DLF Study Circles

Ethics for the Student

efeig — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 20:56:58 +0000

As an English professor at a suburban community college, I tend to spend most of my days focusing on grammar, writing and reading. Recently however, I have noticed a peculiar syndrome with my students – a total lack of ethics. They easily call one another inappropriate names, bully others who are different, plagiarize work and fail to attend class. If they do attend class, they spend their time immersed with Facebook updating their walls or texting their friends with an utter disregard for their professor’s time. In his Millennium Address, His Holiness states:

“Along with education, which generally deals only with academic accomplishments, we need to develop more altruism and a sense of caring and responsibility for others in the minds of the younger generation studying in various educational institutions. This can be done without necessarily involving religion. One could therefore call this ’secular ethics,’ as it in fact consists of basic human qualities such as kindness, compassion, sincerity and honesty.”

How can we, as a society, instill such important “secular ethics” in our youth? In those who will inevitably rule the world we live in? To be honest, there are days where I wake up and wonder why I chose to become a teacher—especially when I am met with students who simply have no concern for the world around them.

One of the most important things we can do is start a Study Circle Group to focus on the important teachings of the Dalai Lama. We must take the ethics proposed by His Holiness and disseminate them via small communities of learning; through such study and dialogue we can become mentors to those who have lost their way, who have forgotten what it means to be kind, compassionate and honest. Recently, I have made these teachings part of every class I teach and while I have yet to see the results, I believe that one day my students will become the teachers.

For more information on starting your own study circle, visit The Dalai Lama Foundation Study Circles page. For more resources for your study circle, visit the Learning Zone.

How Emmanuel got started with study circles

Sky — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 18:43:10 +0000

This is such a virtual world, isn’t it? I first “met” Emmanuel Ande Ivorgba by email in 2005. It was two years later that we had a chance to meet while we were both in India interviewing the Dalai Lama for Project Happiness^[1]. A challenge that Emmanuel faced, in Nigeria, was that of explaining that Ethics for the New Millennium is a non-religious approach to ethics and thus not based in religion. Listen to the interview to hear how Emmanuel got started with study circles and how he handled the issue of being non-religious in orientation.

Click to open the audio player:

[1] Project Happiness students interviewed His Holiness the Dalai Lama, asking him many questions which became the core of the Project Happiness film.

Can “Art” play a part in your study circle?

Sky — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 17:41:56 +0000

People have different ways of expressing their feelings and their thoughts. There’s a range from concrete to abstract… some people love ”gettin’ down” and working with their hands, and others prefer verbally exploring lofty concepts and talking endlessly about them.

Although Ethics for the New Millennium is not ”about Buddhism” there are many core Buddhist principles that play a part in the development of His Holiness’ thought and the evolution of the “argument” on behalf of ethical behavior that emerges in this book. And Buddhism, also, ranges from quite concrete to extremely abstract—there’s a reason it is sometimes jokingly referred to as “the religion of lists!” So there is plenty of room for lots of different types of expression. This is true for almost any religious or secular foundations of thought and living that you might encounter (that’s a topic to be explored another day, isn’t it?…)

You might find that some of your study circle members participate less than others in discussion and conversation. Try something new with these folks—ask whether they would be more comfortable expressing their thoughts and feelings in the form of artistic representations! (Keep reading for examples and suggestions…)

Many of them will say “I’m no good at art!” but don’t accept that as a final answer. Suggest that they experiment in private with some medium—perhaps drawing, sketching, or taking water color or crayon to paper, or fiddling around^[1] on the guitar or piano, or whatever medium they might have a passing acquaintance with (even from first grade in school). Let them keep their creations private, if they wish, until they feel confident enough to explore them with the group. And maybe it will be easier if you schedule a “group session” where people can 1) create their art in the same room with others in the group (for encouragement); or 2) make a presentation of one of their works to the group in a session designed expressly for this activity.

There are lots of web sites that may help inspire your group members. We suggest The Missing Peace: Artists Consider the Dalai Lama as a great starting point. And for a more “edgy” approach, try Yo! What Happened to Peace? just for example (I mean look at that stencil work in the photo—that’s a really creative work and yet you could certainly do something like that yourself!). You can add sites that you’ve discovered to the comments section of this article (below).

[1] “fiddling” — isn’t it funny that I chose that word? I mean “experimentation” and “exploration” and in fact in the US, the tradition of ”fiddlers” who pull out an old violin and experiment with melodies and rhythm is quite apt! What you want to ask your circle participants to do is to just put the crayon on the paper and move it, and experiment, and see what comes to mind. They can throw away anything they feel didn’t work out. But bring one piece of art back to explore with the group

Augment your study circle with Dalai Lama videos

Sky — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 19:47:50 +0000

DalaiLama.com, the official web site of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, has recently been revamped and is offering a page of Dalai Lama ”videos” many of which are current, and some of which reach back a few years into history. You can find his public talks, interviews, and Buddhist teachings.

