Unveiling the SEE Learning Curriculum

April 5th, 2019

Andaz Hotel, New Delhi, India

By Jeremy Russell

Photo by Tenzin Choejor, OHHDL

Before joining celebrations of the launch of the SEE Learning program today, His Holiness the Dalai Lama met with a group of Indian professors who are working with Prof Samdhong Rinpoche and Prof Ngawang Samten to prepare a course of study focussing on Ancient Indian Knowledge. Prof Ngawang Samten reported that they have been designing a course based on the six orthodox schools, paying attention to their philosophy, use of logic and the way they deal with emotions.

“I’m now almost 84 years old,” His Holiness told them, “and my life has been quite difficult. However, at a certain point I realized that what I had learned from the Nalanda Tradition had been of great help to me in preserving my peace of mind. It has also enabled me to sharpen my mind through analysis. Simply in day to day life, having peace of mind and being less subject to destructive emotions is very useful. I am convinced we can bring about such changes through education and that in contributing to that ancient Indian knowledge can be of benefit to the whole of humanity.

“However, the knowledge of ancient India is closely linked to religious tradition. What we need is not ritual and prayer but education in a strictly secular context.

“Mahatma Gandhi based the Indian freedom struggle on ahimsa, which some interpreted as showing weakness. I believe the practice of ahimsa—non-violence is a sign of strength. I hope you scholars and professors can tell us how we can combine it with modern education from kindergarten to university. If China, which is historically a Buddhist country, were to follow India’s example, and the more than two billion people in both countries were to cultivate inner peace, it would make a significant difference to the world.

“Yesterday, I expressed my admiration for the way all the world’s religions flourish in this country, living together side by side. For more than 20 years I’ve been encouraging the Government of India to organize an international religious conference here, much as it did to celebrate the 2500 Buddha Jayanti in 1956. Religious leaders could meet and get to know each other better. Practitioners could hold discussions and learn from one another and pilgrimages could be organized to places of worship.”

Downstairs in the meeting hall, more than 900 people awaited His Holiness’s arrival. As he walked towards the stage he greeted friends among them. He embraced Richard Moore, taking his glasses off so Moore could touch his face. Before he sat down, His Holiness insisted that the overstuffed armchair that had been provided for him be changed for the same kind of chair that everyone else was sitting on.

Master of Ceremonies Ravi Gulati stated that there is a gap in our education and the SEE Learning program seeks to fill it. He invited Tempa Tsering of the Dalai Lama Trust to introduce the occasion. He welcomed everyone to the launch of the ground-breaking SEE Learning program prepared at Emory University with His Holiness’s support.

“There has been great development in infrastructure and communications,” he observed, “but are we any happier or more contented? On the contrary there seems to be more stress, violence and greed. Improved communications facilities have made the world smaller and people are more interdependent, but are we more compassionate?

“Although His Holiness believes it is basic human nature to be kind and compassionate, modern education is not balanced and does not encourage such values. The solution is to provide a balanced education of the heart and mind.”

Veer Singh of the Vana Foundation told the gathering, “His Holiness refers to himself as a Son of India and as an Indian I’m grateful to him for reminding us of our ancient heritage—to cultivate virtue and train the mind as the Buddha did. SEE Learning is timely and appropriate.”

Dr Robert Paul, Dean Emeritus of Emory University declared that it was his great honour and pleasure to pass on greetings from Emory’s President Claire Sterk. He described the SEEL program as an inspiration at a time when the world is entering a tumultuous era. It will be, he said, a resource for the survival of our children and their children. He commended Geshé Lobsang Tenzin Negi, his former student and now colleague, for his effective leadership of the project.

“It is indeed a great honour to have His Holiness here to unveil the curriculum, ”Geshé Lobsang Tenzin Negi agreed, “he has provided us with vision and inspiration. The SEEL program whose launch we are celebrating represents decades of effort on his part to bring about a change in education. To be useful it must be based on a good heart. His Holiness inaugurated the Emory-Tibet partnership in 1998, convinced that people could be taught to develop a warm heart. Since then Emory has also worked to bring modern science to Tibetan monastics.

