Dear Editor,
Ethiopians in Africa created an image of a black Jesus Christ while Europeans created a white Jesus. The Indian Gautama Buddha was transformed in the rest of Asia (Chinese, Thais, Vietnamese, Koreans and Japanese, etc) into an image of Buddha which replicated their own distinctive Mongoloid features of slanted eyes.
India’s Hinduism (from which Buddhism originated) featured their sacred deities or Gods with images with their own Indian features including animals living in harmony when worshipping God as in the Vedas. The use of images, pictures, animals or statues which explains and gives meaning to religion is nothing new.
For thousands of years visual aids were an integral Hindu method of worshipping, teaching their children its preservation and continuing their Vedic way of life. Yet, Hinduism came under criticism for idol imagery which is a modern teaching method practised today in schools.
Two main techniques: 1. phonetics and 2. whole language are generally employed in teaching.
In phonics, the sounds of a word by its syllables do not bring meaning to the words or letters but allows an understanding of its possible pronunciation. Whole language uses pictures or images to evoke prior language of a particular word into graphic meaning.
Since a picture can tell more than a thousand words, images are therefore important.
For example, a teacher before reading a story will show their students a picture, say of “Old Mc Donald who had a farm”, and ask them to describe details seen.
Developing critical thinking is achieved by eliciting the necessary information from the students for effective education.
Some of the questions may include a) the setting of the place, b) clothes worn, c) any animals present, d) making comparisons to another environment and, e) what do you think this story is all about? Students initially would have already known or comprehend the old McDonald story is about farm life with assorted animals.
After the Mahabharata war which pitted cousins feuding over a kingdom most of the Hindu intellectuals were decimated resulting in Hinduism’s decline and pervasiveness.
Buddhism later became widespread in India.
But by the continuous use of whole language used worldwide today, Hinduism eventually reasserted itself in India.
Criticism of Hinduism is spurious when the facts become clear and should be discontinued.
Merry Christmas,
Vassan Ramracha