12

DISCOVER INNER PEACE

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or
even touched. They must be felt with the heart.
Helen Keller

Objectives

  • Discipline in mind
  • Discipline in physical behaviour
  • Discipline in speech
  • Increased awareness in action
  • Contented living


    • Core Values

  • Resolution of inner conflict
  • Self-knowledge
  • Spiritual needs
  • Meditation


    • Content

  • Understanding the concept
  • Peace as resolution of inner conflict
  • Self-knowledge
  • Children's spiritual needs
  • Meditation as a classroom practice
  • Imagination in children
  • Practising awareness
  • Types of meditation for children
  • Intended outcome
  • Hints for peace culture


    • Learning Activities

    1. Walking meditation
    2. Watching with silent mind
    3. Learning to relax
    4. Experiencing inner peace
    5. Letting go
    6. Instant peace of mind
    7. Meditation on the present moment
    8. Meditation on goodness
    9. Meditation on sharing
    10. Meditation on being awake

    Understanding the Concept

    The statement in the preamble of the UNESCO's Constitution, "Since war begins in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be created" provides a guiding principle for this theme. Learning to Be means to learn to live peacefully with oneself. Peace can be experienced within ourselves. Inner peace arises out of intrinsic inner richnesses such as compassion, spiritual joy and wisdom. Here we have to understand the significance of beingness. It is the state of mind where a person experiences the joy of wholesome living.

    Peace as Resolution of Inner Conflict

    At the superficial level of mind, inner peace can be experienced through resolution of psychological conflict. As we know conflicts can be either external or internal. In fact most of our conflicts are internal, i.e within ourselves. According to Sigmund Freud, our mind is a battlefield where the life instinct is in conflict with the death instinct and in the clashes with super consciousness and so on. Various psychologists have described the nature of inner conflict.

    For instance, Curt Luwin showed that we have three basic types of inner conflicts.

    They are:

    1. Approach - approach conflict

    In this type of conflict a person is caught in between two equally attractive objectives out of which he can select only one. An example would be the choice between two equally attractive jobs.

    2. Avoidance - avoidance conflict

    Here the person tries to avoid two equally undesirable objectives where he is forced by circumstances to select one other than selecting one. Say that a person gets two jobs. which are equally unattractive. But under the circumstances he is pressed to select one.

    3. Approach -negative conflict:

    In this type a person is both attracted and repulsed by the same objective. He wants something for a certain reason and at the same time he does not want it for some other reason.

    Erik Erickson postulates that man's psychological growth results from the healthy resolution of inner conflicts. According to him in each growth stage man is confronted with a basic psychological conflict. Inability to resolve that inner conflict blocks his further growth and even leads to pervasive behaviour. This is has been proved by the studies on many criminals and terrorists. Some of them had been led to adopt violent ways of life as a result of the inability to resolve their inner conflicts such as deep hurts experienced during childhood. It is evident that a person who is unable to live with himself in peace cannot live in peace with others. How can we help children to resolve their inner conflicts?

    Self-Knowledge

    To resolve one's inner problems first of all one has to learn to look within and observe how the mind works. The problems distressing the mind have to be perceived. and understood. The more you understand yourself the more you mature psychologically. Helping children to look within and understand the self is an important life skill. The gravity of this need in education is evident by the kind of immature acts people commit throughout the world. Much disruptive behaviour of people arise out of their unresolved deep inner conflicts. Obviously one who cannot live in peace with oneself cannot live in peace with others.

    Children's Spiritual Needs

    This theme addresses children's spiritual needs. By spirituality we do not mean here being religious in the conventional sense. Peace in one's life arises from the deep human spirit that underlies all faiths. Peace education deals with the depth of the human mind. Touching the seat of spirituality is necessary. Here by spirituality we mean that essence rooted in man, which seeks for fulfilment through expressing and experiencing goodness in the highest degree. It drives us to do good, be kind, search for the true meaning and values lying deep within us. The present education has failed even to recognize children's basic needs.

    Children's spiritual needs are delicate and strong. They want to experience joy, beauty, love, warmth, kindness and wonder. They want to feel good. Education should cater for these children's spiritual needs. Depriving them of such needs surely withholds the blooming of their wholesome personalities.

