Ponderings on the Dalai Lama
zenmomma *
I have been reading a great book by the Dalai Lama called "The Art of
Happiness, A Handbook for Living". So much of it reminds me of what we
discuss here. The central idea is that the very purpose of our lives is to
seek happiness. Not happiness in a hedonistic sense, but in an ultimate
contentment, life worth living sense. Even though he's obviously a devout
Buddhist, he removes religion from all discussions and just talks about
humankind.
Anyway, as I was reading along, I found myself agreeing with everything he
was saying. That is until I got to this paragraph:
"...And knowledge does not come by naturally. We have to train; we have to
go through a kind of systematic training program and so forth. And we
consider this conventional education and training to be quite hard;
otherwise why would students look forward to vacations so much. Still we
know that this kind of education is quite vital for ensuring a happy and
successful life."
He was using this as a demonstration of why we need to train ourselves
towards using positive emotions in our lives. I don't disagree with that,
but as an unschooler I have obvious problems with the idea that learning
must be structured, systematic and difficult. And that knowledge can not
come naturally.
So, I was thinking, maybe I should write a letter and share with him some of
the ideas currently floating around the west about children and education
and all. I mean, think of how cool it would be to start a letter to His
Holiness the Dalai Lama with "Allow me to enlighten you..." :o)
And how would you address such a letter? Why "Hello Dalai", of course.
Which further got me thinking that if the refugee Tibetans are ever allowed
back into Tibet, the only appropriate song to sing would be the first verse
of "Hello Dolly".
"Hello Dalai, well hello Dalai, it's so nice to have you back where you
belong..."
~Mary, who has now revealed what she has been doing while trying to figure
out how she'll ever read the 250 new messages in her inbox.
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Happiness, A Handbook for Living". So much of it reminds me of what we
discuss here. The central idea is that the very purpose of our lives is to
seek happiness. Not happiness in a hedonistic sense, but in an ultimate
contentment, life worth living sense. Even though he's obviously a devout
Buddhist, he removes religion from all discussions and just talks about
humankind.
Anyway, as I was reading along, I found myself agreeing with everything he
was saying. That is until I got to this paragraph:
"...And knowledge does not come by naturally. We have to train; we have to
go through a kind of systematic training program and so forth. And we
consider this conventional education and training to be quite hard;
otherwise why would students look forward to vacations so much. Still we
know that this kind of education is quite vital for ensuring a happy and
successful life."
He was using this as a demonstration of why we need to train ourselves
towards using positive emotions in our lives. I don't disagree with that,
but as an unschooler I have obvious problems with the idea that learning
must be structured, systematic and difficult. And that knowledge can not
come naturally.
So, I was thinking, maybe I should write a letter and share with him some of
the ideas currently floating around the west about children and education
and all. I mean, think of how cool it would be to start a letter to His
Holiness the Dalai Lama with "Allow me to enlighten you..." :o)
And how would you address such a letter? Why "Hello Dalai", of course.
Which further got me thinking that if the refugee Tibetans are ever allowed
back into Tibet, the only appropriate song to sing would be the first verse
of "Hello Dolly".
"Hello Dalai, well hello Dalai, it's so nice to have you back where you
belong..."
~Mary, who has now revealed what she has been doing while trying to figure
out how she'll ever read the 250 new messages in her inbox.
_________________________________________________________________
MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos:
http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx
[email protected]
In a message dated 2/2/02 1:07:33 PM, zenmomma@... writes:
<< as an unschooler I have obvious problems with the idea that learning
must be structured, systematic and difficult >>
I think that's the main argument between Buddhists who believe that the
method is important to enlightenment, who meditate just so, sitting just so,
go through the same readings and exercises as everyone else, etc.
They seem to despise other schools of Buddhist practice, and to condemn
people who just dabble.
I read TriCycle, which is kind of a trade journal for teachers of Buddhism
(or so it seems sometimes) and there's a lot of hostility and defensiveness
of "method."
-=-And we
consider this conventional education and training to be quite hard;
otherwise why would students look forward to vacations so much.-=-
Is that a reason to make life hard? So two weeks vacation will seem great?
(Or four weeks for Germans. Maybe their vacations are twice as long because
their lives are twice as hard! <g>)
Sandra
<< as an unschooler I have obvious problems with the idea that learning
must be structured, systematic and difficult >>
I think that's the main argument between Buddhists who believe that the
method is important to enlightenment, who meditate just so, sitting just so,
go through the same readings and exercises as everyone else, etc.
They seem to despise other schools of Buddhist practice, and to condemn
people who just dabble.
I read TriCycle, which is kind of a trade journal for teachers of Buddhism
(or so it seems sometimes) and there's a lot of hostility and defensiveness
of "method."
-=-And we
consider this conventional education and training to be quite hard;
otherwise why would students look forward to vacations so much.-=-
Is that a reason to make life hard? So two weeks vacation will seem great?
