I was asked to read something of my choosing to the pupils at school. The librarian said I could choose any book I wanted. I chose Thanissaro Bhikkhu's Wings to Awakening.
The pupils generally didn't enjoy it and the librarian looked almost angry at ne for not choosing a fiction book, I suppose.
Thought I'd share to see if it induced some Dhamma conversation here
Wings to awakening puts children to sleep
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Re: Wings to awakening puts children to sleep
she should of been more specific
Blog, Suttas, Aj Chah, Facebook.
He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill
He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill
Re: Wings to awakening puts children to sleep
Well, you could have pointed to a few passages that would have helped them with that particular problem...the librarian looked almost angry at me for not choosing a fiction book
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Re: Wings to awakening puts children to sleep
Greetings,
Something like that could cause trouble if parents were to complain.
Metta,
Retro.
My first thoughts here are cautionary, in relation to religion being presented in school without parental permission nor the ability to "opt out".Mawkish1983 wrote:I was asked to read something of my choosing to the pupils at school. The librarian said I could choose any book I wanted. I chose Thanissaro Bhikkhu's Wings to Awakening.
Something like that could cause trouble if parents were to complain.
Metta,
Retro.
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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Re: Wings to awakening puts children to sleep
Religious education is compulsory here, so I cannot imagine that being an issue.retrofuturist wrote:My first thoughts here are cautionary, in relation to religion being presented in school without parental permission nor the ability to "opt out".
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Re: Wings to awakening puts children to sleep
Greetings,
Good to hear... even if the experiment might have failed, it shouldn't backfire on you personally.
Metta,
Retro.
Good to hear... even if the experiment might have failed, it shouldn't backfire on you personally.
Metta,
Retro.
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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Re: Wings to awakening puts children to sleep
Hmm, it might have done, but I hope some of what I read will bury itself deep into the memories of some of the children so in the future they may be more inclined to do some Dhamma study of their own. I don't know. One of the boys did ask me later what it was I was reading, so I told him. Whether he was genuinely interested or not... I don't know.retrofuturist wrote:...even if the experiment might have failed...
Re: Wings to awakening puts children to sleep
I'm sure it's put me to sleep a time or two also (I'm technically not a child).
Goodwill
Daniel
Goodwill
Daniel
Re: Wings to awakening puts children to sleep
While I'm sure your intentions were good I'm not really surprised. It's more of a study guide than something that's good to present aloud to people who don't know anything about the subject.
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Re: Wings to awakening puts children to sleep
What are the ages of the children? If they are fairly young, there is always:
http://www.amazon.com/Prince-Siddhartha ... 0861713753" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
which has lots of pictures and is meant for a young audience.
http://www.amazon.com/Prince-Siddhartha ... 0861713753" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
which has lots of pictures and is meant for a young audience.
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Re: Wings to awakening puts children to sleep
From 11 to 18. It's a very academic school and the pupils are generally well read.David N. Snyder wrote:What are the ages of the children?
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Re: Wings to awakening puts children to sleep
Yes I suppose that's right. I mainly used the book because it has some good suttas in and I explained the background a bit before reading. I can see why it wasn't well received.Kenshou wrote:It's more of a study guide than something that's good to present aloud to people who don't know anything about the subject.
Re: Wings to awakening puts children to sleep
I haven't read Wings to Awakening but one of the key points I think is how something is read. I mean it generally has to be a very vibrant energetic, even passionate reading to keep modern kids awake.
_/|\_
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Re: Wings to awakening puts children to sleep
I don't believe 'modern kids' are so different from the children of previous generations with respect to attention span. Indeed, the issue of motivation was addressed at the turn of the previous century (the 20th) in UK educational literature.Dan74 wrote:...it generally has to be a very vibrant energetic, even passionate reading to keep modern kids awake.
Re: Wings to awakening puts children to sleep
Hi Mawk,
kind regards,
Ben
Every year I give a talk to our Year 10 students at the Christian school where I work. I've got a standing invitation from the school Chaplain to talk to the 16-year-olds about Buddhism. The theme is "death and dying" and fits in with a personal development unit that looks at how different religions approach death and dying. Although its also an academic school, I am very careful with how I present the Dhamma and focus on stories from the canon and the messages within those stories. One year I focused on the story of the Bodhisatta before his enlightenment and last year I focused on the story of Kisagotami. However academic the students are, I think it would be a rare student who would find a sutta reading or the reading of a scholarly work on the Dhamma of interest.Mawkish1983 wrote:From 11 to 18. It's a very academic school and the pupils are generally well read.David N. Snyder wrote:What are the ages of the children?
kind regards,
Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
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Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725
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- Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725
Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global Relief • UNHCR
e: [email protected]..