    Inner peace is not only resolution of psychological conflicts. All religions teach that there is still deep peace within us. As a matter of fact all of us know that when the mind calms down a serene feeling of joy and peace begins to unfold within us. One of the effective ways of realizing the peace within is meditation as taught in all religions. However here we take it not as religious practice, attached to any particular belief system but as an open mental activity. The research findings show that meditation develops mental sanity, releases stress and improves creativity and insight. A meditation may be either tranquillizing or insight-producing. One can practise tranquillizing meditation by sitting still and concentrating on breathing in and out. As the mind settles down in concentration an intense sense of peace begins to unravel. Insight meditation awakens wisdom within us. All meditations are exercises in developing awareness and calmness in the mind. Disorderly behaviour of children is mostly caused by restlessness and confusion within them. It is expressed in forms of aggression as quarrelling, disturbing others, noise and bullying. With some it is expressed through withdrawal behaviours like disinterest in participation, apathy and indifference in learning However, when children begin to unravel peace, joy and contentment within them, naturally it is reflected in the behavioural pattern in the form of increased self-discipline, joyfulness, creativity and genuineness. It also leads to effective learning because of the awakened sense of wonder, enthusiasm and liveliness.

    Meditation as a Classroom Practice

    Stephanie Herzog, an American teacher who experimented in adopting meditation as a classroom practice has recorded her experiences in a book entitled Joy in the Classroom. She relates how children's imagination, listening, learning and the whole classroom atmosphere changed positively as children improved their meditation. She says;

    'Meditation is a technique in getting in touch with our own inner wisdom. Most children grow up without ever discovering that there is a source of wisdom and strength and love inside themselves. They look to their parents for these qualities but often parents are lacking in these qualities in them- selves ' (Page 5)

     She reports:

    After using meditation in classes, I began to notice a definite change in the students ' ability to be self-disciplined, self-motivating and responsible. I don 't think the children in my classes were conscious that they were gain- ing these qualities and it was not an intention of mine to accomplish this through this meditation. It all just happened naturally. '

     It should be stressed here that meditation in this context are simple activities of being still, inwardly appreciating deep positive feelings such as love and serenity, experiencing the beauty of Nature and goodness within. For instance, the meditation Stephanie used included five steps:

  • Getting in touch with one's own self and relaxing
  • Deep breathing to change and get control of emotions
  • Concentration of mind.
  • Expansion of mind with imagination and intuition.
  • And grounding the new-founded high-level awareness into a productive activity.


    • Imagination in Children

     This theme can accommodate children's faculty of imagination as well. As we know, children are gifted with high imaginative power. As they grow up, unfortunately most of them lose this important capacity. One of the secrets of successful persons' is their retained capacity for imagination. Scientists, artists, businessmen, engineers, architects and all others need it. Creativity comes from imagination.

    However there are people who despise imagination in children. They will tell you that imagination is unrealistic and leading to self-illusion and such kind of stuff. According to them children should be exposed to realities of life and society. Their imagination should be discouraged. Unfortunately many traditional schools take this attitude. As a result they ignore children's imagination and do not provide opportunities except in a few instances. Taking away, children's imaginations would be depriving them from the joy of being children. Such suppression will surely weaken their spirit of playfulness, curiosity to know, to experiment, and to create. Because children's many active drives are generating from their imaginations. When their healthy imaginations are suppressed it may find other less healthy ways or moods of expression such as daydreaming, self-enclosure, passivity and negative or antisocial behaviours.

    Self-image is also a construct of imagination. It is how one imagines one's own self. Once a self-image is built, the person tries to live up to it whether it is negative or positive. Teachers have to help children to build positive self-images, not only by right appraisals but also by encouraging, providing stimulation and opportunities to express themselves.

    Through meditations, soul appealing and meaningful imaginary experiences could be evoked in children using their natural sense of wonder, curiosity and beauty. Meditation in the conventional sense is an act of awakening to reality or truth. But children have come to reality walking through their veil of imagination. For them it is the stepping-stone to attain reality. Various forms of meditation for children could be developed to use in the classroom as educational tools.

    Practising Awareness

    Meditation in true sense is an act of establishing awareness, i.e. being aware. The synonyms for awareness are being alert, mindful, attentive, etc. It is basically a survival life skill. Take for instance, the function of awareness in an act of crossing a busy road. A moment lost of it may take away one's life. Thus awareness is a basic function of intelligence. Children have to be trained in being aware of dangers in their surroundings. Be it home, school, playground or road. Awareness brings self-control, composure, and sharpening of attention.

