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4A Buddhism
Scheme of work
AS and A Religious Studies
Introduction
This scheme of work covers the A Level content in 19 weeks and assumes 4.5-5 hours per week. As all schools and colleges have different
timetables and teach the courses in a different way, these schemes of work have been issued in Word format to allow you to cut and paste
and use the materials to suit your department and teaching.
There is no requirement to study arguments in the original text – except for specified texts required for study at A Level in the
Anthology. The websites and resources listed in the Resources columns are simply indications of where texts may be found.
As the following resources are referred to regularly throughout the scheme of work, the abbreviations given below are used.
●
DM AS: Dominique Messent’s Buddhism material in Edexcel AS Religious Studies (2008). Note that the sections on Buddhism are
on the accompanying CD-ROM.
●
DM A2: Dominique Messent’s Buddhism material in Edexcel A2 Religious Studies (2009). Note that the sections on Buddhism are
on the accompanying CD-ROM.
Other resources are referred to in full as they appear in the scheme of work.
It is not compulsory to study these in this format but candidates must be aware of the argument or view of those named in the Specification
for each topic area. Texts in bold and referenced in the Anthology ARE compulsory for study at A Level.
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© Pearson Education Ltd 2016
Week
Topic
Content
Suggested resources
1
Introduction
Introduction to Buddhism, the structure of the course
and the assessment.
DM AS and DM A2
P Cole & R Gray Edexcel Religious Studies for AS
(Hodder Education, 2009) was endorsed for the
2008 specification and contains material on
Buddhism.
There are a number of general resources which
you may want to refer to in your studies of this
component:
E Conze, Buddhist Scriptures (Penguin Classics
1969)
W Rahula, What the Buddha taught (Oneworld
publications, 2014)
D Side, Buddhism (Philip Allan Updates, 2005).
This text was written to support AS and A level
students.
Useful websites on Buddhist studies:
www.buddhanet.net
dharmanet.org
https://journals.equinoxpub.com
religiousstudies.stanford.edu
Videos:
www.pbs.org/show/the-buddha/
YouTube Buddhism videos
2
Religious beliefs,
values and
teachings
© Pearson Education Ltd 2016
The Four Noble Truths
The Four Noble Truths as the basis of Buddhism and the
centrality of such for different Buddhists:
B Bodhi, The Four Noble Truths
www.beyondthenet.net/dhamma/fourNoble.htm
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Week
Topic
Content
Suggested resources
a) The Three Poisons.
D Keown, Buddhism. A Very Short Introduction
(Oxford University Press, 1996), Chapter 4
D Keown, A Dictionary of Buddhism (Oxford
University Press, 2004)
b) The Buddha’s teaching on suffering and the cessation of
craving/desire in the Four Noble Truths: dukkha,
samudaya/tanha, nirodha and magga. Including reference
to the nature of Enlightenment and nibbana.
How these are understood in Theravada and Mahayana,
both historically and in the contemporary world.
3
1. Religious
beliefs, values
and teachings
(cont’d)
D Side, Buddhism (Philip Allan, 2005), chapters
7,8
With reference to the ideas of D Keown and B Bodhi.
W Rahula, What the Buddha taught (Oneworld
publications, 2014)
The Four Noble Truths (cont’d)
DM A2 Chap 2: 2.1; 2.3; 2.4
c) The Eightfold Path:
 its summary in the Three-fold Way: ethics,
meditation and wisdom
 the ethical principles of the Noble Eightfold Path:
right action, right speech, right livelihood
 the qualities of metta, karuna and khanti
 the relationship between these principles and the
Four Noble truths.
B Bodhi, The Noble Eightfold Path
www.beyondthenet.net/dhamma/nobleEight.htm
How these are understood in Theravada and Mahayana,
both historically and in the contemporary world.
With reference to the ideas of D Keown and B Bodhi.
