In This
Issue:
Reports from Brazil, Germany, and Australia.
Protect the World
A rap video about climate change made by The Siddhartha School students.
Above:
Lilliana Bowen takes part in The Siddhartha School's "Rap for Climate Change" song workshop. Photo by Eva
Thomas.
"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." - W.B. Yeats.
Digital Downloads:
Slideshows:
You may have seen them before, but the smiling faces of
Siddhartha
School students and
classrooms in Sikkim and Ladakh never get old.
PDF Downloads:
Siddhartha School Brochure
KF Brochure
Deer Park Ecological Report
News & Bits
Above: The Siddhartha School Crest
CALL FOR HELP:
Making Connections
We are interested in hearing from you about any other Buddhist
education programs, from preschool to higher education. We would like
to compile a
database of like-minded institutions. If you have access to any lists
of Buddhist schools or individual contacts, please send them to Noa
Jones.
CALL FOR HELP:
We Need Your Photos
We need your photos to build the KF photo archive. We are collecting
photos that relate to the Five
Projects. Maybe you have a great photo
from the
Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö Institute in India, or shots from The
Siddhartha School in Australia. Send them in! Maybe you are a
scholarship recipient and have images from your classroom. We'll take
them! Or perhaps you have a nice series of retreat photos. We would
love to have
them in our library! Photos of KF people and activities are scattered
around the globe, and we need to consolidate them. This archive will
supply photos for the website, the annual report, the KF Communiqué,
and other KF publications.
Please send us your high-resolution photos so that we can store them in
our new achieve. Along with your photos, we need the following
information:
1. Photographer credit
2. Permission to use the photo
3. Names of the people in the photo
4. Location of the photo
5. Date of the photo
6. Description or suggested caption
7. Type of camera used, photo resolution
If you have hard copies and no means of digitizing, you may send
originals or negatives, which we'll scan and return. Even if you think
we already
have your photos, please send them again so that we can be thorough as
we set up this archive. Send your photos, along with the necessary
information,
to Yulia Sheynkman.
PLANNED GIVING
A number of Khyentse Foundation supporters have contacted us about
including the Foundation in their estate planning. We have explored a
number of
planned giving options and can help you select the best method for your
particular situation. If you would like to include Khyentse Foundation
as a
beneficiary in your will and estate planning, please contact Cangioli
Che
ENKI EDUCATION
The Foundation has offered Enki
Education teacher training manuals to educators in Australia, Brazil,
and Germany. Enki Education is a unique and innovative approach to
holistic education for both the classroom and home school. It offers
multicultural, arts-integrated education for children, as well as
conferences, discussion groups, and training programs for parents and
teachers.
THE SHAMBHALA SCHOOL in Nova Scotia
was founded in 1994 by parents in the Shambhala sangha who wanted their
children's educational experience to reflect their values as Buddhist
practitioners. The approach to curriculum is based on meeting the needs
of the child, not just academically, but socially, emotionally,
physically, and spiritually. The school fosters an environment where
compassion and curiosity go hand in hand, and where each child is
recognized for his or her unique capabilities while learning to work
with others in the community. At the elementary level, the arts are
integrated into the curriculum in all subjects and a thematic approach,
based on cultures from around the world, gives the students an
expansive world view and an appreciation of the wisdom that unites all
cultures in their diverse forms.
In July 2007, as part of the continuing development of The Siddhartha
School (TSS), the TSS team hosted Jackie Mitchell, a Shambhala School
teacher and cofounder. Through the sponsorship of Khyentse Foundation,
Jackie led a three-day curriculum workshop attended by TSS curriculum
coordinators, teachers, and board members. She also met with Rinpoche
to discuss and clarify the relationship between the Shambhala School
and The Siddhartha School. Team leader and Program Director Eva Thomas
says that TSS's experience with Jackie Mitchell "was a huge help in
bringing the school to the next level of formulating policies, building
plans, and setting out the educational philosophy of the school."
Jackie has offered her ongoing support, primarily in the area of
curriculum development.
Education Contacts
KF Coordinator: Noa Jones
Deer Park Institute
Bir, Distt: Kangra,
Himachal Pradesh 176 077 India
Prashant Varma
Jennifer Yo
Phone No: +91 - 1894 - 268 508
Australia
The Siddhartha School
Board of Directors
Meg Hart
Bryan Rowe
Eva and Simon Thomas
Jakob Leschly
Phil Davis, Curriculum Coordinator
Shakti Bourke, Ashoka Film Coordinator
Sarah Mist, graphic design
Brazil:
Chagdud Khadro
Lama Sherab
Christine Boedler
Ianina Munarski
Luciana Novaes
Isabel Pedrosa
Canada
Lesley Patten
Germany
Doris Wolter
Shambhala School
Enki Education, Inc.
