SOKA EDUCATORS INTERNATIONAL NETWORK
Volume V, Issue 2
Seeking to Build a Community of Life through Humanistic Education
SEIN Online Forum IV:
May 28-June 25, 2007.
In Forum IV we centered on the perspective of Bodhisattva Never Disparaging and Soka education. The practice of deeply respecting others is at the heart of Buddhist practice but we don’t always know how to create value with it as educators. Our discussion certainly helped us deepen our practice as well as see how to deepen relationships with students, the educational community and the world around us. What began as a forum became a reconnection to the BNP in each of us, to Sensei, and a deep respect for one another and for our network of educators.
President Ikeda writes, "Nichiren Daishonin indicates that respecting others, as exemplified by the actions of Bodhisattva Never Disparaging (BND) constitutes the foundation of the practice of the Lotus Sutra and that to conduct shakubuku is to carry on the practice of Bodhisattva Never Disparaging. Hence the fundamental significance of shakubuku naturally lies in respecting others. On that premise, the Daishonin teaches us that treating others with respect in everything we do, not just while practicing shakubuku is the correct way for human beings to behave." (WofNDW, 149)
The Practice of Respecting Others and Applications in Daily Life
We discussed the cold reality of the school environment where we act as humanely as we can, knowing we are affecting society in the long term. One participant, to respect fully each student and other people she meets at the school, is her primary focus. The effect is her students develop greater self-esteem, self-confidence, and a sense of having a role to play, a mission.
Another said her constant efforts to be Bodhisattva Never Disparaging in her job every day enables her to survive. She finds the young people lack social skills and interpersonal skills needed to work and live happily and harmoniously together. She now demonstrates how to apologize. Another noticed students respond to his sincere respect of the dignity of each student.
We began to see that there might be different effects from deeper levels of respect for the other. Buddhist respect is perhaps really believing that the life of that mixed up nasty bully kid is itself part of kosen rufu. Respect for yourself also seems to lie in this trust.
Being the master of your mind and not letting your mind master you is really important. Recognize what and whom you disparage. One participant realized that she disparages whole institutions! Once she began to correct herself, her life got incredibly fortunate.
Another participant cleaned out her disparagement and this resulted in her husband being able to recognize disparagement and realize the importance of Buddhist practice.
This personal sharing led to a focus on Gandhi’s power of truth and humanity as the prevailing force in people’s hearts. Tower of the authorities is based on hate and violence and could only remain animalistic power. To fight against this problem by simply succumbing to one's animalistic urge to use violence would provide no fundamental solution. Instead, he taught people to arm themselves with the lofty power of truth and humanity, telling them that, ultimately, there is no stronger weapon."
Sensei writes that Gandhi said if he was to be reborn, he hoped it would be as an untouchable, so that he might understand and share their sadness and suffering, and the insult and scorn they must bear, and then save them. Nichiren himself was born into such a low class family and we must fuse with his conduct and behavior, and his struggle for human rights. Let us consider how we even more strongly stand up in a way that empowers our students.
Gandhi or Makiguchi did not look at their time in prison as sacrifice. Gandhi, Makiguchi, and Toda turned prison into a place where they deepened their conviction and life condition. There have been times when we feel in prison in a classroom. We can be like them.
One participant sees herself bowing to others as BND as they enter and now sees that the life changes begin immediately! Everyone is looking for happiness and joy in their lives.
The world is full of people who consciously or unconsciously like being in power and people who feel superior and people who feel inferior. We need to become independent, to hold our life in our own hands, and help others to do the same, as quickly as possible. This is "real respect." Mr. Saito has said that our practice in the 21st century should be that of Bodhisattva Never Disparaging. Also that BNP was not only respectful but was also full of common sense! He didn't just stand around while people threw stones at him but made sure he was at a safe distance while showing his respect for his detractors. So this does not mean blind respect. It means perceiving the person’s fundamental darkness as well as their Buddha nature.
Applications in the profession of education; in helping students use respect as a value in an Information Age faced with a violent world where people fight over scarce resources, the environment desperately needs people to take responsibility, and where hypocritical and cynical values pervade public policy.
The key skills in education must include learning to live with uncertainty, instability and insecurity. Because we live in a time of transition, there must be courageous people who are willing to take the first step and live with uncertainty. This is definitely true in the realm of nuclear disarmament. Students need to have the basics of personal integrity to survive.
How do we help students use respect as a value?
Volume V, Issue 2
Seeking to Build a Community of Life through Humanistic Education
SEIN Online Forum IV:
May 28-June 25, 2007.
In Forum IV we centered on the perspective of Bodhisattva Never Disparaging and Soka education. The practice of deeply respecting others is at the heart of Buddhist practice but we don’t always know how to create value with it as educators. Our discussion certainly helped us deepen our practice as well as see how to deepen relationships with students, the educational community and the world around us. What began as a forum became a reconnection to the BNP in each of us, to Sensei, and a deep respect for one another and for our network of educators.