    The second level of awareness is being mindful of the movement of the body, i.e. how you walk, sit, eat, etc. It develops one's sensitiveness towards the body. The third level is being mindful of the activity of the mind, That is when you are angry know that you are angry, when you are confused know that you are confused, This is a subtle level of awareness. Awareness helps us to overcome an inherent weakness of the human mind. We are inclined to be carried away by our own desire, anger and illusion. Most of the inner conflicts arise out of the lack of self-understanding.

    Types of Meditations for Children:

  • Take the class out to an open air or a quiet place. Let them sit quietly and listen to the sounds in the environment. This helps to develop awareness towards the surroundings.
  • Making children sit quietly and to repeat in mind "I am a peaceful soul." Watching a tree with a silent mind.
  • Sitting quietly and concentrating on breathing in and out.
  • Looking at a flower and concentrating the mind on it.
  • Imagining a beautiful natural scene.
  • Imagining a trip in a strange land or garden.
  • Sitting quietly and experiencing the feeling of a noble human quality, such as kindness, and joy.
    • Apart from experiencing inner calm and beauty of imagination, meditation opens the door to understanding one's own thought process. It is this self-knowledge that brings emotional maturity in us. As educators we have to find effective methods of helping children to understand themselves better.

    Intended Behaviour

    Discipline in mind

  • Control of emotion
    • Enjoying being calm
  • Tolerance
  • Self-management


    • Discipline in physical behaviour

  • Correct body postures
  • Calm manners
  • Reduction of boisterous behaviour and over activeness


    • Discipline in speech

  • Abstaining from trivial and meaningless speech
  • Increased listening
  • Pleasant words
  • Soft speech


    • Increased awareness in action

  • Mindful behaviour
  • Precociousness
  • Realistic orientation


    • Contented Living

  • Joyfulness
  • Contentment
  • Simplicity
  • Enjoying beingness in life


    • Hints for peace culture-building in schools

    1. Respect students' friendship. Facilitate them in appropriate ways such as allowing friends to sit together. Encourage students to organize birthday celebrations, class get-together parties and entertainment activities. However they should be conducted in a simple and inexpensive manner in line with the school tradition. Such socializing events create a happy and pleasant atmosphere in the classroom.

    2. Promote courteous behaviour in the classroom and school, e.g. greeting, thanking, decent conduct, self-discipline, pleasant words, etc.

    3. Encourage students to organize welfare activities for themselves.

    4.Provide opportunities for group interaction in the course of subject learning.

    5.Respect and encourage honest expression of students' opinions, needs and feelings.

    6.Integrate aesthetic activities, like singing, role-plays, playlets into lessons so that learning will be fun.

    7.Tell stories that bring insight and wisdom.

    8.As a teacher be sensitive to the level of happiness in the class. If it is low bring back happiness through humour, playing active games and other means.

    9.Organize community development projects, e.g. building a house for a poor family, cleaning the village well, planting trees in the village, organizing a medical clinic for the villagers.

    10. Organize religious talks on inner peace in school.

    LEARNING ACTIVITIES

    Discover Inner Peace

    1. Walking Meditation This is an activity about awareness, attention and soothing the mind Level: Upper primary and secondary.

    Curriculum concern: Religion/ when you want to do a stress-releasing exercise.

    Objectives: 1. Learning the art of soothing the mind.

    2. Learning to live with awareness and attention

    3. Expanding consciousness

    4. Experiencing inner joy of peace

    Activity:

    Take children out to an undisturbed place and let them walk up and down freely keeping a distance from others. Tell them:

    1. Do not talk or look at others.

    2. Feel you are alone by yourself.

    3. Relax and be quiet and serene in mind.

    4. Walk very slowly. (5 minutes)

    Instruct: As you walk be completely aware of all your body movements.

    For instance: As you lift your foot in walking be aware that you .are lifting the foot, when keeping the foot be aware that you are keeping the foot on the ground and so on. As you are moving forward, be aware that you are moving forward. In this manner be aware of all your body movements however subtle they are. (10 minutes)

    Discussion - Guide Questions

    * Did you learn anything from the activity?

