Check this video, "Celebrating the Buddha".

 

Sangay Thinlay, a 10 y. o. said, “I learned that we have to refrain from harming others and eating meats during the Vesak month.”

Celebrating the Saga Dawa Düchen

 

Lhomon Education students and teachers celebrated the 'Saga Dawa Düchen' in our humble ways. Why do we have to celebrate it? What is the significance of it? Well, generally Saga Dawa Düchen is the month in which the anniversary of Buddha Śākyamuni's birth, enlightenment and parinirvāṇa took place. All these important occasions happened on the fourth month of the lunar calendar, so it is considered the most auspicious month of the year for Buddhists. For us, it is known as bumgyur Dawa (the month of merits), which means “merits multiplied by a hundred thousand times. Merit has paramount importance in our culture. We believe that it influences our ability to realize the truth taught by the Buddha. Besides, it influences our worldly activities such as determining one’s life, wealth, accomplishing tasks etc. It is a big deal.

Most importantly, we need to understand that, we celebrate the occasion because to commemorate our own real identity, the uncontrived Buddha, the authentic nature of our mind that is within us. This is the most important celebration of all the celebrations in the world, including our birthday. So, Saga Dawa Düchen gives us this opportunity to celebrate the historical Buddha and the Buddha within us. So, making this connection is all about genuinely celebrating the Düchen.

But how do we make this connection? Well, for us, we did several activities to make that connection: we talked about the historical Buddha and his teachings; we gazed at his statue and its parts; we recited mantras and prayers; we offered flower and light; we offered bath offering to the Buddha, and practised the meditation. All these activities are bridges and means to connect between historical Buddha and the Buddha within us.

Here are a few thoughts and views shared by our young students as they celebrated the day. Sonam Phuntso, 12, said, “We are asked to bring flowers to the temple and make offerings to the Buddha.”

Sangay Thinlay, 10, said, “I learned that we have to refrain from harming others and eating meats during the Vesak month.” He added, “We offer bath to the Buddha so that we accumulate merits.”

Ngawang Jamphel, 13, another student said, “If we don’t have anything to offer, it is ok to pick a tree leaf and make an offering to the Buddha.”

Thus, such celebration is a very important activity for our students and teachers.

Computer lab Inauguration

A computer lab is opened in a simple inauguration ceremony by Lama Sonam Zangpo on Saturday, ‎May ‎22, ‎2021. The ceremony is attended by CGI teachers, LME teachers, other senior monks and students. The lab, which is funded by Khyentse Foundation will facilitate computer education opportunities for students of Lhomon Education and Chokyi Gyatso Institute.  

These computers will be used for students to learn basic computer skills, as well as higher skills such as illustrations and animations that are part of the educational program. Besides, we will also use this to teach technology skills required for the 21st century. 

We can approach education with humility and good motivation!

"These three truths are what we call in Buddhism the three characteristics: impermanence, suffering, and emptiness or nonself—annica, dukkha, and anatta. I think an education system that supports this knowledge will make a difference in children when they grow up. So, we can approach education with humility and good motivation, and that good motivation means trying to bring children closer to the truth, which is these three characteristics" - Khyentse Rinpoche 

"I would like to create an atmosphere at the schools so that classes can be taught under a big tree, by the bank of a river, or in the paddy field, so that lessons can involve getting up at 3 in the morning to watch the colors of the sky and listen to the sound of silence. But this might just be me being too romantic." - Khyentse Rinpoche 

In 2010, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche asked his Chökyi Gyatso Institute for Buddhist Studies in Dewathang, East Bhutan, to initiate high-quality modern education for his young monks there. The program was to be based on Buddhist principles and Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness development philosophy, yet be sufficiently rigorous to enable students to sit for standard examinations and enter lay life if they chose to. Rinpoche emphasized that the children should learn to be good human beings, relating to the world with decency and compassion. 

With these goals in mind, Lhomon Education (LME) was launched in May 2011 with 20 young monks receiving 3 hours a day of integrated project-based holistic education. The rest of their day was devoted to shedra studies. Ten years later, the program is going strong, with 70 students and a wide range of well-developed curricula, innovative teaching methods, and creative activities.

One core focus is to highlight the interdependence of all phenomena. Through engaging research activities that explore how everyday objects are produced and disposed of, students begin to understand cause, condition, and result and to recognize that these objects are not as solid as they seem. This approach, which is based on Rinpoche’s advice, subtly introduces the view of emptiness and dependent arising. It also provides a useful lens through which to examine the ecological and humanitarian crises facing the world, such as climate change and humanity’s excess and unequal resource consumption, and to suggest potential solutions that can arise from changing key causes and conditions.

In this and many other innovative ways, a dharmic, inquiry-based approach permeates LME’s 20 thematic educational units on science, history, math, English, health, and other subjects. Buddhist practice is coming alive for students and teachers in very personal ways that align closely with Rinpoche’s own initiatives, such as his zero-waste feasts and ban on plastics at his monasteries. 

Lhomon Education’s reach is rapidly expanding far beyond Rinpoche’s Chökyi Gyatso Institute in Dewathang. Bhutanese youth and educators, including school principals, administrators, teachers, and monastic khenpos, are taking an increasingly active interest in LME’s offerings, which also reflect Bhutan’s balanced Gross National Happiness development philosophy. For example, more than 300 principals, teachers, counsellors, civil servants, youths, and others from 12 of Bhutan’s 20 districts have attended LME’s six annual mindfulness retreats led by Drubgyud Tenzin Rinpoche, Khenpo Sonam Phuntsho, and other teachers.

By: Khyentse Foundation, Annual Report, 2020

Art for kids!