President Ikeda writes, "Nichiren Daishonin indicates that respecting others, as exemplified by the actions of Bodhisattva Never Disparaging (BND) constitutes the foundation of the practice of the Lotus Sutra and that to conduct shakubuku is to carry on the practice of Bodhisattva Never Disparaging. Hence the fundamental significance of shakubuku naturally lies in respecting others. On that premise, the Daishonin teaches us that treating others with respect in everything we do, not just while practicing shakubuku is the correct way for human beings to behave." (WofNDW, 149)
The Practice of Respecting Others and Applications in Daily Life
We discussed the cold reality of the school environment where we act as humanely as we can, knowing we are affecting society in the long term. One participant, to respect fully each student and other people she meets at the school, is her primary focus. The effect is her students develop greater self-esteem, self-confidence, and a sense of having a role to play, a mission.
Another said her constant efforts to be Bodhisattva Never Disparaging in her job every day enables her to survive. She finds the young people lack social skills and interpersonal skills needed to work and live happily and harmoniously together. She now demonstrates how to apologize. Another noticed students respond to his sincere respect of the dignity of each student.
We began to see that there might be different effects from deeper levels of respect for the other. Buddhist respect is perhaps really believing that the life of that mixed up nasty bully kid is itself part of kosen rufu. Respect for yourself also seems to lie in this trust.
Being the master of your mind and not letting your mind master you is really important. Recognize what and whom you disparage. One participant realized that she disparages whole institutions! Once she began to correct herself, her life got incredibly fortunate.
Another participant cleaned out her disparagement and this resulted in her husband being able to recognize disparagement and realize the importance of Buddhist practice.
This personal sharing led to a focus on Gandhi’s power of truth and humanity as the prevailing force in people’s hearts. Tower of the authorities is based on hate and violence and could only remain animalistic power. To fight against this problem by simply succumbing to one's animalistic urge to use violence would provide no fundamental solution. Instead, he taught people to arm themselves with the lofty power of truth and humanity, telling them that, ultimately, there is no stronger weapon."
Sensei writes that Gandhi said if he was to be reborn, he hoped it would be as an untouchable, so that he might understand and share their sadness and suffering, and the insult and scorn they must bear, and then save them. Nichiren himself was born into such a low class family and we must fuse with his conduct and behavior, and his struggle for human rights. Let us consider how we even more strongly stand up in a way that empowers our students.
Gandhi or Makiguchi did not look at their time in prison as sacrifice. Gandhi, Makiguchi, and Toda turned prison into a place where they deepened their conviction and life condition. There have been times when we feel in prison in a classroom. We can be like them.
One participant sees herself bowing to others as BND as they enter and now sees that the life changes begin immediately! Everyone is looking for happiness and joy in their lives.
The world is full of people who consciously or unconsciously like being in power and people who feel superior and people who feel inferior. We need to become independent, to hold our life in our own hands, and help others to do the same, as quickly as possible. This is "real respect." Mr. Saito has said that our practice in the 21st century should be that of Bodhisattva Never Disparaging. Also that BNP was not only respectful but was also full of common sense! He didn't just stand around while people threw stones at him but made sure he was at a safe distance while showing his respect for his detractors. So this does not mean blind respect. It means perceiving the person’s fundamental darkness as well as their Buddha nature.
Applications in the profession of education; in helping students use respect as a value in an Information Age faced with a violent world where people fight over scarce resources, the environment desperately needs people to take responsibility, and where hypocritical and cynical values pervade public policy.
The key skills in education must include learning to live with uncertainty, instability and insecurity. Because we live in a time of transition, there must be courageous people who are willing to take the first step and live with uncertainty. This is definitely true in the realm of nuclear disarmament. Students need to have the basics of personal integrity to survive.
How do we help students use respect as a value?
Buddhism says that we have three inherent potentials of the Buddha nature -the innate Buddha nature, the wisdom to perceive it, and the good deeds, or Buddhist practice, to develop this wisdom and cause the Buddha nature to emerge. Good deeds aid the development of wisdom, and the developed wisdom realizes the innate Buddha nature. These three causes interact to enable one to attain Buddhahood. Helping students perceive their great potential, see how creating value leads to greater wisdom and fortune, and to develop a seeking mind, this is the polishing of the self.
This new Self can challenge authoritarian, animalistic power by a deep belief in the power of truth and humanity. This new Self will fight for human rights and against fundamental darkness for oneself and for humanity. We cannot really fight injustice in conference rooms, in the courts, or in the classroom. We need this stronger Self that can emerge in our students if we teach in a way that empowers.
This will take developing deeper levels of respect for others, our selves. Emulating BNP better and better, like the principle of the Body and Shadow, students will also make such changes in their lives. Schools of course reflect our society, so what we do in school will affect society in return!
How do we help students gain this courage? Sensei says we must give serious consideration to the Daishonin’s conduct and behavior and to his struggle for human rights. It is the teachers who need to have courage in order to transmit it to the students. Every student, Buddhist or not, has a mission - they are the lock and we are the key. We can help students by relating our own personal experiences.
The Courage of Self Respect
One participant struggled with this in the spring term, trying to pull that self respect out of some students who were trying to coast to the finish line/graduation day. He said this forum and BNP was a big help in reminding me about the attitude. He was very pleasantly surprised at how well and how proudly they finished the term.