You could use these as “homework” assignments or even play one or two (appropriately selected) during your study circle meetings to illustrate points you’re covering in a meeting.

[Photo is from DalaiLama.com]

Study Circles for Inmates

Sky — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:14:52 +0000

In the June, 2009, newsletter of The Dalai Lama Foundation, we announced that for a year the facilitators of Project Clear Light had been meeting with a group of 20 maximum-security inmates at the Mark Stiles Unit in Beaumont, Texas. They had been using Ethics for the New Millennium as a text, and the Study Guide as a starting point for their series of meetings.

The work begun by Terry Conrad, and by the inmates at the unit, resulted in a special study guide for inmates entitled Discovering Ethics: A Path to Virtue, which is available for download (PDF) and in printed (bound) form from Lulu.com.

The guide, like our other guides, is published under a Creative Commons license which allows modification, addition, duplication, and distribution for nonprofit purposes.

All of the guides are for use with Ethics for the New Millennium, which must be purchased separately. We urge you to purchase conveniently, you may be able to get the book today from a local bookseller. You can order copies online from Amazon.com or other online retailers.

Resources:

The Study Circles page at The Dalai Lama Foundation
Project Clear Light
Order printed study guides (all formats)
Emmanuel Ande Ivorgba expresses our appreciation to Terry Conrad for the new study guide

Keeping track of the Dalai Lama

Sky — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:48:55 +0000

For study circle coordinators who want to keep track of current activities of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, there are several new ways to keep in touch.

First, you can track the Dalai Lama on Twitter and Facebook. This gives you a great way to get the most recent “news” on upcoming public talks, religious teachings and other activities of His Holiness. On Twitter, you can follow @DalaiLama and on Facebook, you can find the Dalai Lama “fan page” at facebook.com/DalaiLama. These are primarily places where you can find information, and not opportunities to chat or interact, though that may be expanded in the future.

To view online video, there are two sources. First, DalaiLama.com (the authoritative source for all things Dalai Lama) has a video and audio page where you can view recent videos. And The Dalai Lama Foundation has a video page that includes video from non-religious appearances, going back several years.

Studying Ethics for the New Millennium is great on its own, but you can make it more “present” by viewing video and discovering how His Holiness explains and expresses the thoughts and messages that are contained within the book.

Gratitude for the NEW Study Guide for Inmates

emmanuel — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 19:05:22 +0000

TO: Terry Conrad and the Clear Light Prison Sangha in Texas

Dear Terry,
I am writing to congratulate and thank you once again for this excellent and most appropriate Ethics Study Guide that you have helped to develop for Prison Inmates. I have been going through the pages and I am so deeply moved by its clarity and depths. Surely, you have put in so much effort and energy in doing this, and on behalf of everyone in the great family and friends of His Holiness, I say thank you most sincerely.

You have indeed taken the lead and shown us the way. Our Prison system in Nigeria will be the greatest beneficiary of this Study Guide. I am wondering if you would have time to prepare and share with all of us, a 1-2 page summary of your experiences with the inmates as they begin work with this document. Your summary will be posted on the Study Circle blog, and hopefully on the Foundation’s Online Newsletter. This is an excellent example and we all have great lessons to learn from this.

Thank you so much and please extend my very warm regards to all the people involved with this work, and to all who will use it.
Sincerely,
Emmanuel

Engr. Emmanuel Ande Ivorgba,
Study Circle Coordinator
The Dalai Lama Foundation

Study Circle in Kobe, Japan

Donna — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:55:16 +0000

A new study circle is getting organized in Kobe, Japan, with its inaugural meeting set for June 26. As that day is International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the group will be starting with Chapter 14 on Peace and Disarmament. They will then meet monthly to discuss the rest of the chapters in sequence. Their website is www.ray-light.net (Sorry, Japanese only!) Group organizer Tomoko Amon says their group is committed to the notion of a “sustainable world that is organized around the principles of wise compassion taught by all the world’s great traditions.” She says, “That is just our dream; I want to try to make it come true.”

Paris, France

Sky — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 06:37:13 +0000

We have a new study circle forming in Paris (75007) coordinated by Irma Berry. We hope to have a French-language study guide coming out of this effort. Should be fun. Please contact Irma by email if you’d like to join this group or help with the French translation (even if you’re not in Paris).

Bogota, Columbia

Sky — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 05:57:26 +0000

There are new study circles starting around the world all the time. Here’s one of the newest. We’ll try to keep you posted on the blog each time a new circle starts up.

New study circle

Coordinator: Violeta Rico Tréllez.
Bogotá
Colombia

Contact Emmanuel Ande Ivorgba for specifics.