I had the opportunity to go to the UW event with about 14 SPU students to hear the Dalai Lama speak during the Seeds of Compassion 5-day Seattle series. All day, my students referred to going to see "the Lama". It was also entertaining for me to go as a "follower" as I did not coordinate the group but got invited to join them. We took the bus over to UW and they were all suddenly aware of what a small campus we are used to as we navigated the campus.As we arrived, there were quite a few protestors: https://webmail1.spu.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jgS9FSyV3gSjErN5vP5V0ca_wYkgD90226LG0 which peaked the interest of our students.
The Dalai Lama spoke on issues of compassion, non-violence, inter-religious understanding and universal responsibility. He also answered questions from students regarding environmental issues, the fight against HIV/Aids, abuse, compassion for others, and the importance of education.
The students appreciated his sense of humor. He made some jokes about one student in the audience who was as bald as he was.
At the very end of the ceremony, a little 3 year old boy told a joke to the Dalai Lama. He asked, “What did the Dalai Lama say to the hot dog vendor?” … “Make me one with everything”. It took a few moments of translation (probably for those who spoke Tibetan as well as English) and then he laughed.
On a more serious note, one question that was raised by the Dalai Lama in terms of modern education was, “Should education teach moral ethics”? He suggested this could be taught not based on specific religious faith but on secular, moral ethics that are universal. He suggested that education has been focused on brain development and that historically the family and church would teach moral ethics, but that it was time for education to be willing to support the teaching of moral ethics in the classroom.
What do you think?
On a more serious note, one question that was raised by the Dalai Lama in terms of modern education was, “Should education teach moral ethics”? He suggested this could be taught not based on specific religious faith but on secular, moral ethics that are universal. He suggested that education has been focused on brain development and that historically the family and church would teach moral ethics, but that it was time for education to be willing to support the teaching of moral ethics in the classroom.
What do you think?
1 comment:
Well, technically the idea of teaching at all reflects a certain moral perspective... The debate, then, becomes which morality (or what definition) we choose to use as our foundation.
And I'm one of those nut jobs that believes choosing not to choose is still a choice- not selecting a moral framework is a decision that springs from a moral framework in and of itself.
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