People didn't respect BND but that wasn't because he didn't respect himself. He was telling them that all people are Buddhas, and they couldn't believe it or were afraid. We have had similar experience with students, who are cynical because they associate/confuse self-respect with power. Even those students who come from educated, professional and sometimes very well-off parents.
Many adult students when they have to deal with their teacher show two possible opposite behaviors: either challenging or submissive. When they challenge our knowledge in order to satisfy their curiosity or even better their desire to learn more, this can be a wonderful opportunity. The difficult situation comes up when, at their age, they search only for teacher's confirmation, without any interest in learning. Then we must divert from the lesson to help the individual student gain confidence and independence. It is amazing how even a course on the Italian language can become a tool to help any human being to create value in their lives.
The Courage to Develop Non-Violent Power
We can begin with students’ own relationships in the classroom, the discriminations, the putdowns, the power struggles. We can show them that these are the real issues that adults face, as well. You can discuss how to perceive in yourself when you use authoritarian power and when you use the power of dialogue.
Montessori talks about all the ways in which "educators" by their reward and punishment systems, and domination of classrooms, have alternately created docile students and competitive ones, who will go to war as adults simply because they have been told to do so and have no true sense of their own identity or justice. So teachers need to be aware of that the environment in schools is not conducive to creating this change, so we must do it ourselves, in our own classrooms.
Montessori had such great breakthroughs with young children learning by being able to touch objects and learn via feel and do (take Action.) We have since discovered that movement when very young relates directly to brain development. Perhaps we can couple Montessori methods with the tools for developing respect and courage.
Certainly there are many reasons to be pessimistic. These reasons must not be rejected or overlooked and cannot be wished away. They must, however, be dealt with. The challenge must be accepted.
How to Teach Respect as an Important Value?
A common problem among students is their inability to trust and respect their fellow students. Part of this problem lies on the academic curriculum worldwide that does not provide enough opportunities to students to socialize well. So we must fill this gap.
Get to know the individual student you are teaching. That way you know what is in it for him or her. How might their lives be helped by learning to respect themselves, to respect others. How might they be changed? What are their personal dreams? One educator asked one student what his goal was in the history course? He said to get an "F". And he was not being facetious. That was the only possibility he could see. She suggested they set the goal of "D" which is one step higher. He ended up getting a "C" which delighted him.
Encourage classroom atmospheres where students understand that it takes many different abilities to get a job done! Encourage students to reply to others ideas with “yes ands” instead of “no.” Speak to students about ways in which they enslave each other and also about actions/words with friends where at some point you've stepped over a line to destroy a friendship. Ask people to open their minds in this way.
We need tools to be able to confront power with dignity. Self-mastery is such a tool. President Ikeda says that when we are young we should construct our Self. One participant founded a school in China, and had a policy of never saying to a student, "What you did was wrong," but instead asked, "Was this the right thing to do?" because they wanted him/her to think about it and to build their own instinct for rightness and wrongness. In this way they could develop a strong sense of personal integrity.
Makiguchi said that when students finish high school we should examine and think about their strengths and weaknesses, including character. Encourage them to choose projects to fix weaknesses. If they discover they never consider others, for example, they can decided to do activities that enable them to deepen their compassion -- church charities; youth support programs, literature, arts, etc.
We should show them the power of respect – by telling the stories of great people who used dialogue and deep respect to change the world, from the stories of Nichiren, Ikeda, Gandhi, Jesus, Mohammed, Eleanor Roosevelt, Wangari Mattai, we have many to choose from. These stories can imbed valuable life lessons. If we really want to build this capability – educators need to look at the power of respect in the same way we teach math, English, science in students for their lives.
As SGI Buddhists we need to remember that the value of relationship is the most important thing. The poison drum effect refers to the connection a person develops with Buddhism even when strongly opposed to it. This connection enables people to eventually become enlightened. However, this is not the same thing as antagonizing people we are trying to help by ourselves being dogmatic ourselves. When we stop listening to other people and stop respecting them, we are no longer in the state of bodhisattva. Such disparagement creates no value of course. One participant has learned that disagreements do not have to come between relationships with others.
Arum Gandhi, the grandson of Gandhi said sometimes you have to realize and emphasize that your love for each other, or your relationship, is more important than your disagreement and simply agree to respect that you each have very different views. This helped me learn to embrace others without feeling like I have to challenge their opinion or change their mind.
Collaborative Projects
Another educator gave an example. She taught a required course in modern drama to second-year students in the Department of English at the University of Cyprus, in Nicosia. Requirements for this course include a group presentation and she suggested organizing a performance in lieu of group presentations. The first reaction was negative because students were afraid that they would not be able to meet the performance demands nor to collaborate with others. The performance consisted of videos, music, a scene from Brecht's Mother Courage, poetry reading and live music performed by Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot students. The performance title was "Why we imagine." The theme of the performance was "war and peace" and it began with John Lennon's "Imagine." One student said, “We learned that when people are devoted to contributing to the world, then all the obstacles, barriers, problems and difficulties disappear. Through our group work, we learned that between people there must be no space for negative feelings like anger or bitterness. We now see the obstacles and problems that we face in everyday life as challenges that make our life more exciting and interesting. We are ready now to face any obstacle because we now know that impossible is nothing. Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small people that fear to face the obstacles and challenges of life." Another: “We cooperated; we learned things about one another, things and abilities which were hidden inside each one of us during those two years. I managed to see clearly that some of my fellow students are actually worth knowing people and I can now trust them more easily."
