Rebecca Janke

Thich Nhat Hanh: Compassion In the Classroom

Lessons that cultivate self-awareness, emotional intelligence, reflective thinking and address students’ spiritual yearnings in a way that is compatible with public school guidelines, are powerful ways to carry on the legacy of Maria Montessori’s intent to raise a new society of people capable of creating a more peaceful world.

In my last article, we began to take a look at a great modern spiritual leader, Thich Nhat Hahn, that supports and extends this legacy. In this, and the next two articles, we’ll continue to explore his teachings and how the 3-12 year old child can apply them with a level of understanding, grace and spiritual depth.

Thich teaches the Four Immeasurable Minds which are the four elements of love: • loving kindness (the desire to offer happiness)

• compassion (the desire to relieve and transform suffering from the other person and lighten sorrows)

• joy (the desire to bring joy to people around you and allowing their happiness to bring you joy)

• equanimity (the desire to accept everything and not to discriminate).

It is in the hills of Virginia again with Thich, that we will pick up on these Four Immeasurable Minds moving from the first element—loving kindness (See 2007 Fall Public School Montessorian) to the second element—compassion.

There I was in the large room of 300 people, all of us sitting mindfully on the floor practicing breathing in and breathing out, preparing ourselves for deep listening. “To develop compassion,” Thich says, “ must include compassion for ourselves. To do so we practice mindful breathing, deep listening and deep looking and then we can begin to look with the eyes of compassion and listen deeply to the cries of the world.”

He shares a love meditation adapted from the Visuddhimagga:

May I be peaceful, happy and light in body and spirit.

May she be peaceful, happy and light in body and spirit.

May he be peaceful, happy and light in body and spirit.

May they be peaceful, happy and light in body and spirit.

May I be safe and free from injury.

May she be safe and free from injury.

May he be safe and free from injury.

May they be safe and free from injury.

May I be free from anger afflictions, fear and anxiety.

May she be free from anger, afflictions, fear and anxiety.

May he be free from anger, afflictions, fear and anxiety.

May they be free from anger, afflictions, fear and anxiety.

He says, “We begin practicing this love meditation on ourselves (The I). Until we are able to love and take care of ourselves, we cannot be of much help to others. After that we can practice on others (he/she/they). Practice first on someone you like, then someone neutral to you, then someone you love and finally on someone the mere thought of whom makes you suffer.”

Back home I practice on the “I.” Next a class picture of my students is put on the corner of my bathroom mirror. Looking at them each morning, I practice with the children in my mind who are easy to be with. Then I continue to practice with the children who are more challenging to myself or to the other children. As each day passes I feel the transformation taking place–I am more and more at peace throughout the day in the classroom. I’m not rocked or troubled by the children’s behavior that before was labeled “peace interrupted.” Now what I hear are “cries of the child’s world.” I’m looking with compassion.

I begin to share my compassion to the “cries of the world” as well with the 6-9 children. The Fundamental Needs of Man chart is expanded to include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and The Convention on the Rights of the Child. We begin to explore the fundamental needs of the right to food, the right to shelter, the right to play, etc. Geography becomes more and more alive as we look at the current needs of men, women and children in our community, country and world. We rejoice when we find stories of how suffering has been relieved, marvel at people’s creativity when a new way is found and explore the people and organizations in our own community who have made compassionate action a part of their livelihood or volunteer work. Compassionate action is found in other curriculum areas such as scientists who have invented tools and medicine that reduce and alleviate suffering with both humans and animals. Artists and photographers give us the images of various forms of suffering and we are off to researching who is addressing and learning what is being done. The list goes on.

Take a moment and think back to the times that you have witnessed compassion in others. Even if you couldn’t respond in kind, did you feel it stir your soul? What compassionate acts have you done? Who do you know or what organization in your community has relieved suffering in some way? How can you incorporate them into your curriculum whether it is practical life, geography, science, music, language and/or art?

Who, throughout history, has relieved suffering? What are the “cries” within your community and how can the children be involved in relieving the suffering and be part of this great history?

Back in Virginia. “Compassion contains deep concern,” I heard him say. “You know the other person is suffering, so you sit close to her. You look and listen deeply to her to be able to touch her pain. You are in deep communication, deep communion with her and that alone brings some relief.”

Now out of the classroom and doing peace education consulting work, we ask the children at various schools when they establish guidelines at the beginning of the school year, “How can we bring relief if someone is having a “hard” time or difficult day? How can our community respond?” Here are some of the children’s responses:

• We can get a Kleenex to help her wipe her tears.

• I can sit next to her so she is not alone.

• I can say, ‘You can come and color with me.’

• Draw a beautiful picture and give it to that person to keep.

• Give me your hand and I’ll help you up.

• Come and work next to me.

• I’ll go with you to get a Band-Aid for your knee.

A newsprint poster entitled, “What We Can Do to Bring Relief” is posted on the west wall since suffering can be relieved with “rain clouds from the west” just as they bring relief in the form of water to all living things.

A word label—Compassion—is mounted on black construction paper to coincide with the color used in Native American culture to denote west and is also placed on the west wall. When the children spontaneously do or think of a new act of compassion in the large group meeting, it is added to the list. The poster and the word label serve as a reminder that sometimes someone needs our compassion. Some children include this poster when they give a tour of the classroom to visitors because they are eager to share the history of their compassion in action – how they tend to the “cries of the classroom.”

Thich closes our time together and says, “One compassionate word, action or thought can reduce another person’s suffering. One word can give comfort and confidence, destroy doubt and help someone avoid a mistake or reconcile a conflict.”

Helping children develop their awareness of compassion and providing them the tools to take compassionate action is a wonderful way to expand on “The Fundamental Needs of Man” and keeping the legacy of Maria Montessori alive – citizens creating a more peaceful world.

Rebecca Janke M.Ed, a former Montessori Director and owner of Hudson Children’s House, is the co-founder and executive director of Growing Communities for Peace. She can be reached for consultation at 651-214-8282 or pe...@umn.edu.