Mindfulness meditation in schools
By Loden Jinpa on Sep 12, 2007 in Meditation
This is a reply to a post made by Danny Fisher recently. Please go and read his post first.
I tried to comment at his blog but, as I do not have a blogger account nor want one my only choice was to reply here.
Danny i think if you are looking for people to post comments on your blog, you need to make it easier for them.
So here is my rather short and ill thought out reply…
I found myself disagreeing with you all the way through your post until the end. Where I did a back flip.
It seems to me that regardless of origins of mindfulness meditation. If it is going to benefit kids then why not have such a program. I believe that meditation can be framed in such a way that it can be presented to a secular audience. I think that is one reason way Buddhism is so popular in the first place. It is a humanist endeavor and is pragmatic in its approach to everyday problems.
However I think you have made a good point then you say I am, of course, fine with meditation being taught in before-or-after-school programs that students, faculty, and staff at public schools could choose to be a part of or not, but I think that making a meditation program part of the school day is problematic.
If the parents or the child do not want to be there mindfulness meditation wont help them anyway. In fact having a disruptive child in a room with other kids trying to meditate would make the whole exercise redundant.
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Venerable: Thanks for your reply. Commenting requires a Blogger account because without it I get lots of spam comments, which are no fun for anyone. I think I’ll amend the post to say that people can email me their comments if they don’t want to start a Blogger account.
I have one thought in response to your comment “It seems to me that regardless of origins of mindfulness meditation. If it is going to benefit kids then why not have such a program.” If scientic studies similar to the ones referenced in the article were to appear tomorrow suggesting that, say, prayer offered similar benefits, then should we allow teachers and administrators to lead students in prayer too?
Hi Danny,
I’d say that most people would say no
But isn’t that because prayer has a component of devotion and therefore it is a religous activity?
Whereas IMO Buddhist mindfulness meditation can be presented in such as way as no such religous affliiation is implied.
And because of this fact, I believe that it would be ok but, only as elective subject or outside of normal school hours as you suggested.
It is however a very interesting subject and one that will be hotly debated for a while to come.
I think that with projects like http://www.sbinstitute.com/ we are only going to hear more about the benefits of secular meditation.
Isn’t that a good thing?
>But isn’t that because prayer has a >component of devotion and therefore it is a >religous activity?
Yeah, but I’m pitching a secular version of prayer–you know, like we Buddhists pitch a secular version of meditation… : )
Whether or not an affiliation is implied, aren’t religious ideas the driving force behind meditation instruction? Put another way: Would you say that TM and zazen and shamatha-vipassana are the same in their understanding and instruction of meditation? Personally, I don’t think so, and that’s where I think Gombrich makes an essential point: when you get right down to it, what’s being “secularized” are religious soteriologies.
I’m not debating the benefits of mindfulness meditation. The benefits are enormous. But, as I see it, mindfulness meditation has religious ideology in its DNA, and is therefore inappropriate for teaching as part of the curriculum in American public schools. As I said, though, it would be appropriate for voluntary before-or-after school programs. The U.S. Department of Education (http://www.ed.gov/Speeches/08-1995/religion.html) has been very clear on all this:
“Students may also participate in before or after school events with religious content, such as ’see you at the flag pole’ gatherings, on the same terms as they may participate in other noncurriculum activities on school premises. School officials may neither discourage nor encourage participation in such an event.
“The right to engage in voluntary prayer or religious discussion free from discrimination does not include the right to have a captive audience listen, or to compel other students to participate. Teachers and school administrators should ensure that no student is in any way coerced to participate in religious activity.”