P.O. Box 2223
Providence, RI 02905
Phone (401) 228-7200
email: info@enkieducation.org
In the Next Issue:
Report from the annual Board of Directors'
meeting--exciting announcements about the Berkeley chair, the
translation conference, and moving into the future.
What's the best way to support Khyentse Foundation?
Join Our Matching Fund Program
|
Welcome to the July Communiqué
"Happiness
is a skill, emotional balance is a skill,
compassion and altruism are
skills,
and like any skill they need to be developed.
That's what
education is about."
- Matthieu Ricard
This issue of the Communiqué focuses on our Buddhist Education Programs, which support education models in countries
around the
world. But education is not relegated to this program alone, it is a key element of all
five of Khyentse Foundation's
projects. The KF Monastic
Fund supports the traditional heritage of higher
Buddhist studies, training young scholars to become Buddhist teachers for the world. The Scholarship Fund enables
dedicated individuals to study and
practice the Dharma. The Publication
Fund supports the preservation, translation, and distribution of Buddhist texts.
And the Endowed
Chair supports
the academic study of Buddhism. May these programs help create a more compassionate and enlightened world.
Read on for highlights and updates.
Note: If the Communiqué print appears too small on your screen, please click the
link above and see it online.
Above: Pema Maya, Venerable Agacitta, Melitis Kwong, Jennifer Yo, Prashant
Varma, Kurt Schwalbe, and Nawang Gelek.
NEWS FROM DEER PARK INSTITUTE
Deer Park Institute, located in Bir, Himachal Pradesh, India, is a centre for the
study of classical Indian wisdom traditions. The centre is under the auspices of Siddhartha's Intent India, a registered educational society that was
formed in March 2006 with a distinguished board of directors and advisory board. The society obtained charitable and tax exempt status in September
2006 and was deeply honored to receive the patronage of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Khyentse Foundation provided the core financial support for the
operation of Deer Park.
Vision: The administrators, teachers, and students at Deer Park Institute are trying to
cultivate, in small ways and large, the conditions that prevailed at Nalanda University centuries ago. Nalanda was a place where students came from
all traditions of Indian thought to enjoy the opportunity to debate and study philosophy, language, literature, poetry, economics, medicine, and the
arts. "Such conditions were favorable to bring about both relative and ultimate realizations of reality," says Institute Director Prashant Varma.
"Similarly, the Rimé tradition, which flourished in Tibet, was a renaissance movement that brought about studies of Buddhism with openness and
freshness." Using these models, the Institute is developing programs that explore all schools of Buddhism with origins in the Pali Canon and
the
Sanskrit Canon. "It's important to note," says Varma, "that the pursuit in Nalanda was not driven much by career-oriented studies. There was an
ambition, a pride, yet that came out of a contemplative pursuit."
Environment: Deer Park is not just rooted in the past; the Institute is making
notable progress with its progressive environmental initiatives. Many Western students who have visited Bir are awed by the staggering beauty of the
Himalayan foothills and brokenhearted by the garbage-filled streams and fields. Deer Park is taking a leadership role in the community, working to
educate people about the environmental impact of their actions. "We feel a great responsibility to both the land and the people," says Varma.
"We are now beginning to develop a number of programs in the areas of ecology, traditional economy, and right livelihood." For more information,
download Deer Park's Ecology Report.
Community: Often settlements like Bir are not integrated with the surrounding
communities, but Deer Park is taking steps to bridge the gap so that the benefits of its programs can be shared by all. In addition to the
environmental initiatives, the Institute reaches out to its neighbors in a number of ways, both formal and informal. "I think what is really growing
is our work with the local communities," says Varma. "We support the Youth Buddhist Society from Uttar Pradesh by having their three interns work
with
us on various issues, including teaching meditation to villagers, running workshops for children on domestic violence, and supporting local
farmers."
New Deer Park Video
Past Articles About Deer
Park:
Vision for a
New Nalanda
Two Personal Accounts of Life at Deer
Park
Andrew Schelling:
Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche had invited my partner, Marlow Brooks, to Deer Park. In August 2006, when Marlow introduced me to Rinpoche at a retreat in
Leggett, California, he turned to me and asked, "Are you coming to India too?" I hadn't been to India in over 10 years, but with his quick warm
invitation, and knowing Deer Park as a center for classical Indian studies (a subject close to my heart), I said yes. When we arrived the next
January, the terrific, dedicated administrators, Prashant and Jennifer, with their Punjabi-rock 'n' roll-singing support crew, had arranged a
week-long arts festival. (continued...)