D Keown, Buddhism. A Very Short Introduction
(Oxford University Press, 1996), Chapter 4
D Keown, A Dictionary of Buddhism (Oxford
University Press, 2004)
Other useful sources:
P Cole & R Gray, Edexcel Religious Studies for AS
(Hodder Education, 2009) Unit 2 Area D
D Side, Buddhism (Philip Allan, 2005) Chapter 4
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1. Religious
beliefs, values
and teachings
(cont’d)
1.2 The Five Khandas and the Three Marks of
Existence
How the three marks and the Five khandas are understood
in Theravada and Mahayana, both historically and in the
contemporary world, including how they may be linked to
the rejection of the idea of the self and the non-existence
DM A2 2.2
A reference book for the ideas of Buddhaghosa is
in the Visuddhimagga
www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nanamoli/Pa
thofPurification2011.pdf. This is a large text and
is an indicative/suggested source, should
© Pearson Education Ltd 2016
Week
Topic
Content
Suggested resources
of God.
students wish to study elements of this.
Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, Everyday
Consciousness and Primordial Awareness (2007).
a) The three marks of existence and how these are
reflected throughout existence and also through Buddhist
teachings. The importance of this in understanding the
nature of reality, the ultimate reality, and the meaning and
purpose of life.
b) The Five khandas in Theravada; death and the afterlife:
the concept of rebirth, Nibbana, karma and the search for
Enlightenment. The importance of this in understanding
the nature of reality, the ultimate reality, and the meaning
and purpose of life.
Other useful sources include:
W de Bary, The Buddhist Tradition in India, China
and Japan (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group,
2011), pp.9-12;
D Side, Buddhism (Philip Allan, 2005), Chapters
8-11.
With reference to the ideas of Buddhaghosa in the
Visuddhimagga and T W Rinpoche.
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1. Religious
beliefs, values
and teachings
(cont’d)
1.3 The Three Refuges
The meaning and significance of the three refuges: the
Buddha, dhamma and the sangha.
a) The significance of each of these for a place of refuge
within Buddhism.
b) The interrelationship between these three refuges.
c) Different interpretations of the role and nature of the
sangha and the role and nature of the Buddha.
d) The implications of the refuges for worship and daily
life.
How these are understood in Theravada and Mahayana,
both historically and in the contemporary world.
DM AS 2.1
B Bodhi, Going for Refuge & Taking the Precepts
www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/wheel
282.html
T Bhikkhu Refuge: An Introduction to the Buddha,
Dhamma, & Sangha
www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/r
efuge.html
Other useful sources:
P Cole & R Gray Edexcel Religious Studies for AS
(Hodder Education, 2009) Unit 1 Area C
With reference to the ideas of B Bodhi, T Bhikkhu.
© Pearson Education Ltd 2016
5
Week
Topic
Content
Suggested resources
6
1. Religious
beliefs, values
and teachings
(cont’d)
1.4 Key Moral Principles
B Bodhi Going for Refuge & Taking the Precepts
www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/wheel
282.html
a) The Five Precepts.
b) How these are understood in Theravada and Mahayana
both historically and in the contemporary world.
With reference to the ideas of P Harvey and B Bodhi.
P Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhism.
Teachings, history and practices (Cambridge
University Press, 2013), Chapter 9.
D Side, Buddhism (Philip Allan, 2005), chapter 12
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2. Sources of
wisdom and
authority
The Life and Work of the Buddha
The life and work of the Buddha, its meaning and
significance in its historical, religious and social context
and the important teachings that his life exemplifies. (1)
a) The key events of his life, including birth, childhood, the
four sights, life as an ascetic, search for Enlightenment,
Enlightenment, founding of the sangha, preaching, his
death and parinibbana.
b) Links with a range of religious groupings at this time,
including their beliefs and practice.
c) Understanding and assessment of sacrifices, caste
systems, social and economic groupings and changes;
types of authority and kingship.
DM AS Chap 1
ANTHOLOGY (1) Armstrong K – Buddha,
Chapter 3 Enlightenment, pp. 60–88
(Phoenix, 2002) ISBN 9780753813409
N Bhikkhu, The Life of the Buddha: According to
the Pali Canon (Pariyatti Press, 2003)
Other useful sources:
W de Bary, The Buddhist tradition (Knopf
Doubleday, 2011), chapter 2
P Cole & R Gray, Edexcel Religious Studies for AS
(Hodder Education, 2009) Unit 1 Area C
E Conze, Buddhist Scriptures (Penguin Classics,
1969), chapter 2
With reference to K Armstrong and N Bhikkhu.
