Fasting

Question: (Unedited)

what are the method and duration of fasting in buddhism?
I know that they keep fast after noon but when do they break their fast and when are they allowed to eat their meal (between sunrise and noon?)
What is their method of fasting?

My comment: Hi B,
Actually it is not so much about "fasting". It is more on "refraining" from taking food. There is a subtle difference in that "fasting" means refusing to take food. Whereas, "refraining" means not to succumb to temptation to taking food unnecessarily.
Monks and nuns have their food in the morning before 12 noon. The rest of the day, they refrain from taking solid food. There isn't any "method of fasting". They eat before noon. That's all.
On a lighter note; the dietician say you are what you eat. The fashion designer will say you are what you wear. And the beautician will insist that you are what you put on your face! The Buddha said you are what you think!

The inevitable death

 

Question: (Unedited)

I am a teacher in a catholic school which has suffered a recent death in my class is a buddist child who becomes very angry and aggressive when i talk about or do any activity which relates to the member of staff who has unexpectedly died. I dont know how to help this 8 year old and am worried that i am not approaching it in the right way for him to come to terms with it, epecially as we are all struggling with it ourselves. any guidanse would be gratefully recieved
 

My comment: Hi J,
Thank you for asking me.
Being a Buddhist doesn't mean that the person is well versed with the Buddha's teachings, especially for an 8 year old child. Assuming this child has nothing to do with the person's death, you can try narrate the Buddhist story below which reminds us of the inevitability of death. But for an 8 year old child it may be difficult to get the message across. Don't worry too much over the present scenario. Given time it will pass, and all will be normal again! For the present, just try to avoid doing or saying anything that reminds of the incident.
Smile from justinchoo :-)

Kisa Gotami was the wife of a wealthy man of Savatthi. Her story is one of the more famous ones in Buddhism. After losing her only child, Kisa Gotami became desperate and asked if anyone can help her. Her sorrow was so great that many thought she had already lost her mind. Someone told her to meet Buddha. Buddha told her that he would bring the child back to life if she could get white mustard seeds from a family where no-one has died. She desperately went from house to house, but to her disappointment, every house had someone who had died. Finally the realization struck her that there is no house free from death. She returned to the Buddha, who comforted her and preached to her the truth.

The Seven Wonders Of The Buddhist World

This documentary is from the BBC.  You may like to watch this. Quite long, so you need to have the time, or watch it in parts.  

By the way the standard sequence of the Triple Gem is The Buddha, The Dhamma, and The Sangha.  Not as stated in the video as The Buddha, The Sangha, and The Dhamma.