Activities in Mahindarama
Why stay at home on Sunday?
Are you GROWING
?
Grow in faith , generosity , virtue , knowledge and wisdom.
As you tread the Buddha's path together with us, we hope to see you growing towards a higher spiritual achievement.............
Therefore why stay at home, come out and join us ..
Our Main Objectives here in Mahindarama are :
1. to share with you the compassionate teachings of the Buddha,
2. to guide you in practicing the ways of the Buddha-Dhamma.
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Sunday Dhamma Classes |
The Sunday Dhamma classes provide Buddhist studies to both young and old, new and beginners. Classes are structured as below to ensure progressive upgrading of the Dhamma knowledge:
| Dhamma Class | Entry Age | |||
| 1 | Kindergarten 1 | 5 |  Class of 2001 |
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| 2 | Kindergarten 2 | 6 | ||
| 3 | Level 1 | 7 | ||
| 4 | Level 2 | 8 | ||
| 5 | Level 3 | 9 | ||
| 6 | Level 4 | 10 | ||
| 7 | Level 5 | 11 | ||
| 8 | Level 6 | 12 | ||
| 9 | Preliminary | 13~14 |
These levels are
based on completion of the course and the promotion system. |
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| 10 | Junior | 15~16 | ||
| 11 | Senior | 17~18 | ||
| 12 | Adult | 18 & above | ||
| 13 | Parental | Compulsory for new parents | (12 weeks of short Introductory class) | |
The administration of the Sunday Classes falls under the administration staff headed by the Department Head appointed by the Mahindarama Sunday Pali School Management Committee. All the Teaching Staff have gone through a minimum of 75% training hour of Basic Dhamma and Delivery / Facilitation Skills provided by the Training Department.
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The facilitation guides are based on the Integrated Syllabus developed by the Syllabus Department where emphasize are focus on Value-based and Activity-based Learning. Pali language and Pali Chanting were incorporated into the education syllabus. The Dhamma Class belief in : " It's never too old to learn."
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Teacher Resource Centre (TRC) |
The Syllabus and Material Departments were created to realize the need of a new teaching methodology which will be incorporated in the modern facilitation / delivery skills to achieve the objectives. Thus the Value-based SyllabusTM which aims to provide the specific Buddhist values in the context of daily experience and relate them to the traditional Buddhist contents such as Dhammapada and other related suttas and Buddhist events.
These, opposed to the conventional teaching method which begin with the life of the Buddha and end up with the specific teachings of the Buddha such as the Four Noble Truths, the Dependent Origination, the Law of Kamma, etc. which usually provide the learner with academic knowledge (good for examination) and not the practical knowledge which they can relate to life.
Though the syllabus may not lead or provide support to the examination structure, the learners are encourage to participate in the local Buddhist examination ( Malaysian Buddhist Examination Syndicate ) as well as the international Buddhist examination ( Colombo Young Men's Buddhist Association Examination ).
Click here for the sample of the syllabus.
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Training and Development Department |
The main objective of forming this department is provide the basic support in creating the strong pools of dedicated and competent Dhamma facilitators and Dhamma speakers. Realizing how importance the Dhamma Teachers roles are, as the trainer of our future Buddhist leaders, we need to develop a team of effective Dhamma Duta (ambassadors) that will help to achieve the Sunday School mission. This department is also given a task to provide other living skill such as Human Relationship, Interaction Management, Improving Communication Skill, etc. to enrich the life of our members. |
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Students' Activities |
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GeeBees Choir The main responsibilities of this section is to promote members of the Sunday School to learn and appreciate the Buddhist Hymns and Gathas ( hymns that praise the virtues of the Buddha, His teachings and Disciples ). |
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| You may download the Buddhist hymns in mp3 format or the lyrics at the website dedicated for the GeeBees here. | ||
Besides the normal activities carried out by the various Departments, there are also the annual projects organize by the pro-tem committee assigned from time to time.
1.
Chinese New Year Carolling
2. Annual Get-Together / Appreciation Dinner
3. Wesak Celebration
a. Vegetarian Food Fair
b. Wesak Exhibition
c. Wesak Procession
d. etc.
4. Children Holidays' Camp
5. Buddhist Concert or Talent Time
6. Dhamma Competition - Arts & Crafts, Pali Chanting, etc
7. Family Day Outing - Picnics / Bungalow Stay / Temple or Welfare visit
