Wat Buddhapadipa is a Thai Buddhist temple in Wimbledon. It was the first such temple to be built in the United Kingdom. It is home to monks and nuns, but welcomes visitors of any faith to view the grounds and temple and the Year 4 girls enjoyed walking around the serene gardens and seeing the temple itself – its white exterior walls are in contrast to the red and gold colours of the roof and decorations of the frames of the windows and doors. Inside the temple hall, the walls are covered with paintings showing the life of the Buddha—from his birth to his death, and the girls heard a little about the Buddhist religion from one of the monks. We remember the clear message he gave us: don’t do bad, do good, clear the mind.
In Buddhism the girls learnt the importance of compassion which means wanting to help others. Compassion is an important message in all religions. He led them in a meditation session in the temple and then they enjoyed the peace and tranquillity of the children’s meditation garden. The girls have been practising meditation in their RE lessons at school.
Year 4 took along food donations for the monks who live there. It was a wonderful outing and the girls enjoyed their quiet meditative time in the calm grounds and learning about Buddhism during their visit.