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2. Sources of
wisdom and
authority (cont’d)
2.2 The Tipitaka
The significance, interpretation, use and treatment of the
Tipitaka.
D Keown, A Dictionary of Buddhism (Oxford
University Press, 2004)
© Pearson Education Ltd 2016
Week
Topic
Content
Suggested resources
a) The status of the Tipitaka as the teachings of the
Buddha and its collection and formation.
A reference book on the Tipitaka is Matthew
Meghaprasara New Guide to the Tipitaka: A
Complete Reference to the Pali Buddhist Canon
(Sangha of Books, 2013). This is a very large text
itself and should be used for reference.
b) The different sections, along with their context:
●
Vinaya Pitaka and how this aims to produce a
cohesive community
●
Sutta Pikata and the search for Enlightenment
●
Abhidhamma Pitaka and interpretation and
understanding of the Buddha’s teachings and a
consideration of whether this is the work of the
Buddha himself.
D Side, Buddhism (Philip Allan, 2005), Chapter 5.
This provides a useful and accessible summary.
c) The significance of the Tipitaka as the source of the
Buddha’s teachings and its use, importance and impact as
a source of wisdom in Buddhism.
With reference to the ideas of D Keown and M
Meghaprasara.
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3. Practices that
shape and
express religious
identity
3. 1 Theravada Buddhism
Distinctive practices and emphases of Theravada Buddhism
and how they shape and express religious identity.
a) Its significance as the only surviving form of Nikaya
Buddhism.
b) Rejection of the idea of the Three Vehicles.
c) The centrality of Buddha Gautama, especially in their
use of images and stupas.
d) The goal of nibbana and parinibbana as a central
teaching alongside an emphasis on renunciation, including
the four stages to becoming an arahant.
e) The distinctive teachings of Theravada; their
interpretation and application in light of the life and
© Pearson Education Ltd 2016
A handful of leaves www.ahandfulofleaves.org
R Gombrich, Theravada Buddhism: A Social
History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo
(The Library of Religious Beliefs and Practices)
(Routledge, 2006)
H Gunaratana, The Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist
Meditation
www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/gunaratana/
wheel351.html
Other useful sources:
W de Bary, The Buddhist tradition (Knopf
Doubleday, 2011), chapter 1
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Week
Topic
Content
Suggested resources
teachings of the Buddha and other traditions of Buddhism
and their different emphases.
With reference to the ideas of R Gombrich and H
Gunaratana.
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3. Practices that
shape and
express religious
identity (cont’d)
3. 2 Mahayana Buddhism
Distinctive practices and emphases of Mahayana Buddhism
and how they shape and express religious identity.
a) Its development and context in the second century BCE
and the first century CE.
A Basham in de Bary W T et al, The Buddhist
Tradition in India, China and Japan, Chapter 3
(Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2011)
14th Dalai Lama ‘Essence Of Mahayana
Buddhism’ (video)
b) The extension of the concept of the Buddha to include
the Buddha and creation. The specific concept of the
Buddha as a cosmic presence that influences the world.
c) The Buddha nature in every person. The centrality of
Buddha Gautama, especially in their use of images and
stupas.
The different schools of Mahayana should be explored in
the context of the countries in which they developed and
are practised.
With reference to the ideas of A Basham and the 14th
Dalai Lama.
11
8
3. Practices that
shape and
express religious
identity (cont’d)
3.3 Meditation
DM AS 2.2
The different types and purposes of meditation, their
context and application and how they shape and express
religious identity.
T Bhikkhu: Basic Breath Meditation Instructions
www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/b
reathmed.html
© Pearson Education Ltd 2016
Week
Topic
Content
Suggested resources
a) The different types of meditation in Buddhism.
The Agendas of Mindfulness
www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/a
gendas.html
b) The place and context of meditation as part of the
eight-fold path, links to wisdom and morality, including the
influence of types of meditation on moral development.
c) The practice and purpose of dhyana, samatha and
vipassana as types of meditation, including accounts of
meditation techniques, their purposes and context.