    * What do you we mean by being aware?

    * Did this walking make your mind quiet?

    * What are the uses of being mindful and collected?
    (Try this walking meditation whenever you can and see it helps you to develop awareness.)

    2. Watching with Silent Mind

     This is an activity about awareness, attention and soothing the mind Level: Upper primary and secondary.

    Curriculum concern: Religion/ when you want to do a stress-releasing exercise

    Objectives:

    1. Developing a spiritual relationship with nature,

    2. Learning to observe with silent mind.

    Activity: Step 1. Take the children out to a silent natural surrounding and ask them to select an object of nature such as a tree, plant, or part of the ground or even the sky or a cloud.

    Instruct: Leave the group and go to the object you have selected. Observe it with a silent mind. Don't bring in thoughts. Just watch with full awareness. Observe the colours, shape, liveliness of the tree or whatever objects you have selected. Be alone with nature. Listen to the songs of the birds. Feel the freshness of the breeze. Enjoy the warmth of the sunlight. Awaken your love for the earth, trees, plants, and the sky, Feel that you are a part of the whole universe. (10 minutes)

    Step 2: Discussion: Guide Questions

    After the activity discuss in class.

    1. Did you enjoy the activity?

    2. Is there a difference between observing with a chattering mind and observing with a silent mind?

    3. What did you learn from the activity?

    4. How can you enrich your daily life from what you have just learnt?

    5. Learning to Relax

    This activity is a stress-releasing stress.

    Level: Upper primary to upward

    Curriculum concern: Religion/ Classroom management/ When you find children restless and bored, the exercise helps them to regain normalcy. Instruct: Sit on a chair or lie on the floor. Find the most comfortable position. Do not move. Stay calm and still.

    When you feel well settled and relaxed, close your eyes. Focus your atten- tion to the whole body. Stay for sometime. . . . . .

    Say in mind: I am relaxing my body.. . . relaxing.. . relaxing.. deeply relax- ing.....

    Start relaxing the body from your toes. Focus attention on the toes and tighten and tense them.. ..Then at once relax and let go the tension.. . . . .

    Focus on the muscles of the legs.. . .Tighten . . .Relax.. . . . . .

    Focus on the muscles of the abdomen , . . Tighten.. . . Relax.. . .

    Focus on the muscles of the hand and chest.. . Tighten ..Relax.. .

    Focus on the muscles of the neck and face.. ..Tighten . . . ..Relax.. .

    Focus on the muscles inside the brain.. . . . Tighten . . . ..Relax.. .

    Focus on the muscles of the whole body.. . . Tighten and tense.. . At once

    drop relaxed. . . .

    Say in mind: I am relaxing, relaxing deeply relaxing.. . . . .

    Be completely aware and sensitive to the sensation and feelings of the whole body.. .Stay calm and relaxed for some time (5 to 10 minutes)

    4. Experiencing Inner Peace

    This activity is about concentration of mind and turning the attention inward.

    Level: Upper primary to upward

    Curriculum concern: Religion/ Classroom management/ when you want children to quieten down and feel peace within.

    Objectives:

    1. Learning to turn attention inward.

    2. Understanding the process of soothing one's mind.

    3. Discovering the joy within.

    Activity:

    Sit comfortably on your chairs. Don't lean against them. Keep your back straight and well composed. Relax in body and mind. Calm down.

    Let your body settle down gradually in stillness and silence. Close your eyes. Focus your attention and awareness on the whole body. Feel all the sensations arising from the body.

    Now, slowly focus your awareness on the breathing. Let breathing take place naturally, effortlessly. Concentrate on breathing in and out. Do not allow your mind to be distracted with other thoughts and memories. Stay in concentrated on the breathing in and out. Concentrate on the start, middle and the end of each breath. If you find it difficult to concentrate at the beginning, you can start counting breathing in and out up to 20 and go back. When the mind is tamed, then come back to concentration.

    Practise concentration for at least 10 minutes and then open your eyes and stay relaxed for another few minutes..

    Discussion - Guide Questions:

    * How do you feel about the activity?

    * Did you feel a sense of peace within?

    * Was it easy to concentrate on breathing?

    * Why do some find it difficult to concentrate?

