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An Introduction

Who created this workbook?

Victoria Shinkawa is a member of the Mountain View Buddhist Temple Girl Scout Troop 60736. She is also a Padma Girl Scout and has completed the Brownie, Junior, Cadette and Senior/Ambassador level Padma Program. In addition to this, Victoria attended the 2017 YAC (Youth Advocacy Committee) where she became a certified BCA Youth Minister’s Assistant. Victoria created this workbook using the knowledge she has gained from many years of Padma and Dharma School lessons. She would also like to acknowledge the help and wisdom of her various advisors throughout the creation of this project. Without them this workbook would not have been possible.

Why was this workbook created?

This workbook was created as part of Victoria’s Girl Scout Gold Award. Victoria had the idea to create this workbook after using the “Introduction to Buddhism and Jodo Shinshu” booklet, created by Courtney Kashiwagi, in conjunction with her Padma lessons. The purpose of this workbook is to expand upon the basic teachings discussed in the “Introduction of Buddhism and Jodo Shinshu” booklet, as well as introduce new aspects of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism. In addition, the workbook also includes interactive activities that help review the various topics in the workbook as well as to reflect on how these teachings can be incorporated into our own personal lives. This workbook is for anyone who is interested in learning more about Jodo Shinshu and wants to explore how Buddhist teachings can be applied to their personal lives.

How does one use this workbook?

This workbook is formatted to be a series of chapters, each focusing on a different topic. The chapters start off with a warm up question that should be answered or discussed before reading further into the text. After reading the text, there are review activities that go over the content covered in the chapter. The answers to these activities can be found in the back of the workbook. After reading the text and finishing the activities, the ‘Diving in Deeper’ sections are to be used to help the reader make connections between the teachings and their personal experiences.