Saturday, May 31, 2008
Buddha for kids: Dharmapala Buddhist Center
Send us your religion news Your Community, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, VA 24010 or e-mail yourcommunity@roanoke.comParents say the meditation techniques of the Buddhist tradition are helpful for their kids.
ERIC BRADY The Roanoke Times
Dharma for Kids teacher Katie Clifton-Wright explains to Alex Berra, 6 (left); Bria Devinney, 4; and Brian Berra, 7, the best way to sit for meditation at the Dharmapala Buddhist Center in Roanoke County.
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Katie Clifton-Wright was looking for a spiritual center for her family when she began meditating at Roanoke's Dharmapala Buddhist Center last summer.
The Roanoke mother enjoyed the peace that the practice gave her and wanted to share it with her two children, Harrison, 5, and Tallulah, 18 months. But there were no local programs for kids.
Buddhist children's programs aren't as easy to find as Sunday school for Christian children, Koranic school for Muslim kids or Hebrew school for Jewish children.
So Clifton-Wright, a teacher at Community School, decided to start one herself.
Last September, she began Dharma for Kids, a program that takes place on the third Saturday of each month at the Dharmapala Buddhist Center.
"Buddhism is really fun for children," she said. "There's so much love and joy and giving in Buddhism, and that's what children are about."
The type of Buddhism practiced at the Dharmapala Buddhist Center -- the New Kadampa Tradition -- has several programs for children worldwide.
The center's educational program coordinator, Sherri Spain, said the Kadampa tradition is well suited for children because it's accessible and geared to the West, and it focuses on simple instructions such as how to be kind or patient.
"I think this is pretty unique to our tradition," Spain said about Kadampa's number of children's programs.
During each session, Clifton-Wright includes a brief meditation, teaching, story and art activity.
Clifton-Wright began a recent session by leading five children through a meditation about seeing and appreciating the things you have.
Then she read "Peach and Blue," a children's book about an adventurous peach who teaches a big blue-bellied toad how to appreciate the beauty of his home.
She likened the tale to how Buddha teaches people to see the joy and beautiful things around them.
Then she pulled out some bright foam glasses and glitter and asked the kids to make "Buddha glasses" to help them see the world through his eyes.
Parents send their children to Clifton-Wright's program for a variety of reasons.
Some practice Buddhism and want their children to as well. Others are looking for other options for spiritual training besides formal religion and want their children to explore life's big, universal questions.
Others send their children because of meditation's power to relax and calm them.
Tracie Berra described meditation's wonderful calming effect on kids and said she'll ask her son Brian, 7, to breathe in and out when he has a temper tantrum.
Another mother, Traci Bitrick, said the program was good to introduce Buddhist concepts to children and said meditation helped calm her hyperactive son Eli, 10.
"When kids get quiet, they can realize that all the strength they need is inside them," Clifton-Wright said.
She also believes that Buddhism has made her a better, stronger mother, especially after she separated from her husband seven months ago.
"I just think it saved my sanity and grounded me," Clifton-Wright said. "Thank goodness for Buddha."