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J Goldstein, Mindfulness. A Practical Guide to
Awakening (Sounds True, 2016)
d) Understanding of the purposes of meditation in terms of
Enlightenment and the relative importance of some
aspects of meditation. The practices of chanting, giving
and study to understand Buddhism as it is lived by
laypeople as well as monastics.
Insight Meditation: The Practice of Freedom
(Shmabhala, 2003)
With reference to the ideas of T Bhikkhu and J Goldstein.
P Cole & R Gray, Edexcel Religious Studies for AS
(Hodder Education, 2009) Unit 1 Area C
Other useful source;
Complete any remaining topic areas, re-visit key terms
and test knowledge of basic concepts before planning and
embarking upon systematic revision and question practice.
4. Social and
historical
developments
4.1 Spread of Buddhism
The spread of Buddhism and the impact of migration; with
specific reference to developments in China and Japan.
a) Beliefs and practices of Pure Land and Zen, types of
tradition, key people and distinctive emphases, including
relevant indigenous traditions and Buddhism’s encounter
with modernity.
b) Key teachings and practices, including the contributions
of key people and significant features of relevant scripture.
c) Significant features that constitute gradual or more
radical changes from earlier traditions, including debates
© Pearson Education Ltd 2016
DM A2 1.2; 1.3
A good overview text is de Bary W T et al, The
Buddhist Tradition in India, China and Japan,
(Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2011). Pure
Land and Zen in China and Japan chaps 7 , 11,
13
Shinko Mochizuki, Leo M. Pruden, Trans (2002),
Pure Land Buddhism in China: A Doctrinal
History, Chapter Five: The Early Pure Land Faith:
Southern China, and Chapter Six: The Early Pure
Land Faith: Northern China. In: Pacific World
Journal, Third Series, Number 4, 259-279.
9
Week
Topic
Content
Suggested resources
about belief and practice in these respective
traditions/schools.
149-165.
With reference to the ideas of S Mochizuki and W T de
Bary.
14
4. Social and
historical
developments
(cont’d)
4.2 Triratna Buddhism
The rise of Triratna Buddhism in response to
secularisation, Western culture and ideals.
a) The beliefs and teachings of Triratna Buddhism
(formerly Friends of the Western Buddhist Order) in the
context of Western society and wider Buddhist beliefs and
teachings, including the importance of the three refuges,
the unity of the sangha, the importance of spreading the
message of Buddhism and the rejection of specific rules
within the context of the sangha.
Another useful source is
D Side, Buddhism Philip Allan 2005 chaps 15, 16
Vajragupta, The Triratna Story (Windhorse, 2010)
J Coleman, The New Buddhism: The Western
Transformation of an Ancient Tradition (Oxford
University Press, 2002)
Other useful source
D Side, Buddhism (Philip Allan, 2005), chapter 21
b) The success of applying Buddhist teaching in a different
culture and the response of other Buddhist traditions to
these developments.
With reference to the ideas of Vajragupta and J Coleman.
15
4. Social and
historical
developments
(cont’d)
4.3 Gender and Buddhism
The development of the role of women, and the changing
role of men, in different forms of Buddhism.
a) The significance of Māhapājapatī Gotamī and the
development of the role of women in the ordained sangha;
the role of men in the sangha.
N S Salgado, Buddhist Nuns and Gendered
Practice: In Search of the Female Renunciant
(Oxford UP, 2013)
T Bartholomeusz, Women under the Bo Tree:
Buddhist nuns in Sri Lanka (Cambridge UP, 2009)
b) Family life and the role of men and women in Buddhism
in the dhamma, history and contemporary society.
10
© Pearson Education Ltd 2016
Week
Topic
Content
Suggested resources
c) Feminist approaches in contemporary Buddhism.
With reference to the ideas of N S Salgado and T
Bartholomeusz.
