I was invited to Sikkim by the Director of the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology to help follow through on a promise the Chief Minister of Sikkim made to His Holiness the Dalai Lama to implement secular moral ethics into the Sikkimese educational system. The past few days I've spent in this beautiful northeastern state of India have been incredibly interesting. In addition to dialoguing with members of the education sector and working with 39 pre-service Sikkimese school teachers I was able to visit the Rumtek monastery (the seat of the Karmapa) and get a feel for the unique history and culture of Sikkim. Sikkim became a part of India in the mid 1970s and the politics surrounding the inclusion of northeastern states in India are both fascinating and complex. Education reform in this region involves a number of critical issues which include addressing the fact that Sikkim has the highest suicide rate in India. Seventy percent of the state budget goes toward education but the discussions I've had here examined how that money isn't allocated in the most efficient way. Members of the education ministry participated in a presentation I gave on the importance of "teaching for the heart & mind" and we are looking into implementing a mindfulness training pilot program for pre-service teachers.
I read a great piece this morning by Tish Jennings published on the mindful.org site summarizing the connection between mindfulness and learning. Check it out below! I will be at the Garrison Institute where she directs contemplative education initiatives in just a few weeks for the Mind & Life Summer Research Institute. If you peruse through the Student Voices on Mindfulness on this blog you will have some proof about how mindful awareness can help students and what mindfulness means to my 6th graders. Mindfulness practice has also transformed the way I teach and who I am as an educator. At a recent mindfulness in education conference in Washington DC educators spoke about the importance of bringing contemplative practice into the classroom. A few years ago my teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, held a transformative mindfulness retreat for more than 500 educators in North India.
For me, mindfulness is the foundation for a nondual approach to education--embodied Interbeing. On a more practical level it is welcoming learning not just focused on thinking and empowering educators and student with skills to manage and work with their emotions skillfully, realize the choices they have in each situation and promote greater happiness, compassion and presence in schools. I believe the goals of mindfulness in education are to transform education so students, parents and teachers are happier and can manage their lives more skillfully (resilience) and reduce stress. I also believe it will lead to an understanding of Interbeing and create compassionate caring, ethical communities. I think some indicators of success of mindfulness in education in a classroom or school are a peaceful, focused, curious, fun, energetic, supportive, honest, caring, connected classroom community where everyone learn from each other. A school that strives to promote ethics/values of interdependence, peace and harmony with all sentient beings and the environment.
I always found it interesting that the Sanskrit root for mind, "cit," also means "heart." In fact, the lineage name I was given in September of 2008 by the Thich Nhat Hanh community was "cittasuddhasradda" which means "pure confidence of the heart." So when we speak of "mindfulness" we are also connecting with a sense of "heartfulness." I find the Mahayana view of mindfulness in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh to have a heartful quality.
In March of 2008 I had the opportunity to hear Sharon Salzberg speak in New Delhi. I was surprised to discover that this well known teacher of Buddhist meditation runs retreats with Krishna Das. I asked her to speak to nonduality and bhakti since she runs retreats with the kirtan master and she said, "Remember that distinctions are not divisive and there are many ways of opening the heart."
Singing is a common practice in Plum Village. Even though I'm a HORRIBLE singer I love to sing. Music and singing touch my heart in unexplainable ways. Last night as I was packing I came across my harmonium and electronic tabla. I spent 2 years during my time in India studying Indian music. Unfortunately, I was unable to make the time commitment needed to study seriously but I still have a deep appreciation and love for devotional singing. Shortly after I packed away my musical instruments I came across footage from a short musical recital I gave after taking music lessons for a few months. I combined the recital with a party I threw in honor of my parents visit to India in November of 2007 :) Below you can experience some of the recital/party I threw at my home in New Delhi almost five years ago! The audio doesn't always sync with the video...
Today is my last Saturday in Delhi :) As I was walking out of my yoga studio this morning I came across the above sign :) A beautiful reminder especially as I am in the midst of moving which can always be a little stressful. I also listened to a beautiful podcast from my favorite radio program as I was packing out! Krista Tippet interviewed Sylvia Boorstein on Mother's Day! If you get a chance, it is definitely worth a listen!
For the past five years I’ve gathered under the full moon with hundreds of others at Sanskriti Kendrain Delhi on Buddha Purnima. Buddha Purnima or Vaisaka is one of the most important festivals for Buddhists and it commemorates the birth, death and enlightenment of the Buddha.
The Buddha Purnima celebration at the beautiful artist collective, Sanskriti Kendra, holds a very special place in my heart and is my favorite evening in Delhi each year. After watering the Bodhi tree which is born from a sapling from the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, all of us engage in walking meditation, sitting practice and then light candles under a Banyan tree before we share a delicious meal together in mindfulness. My first Buddha Purnima was five years ago and I have participated in the celebration every year after. Three years ago I shared the writings about mindfulness and metta practice from my 9th grade students!
As a farewell offering to my Sangha I led a guided meditation. Thanks to my friends that videotaped you can experience the evening and the meditation below :) I’m so grateful for the time I’ve had in India and feel blessed to have had so many friends join in the celebration last night as I transition into the next phase of my life back in the United States.