“In 2015 His Holiness entrusted us with the development of this curriculum. We drew on what he has written in ‘Ethics for the New Millennium’ and ‘Beyond Religion’, as well as Daniel Goleman and Peter Senge’s ‘Triple Focus’. Geshé Thupten Jinpa has also been an inspiration. I would like to thank His Holiness and the Emory President for supporting us and the Deans without whose backing we could not have succeeded. Now, I request His Holiness to unveil the four volumes of the SEE Learning Program.”

Assisted by Manish Sisodia and Kailash Satyarthi, His Holiness unwrapped the package and the three of them held the books up for all to see.

After a brief video about the program, Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi and Minister of Education Manish Sisodia addressed the gathering.

“Good morning. As a human being I can say that this SEEL program is a great gift to humanity. We are trying to solve problems and here is a solution, which is something everyone needs and wants. We try to bring about peace by imposing laws or employing weapons, but the real solution to hatred and violence is to provide training in social emotional and ethical learning. In Delhi, last year, we introduced a similar Happiness curriculum in our schools with many positive results. I congratulate the team who have worked on this and their supporters. It is a practical contribution.”

Kailash Satyarthi, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 for his struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education, spoke next. He commended His Holiness as a great teacher, mentor and friend. He attributed the positive qualities of a child to His Holiness, clarifying that he was referring to children’s candour and transparency.

“I hope SEEL will change my view of education. At birth children are clear but through education learn to adopt identities that lead to the division of humanity. Children did not create boundaries and borders. We don’t need to teach children compassion, we need to learn compassion from them. The world is as it is because of a lack of compassion. Dear friends, I hope that through programs such as this compassion will become a way of life. It should be part of us. We need business with compassion, politics with compassion—ask your politicians to be compassionate. Faith leaders too should learn about compassion.”

When it came to His Holiness’s turn, he chose to speak from the podium.

“Respected brothers and sisters, I am one of the 7 billion human beings alive today and this gathering is concerned with the well-being of humanity. Among the different species of mammal, humans are the most mischievous. Other sentient beings may also have anger, attachment and a sense of ‘I’, but the extent of their action is limited. We human beings can be the most destructive. On the other hand, if we use our intelligence constructively, we can also do immense good.

“It is basic human nature to be good and compassionate. Richard Moore here is a living example of this. When he lost his sight, his first thought was not of anger, but regret that he could no longer see his mother’s face. He didn’t store up anger towards the soldier who shot him. Instead they became friends.

“Once children enter into the education system, there’s not much talk about human values. They become oriented towards material goals while their good qualities lie dormant. Education should help us use our intelligence to good effect, which means applying reason. Then we can distinguish what’s in our short and long term interest. Used properly our intelligence can help us be realistic; anger makes us short-sighted.

“Destructive emotions are based on taking appearances as they are, whereas with intelligence we can understand at a deeper level that there is a gap between appearance and reality.

“The results of this program and curriculum will not be seen next week, but in the course of the next generation when we might see more compassionate human beings, happier individuals and families. Because climate change is such a serious threat, we need to have a strong sense of community and a strong sense that in being human we are all the same. Differences between us are secondary. We are all human beings and we all share this one planet that is our only home. Because of that we have to take better care of it. We must cultivate compassion not only for our fellow human beings, but also for the other animals, birds and insects with whom we share the world. That’s all; thank you.”

In the panel discussion that followed, Daniel Goleman explained in a video message how SEL programs had followed his publication of ‘Emotional Intelligence’ and how SEEL is an improvement on them. Kimberly Schonert-Reichl announced that SEL has been taken up in 37 countries. She clarified that what matters is that social and emotional skills can be taught. Previously it was thought that empathy could not be taught or learned, now it’s clear it can. It is now evident too that students who engage in SEL improve their academic achievement by 11%.

Robert Roeser added that compassion is not only good those who are helped, the helper benefits too. He reported that it is now known that even young children are concerned about others.

His Holiness intervened to point out that there is a natural sense of compassion based on attachment to relatives and friends. It’s limited in scope but can be like a seed that intelligence can develop. Extensive compassion that includes strangers and even enemies can only be developed through training.

Brendan Ozawa-de Silva outlined the framework of SEEL, providing a scientific definition of compassion that involves recognizing suffering, understanding others’ suffering, being motivated to relieve them and knowing what to do. He also showed how SEEL affects personal, social and systems domains while involving different dimensions of awareness, compassion and engagement.