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5. Works of
scholars
5.1 Comparison of the bodhisattva doctrine in the
works of two scholars. (2) (3)
a) The concept of the bodhisattava with specific reference
to the writings of Arthur Basham and Walpola Rahula.
b) Mahayana Buddhism: the doctrine as found in the Lotus
Sutra, including beliefs about wisdom, liberation, lovingkindness and skilful means.
c) The stages and perfections of the Bodhisattva path,
including their place in particular traditions.
d) Debates such as the context of this belief system in
Theravada Buddhism, together with issues, including
transfer of karmic merit.
DM A2 2.5
ANTHOLOGY
(2) de Bary W T et al, The Buddhist Tradition
in India, China and Japan, Chapter 3 The
Bodhisattva, pp. 81–109 (Knopf Doubleday
Publishing Group, 2011) ISBN
9780307778796
(3) Rahula W, Gems of Buddhist Wisdom,
Chapter 27 Bodhisattva Ideal in Buddhism,
pp. 461–471 (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia:
Buddhist Missionary Society, 1996) ISBN
9789679920673
With a focus on the bodhisattva doctrine, outline
and analyse these two scholars, noting their
significance and any difference in understanding
and practice between different forms of
Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism.
17
6. Religion and
society
6.1 Ahimsa
The interpretation and application of ahimsa for a Buddhist
in the modern world. (4)
a) The First Precept — to refrain from harming a living
thing, the interpretation of ahimsa by Buddhists with
specific examples of how this may be lived, such as
© Pearson Education Ltd 2016
ANTHOLOGY (4)
www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/index.ht
ml (Samyutta Nikaya 42.3 Yodhajiva Sutta:
To Yodhajiva (The Warrior))
14th Dalai Lama, Ahimsa - India’s Contribution to
the World available at http://meridiantrust.org/video/ahimsa-indias-contribution-tothe-world-h-h-the-dalai-lama/.
11
Week
Topic
Content
Suggested resources
vegetarianism, right livelihood and involvement in the
armed forces.
Other useful sources
b) The role of other beliefs and considerations in the living
of ahimsa, including differences in application and
importance within different traditions, and in the example
of the Buddha. Specific reference should be made to
excerpts of the Pali Canon and the Lotus Sutra.
P Cole & R Gray Edexcel Religious Studies for AS
(Hodder Education, 2009) Unit 2 Area D
E Conze Buddhist Scriptures Penguin Classics
1969 p 83-90
With reference to the ideas of the 14th Dalai Lama and T
Bartholomeusz.
18
6. Religion and
society (cont’d)
6.2 Issues in contemporary society
a) The significance of teachings that underpin involvement
and support in and for liberationist approaches to religion
and society, religious freedom, religious tolerance,
pluralism and interfaith dialogue for Buddhists in a
multicultural society.
b) The ways that Buddhists respond to diversity in different
traditions of Buddhism. How different Buddhist traditions
view other religious and non-religious world views and
their truth claims.
Sri Dhammananda, Buddhist Attitudes towards
other religions available at
www.dhammikaweb.com/pdfs/BUDDHIST_ATTIT
UDE_TOWARDS_THE_RELIGIONS.pdf
14th Dalai Lama, Towards The True Kinship Of
Faiths: How the World's Religions Can Come
Together (Abacus, 2012)
c) The benefits, extent of the involvement and potential
barriers from a Buddhist context, including the difference
in application and importance of interfaith dialogue in light
of different traditions of Buddhism, including the different
cultural and country contexts in which Buddhists are found.
With reference to the ideas of the 14th Dalai Lama and K
Sri Dhammananda.
19
12
6. Religion and
society (cont’d)
6.2 Issues in contemporary society (cont’d)
14th Dalai Lama, The Universe in a Single Atom
(Abacus, 2007)
© Pearson Education Ltd 2016
Week
Topic
Content
Suggested resources
d) Buddhist teachings and responses to issues of science.
How Buddhism has responded to these in the historical and
contemporary world.
Outline and analyse the significance of
involvement and support in and for issues of
science such as creation for Buddhists today and
in history.
With reference to the ideas of the 14th Dalai Lama
Review all topics covered so far. Revise key ideas and
terminology.
Re-visit essay structure and technique for answering
questions across the paper. (Reminder of trigger words.)
© Pearson Education Ltd 2016
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