The Bhutanese Leading the way.
When Meditation was first introduced in schools a few years ago, it was received with good humor. Students found it funny in the beginning and boring gradually.
Most teachers never believed in it and some believers soon forgot it. I never really understood why this was happening. But I tried hard to advocate that it was to do with calming our mind and sharpening our focus on studies-which was how I vaguely understood and I discovered I wasn’t fully wrong.
Now that I have the complete understanding of the intention behind introducing this in schools I would like to share it with my readers. It’s a very simple ritual a school should follow whenever possible to give students a quiet moment of calmness, in which they get time to be mindful.
Mindfulness is the key in this practice. It’s a known fact that nobody wants be bad, nobody wants be in trouble, but they land up being without their intention. And one bad thing leads to another. That’s the result of not being mindful. We are always in a rush.
Everybody has a choice at all times, we make many decisions every moment of our lives and our decisions shape us. While making those many decisions we have two voices talking to us from within our head, one is the good one and other is bad, but how many of us know which one to listen to?
That’s what’s happening to our students every day, they don’t want to land up in problem but they get into trouble by the wrong decisions they make. They don’t know they have picked on the wrong choice. Not many of us make right decisions at all times either.
They need help. But no external help can solve your internal problem, how long can anyone rely on help considering the hundreds of decisions we have to make every day. The help is right there within us. We only have to focus and that focus comes from training our mind. That’s why Meditation is brought to school, and I believe in it, because a mindful child will live a meaningful life.
There are different types and levels of meditation, please Google it. I picked on the simplest one and I am trying that with my students every day. I have asked them to spare one minute every morning and evening for it. They know why they are doing this, and with them I am also in search of the good voice myself. This could solve many of life’s problems, this could be the answer to all the disciplinary problems in the school, and this could be the revolution against social problems, if at all we take it with genuine seriousness. Meditation in school has no connection with any religion, the only connection it has is with one’s mind and therefore with one’s life.
By Passang Passu Tshering
The writer is a teacher with the Bajothang Higher Secondary School in Wangdiphodrang
Passu Sir,
This is wonderful. Without a doubt this will prove to be very beneficial for our students in the long run. Result won’t be overnight, but if you and your students keep persevering this will bring many positive changes,both in you and your students in due course of time.
Best wishes
this is a fact that meditation is actually applied to Buddhism not only to be mindfulness,
but to achieve the highest realization known as ultimate truth, as per Buddhist teacher and saying its not wise to teach small infant in to hard meditation can led them to negative mindfulness, what realization they will benefit if they are equip with less knowledge. i had never seen lama or great teacher send there student to mediate without a degree in philosophy, it will be same as writing on surface of water, the print will be not there at all, this days the word religion and meditation sales like coco cake, what depth of ultimate truth is there. its wise to teach Buddhist philosophy , logic. of life too. that we have as zacha dro sum, driglam namsha , those who think will never believe, those who believe will never think also, so my believe, we have to shape from small grammar to great thinker that will save the youth of BHUTAN,
when your ministry dose not have compassion 5 point in policy of cut out point for poor beings at 12 stranded, started to make day to day street burden, word
meditation will not solve the whole desire of human nature in up coming feature challenge. we have to be Buddhist in policy too sir,
Dear Mrs Pasu,
Whoever you are you write uniquely. I will love to get trained from you if you are okay with it…
Read my other pieces, mostly related to school and students, @ http://www.passudiary.com
@Defox, thanks for the kind word, I wish I could train anybody, I am need of formal training myself.
@ Kado, I would love to debate on this issue, join me on my blog.
@sonam Tenzin, I feel the same way. The world could not come with one solution for all problems, I saw logic in believing in it.
Our country is aspiring for KNOWLEDGE based society, but here I’m bit esceptical without denying the fact that knowledge if not accompanied by wisdom does more harm than good. Knowledge is pride, it puffs up and empowers man with more destructive ideas. See the western world; all those great scientists invented great many things such as nuclear weapons, war rockets, misiles, atom bombs etc putting the world at high risk. This is all the work of knowledge in absence of wisdom. What does wisdom do then? It cares, loves, it leads the man in the right direction without destruction, it gives second thought, it is selfawreness, it is empathy, it is critical and creative, it turns negative into positive, it always looks for brighter side, it is humble and not self seeking, it listens to the voice of every creature. So it always does good to mankind and the whole creation. Thus, how about our country aspires for KNOWLEDGE and WISDOM based Society.