(Or four weeks for Germans. Maybe their vacations are twice as long because
their lives are twice as hard! <g>)
Sandra
zenmomma *
<< as an unschooler I have obvious problems with the idea that learning must
be structured, systematic and difficult >>
he has ever known. I believe he was brought up in the monastery since he was
4. I do get the feeling, though, that he's not terribly hostile about it
all. Peace just radiates from the man.
:o))
hard. I took it more that he believes it is hard by its' very nature. Thus
my need to enlighten His Holiness on learning (from my POV).
~Mary
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be structured, systematic and difficult >>
>>I think that's the main argument between Buddhists who believe that theYes. I would think that from the Dalai Lama's perspective, structure is all
>>method is important to enlightenment, who meditate just so, sitting just
>>so, go through the same readings and exercises as everyone else, etc.>>
he has ever known. I believe he was brought up in the monastery since he was
4. I do get the feeling, though, that he's not terribly hostile about it
all. Peace just radiates from the man.
>>They seem to despise other schools of Buddhist practice, and to condemnWe're always going to have our extremists. (said the radical unschooler.
>>people who just dabble.>>
:o))
>>-=-And we consider this conventional education and training to be quiteI didn't think he was saying education (or life) should deliberately be made
>>hard; otherwise why would students look forward to vacations so much.-=->>
>>Is that a reason to make life hard? So two weeks vacation will seem
>>great?>>
hard. I took it more that he believes it is hard by its' very nature. Thus
my need to enlighten His Holiness on learning (from my POV).
~Mary
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In a message dated 2/3/02 10:41:58 AM, zenmomma@... writes:
<< I didn't think he was saying education (or life) should deliberately be
made
hard. I took it more that he believes it is hard by its' very nature. Thus
my need to enlighten His Holiness on learning (from my POV). >>
Last week he was in a hospital in India. I don't know if he's fine and out.
No doubt he has e-mail. <g>
Sandra
<< I didn't think he was saying education (or life) should deliberately be
made
hard. I took it more that he believes it is hard by its' very nature. Thus
my need to enlighten His Holiness on learning (from my POV). >>
Last week he was in a hospital in India. I don't know if he's fine and out.
No doubt he has e-mail. <g>
Sandra
Cindy
SandraDodd@... wrote:
He was identified as the 14th reincarnation of the Dalai Lama when he
was a little over two. At that time he could talk in the Lhasa dialect
of Tibetan (which his mother had a hard time understanding). He was
a serious child who didn't like quarrelsome people - he'd pick up a
stick and try to hit them. He also didn't like smoking. If anyone
is interested in His Holiness's life from a mother's viewpoint, his
mother's biography is quite good - _Dalai Lama, My Son, A Mother's
Story_ by Diki Tsering. She gave birth to two other tulkus (reincarnated
lamas). I found her lifestory to be quite inspiring - she started
out a Tibetan peasant woman with no expectation that she'd ever leave
the region of Tibet in which she'd been born; by the end of her life
she'd travelled the world as an emissary for the Tibetan government in
exile.
--
Cindy Ferguson
crma@...
>He is fine and he's out. I believe he's resting in Dharmsala.
> In a message dated 2/3/02 10:41:58 AM, zenmomma@... writes:
>
> << I didn't think he was saying education (or life) should deliberately be
> made
> hard. I took it more that he believes it is hard by its' very nature. Thus
> my need to enlighten His Holiness on learning (from my POV). >>
>
> Last week he was in a hospital in India. I don't know if he's fine and out.
>
He was identified as the 14th reincarnation of the Dalai Lama when he
was a little over two. At that time he could talk in the Lhasa dialect
of Tibetan (which his mother had a hard time understanding). He was
a serious child who didn't like quarrelsome people - he'd pick up a
stick and try to hit them. He also didn't like smoking. If anyone
is interested in His Holiness's life from a mother's viewpoint, his
mother's biography is quite good - _Dalai Lama, My Son, A Mother's
Story_ by Diki Tsering. She gave birth to two other tulkus (reincarnated
lamas). I found her lifestory to be quite inspiring - she started
out a Tibetan peasant woman with no expectation that she'd ever leave
the region of Tibet in which she'd been born; by the end of her life
she'd travelled the world as an emissary for the Tibetan government in
exile.
--
Cindy Ferguson
crma@...
[email protected]
In a message dated 2/3/02 12:03:39 PM, crma@... writes:
<< He was
a serious child who didn't like quarrelsome people - he'd pick up a
stick and try to hit them. >>
A peacekeeping tactic our nation's famous for.
Sandra
<< He was
a serious child who didn't like quarrelsome people - he'd pick up a
stick and try to hit them. >>
A peacekeeping tactic our nation's famous for.
Sandra
Tia Leschke
>ROFL! Good thing I wasn't drinking anything just then. Actually that's
><< He was
>a serious child who didn't like quarrelsome people - he'd pick up a
>stick and try to hit them. >>
>
>A peacekeeping tactic our nation's famous for.
one of the reasons I left the U.S. many years ago.
Tia
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
Eleanor Roosevelt
*********************************************
Tia Leschke
leschke@...
On Vancouver Island