Kurt Schwalbe:
Our group of Deer Park Institute students felt lost and alone. After a much delayed train ride, the chaos of
the train station swirled around us. Suddenly, the Deer Park Institute drivers appeared, calm and confident. They immediately organized our
group and had us rolling toward Bir. After a long ride in the dark through unfamiliar territory, we pulled up to the Institute gates. Smiling
faces were everywhere. Prashant's first words to us endeared him to me forever: "We have kept dinner hot for you."
I went to my beautiful, clean room with its beautiful, clean toilet and slept very well. When I walked out on the veranda the next morning, I felt I
had awakened into a dream. I looked out at the courtyard and up the steps to a beautiful shrine hall framed by snow mountains. Shangri-La
images
flooded my mind. (continued...)
UPDATES FROM OTHER PROGRAMS
At Khyentse Foundation's inception, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche shared a long-term goal of establishing international, nondenominational schools for
children with curricula based on Buddhist principles. The Foundation has identified a number of projects that are in alignment with Rinpoche's
vision.
Brazil
For several years, the Brazilian government has required presentation of religions other than Christianity in the public schools. State ministries of
education are responsible for implementing this requirement, but the ministries work with private entities to develop curricula and to organize
the special training for public school teachers. Chagdud Gonpa Brazil has become the first non-Christian member of the Board of Religious
Education, which coordinates the activities of the private entities for the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Ianina Munarski and Christine Boedler
are the Buddhist representatives on the board, and they have made useful contacts with municipal education officials.
The first trainings of public school teachers have taken place, and to support these trainings, an outline of Buddhist curricula and teaching
methodology has been drafted. As it evolves, this training outline will be refined and expanded:
-
To create teaching modules on basic Buddhism for public school teachers.
-
To train lamas and senior Buddhist practitioners to answer the questions of school children whom they receive in their centers. Khadro Ling in
Río Grande do Sul already receives hundreds of school children each year, and Odsal Ling in São Paulo can expect similar visits now that
its
temple has been constructed.
-
For use at Sítio Esperança (Hope Farm), a Chagdud Gonpa Brazil educational and community
project in the state of Minas Geráis.
Sítio, formerly a cement factory, was nicely renovated by the sangha and currently is used for children's camps; for Projecto Florescer, an
agricultural training project run in collaboration with a Brazilian organization for special needs children; and for after-school enrichment
programs.
The original intention was to start a school, but this proved too complicated as a first step. However, there is still the aspiration to establish a
school--either a completely Buddhist school that leads to a shedra education in Brazil (Sítio is an excellent location for this purpose) or a
school for the community that incorporates Buddhist values.
-
As part of the curriculum for a independent, private school, perhaps located in Porto Alegre. To establish
such a school is the long-term objective
of Ianina Munarski, whose aspiration is to provide high-quality education based on Buddhist principles at the fundamental, medium, and superior
levels--a Philosophic Academy. The methodology will stimulate the interaction between the school and the community.
Since 2004, Doris Wolter of the KF team in Germany, as coordinated and overseen the teachers'
training for Buddhist religious
education in German schools for the German Buddhist Union.
In 2006 the GBU started a program for teachers of ethics (a new school subject in Germany), and for
non-teachers as well. The program invites
speakers from all the main Buddhist traditions in the spirit of inter-Buddhist dialog. The next two weekends will be October 8, 2008 in Leipzig with
Dr. Alex Berzin and FJ Litsch on the "Four Noble Truths" and December 8 in Berlin with Alfred Weil and Yesche Regel on "Violence and Peace."
Doris will represent this project of GBU at a conference on "Buddhism and Ethics," during a panel on
"Buddhist Ethics and Young
People" in Bangkok in September 2008.
The German Buddhist Union will hold a conference on "Paths into the Future" in October 2008 for children, teenagers, and parents. The conference will offer
many events, such as meditation classes, clown classes for children, and seminars for parents
about new
education.
Australia
In 2005, Rinpoche recommended that King Ashoka be used as one of the role models for the Siddhartha's
School children's programs. Shakti Burke wrote a children's musical based on the king's life with the idea of videoing the kids performing the
songs.
They filmed and recorded the first song, "I Am the King Ashoka," during a children's day in late 2005.