Part one includes what we call in Plum Village, “Five Finger Meditation” which is a quick way to calm and relax yourself. I often use it as a warm up before my sitting practice.
Part two is my favorite guided meditation in the Thich Nhat Hanh tradition. I adapted Exercise 18, “Looking Deeply, Healing,” from Blooming of a Lotus.
Part three includes my dear friend and mentor, Dharmacharya Shantum Seth’s Dharma talk on suffering, chanting by a beautiful Vietnamese Bhikkuni (Buddhist Nun), and offerings at the Banyan tree under the full moon.
Whether we know it or not, we transmit the presence of everyone we have ever known, as though by being in each other's presence we exchange our cells, pass on some life force and then we go on carrying that other person in our body, not unlike the springtime when certain plants in fields we walk through attach their seeds in the form of small burrs to our socks, our pants, our caps, as if to say, "Go on, take us with you, carry us to root in another place"…This is why it is important who we become, because we pass it on. – Natalie Goldberg (Author and Student of Thich Nhat Hanh)
Just hours before I left for Buddha Purnima my wonderful colleagues in our Student Support Team gave me the beautiful flowers pictured above and the card below. I feel blessed to carry so many amazing people “in me” to root in other places :) May the blessings of the Triple Gem always be with you.
This morning just before my first class ended I received a message from the school counselor that one of my beautiful 6th graders went through some serious trauma last night. While she was sleeping one of her security guards broke into her home to steal valuables. She woke up as he was stealing items and he came at her with a knife, she then screamed and ran to her parents. Thankfully, she's alive but my heart goes out to her and her family. I noticed how I was initially in shock when I received the message but quickly went to my breath and grounded myself into the space I needed to be in for my students. Last period today she came to class with a bandage on her neck and arm from the knife attack. When she walked in I came over to give her hugs and she then asked to share with our small Academic Support class of 8 students (which is very much like a family) what had happened. As she spoke I could sense that she was still very much disturbed by the whole experience and I practiced Tonglen, breathing in her pain and sending her love. I noticed how the practice of mindfulness enabled me to NOT get into drama, paranoia or hysteria surrounding the incident and instead just be there for my student and help us all stick with the facts and support her however she needs. I was also able to work with the anger I felt towards the security guard who attacked my student by looking deeply into the situation...to be driven to steal and hurt a little girl means he definitely needs compassion too...
Today was the first of many "farewells" from my colleagues/community at the American Embassy School in New Delhi. After 3 years in the high school I joined the Middle School in August of 2009 and for the past 2 years have been a member of the 7th grade team which I absolutely love! My wonderful colleagues gave me some lovely gifts including the "There's No Place Like Om" mug pictured above which I though was just perfect! I feel so blessed to have spent five years in such a supportive, nurturing school with warm, compassionate, stellar educators--I've learned A LOT from the people I work with and I am very grateful :) Sometimes when my mind is racing I chant "om" three times before I sit for meditation. Now, whenever I drink my tea using this mug I can breathe in and out "om" and remind myself to "mindfully" sip :)
As I was cleaning out my apartment I came across a program from a Children's Program I ran at a Delhi Day of Mindfulness back in 2008! I've placed the program below which includes all of the directions for the activities I did with the children. The activities drew from a book featured above that Sr. Chau Nghiem put together when Thich Nhat Hanh ran a retreat for Educators in India. Sr. Chau Nghiem has shaped the material into a book that will be out in June published by Parallax Press called, Planting Seeds: Practicing Mindfulness With Children. I was involved in the creation of this book along with countless others in the Global Plum Village Community :)
Here in India I usually greet people with a "Namaste" placing my palms together by my heart. Today as I was cleaning out my classroom I came across a Faculty Orientation folder that had the above "Namaste" graphic on it. I realized that even though I always say "Namaste" I never really connect with the depth of the meaning when I say it. For my last 21 days in India whenever I say "Namaste" I will try and go to my breath and connect with the meaning behind this beautiful greeting. When I was in Myanmar (Burma) back in October I learned that everyone greets each other with the word "Mingalaba" there which literally means "It's a blessing." I will also try and hold this idea that every encounter is a blessing whenever I say "Namaste" :)
Today in many ways things came "full circle" when I had a "farewell lunch" with my dear friend Swati at "Full Circle Books." I met Swati close to five years ago at "Full Circle Books" and felt an immediate connection--as if I had found a long lost sister! Swati is a brilliant writer and her most recent work focuses on contemporary women walking a spiritual path. Above is a photo of us taken at her wedding in Delhi a few years ago. During my time in India Swati has been a wonderful friend and in many ways an elder sister to me. Today I asked her to share with me an important life lesson or practice and she spoke about the importance of literally "opening the fist" whenever we start to get anxious or grasp. Just the image of opening my fist or even better physically opening it calms me and puts me at ease. There is a sense that whatever contracting feelings I may have (fear, anxiety etc.) begin to shift and expand as I open up and let go. Thank you Swati for sharing with me the importance of "opening the fist" as I begin the next phase of my life back in the United States :)