Finally, founder of the Kaivalya Education Foundation, Aditya Natraj reported that he and his colleagues had asked what is worth learning and concluded it was freedom from conditioned thinking. Working with children has taught him that often the problem is not with children but with adults. Consequently there is a recognised need to help teachers and educationists develop compassion. This is approached in the belief that all human beings are good and want to do good, but are stuck in the system they find themselves in.

He talked about a teachers’ union leader who came to him swearing that he could not be changed, who has since become a great advocate of compassion training. Another story that amused the audience was of a woman who wanted to know what he’d done to her husband. Previously, she said, he would come home to talk about politics and demand tea. Since working with Natraj he would come home and first ask after her well-being.

His Holiness remarked, “In classical Indian tradition, whatever comes about through causes and conditions must be subject to change, therefore naturally human beings too can change. And an obvious change is that when we came here our stomachs were full; now they’re empty.”

He was joined by the panelists and other invited guests for lunch.

Launch of SEE Learning Online Curriculum

April 6th, 2019

Andaz Hotel, New Delhi, India

When His Holiness the Dalai Lama reached the conference hall this morning, Geshé Lobsang Tenzin Negi greeted him and asked whether he had slept well. Turning to the audience, he explained that when they were encouraged to develop the SEE Learning framework in 2015, the team were nervous. However, His Holiness’s vision was so far-reaching that everyone they reached out to for help was completely supportive.

In 2017, they began to realise that they couldn’t travel to all the places where training was needed. This is what prompted the setting up of an online platform to make SEE Learning materials available to anyone, anywhere in the world. It can also be used to train teachers. Negi explained, “This is a new program with a variety of benefits, but it still needs to be tested. The online platform allows for this.”

Brendan Ozawa-de Silva reported that they had to use technology to reach as many people as possible. It allows for online training, provides a solution to all sorts of problems and can fulfil high demand. A workshop is held, people start using the program and after six months are looking for guidance about what to do next—the online platform can help them.

Dr Tyralynn Frazier stated that an important aim was to prepare educators and support education. With the first module users get initial access. They have to register and complete the consent form. They are requested to contribute to research. Module 2 is about empowering students. Module 3 brings educators into the framework and the meaning of awareness, compassion an engagement. Module 4 is about understanding the curriculum. Module 5 deals with fostering capabilities in students, while module 6 deals with fostering capabilities in the teacher. Module 7 is called ‘embarking on a journey’ and ‘my plan’. Once these are all complete a user can download the whole program and when they finish they are provided with certification.

His Holiness expressed appreciation, but had no questions to ask.

Before inviting His Holiness to give the keynote address, Dr Gary Hauk offered some introductory background. He explained that Emory University was founded nearly 200 years ago by followers of John Wesley who sought to broaden their experience through an education of the mind and heart. In 1987, His Holiness made his first visit at the invitation of Prof John Fenton. When he returned in 1995, he came to teach 4000. Hauk was part of a delegation who went to meet His Holiness in his hotel to propose a partnership. He replied, “Let’s make a start and see where it goes.” Geshé Lobsang Tenzin Negi has been a driving force in that partnership since then.

It happened that by then Prof John Fenton was in hospital dying of leukaemia. He could not attend His Holiness’s teachings. However, His Holiness visited him and took the dying man in his arms. Prof Fenton later told his wife this was the high point of his life.

His Holiness has returned to Emory again and again encouraging his friends to use knowledge to the benefit of humanity.

“Dear brothers and sisters,” His Holiness began, “as I mentioned earlier, I’m impressed and moved by the number of people and institutions who are showing interest in this exploration of human nature—it’s an encouraging sign.

“In 1959, we became refugees, but along with that also came new opportunities and meetings with people who offered new experiences. In 1973, as I was about to set off to visit Europe for the first time, the BBC correspondent Mark Tully asked me why I wanted to go and I told him because I consider myself a citizen of the world.

“In Europe I was able to see what a highly developed society looked like. I saw that there were outward signs of success, but also indications of internal stress and unhappiness. I suggested that what was needed was a sense of global responsibility, a need to think about others’ well-being. A self-centred attitude just brings worry and anxiety. I pointed out that we are all part of the 7 billion human beings and if they are happy we’ll all be happy.