Teaching students to trust each other through collaborative projects is creating a model for a just and sustainable global community. The Bodhisattva does not act as a catalyst on people's individuality but addresses their Buddha nature; thus he is not superior to them but believes in their capacity to bring forth, from within themselves, the power of Buddhahood. This power is a larger awareness of themselves within their own environment. This is also the awareness of the great multitude of bodhisattvas who "limitlessly draw forth fundamental life force and wisdom from the world of the Mystic Law."
The method of teacher-mentor in SGI Buddhism is that of one-on-one dialogue yet the ultimate direction of this dialogue is to produce a "chain reaction of joy" and "transmitting to others." [1] The parable of the Eagle Peak offers an example of how to produce a "chain reaction of joy" by finding creative ways to engage students in collaborative projects that place them simultaneously in the position of teacher and student within their environment. Performance projects and cultural events involving active student participation offer a training of expedient means and develop the students' creative and dialogue skills through problem solving. When these activities are linked with a larger vision, such as peace, the value of the project has regional, as well as international impact in that it enhances the students' respect for their environment regionally and internationally, forging a strong sense of respect for themselves and for others.
Disarmament, Dialogue and UN Reform and Youth Reorienting Education Towards Education for Sustainable Development
One participant wrote that it is an enormous step from the individual's personal sphere of influence to the bureaucratic organization of the UN. Inspired by the Seeds of Change Exhibition, she promotes the Earth Charter at all levels, in teaching art and design, helping colleagues to find ways to integrate it into their subject areas (from health and social studies to computing), inspiring the senior management to use it in their vision to become a sustainable college and encouraged the wider University to endorse it which they eventually did. She feels the Earth Charter will give young people a positive vision of how humanity can work together to ensure a sustainable future and that it is a first step in engaging young people with the values that underpin the UN. She feels her success, because she is a part-time lecturer without real status or influence, is because she chanted to get out of her comfort zone and to start to make friends with everyone around me without having any prejudice and in the spirit of BND. She made amazing friends. It is all about getting past your comfort zone -- bowing and connecting to the life of the other person.
The reorientation of education as a whole towards sustainability involves all levels of formal, non-formal, and informal education in all countries. The concept of sustainability encompasses the environment but also poverty, health, food security, democracy, human rights and peace. Sustainability is, in the final analysis, a moral and ethical imperative in which cultural diversity and traditional knowledge need to be respected.
We said that this type of education, to be most effective, should start with young children. They can begin to experience and live it in the classroom, so by the time they reach universities, they will be accustomed to thinking in terms of sustainability.
Framework for BNP Teaching Principles
Education for Sustainable Development is a great way to get at the values of a just and sustainable global community, which is the goal of the Earth Charter. President Ikeda has said that the Earth Charter is the Rissho Ankoku Ron of the present. You can really see the quality of facing power with dignity within the Earth Charter and, I can see that we could locate the methodology of how could help students master the ability to face power with dignity in the context of education for sustainable development.
Coupled with the need to help the individual student to gain confidence and independence, the need for respect to be passed around, our certainty that students will make a contribution to society, the principle of body and shadow, developing our self respect, believing in the poison drum principle - that everyone is moving towards the light, working on collaboration in the classroom, and encouraging self mastery --we have some very important teachable principles.
Polishing the self. Helping students develop a seeking mind, to perceive their great potential, of seeing how to create value for themselves and the worlds, that this leads to wisdom, and good fortune. We now can help them, through this self mastery, face power with dignity and start to change authoritarian, animalistic power and move them to develop a deeper belief in the power of truth and humanity. Students can fight for human rights and against fundamental darkness, using the power of dialogue, based on an inherent power of respect and courage.
On educator, who is designing a major conference said that its mission reflects the questions we are raising at the forum:
“The key skills for students in the twenty-first century will be the ability to deal with complexity, uncertainty, and insecurity. Education for Sustainable Development includes peace education, citizenship and global awareness, environmental integrity and human rights. This ability must draw upon the whole spectrum of issues pertaining to sustainability, emphasizing especially issues such as personal attitudes, empathy, respect for difference, support for the civil society and its institutions, and the promotion of civil awareness and social justice.”
Many educators from various backgrounds are finding ways to teach sustainable thinking. Now if we network with these educators, and work out our own best practices, we can begin to create change.
At some point this intricate web of complexity that is holding us hostage has to give way, so that we can move to a whole new way of living. It's as if we are gathering the key strands that are holding up the web, and when we detach them, the web will come down. And we can't be afraid.
So the world, and the nations on it, is already changing towards a global, collaborative perspective and this new educational philosophy will change the character of education. From a competition to humanitarian competition – just as Makiguchi predicted.
Education, the Fourth Power
What is wonderful about this forum is that we see how the right people can make the Internet and technology work for them instead of the other way around, as Ikeda said, Internet with a human face.
