he is in his final year of his Ph.D. programme at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He is being supervised by Dr T. Skorupski, who has also been consulted in matters relating to this textbook. Ken Hudson has taught in Australia, Canada and England for
more than 20 years. Liu Yanfeng, a professional artist, has done the illustrations.

We would appreciate receiving feedback from both teachers and pupils about this first edition with a view to improving the material for the next edition