“These days, when we watch the television news, we see suffering and violence. We see others facing unnecessary difficulties and feel distress. How can you enjoy a meal, if the person next to you is starving? It makes me wonder what went wrong, what’s the cause of these circumstances and it seems that it’s because we lack a sense of global responsibility, we don’t think about the oneness of all human beings.

“Time is always moving on; nothing can stop it. We can’t change the past, but we can shape the future. The more compassionate you are, the more you will find inner peace. However, education systems today tend not to adequately enhance basic human nature. Nevertheless, education is a key factor in creating a better future.

The 20th century, with its killing and violence, has gone, but we can still learn from it. It was a time when people placed too much emphasis on violence and the use of force, squandering time and money on developing weapons. However, violence will never solve problems. While external disarmament is necessary, it’s internal disarmament that is crucial. Anger is of no use; it’s only detrimental. The 21st century can become a more peaceful era if we adopt a realistic approach. But if it is to be achieved, we need to make an effort now.”

As he answered questions from the audience, His Holiness recommended reassessing education from kindergarten to university level. He suggested that rather than feel sad about what’s happening, it’s more effective to take a wider perspective and seek ways to bring about change. In the present circumstances, when people follow a multitude of religions and none, it’s better to take a secular approach. The aim should be to bring about peace of mind.

The second part of the session involved a panel discussion about promoting the education of heart and mind. It was preceded by a video message from Linda Lantieri. She declared that SEE Learning will teach the children of the world. It will train their hearts and minds with attention training and systematic thinking grounded in ethics.

She told the story of a 10 year old boy in Louisiana who was one of a group who had all seen someone killed by gunfire. She asked how the new way thinking would affect them and he lit up, telling her, “Pretty soon we’ll be the grown-ups and we’ll make things different.”

The panel consisted of Indian industrialist and philanthropist Ajay Piramal, Russian Professor of Ethics Ruben Apressyan and Mexican director of Centro Fox Luis Cabrera. Their conversation was moderated by Dr Kimberly Schonert-Reichl.

Piramal began with the Indian salutation, “Namaste”, which he explained as token of respect for others and their values. He said that in his work to improve education he believes that people are good and want to do good. He feels that true happiness comes from ‘seva’, serving others. He mentioned a young engineering graduate who had come to work for him who was teased about his need for air-conditioning and the use of a car. It wasn’t until he experienced for himself how those who have the least were still willing to share what they had with him that he changed.

Apressyan emphasised the need to link abstract ethics with emotional experience in practice. Cabrera talked about exponential problems regarding water, pollution, violence, global warming and garbage and the need to find solutions to them. He expressed pleasure at being able to add SEE Learning to work already being done to create new leadership and sustainable habits.

Schonert-Reichl asked why we can’t just do what needs to be done. Piramal replied that more and more like-minded people needed to get together. Apressyan expressed a need to bring the values of tolerance and non-violence to children. He remarked that the program encourages self-regulation, but asked what about mutual regulation and the regulation of conflict. Cabrera felt that it was important for schools to understand what people like him are trying to do. The trouble is that by helping some but not others, the gap between them continues to grow.

Cabrera revealed a faith that today’s children will be more inclined to focus on compassion and the well-being of the world as a result of programs like SEE Learning. Piramal asserted that without a robust business for support you can’t do good. Apressyan too hoped that children who experience SEE Learning will be able to establish a new world.

To build a better world Cabrera stated that if something doesn’t work, you need to change it. Piramal quoted Swami Vivekananda’s advice that if he was given 1000 children he would make a different India. Apressyan acknowledged that children need to be taught and that SEE Learning will make a significant contribution to that need.

His Holiness added, “If things go on as they have before it will lead to big problems. However, if something can be changed, there’s no need to be sad about it, it just needs to be changed. If it can’t be changed, being sad about that is of no use. I believe things can change, that 7 billion human beings can become more compassionate and peace-loving. However, prayers won’t be very effective, there’s a need to take action with a clear motivation. What’s important is to examine the benefits or drawbacks of what you want to do. Understanding the advantages acts as an inspiration to carry it out.

“I believe that if we make the effort, we can make progress. However, global warming is a real threat with consequences beyond our control. Therefore, while we are alive, it’s better to try to live happily. Killing others for mere short term gain is really terrible. The situation we’re in is serious. It would be better to live out the time we’ve got happily.”

SEE Learning Global Launch Transcription