As Soka Educators International Network we are using our own life-sized paradigms to forge bows of commitment, using this online technology. President Ikeda writes that the effort to overcome the coldness and indifference in our own lives and attain the same state of compassion as the Buddha is the essence of human revolution. Dig beneath your feet and you will find a spring there. Thus it is doubt that stops a child or an adult from becoming truly strong and wise. We are fortunate to have Ikeda Sensei as a mentor and he really counts on us to make our contribution in the place where we are.
Ikeda Sensei spoke about Education, the Fourth Power in 1969. Perhaps we can take this up in a future forum. It would certainly help us understand more completely the vision of Daisaku Ikeda and help us help students get there. We could develop our practical BNP principles and applications into something that would help establish that power.
Self and Other, Body and Shadow
Sensei speaks about "Freedom and Discipline" and recounts the story of a trainer and his dogs and how if he was angry about something in his life, he could cancel the day’s training because if he really got angry and scolded a dog, the dog he knew would just have contempt for him and this would end any hope of training that dog. The one being trained is in a sense a mirror in which the one doing the training is reflected, an indispensable partner. Ikeda compared this to the forging and fostering of character through education. This self and other relationship is deeply related to related to Soka education.
Self requires the existence of other. We cannot engage with others in an effective and productive manner if we lack the inner tension, the will and spiritual energy to guide and control our emotions. It is by recognizing that which is different from and external to ourselves, sensing the resistance it offers, that we are inspired to exercise the self-mastery
that brings our humanity to fruition. To lose sight of the other is thus to undermine our full experience of self."
Tsunesaburo Makiguchi did his Value Theory based on Sakyamuni’s Hoben chapter teaching of the Lotus Sutra. The Buddha is one who opens, shows, awakens and helps another enter. After the teacher bodhisattva gives the student the confidence and respect, the student can then find the way to open their gateway to Buddha hood.
Sensei believes that “there is a kind of progressive "root-rot" eating away at the depths of people's understanding of what it means to be human--how we define ourselves and how we relate to those different from us. In a world trapped in cycles of terrorism and military reprisal, I feel it is vital to put the scalpel to the corrupt roots from which the spiritual malaise of our era stems. Only by mustering the courage to do this will we be able to breathe again the liberating winds of hope." Peace Proposal 2004
“I believe we need to talk with students about what it means to be human. In recent years, the behavior of some young people has seemed completely out of sync with conventional understandings of "common sense." This acting out of these young people should be seen as symptomatic of the erosion of the educative function of society as a whole, and of a pervasive loss of the spiritual tautness that is born from the distinct encounter of self and other. I think the self-destructive behavior of young people can best be understood as a dire warning about the general health of society. Their greater sensitivity renders them more vulnerable to the toxins of modern life, similar to the canaries traditionally placed in coal mines whose distress would indicate the presence of poisonous gases.” Peace Proposal 2004
"From the start of the industrial revolution, modern civilization has been on a trajectory of fevered advance, served by the tools of scientific rationalism. The driving force has been the untrammeled pursuit of desire, the limitless inflation of the superficial self. Nothing manifests this more fiercely than nuclear weapons, which embody the willingness to hold the right to live of all people on Earth hostage to the predominance and security concerns of certain countries. They epitomize a civilization dedicated to the service of desire, born of the fusion of technological development and military objectives." Peace Proposal 2004
Children are like adults. Adults build arms, nuclear weapons so we Teachers, Parents, Educators, and Students need to unite and dialogue until we really to change the reality. We need to start with a focus in Nuclear Weapons together Ikeda Sensei did since 8:15 morning of the August 6, 1945. If all Soka Educators focus on this, like an Alliance, this will help UN and support Sensei’s Education 4th Power. We need to do our homework and dialogue with students about nuclear weapons and the power of dialogue.
Getting to the root causes and "declawing" of the evil that lies at the heart of nuclear weapons which the society of adults has cast so dark a future for young people. Toda's intent in regard to disarmament was to extract the root evil: the reasoning behind nuclear deterrence, whereby people's fear is aroused, which leads to mistrust and then justification for people arming themselves for their own survival or security. So nuclear disarmament education must be also a key principle to teach students.
We believe our faith in people, the faith that BND held in his respect for people, is something we have to communicate against all odds. Learning to be optimistic is important. We have to move out among people who disagree on this and dialogue.
The time is on our side - or more correctly -- that we are creating the time for humanistic change.
The SOKA EDUCATORS INTERNATIONAL NETWORK is a volunteer project created to inspire educators who are implementing Soka Education in different ways. The Newsletter's new goal is to create a robust network of Soka educators to support the growing development of humanistic education. To be added to the mailing list or removed from it, or to receive back issues, please contact Stephanie Tansey at tansey@usa.net.
This new Self can challenge authoritarian, animalistic power by a deep belief in the power of truth and humanity. This new Self will fight for human rights and against fundamental darkness for oneself and for humanity. We cannot really fight injustice in conference rooms, in the courts, or in the classroom. We need this stronger Self that can emerge in our students if we teach in a way that empowers.
This will take developing deeper levels of respect for others, our selves. Emulating BNP better and better, like the principle of the Body and Shadow, students will also make such changes in their lives. Schools of course reflect our society, so what we do in school will affect society in return!
