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Yr 6 trip to the Norwich Buddhist Centre

All the children in Year 6 have recently visited the Norwich Buddhist Centre as part of the work they are doing in Religious Studies. This is what some of the children thought of their trip:

On Wednesday we went to the Norwich Buddhist centre.  It is not as big as I would have expected. When we went into the first room it smelt funny because of the incense. Then we were told to take off our shoes and coats.  One by one we went up the steep stairs.  When we got to the top of the staircase we went through a door and sat on a cushion and a mat, they were reddish in colour. Then we asked lots of questions.  Matthew

I liked the stilling exercise because you sat on cushions and thought about the Buddha.  We learnt how to chant and be kind to others as we would want them to be kind to us.  The chant was in a different language but it was fun to listen to.  They also showed us pictures of Tara she was a female Buddha who was kind and tried to teach people how to be kind to others not just themselves. I really enjoyed the Buddhist centre and I really want to go again. Emily

My absolute favourite part of the trip was when we did the stilling exercise because it very hard to concentrate and very hard to just let the thoughts come and go. I found it fun and comfortable because we sat on a mat and two pillows.
Stilling is practically meditation with a small twist, there was this bowl called the singing bowl that was small and brown. It made its noise by using a wooden beater and swirling it around the bowl, it was a soft sound.
The room was very warm, we arrived on time and they made us feel like we were at home, the Meditation Hall was very warm.  The trip was lots of fun and I will certainly not forget it.  Henry

At the front of the room was a shrine. On the shrine were candles, flowers and a statue of the Buddha.  There was an orange cloth covering the table, everything was on this.  Above the shrine was a painting of the Buddha in the city. I liked the stilling exercise because it was really relaxing. Grace

I liked looking at the pictures at the Buddhist Centre because it was fun seeing how other countries thought the Buddha looked. There were lots of pictures and we were asked what we thought of them and then if they wanted to we could go and hold the pictures up in front of everyone.  Most of the pictures looked like the Buddha was happy or feeling friendly. Also some of the pictures were him meditating and he looked very contented. My favourite picture was of Tara who was a lady, she looked very kind and friendly. There was a big picture of the Buddha in the room.  We had two people who talked to us about Buddhism they were Sarvananda which meant happiness and John, he was a mitra that means a friend of the Buddhist Centre.  Sarvananda used to be a Christian and was called Alistair.  Emily

The thing that I enjoyed the most was the room, because it was small and pretty and smelt really lovely. They put incense sticks in the little pot and it gave off a really nice smell. Also the little cushions were very comfortable and the people who spoke to us were very kind and gentle.  Maddie

Thank you to Sarvananda, John and everyone at the Norwich Buddhist Centre who made us feel so welcome.

Mr S. B. Coulthart
Head of Religious Studies