Pre-foundation students learning basic art skills during weekly Art class with Jamyang Dorji (Volunteer Art Teacher). In this class, the students are learning to draw simple tree leaves.  

Field Visit to Gesar Phodrang (Palace)

For the last couple of weeks, students have been studying about a king Gesar of Ling as a part of their academic curriculum unit. The unit so far has interested and excited our students, particularly, as it has stories and legends to share. Besides, the Gesar palace (shrine), located in the Institute has made it more relevant to students, as they can see and observe it physically. 

So, to augment more understanding about the Gesar and to facilitate empirical learning opportunities for students, we organized a field trip to Gesar Shrine. The objectives of the field visit are to expand the notion of the classroom, enriching learning experiences that are engaging, visible, and experiential. The Gesar shrine is located on the topmost temple of the Chokyi Gyatso Institute (where students are currently studying). It is a beautifully carved wooden shrine, surrounded by a variety of beautiful offerings. It has four power animals, the tiger (tag), the snow lion (sing), the garuda (chung), and the dragon (druk) in each direction. This is a beautiful place to make the most out of it. 

As a part of this trip, we invited one of the senior lamas to talk about Gesar and its shrine. Lama talked about how Gesar Shrine was built based on the text by Mipham Rinpoche, he shared his experiences of looking for rare substances from faraway places which took him five years to complete the project. It was an interactive session with the lama, in which students asked many questions, many of those questions were questions of curiosity, for example, why, is Gesar facing east? Why do we make offers to Gesar? Etc. 

Pema Dorji, said, “I learnt about twelve animals and their compatibility from the lama.” Another student Sonam Wangchuk said, “Gesar The shrine is built on the top of the temple because of its power, courage and magnetizing power.” 

During the entire field trip, students were made to observe and take notes of what they saw and experienced in the shrine. There were discussion and sharing of ideas amongst students. Most importantly, we have witnessed students revisiting stories and discussion topics from their classes. 

Tenzin Jamtsho said, “I learned that, if our life forces are not positive, we may encounter obstacles and death in life, so to overcome these negative energies and obstacles, we pray and make an offering to the Gesar.” 

After the field trip, these students did a few follow up activities; one such was making a presentation to their friends. Based on the observation and lesson learned from the field trip they gave a presentation to 80 students (juniors and friends) on 3rd April 2021. The presentation was a part of the lesson is to share their experiences, knowledge and ideas with their friends. 

Jigme Dorji one of the presenters said, “When I was presenting about the Ling Gesar, at first I felt shy and nervous, however, I was confident later.” The presentation program was to help students develop skills such as teamwork, confidence, communication, and art skills. Besides, this is to encourage students that teaching and learning can happen within students.

Teacher Training for the 21st Century Monastic Classroom

On 6^th April, professional development training is hosted for the teachers of Chokyi Gyatso Institute (CGI) and Lhomon Education (LME) to bring the 21^st Century Methods into the Classroom. A total of 17 monks and lay teachers attended the training, which was facilitated by Lhomon Education.  

“These new methods will help our teachers teach lessons in productive and interactive ways.” said, Lopon Pema Longdrol, head of the education department, CGI. “I really liked the strategy of ‘Think-Pair-Share’, he added.

The training is organized to explore contemporary skills and competencies such as active learning strategies; collaborative learning; and brain-based learning for greater student engagement as well as to encourage fun and interactive ways of teaching and learning.  

“I would like to ask Lhomon Education teachers to come and observe our classes” proposed Lopon Tshering. “We will be happy to receive your opinion on teaching methods” he added.

Everyone fully participated in the lively activities from the beginning till the end, through their interactive discussion, making fun body movements, and shouting out animal sounds.  

A brief presentation to CGI management

 A brief impact presentation was made for the management of Chokyi Gyatso Institute (CGI) on 28^th March 2021 to educate about Lhomon Education and its impact for the students and communities at large. The presentation was attended by Khenchen Sonam Tashi, head lamas, lopons, and teachers of the Institute.

The Lhomon Education’s lead teacher, Mr Dawa presented the gathering about Rinpoche’s education vision, curriculum work, professional development, outreach programs and other activities related to its program. The highlight of the presentation was on a discussion about Rinpoche’s recent (10^th February 2021) education article titled “It’s now or never”, which is written in the Kuensel, the national newspaper of Bhutan, calling His Majesty’s decree on education reform.

Bowing Animals - A bow to innate dignity!

Currently, our students are learning about, "The Way of the Warrior" (as a part of ‘the Gesar of Ling’ unit). One of the simple activities we have integrated into our daily session is bowing to each other. We regard this as a practice of the warrior.

Here, it is very important for us to understand the term warrior, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche explained, “Warrior-ship here refers to realizing the power, dignity and wakefulness that is inherent in all of us as human beings. It is awakening our basic human confidence which allows us to cheer up, develop a sense of vision and succeed in what we are doing.” If we analyze this context, the meaning of warrior goes beyond our ideas and understanding of war as an expression of aggression and violence. It is all about waging a war with one’s own enemy, the ultimate creator of suffering, the ignorance.

Let’s ask this question, how could bowing be a practice of warrior? A bow is a symbol of respect for ourselves and others. It is considered a gesture of respect and veneration across many cultures and traditions. Nevertheless, more important to understand that, this basic principle of bowing is the notion of acknowledging the basic goodness, which we all have. We bow to this uncontrived nature.

When we bow, it is not a gesture of submission. Rather we rouse our own confidence and goodness and offer them to others through simple bowing. It is a practice to extend one’s dignity of mind and to acknowledge the inherent dignity of another person’s mind.

The key to bowing is acknowledging the basic human confidence, persistently.