How do we help students gain this courage? Sensei says we must give serious consideration to the Daishonin’s conduct and behavior and to his struggle for human rights. It is the teachers who need to have courage in order to transmit it to the students. Every student, Buddhist or not, has a mission - they are the lock and we are the key. We can help students by relating our own personal experiences.
The Courage of Self Respect
One participant struggled with this in the spring term, trying to pull that self respect out of some students who were trying to coast to the finish line/graduation day. He said this forum and BNP was a big help in reminding me about the attitude. He was very pleasantly surprised at how well and how proudly they finished the term.
People didn't respect BND but that wasn't because he didn't respect himself. He was telling them that all people are Buddhas, and they couldn't believe it or were afraid. We have had similar experience with students, who are cynical because they associate/confuse self-respect with power. Even those students who come from educated, professional and sometimes very well-off parents.
Many adult students when they have to deal with their teacher show two possible opposite behaviors: either challenging or submissive. When they challenge our knowledge in order to satisfy their curiosity or even better their desire to learn more, this can be a wonderful opportunity. The difficult situation comes up when, at their age, they search only for teacher's confirmation, without any interest in learning. Then we must divert from the lesson to help the individual student gain confidence and independence. It is amazing how even a course on the Italian language can become a tool to help any human being to create value in their lives.
The Courage to Develop Non-Violent Power
We can begin with students’ own relationships in the classroom, the discriminations, the putdowns, the power struggles. We can show them that these are the real issues that adults face, as well. You can discuss how to perceive in yourself when you use authoritarian power and when you use the power of dialogue.
Montessori talks about all the ways in which "educators" by their reward and punishment systems, and domination of classrooms, have alternately created docile students and competitive ones, who will go to war as adults simply because they have been told to do so and have no true sense of their own identity or justice. So teachers need to be aware of that the environment in schools is not conducive to creating this change, so we must do it ourselves, in our own classrooms.
Montessori had such great breakthroughs with young children learning by being able to touch objects and learn via feel and do (take Action.) We have since discovered that movement when very young relates directly to brain development. Perhaps we can couple Montessori methods with the tools for developing respect and courage.
Certainly there are many reasons to be pessimistic. These reasons must not be rejected or overlooked and cannot be wished away. They must, however, be dealt with. The challenge must be accepted.
How to Teach Respect as an Important Value?
A common problem among students is their inability to trust and respect their fellow students. Part of this problem lies on the academic curriculum worldwide that does not provide enough opportunities to students to socialize well. So we must fill this gap.
Get to know the individual student you are teaching. That way you know what is in it for him or her. How might their lives be helped by learning to respect themselves, to respect others. How might they be changed? What are their personal dreams? One educator asked one student what his goal was in the history course? He said to get an "F". And he was not being facetious. That was the only possibility he could see. She suggested they set the goal of "D" which is one step higher. He ended up getting a "C" which delighted him.
Encourage classroom atmospheres where students understand that it takes many different abilities to get a job done! Encourage students to reply to others ideas with “yes ands” instead of “no.” Speak to students about ways in which they enslave each other and also about actions/words with friends where at some point you've stepped over a line to destroy a friendship. Ask people to open their minds in this way.
We need tools to be able to confront power with dignity. Self-mastery is such a tool. President Ikeda says that when we are young we should construct our Self. One participant founded a school in China, and had a policy of never saying to a student, "What you did was wrong," but instead asked, "Was this the right thing to do?" because they wanted him/her to think about it and to build their own instinct for rightness and wrongness. In this way they could develop a strong sense of personal integrity.
Makiguchi said that when students finish high school we should examine and think about their strengths and weaknesses, including character. Encourage them to choose projects to fix weaknesses. If they discover they never consider others, for example, they can decided to do activities that enable them to deepen their compassion -- church charities; youth support programs, literature, arts, etc.
We should show them the power of respect – by telling the stories of great people who used dialogue and deep respect to change the world, from the stories of Nichiren, Ikeda, Gandhi, Jesus, Mohammed, Eleanor Roosevelt, Wangari Mattai, we have many to choose from. These stories can imbed valuable life lessons. If we really want to build this capability – educators need to look at the power of respect in the same way we teach math, English, science in students for their lives.
As SGI Buddhists we need to remember that the value of relationship is the most important thing. The poison drum effect refers to the connection a person develops with Buddhism even when strongly opposed to it. This connection enables people to eventually become enlightened. However, this is not the same thing as antagonizing people we are trying to help by ourselves being dogmatic ourselves. When we stop listening to other people and stop respecting them, we are no longer in the state of bodhisattva. Such disparagement creates no value of course. One participant has learned that disagreements do not have to come between relationships with others.
Arum Gandhi, the grandson of Gandhi said sometimes you have to realize and emphasize that your love for each other, or your relationship, is more important than your disagreement and simply agree to respect that you each have very different views. This helped me learn to embrace others without feeling like I have to challenge their opinion or change their mind.
