For adults & children
Every Sunday since 1960, students of all ages gather at Mangala Vihara to study the Dhamma, the Buddha's teachings, through the Young Men's Buddhist Association (YMBA) syllabus. Most are adults, working year by year from Junior 1 to a Diploma, and children are welcome too, each placed at the level that fits. The morning opens with pūjā at 9.30am, classes run from 10am to noon, and there is no charge to enrol.
Mangala Vihara was a pioneer in bringing Colombo's Young Men's Buddhist Association Dhamma studies to Singapore, and has taught them here every Sunday since 1960.
What began as a Dhamma class now functions as a full Buddhist Studies centre for adults, youth, and children alike. The syllabus is structured and progressive, taking a student from the story of the Buddha's life through to the analysis of mind and matter. Everyone begins at the level that fits and moves up year by year, whether they join as an adult or as a child.
Over the decades, many of the school's graduates have gone on to serve as Dhamma teachers themselves, within Mangala Vihara's own school and at temples across Singapore. It is a quiet lineage of teaching passing from one generation to the next.
The school meets every Sunday from 9.30am to 12 noon, in term. The three fixed points below are confirmed; a fuller minute-by-minute rhythm is best heard from the teachers on the day.
Between these fixed points, each class keeps its own rhythm, set by the teacher and suited to the group. Adults and older students work through their level's syllabus together, while the children's classes keep a pace suited to their age. For the exact order of activities on a given Sunday, chanting, class work, or any shared activity, it is best to ask the teacher of that class on the day.
Parents are welcome to stay at the temple through the morning, or to return by 12 noon when classes end.
Most students are adults. The programme follows the YMBA syllabus year by year, each year building on the last, and finishes with a Diploma.
Children are welcome too, from a young age. They join the class band that matches their school grade, and move up as they grow:
The course moves from the life of the Buddha and the foundations of conduct, through the Suttas, the recorded discourses, into the Abhidhamma, the Buddha's systematic analysis of mind and matter. Each level builds on the one before, from Junior 1 through to the Diploma.
The Buddha's life up to his Enlightenment; the Triple Gem; an introduction to the Tipiṭaka, the three collections of the canon; the Theravāda Buddhist Councils; Dāna and Sīla (generosity and virtue); meritorious deeds; and explanations of the Dhammapada verses.
The history and texts of the Abhidhamma; the classification of consciousness; conventional and absolute truths.
The Buddha's life through the twenty years after Enlightenment; visits to Sri Lanka; the chief lay patrons and disciples; the Vinaya Piṭaka, the monastic code; the Four Noble Truths; the Fifth and Sixth Buddhist Councils; and further Dhammapada study.
The 52 mental factors and their relationship with the mind; an introduction to Nibbāna, liberation.
Important events of the Buddha's life and his daily routine; the antagonism of rival teachers; the laying down of the Vinaya; social ethics; the hindrances; the fetters; objects of meditation; and the proof of rebirth.
Matter (rūpa); the classification of consciousness by feeling, root, and function.
The requisites of Enlightenment; the path to Nibbāna; Dependent Origination; the Three Signata; the Ratana Sutta and the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, the first teaching; the contributions of Colonel Olcott; and Dhammapada commentary.
Doors (dvāra), objects (ārammaṇa), bases (vatthu), thought-processes (citta-vīthi), and the process-freed (vīthi-mutta).
The Maha Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta; the Cūḷa Kamma Vibhaṅga Sutta; Insight Meditation (Vipassanā); the Seven Stages of Purity (Visuddhi); treatises on the uniqueness of the Buddha; comparisons with the Mahāyāna; and Dhammapada commentary with moral expositions.
Dependent Arising (Paṭiccasamuppāda) and the Law of Causal Relations (Paṭṭhāna), chapters VII–VIII of the Abhidhammattha Saṅgaha.
Registration is done in person, on a Sunday, at the school office, there is no form to fill in online. Come along, or bring your child, and one of the secretaries will place you in the right class.
The adult programme runs on an examination year, so new adult students join in the second half of the year.
New children are welcomed at any time of the year and admitted straight into the band for their school level.
Not sure which class suits you or your child, or when to come? Call the temple on +65 6744 4285, or visit the office on a Sunday (open 10am–1pm) and ask in person.
New to the school?
There is nothing to book and no fee to pay. Come for the morning, ask at the school office, and we will place you, or your child, in the right class. If you would rather ask first, call us, a small question is always welcome.