The second song, "Hatred Ceases," is also based on the life of Ashoka. It was written in 2003, around the time of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq,
which
served as an inspiration. The verses are based on a booklet by the Dalai Lama. Shakti compiled a "study guide" summarizing the Dalai Lama's
arguments, which in turn draw from Shantideva, and then asked the students to write their own rap songs based on the material. A young Australian rap
artist, Karuna Bajracharya, answered a notice in the Gentle Voice aimed at young people who might like to get involved. Karuna, then 24 years old,
has
his own rap recording outfit. While visiting his father in Nepal, Karuna studied Tibetan art at Sechen Monastery in Kathmandu. He had already
released
his first rap album and has a second on the way. Karuna came to Byron to meet Eva Thomas and Shakti and to attend Rinpoche's teaching in 2006.
In March 2007, Eva and Shakti put on a Siddhartha's School children's day in Kyogle, facilitated by
Karuna, to record "Hatred Ceases." Karuna brought with him professional recording equipment and a great energy for working with young people. The
younger kids put down vocal "soundscapes" that they invented themselves, with Karuna's encouragement. The older kids paired up to cover the verses.
They spent the morning learning, arranging, and rehearsing, and later took turns recording. Wearing earphones that played a sample of Karuna rapping
the soundtrack, they performed several takes of their lines with complete professional concentration and commitment. "It was a fun and rewarding
experience," says Shakti.
Around the same time, Shakti had met a community volunteer, Ron Way, at the local technology centre
(Kyogle CTC). Ron, who has 40 years of experience as a director and producer in Australian film and television. Ron asked if could he come along to
Karuna's
workshop and do "some quiet filming." Ron's "quiet filming" turned into the visuals for the "Hatred Ceases" video clip that he then edited to
Karuna's
soundtrack.
Feature:THE CAUSE AND EFFECT SCHOOL
By Jakob Leschly
"I realize it is time to think seriously about future generations." -- Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse
Rinpoche
In recent years, many Western
Buddhists have contributed to the establishment of modern schools in
traditional Buddhist cultures. However, so far not much has been done
to establish Buddhist schools in cultures where Buddhism is only now
taking
root. Although the former initiatives will enable youth, mainly Asian,
to obtain an education according to Western standards - ultimately
providing
them with autonomy in a commercially oriented world - Buddhist
education for children is conspicuously lacking, in both East and West.
A group of
Buddhist parents in New South Wales, Australia, is making a difference.
They are working to establish The Siddhartha School - a secular school
based
on Buddhist principles. Inspired by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse, the
group feels a strong impetus to share the wealth of the Buddha's
heritage with the
next generation. Jamyang Khyentse himself says, "After teaching
Buddhist philosophy in both the East and West for many years now, I
realize it is
time
to think seriously about future generations, and how we as a community
can best prepare them for the challenges and opportunities this life
presents."
The school has drawn inspiration and much positive input from the
Shambhala School in Nova Scotia, Canada. In 2007, Shambhala School
teacher Jackie
Mitchell visited the group in Australia and shared her experiences.
During her three-week stay she facilitated workshops, lectures, and
discussion
groups, addressing many aspects of school administration, curriculum
development, classroom meditation, and discipline.
The School's Philosophy
The principles of the schools
center on the Buddhist thesis of interdependent origination, the view
that all
phenomena exist on the basis of causes and conditions. This perspective
of understanding encourages critical analysis and reasoning, and it
also
points to our responsibility and empowerment in creating auspicious
causes and conditions for our own lives and for the world we live in.
The
conditions for becoming a good and balanced human are not something
vague or arbitrary.
At the recent conference
"Happiness & Its Causes 2008" in Sydney, monk, scientist, and
best-selling author
Matthieu Ricard spoke about Buddhist principles in secular education:
"Based on an understanding of reality as the interdependence of cause
and
effect
brings a sense of universal responsibility. Children can see that
opening up and having concern for others is a win-win situation, as
opposed to
closing oneself in selfish pursuits of happiness which is a lose-lose
situation. It could be useful and reasonable to bring such a
perspective and
practice into education, without the Buddhist label, but with the core
of the training the mind and considering these trainings as skills.
Happiness
is a skill, emotional balance is a skill, compassion and altruism are
skills. And like any skill they need to be developed, that's what
education is
about." Jamyang Khyentse says, "It is my hope that we can help children
develop a broader understanding of the world around them as well as
their
internal world and how the two are so closely related. I feel certain
that this new model of primary school education will be of great
benefit not
just for the children and families involved but can have a far-reaching
effect on the world at large."
The Future of Education
The Siddhartha School is not an
isolated phenomenon - it is a translation project to bring the wealth
of
Siddhartha's universal insight and ethics to future generations
everywhere. It is therefore in the interest of Buddhists and
like-minded parents and
educators all over the world to gather around and support this effort.
Jamyang Khyentse has stated his intention to establish similar schools
in
other
countries, with The Siddhartha School as a pilot project for a global
movement in education. Read more about the school at www.siddharthaschool.org.