Collaborative Projects
Another educator gave an example. She taught a required course in modern drama to second-year students in the Department of English at the University of Cyprus, in Nicosia. Requirements for this course include a group presentation and she suggested organizing a performance in lieu of group presentations. The first reaction was negative because students were afraid that they would not be able to meet the performance demands nor to collaborate with others. The performance consisted of videos, music, a scene from Brecht's Mother Courage, poetry reading and live music performed by Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot students. The performance title was "Why we imagine." The theme of the performance was "war and peace" and it began with John Lennon's "Imagine." One student said, “We learned that when people are devoted to contributing to the world, then all the obstacles, barriers, problems and difficulties disappear. Through our group work, we learned that between people there must be no space for negative feelings like anger or bitterness. We now see the obstacles and problems that we face in everyday life as challenges that make our life more exciting and interesting. We are ready now to face any obstacle because we now know that impossible is nothing. Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small people that fear to face the obstacles and challenges of life." Another: “We cooperated; we learned things about one another, things and abilities which were hidden inside each one of us during those two years. I managed to see clearly that some of my fellow students are actually worth knowing people and I can now trust them more easily."
Teaching students to trust each other through collaborative projects is creating a model for a just and sustainable global community. The Bodhisattva does not act as a catalyst on people's individuality but addresses their Buddha nature; thus he is not superior to them but believes in their capacity to bring forth, from within themselves, the power of Buddhahood. This power is a larger awareness of themselves within their own environment. This is also the awareness of the great multitude of bodhisattvas who "limitlessly draw forth fundamental life force and wisdom from the world of the Mystic Law."
The method of teacher-mentor in SGI Buddhism is that of one-on-one dialogue yet the ultimate direction of this dialogue is to produce a "chain reaction of joy" and "transmitting to others." [1] The parable of the Eagle Peak offers an example of how to produce a "chain reaction of joy" by finding creative ways to engage students in collaborative projects that place them simultaneously in the position of teacher and student within their environment. Performance projects and cultural events involving active student participation offer a training of expedient means and develop the students' creative and dialogue skills through problem solving. When these activities are linked with a larger vision, such as peace, the value of the project has regional, as well as international impact in that it enhances the students' respect for their environment regionally and internationally, forging a strong sense of respect for themselves and for others.
Disarmament, Dialogue and UN Reform and Youth Reorienting Education Towards Education for Sustainable Development
One participant wrote that it is an enormous step from the individual's personal sphere of influence to the bureaucratic organization of the UN. Inspired by the Seeds of Change Exhibition, she promotes the Earth Charter at all levels, in teaching art and design, helping colleagues to find ways to integrate it into their subject areas (from health and social studies to computing), inspiring the senior management to use it in their vision to become a sustainable college and encouraged the wider University to endorse it which they eventually did. She feels the Earth Charter will give young people a positive vision of how humanity can work together to ensure a sustainable future and that it is a first step in engaging young people with the values that underpin the UN. She feels her success, because she is a part-time lecturer without real status or influence, is because she chanted to get out of her comfort zone and to start to make friends with everyone around me without having any prejudice and in the spirit of BND. She made amazing friends. It is all about getting past your comfort zone -- bowing and connecting to the life of the other person.
The reorientation of education as a whole towards sustainability involves all levels of formal, non-formal, and informal education in all countries. The concept of sustainability encompasses the environment but also poverty, health, food security, democracy, human rights and peace. Sustainability is, in the final analysis, a moral and ethical imperative in which cultural diversity and traditional knowledge need to be respected.
We said that this type of education, to be most effective, should start with young children. They can begin to experience and live it in the classroom, so by the time they reach universities, they will be accustomed to thinking in terms of sustainability.
Framework for BNP Teaching Principles
Education for Sustainable Development is a great way to get at the values of a just and sustainable global community, which is the goal of the Earth Charter. President Ikeda has said that the Earth Charter is the Rissho Ankoku Ron of the present. You can really see the quality of facing power with dignity within the Earth Charter and, I can see that we could locate the methodology of how could help students master the ability to face power with dignity in the context of education for sustainable development.
Coupled with the need to help the individual student to gain confidence and independence, the need for respect to be passed around, our certainty that students will make a contribution to society, the principle of body and shadow, developing our self respect, believing in the poison drum principle - that everyone is moving towards the light, working on collaboration in the classroom, and encouraging self mastery --we have some very important teachable principles.
Polishing the self. Helping students develop a seeking mind, to perceive their great potential, of seeing how to create value for themselves and the worlds, that this leads to wisdom, and good fortune. We now can help them, through this self mastery, face power with dignity and start to change authoritarian, animalistic power and move them to develop a deeper belief in the power of truth and humanity. Students can fight for human rights and against fundamental darkness, using the power of dialogue, based on an inherent power of respect and courage.
On educator, who is designing a major conference said that its mission reflects the questions we are raising at the forum:
“The key skills for students in the twenty-first century will be the ability to deal with complexity, uncertainty, and insecurity. Education for Sustainable Development includes peace education, citizenship and global awareness, environmental integrity and human rights. This ability must draw upon the whole spectrum of issues pertaining to sustainability, emphasizing especially issues such as personal attitudes, empathy, respect for difference, support for the civil society and its institutions, and the promotion of civil awareness and social justice.”
Many educators from various backgrounds are finding ways to teach sustainable thinking. Now if we network with these educators, and work out our own best practices, we can begin to create change.