    * What did you learn about your self through the activity?

    Note: Instruct students to practise this mind soothing exercise, daily in the morning soon after getting up and in the evening so that they experience inner peace and develop awareness and concentration.

    5. Letting Go

    This is an activity about stress-releasing.

    Level: Upper secondary

    Curriculum concern: When you want children to introduce a method of stress- releasing.

    Instruct:

    Sit on a chair or lie on the floor comfortably. Relax deeply for some time. Once you feel relaxed say in mind: I am letting go the entire burden on my mind.

    Recall all the worries, problems, fears and anxieties you have in mind one after the other. Feel it. Accept it. Stay with it briefly and then say: I let go this worry completely and the mind is now released and free. Do it until your mind is completely empty and free. Enjoy and experience the sense of release and the freshness.

    6. Instant Peace of Mind

    This is an instant meditation you can use to bring back your mind to peace when you find yourself disturbed or enraged with anger. Level: Upper primary and upward.

    Curriculum concern: Religion/Whenever you feel that children are in an emotionally disturbed and confused state of mind.

    Objective: Coming back to one's peace of mind.

    Instruct: Concentrate on breathing in and out and repeat mentally:

    Breathing in I calm.

    Breathing out I smile

    Dwelling in the present moment

    I know this is a wonderful moment

    Thich Nhat Hang

    7. Meditation on the Present Moment

    This is an activity about living in the present moment.

    Level: Secondary

    Curriculum concern: Religion/ when you want children to settle down before starting a lesson.

    Objective: Discover the joy of living in the present.

    Activity.

    Sit comfortably. Relax and calm down

    Realize that (by repeating the following sentences mentally)

    l This is the present. I focus my whole attention on the present moment.

    Living is always in the present

    l This moment is new andfresh. It never comes again. Therefore it is precious.

    l Living in the present is so good. There is great beauty in living in the present moment.

    l Living in this present moment is joyous. This is a moment of happiness, contentment and peace.

    When you have come into complete touch with the present moment stop repeating. Enjoy living in the present moment. You can practise this meditation sitting in the classroom, travelling in a vehicle or while relaxing on a chair

    8. Meditation on Goodness

    This activity is about discovering goodness.

    Level: Upper primary to upward

    Curriculum concern: Religion/ Classroom management/ when you want children to quieten down and feel good within.

    Objective: Experiencing inner goodness.

    Activity.

    You may practise this meditation while sitting or walking. You can do it lying down on bed just as soon as being awake in the morning or before sleeping at night.

    Repeat calmly in mind until you really feel good.

    1 Living is good!

    2 Nature is good.

    3 Everybody is good at heart.

    4 Everywhere is good!

    5 Every moment is good!

    6 Every day is in eternity!

    7 I love life; I love all beings; I love the whole universe.

    9. Meditation on Sharing

    This activity is about feeling for human brotherhood.

    Level: Upper primary to upward

    Curriculum concern: Religion/ Classroom management/ when you want children to feel empathy with the whole of mankind.

    Level: Upper Primary and Secondary

    Objectives: Experiencing empathy

    Activity:

    Learn the following verse by heart and repeat it with loving kindness to all.

    Share in the suffering qf others.
    Delight in the joy of others.
    Delight in the goodfortune of others.
    View the losses of others as your own loss.
    Lin Ying Chang

     10. Meditation on Being Awake

    This activity is about sharing.

    Level: Upper primary to upward

    Curriculum concern: Religion/ when you are discussing compassion

    Objective: Helping to start the day with compassion.

    Activity:

    Learn the following verse by heart and repeat it with loving-kindness soon after you awake in the morning.

    Waking up this morning, I smile.
    Twenty-four new hours are before me.
    I vow to live fully in each moment and
    To look at all beings with eyes of compassion.
    Nich Nhat Hang

     11. Controlling Your Anger

    This activity is about controlling anger..

    Level: Upper primary to upward

    Curriculum concern: Religion/ /When you are discussing the need for controlling anger

    Activity.

    Learn the following verse by heart and repeat it when you find you are angry until it goes away.

    Breathing in, I know that anger makes me ugly
    Breathing out I do not want to be contorted by anger
    Breathing in I know I must take care qf myself
    Breathing out I know loving kindness is the only answer.
    Nich Nhat Hang