Jakob Leschly is a meditation instructor and translator living in Australia. He serves on Khyentse
Foundation's Grants Review Committee and is
on our editorial team.
Above: Andrew Schelling with partner Marlow Brooks.
...
Andrew Schelling Continued
I hadn't been prepared for the
generosity, for the warm friendship, or for the kind of place where
teaching and learning could happen in such utterly open, playful
circumstances. Meditation in the early morning amid butter lamps.
Spacious courtyards where we could sing out poetry and release wild
animal cries, or walk at night with lit candles. An outdoor communal
dining hall where students from across the planet came and went. The
setting is gorgeous--and profoundly interesting if you value snow-peak
mountains, soaring forests, cold streams, animated bird life, and the
endless processionals and pujas you find around Indian temples. The
Kangra Valley turns out to be a center for archaic goddess worship
(there are nine famous temples) and a major fly-over path for migrating
eagles. Also, it's full of terraced tea fields and many ornate new
Buddhist gompas.
Rinpoche has quite a few devoted Indian students, most of them artists
or scholars. Enduring friendships with them are the most unexpected
result of visiting Deer Park. It must be Rinpoche's easy international
ways, his commitment to returning Buddhism to India, as well as his own
film making, that draw unconventional people--artists, travelers,
bohemians--to Deer Park. I decided to run a day-long poetry course for
the arts event, where the group would create a linked-verse poem
(Japanese form: renga, collaborative poem). When 35 people showed up, I
was stunned. Participants ranged from about 14 years old to their
mid-70s, and included Indians, Chinese, Japanese, a Kashmiri, an
Israeli, Belgian, Spanish, Australian, and a few Americans, and with
Rinpoche joining in, Tibetan. Nobody got tired of poetry, and we worked
(and played) hard and seriously all day. By the end the shy youngsters
were bold makers of verse, and we ended up with a poem that
miraculously held together, flavored with Chinese monosyllables,
Spanish romanticism, Kashmiri sense of the ghazal poetic form, and
bawdy Tibetan Dharma humor.
Through it all--and through another arts festival held the following
autumn--ran these questions: What is art? What is its connection to
Buddhism? Why do we so strongly need to make things of beauty and
insight? Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche threw himself right in with the
questions--one of the things I admire most about him. He seems more
interested in questions than answers, and he likes to stir up
conversation between people from far-away cultures. He capped the first
festival with several days of talks in the Manjushri Hall, in which he
studied both Tibetan and Western notions of art, trying along with the
rest of us to get a sense of why it's so important.
Andrew Schelling is a poet, author of 15 books, student of natural
history, and amateur mountaineer. His translations from classical India
are celebrated and have received an award from the Academy of American
Poets and two Witter Bynner Foundation for Poetry grants. He is
currently working on an anthology of Indian bhakti (devotional) poetry
for Oxford University Press, India.
... Kurt Schwalbe
Continued
At breakfast, I met the staff and more of our group. Deer Park
Institute makes me very happy and comfortable when I consider the
treatment of the staff. The staff eats the same food as the guests!
There are enrichment programs for staff as well, enabling them to
continue their education while working. Some of the staff members were
away, participating in an international peace march.
I loved seeing the well-treated dogs on the grounds, who were fed and
cared for regularly. And I especially welcomed the emphasis on waste
reduction and recycling at DPI. This program is a beacon in the night
in India. I am so happy to see the Institute take this leadership
position.
I had planned some months before to come to India to teach a course in
Classical Tibetan to some Dharma students. We had arranged another
location but that was cancelled. One of the students knew of Deer Park
and suggested to Prashant that the Institute host the course. The
Institute kindly agreed, and we were back on the schedule.
We had a excellent group of ten students from North and South America,
Europe, Asia, and Australia. We studied together for a month, meeting
in the main shrine hall. By the end of the course, we read the Heart
Sutra together. We also read a number of short devotional poems. Our
exercise on the last day of the class was to read some of the
inscriptions on the beams of the entrance to the shrine room.
DPI was a very powerful and peaceful place for us to study. I
especially enjoyed that Tibetan and Himachali people included it on
their pilgrimage walks. I was surprised at first when people came in
during our class to make prostrations, circumambulations, and offerings
at the main altar. I came to find it charming that we all were
performing our practice together in our own manner.
I am very thankful to Deer Park Institute for giving us this place to study Classical Tibetan. And the food was fabulous.
Kurt Schwalbe earned his Master of Divinity and Doctor of Philosophy at
the Graduate Theological Union in Berkley, California. He is currently
a professor of Classical Tibetan and will teach at DPI again in February
2009.
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