At some point this intricate web of complexity that is holding us hostage has to give way, so that we can move to a whole new way of living. It's as if we are gathering the key strands that are holding up the web, and when we detach them, the web will come down. And we can't be afraid.
So the world, and the nations on it, is already changing towards a global, collaborative perspective and this new educational philosophy will change the character of education. From a competition to humanitarian competition – just as Makiguchi predicted.
Education, the Fourth Power
What is wonderful about this forum is that we see how the right people can make the Internet and technology work for them instead of the other way around, as Ikeda said, Internet with a human face.
As Soka Educators International Network we are using our own life-sized paradigms to forge bows of commitment, using this online technology. President Ikeda writes that the effort to overcome the coldness and indifference in our own lives and attain the same state of compassion as the Buddha is the essence of human revolution. Dig beneath your feet and you will find a spring there. Thus it is doubt that stops a child or an adult from becoming truly strong and wise. We are fortunate to have Ikeda Sensei as a mentor and he really counts on us to make our contribution in the place where we are.
Ikeda Sensei spoke about Education, the Fourth Power in 1969. Perhaps we can take this up in a future forum. It would certainly help us understand more completely the vision of Daisaku Ikeda and help us help students get there. We could develop our practical BNP principles and applications into something that would help establish that power.
Self and Other, Body and Shadow
Sensei speaks about "Freedom and Discipline" and recounts the story of a trainer and his dogs and how if he was angry about something in his life, he could cancel the day’s training because if he really got angry and scolded a dog, the dog he knew would just have contempt for him and this would end any hope of training that dog. The one being trained is in a sense a mirror in which the one doing the training is reflected, an indispensable partner. Ikeda compared this to the forging and fostering of character through education. This self and other relationship is deeply related to related to Soka education.
Self requires the existence of other. We cannot engage with others in an effective and productive manner if we lack the inner tension, the will and spiritual energy to guide and control our emotions. It is by recognizing that which is different from and external to ourselves, sensing the resistance it offers, that we are inspired to exercise the self-mastery
that brings our humanity to fruition. To lose sight of the other is thus to undermine our full experience of self."
Tsunesaburo Makiguchi did his Value Theory based on Sakyamuni’s Hoben chapter teaching of the Lotus Sutra. The Buddha is one who opens, shows, awakens and helps another enter. After the teacher bodhisattva gives the student the confidence and respect, the student can then find the way to open their gateway to Buddha hood.
Sensei believes that “there is a kind of progressive "root-rot" eating away at the depths of people's understanding of what it means to be human--how we define ourselves and how we relate to those different from us. In a world trapped in cycles of terrorism and military reprisal, I feel it is vital to put the scalpel to the corrupt roots from which the spiritual malaise of our era stems. Only by mustering the courage to do this will we be able to breathe again the liberating winds of hope." Peace Proposal 2004
“I believe we need to talk with students about what it means to be human. In recent years, the behavior of some young people has seemed completely out of sync with conventional understandings of "common sense." This acting out of these young people should be seen as symptomatic of the erosion of the educative function of society as a whole, and of a pervasive loss of the spiritual tautness that is born from the distinct encounter of self and other. I think the self-destructive behavior of young people can best be understood as a dire warning about the general health of society. Their greater sensitivity renders them more vulnerable to the toxins of modern life, similar to the canaries traditionally placed in coal mines whose distress would indicate the presence of poisonous gases.” Peace Proposal 2004
"From the start of the industrial revolution, modern civilization has been on a trajectory of fevered advance, served by the tools of scientific rationalism. The driving force has been the untrammeled pursuit of desire, the limitless inflation of the superficial self. Nothing manifests this more fiercely than nuclear weapons, which embody the willingness to hold the right to live of all people on Earth hostage to the predominance and security concerns of certain countries. They epitomize a civilization dedicated to the service of desire, born of the fusion of technological development and military objectives." Peace Proposal 2004
Children are like adults. Adults build arms, nuclear weapons so we Teachers, Parents, Educators, and Students need to unite and dialogue until we really to change the reality. We need to start with a focus in Nuclear Weapons together Ikeda Sensei did since 8:15 morning of the August 6, 1945. If all Soka Educators focus on this, like an Alliance, this will help UN and support Sensei’s Education 4th Power. We need to do our homework and dialogue with students about nuclear weapons and the power of dialogue.
Getting to the root causes and "declawing" of the evil that lies at the heart of nuclear weapons which the society of adults has cast so dark a future for young people. Toda's intent in regard to disarmament was to extract the root evil: the reasoning behind nuclear deterrence, whereby people's fear is aroused, which leads to mistrust and then justification for people arming themselves for their own survival or security. So nuclear disarmament education must be also a key principle to teach students.
We believe our faith in people, the faith that BND held in his respect for people, is something we have to communicate against all odds. Learning to be optimistic is important. We have to move out among people who disagree on this and dialogue.
The time is on our side - or more correctly -- that we are creating the time for humanistic change.
The SOKA EDUCATORS INTERNATIONAL NETWORK is a volunteer project created to inspire educators who are implementing Soka Education in different ways. The Newsletter's new goal is to create a robust network of Soka educators to support the growing development of humanistic education. To be added to the mailing list or removed from it, or to receive back issues, please contact Stephanie Tansey at tansey@usa.net.
