Buddhist meditation in schools
I wanted to share with you these two short videos of meditation being implemented in Western schools. The first video takes place in Victoria which is in Australia, and the second video is filmed on the other side of the world in a British school in England.
Scientific evidence today strongly suggests that meditation results in better concentration, increased confidence, increased self-esteem and faster recovery from physical illnesses. It also encourages growth in the areas of the brain which are responsible for creative, holistic thinking and the positive emotions such as empathy. And of course as it is stated in the video, it also helps children to self-regulate their own behaviour. So schools that have implemented meditation as part of their curriculum have seen a drop in behavioural problems, an increase in attendance and a decrease in absentee and truancy rates.
Meditation puts children in touch with their most natural condition, which is free, expressive, cooperative, loving and peaceful. This is a direct counter for everything else in society that encourages them to think of only “me, me, me” from a young age, and to engage in competition which encourages division. Hence meditation is something our world desperately needs because the competition we teach children will become greed when they are adults competing to win. It’s this greed and need to win that is slowly killing our planet and destroying all of our natural resources. Hence meditation is one of the most valuable habits a child can be encouraged to learn and integrate as part of their daily life.
I hope to see more and more schools engaging in meditation. It’s not just maths, science and English that our children need to learn, but also lessons that will teach them how to think and make positive, constructive decisions in their lives.
Tsem Rinpoche
Buddhist meditation
in Victoria, Australia schools
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/BuddhismInVictoria.mp4
Buddhist meditation
in Berkshire, the U.K. schools (BBC South Today)
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/BBCSouth.mp4
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Mindfulness meditation a Buddhist religious practice is promoted by schools in Australia and United kingdom. Meditation is used to rest the mind, body , has many mental, physical, and spiritual benefits. According to the latest studies, meditation should be included in the school curriculum. It has proven that students who meditate perform better in school. They can handle academic stress more efficiently. That’s wonderful. Research has linked meditation to a rise in student’s IQ levels, improved mental function, and higher grades. Mindfulness meditation a Buddhist religious practice is promoted by schools in Australia and England. A good approach indeed.
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing.
If we were able to harness mindfulness and meditation from an early age, what would the world look like? Here’s why we need to have our kids adopt a regular meditation practice, and how instead of painstaking practices like detention, being in the present moment through meditation achieves more value for our kids (and us) in the long run.
Children naturally exercise mindfulness, a key component of meditation because they have fewer mental barriers, biases, and pre-determined beliefs that allow them to experience a pure state of mindfulness.
In contrast, as adults, we believe it takes practice and effort to meditate or to achieve mindfulness because we need to consciously rid ourselves of preconceived thoughts, fears, and beliefs that inhibit our natural state of awareness.
It may seem odd to think of children as calm, nonjudgmental, and mindful, but ultimately, children can achieve mindfulness and thereby practice meditation more easily than adults can.
So it’s safe to say that incorporating meditation into a child’s learning process is easier than we think.
A Baltimore school in the US replaced detention (a conventional way of punishing misbehaving kids by having them sit in silence in a classroom for 1 hour or more) with a more progressive form of behavioral evaluation: meditation.
Instead of the painstaking, and in most cases, the unhelpful process of detention, teaching kids to focus on their breath and being in the present moment achieves more value in the long run.
Even better, teaching kids outside of detention by regularly implementing it as part of school programs or at home may help kids avoid the very reasons that landed them in detention in the first place.
Although research on how meditation affects and benefits kids is not quite as robust and thorough as it is for adults, it’s certainly starting to take off.
Below are some of benefits that research tells us mediation and mindfulness can offer kids.
Science has proven that meditation have numerous benefits for everyone. It have shows meditation benefits human’s brains and behaviour. Hence teaching children or those young one in schools can give them a jump start to accessing the many benefits of meditating. And teaching them about meditation early would help them in a sense of security, empathy and inner stability. It helps them to builds compassion, joy, self-esteem and gain self-awareness and become more confident in their studies. In meditation may also help anyone to manage challenging conditions such as stress, depression and so forth. Introducing meditation in schools to can benefit them now and in the long run.
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing.
Meditation in school is for sure very beneficial. More schools should start especially with the younger children so that it will follow them as they grow and enable them to cope better with stress in their adult lives.This has further proved that Buddhist is not just a religion, it is a way of life, a way that taught us to deal with problems peacefully, whether you are a Buddhist or not, you can learn meditation too, because meditation lead us to conscious living. Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this very beneficial article for children to learn meditation in schools. _/\_
Meditation seems a great down time before the start of a day as the children will start a fresh day on an even keel. When the children arrive from home, they would have excited themselves along the way and all ready for hell to break loose. so, having this calm, down time will reset their action-thermostat.
A very good idea. More schools should start especially with the younger children so that it will follow them as they grow and enable them to cope better with stress in their adult lives.
It is known that meditation has several beneficial effects on our emotional, mental and intellectual development. Developing the habit of meditation on children is the best gift for them as this will benefit them fof their life. Instead for buying toys or letting them develop habits like addicted to TV and video games, meditation is definitely a much better method to develop a better generation.
I really like the last quote in the post. I truly agree, if all children irregardless of religion, can do basic meditation to enhance their daily live, we are heading towards a much peaceful world. And not that, the parents can also do the same thing with their kids, as part of their bonding session. Meditation can be so calming and relaxing for the body and mind. Definitely worth a try for everyone irregardless of religions. We must always teach the children from young so that they can grow up to be kind and mindful.
Meditation is extremely beneficial, but ONLY when one individual is doing it with a proper method. Meditation can be easy for kids because their minds are pure, which have not interupted by all kinds of problems which most of the adults are facing. However, it could be difficult for some kids to sit down peacefully and follow instructions on how to meditate because some kids can be extremely active. Hence, it’s crucial to have experienced and well trained mentors to conduct such beneficial activity.
Wow.. this is really impressive, teaching the children on meditation and teaching them 4 noble truth, suffering and the cause of suffering, it is not easy to teach a kid on this topic because they may not know what is suffering as they have not experienced it yet, but this program in Victoria is so wonderful and they teach it to the level that even kids understand and begin to think about the meaning of life.
Kids learning meditation is really important, because it teach them how to deal with stress, unhappiness, anger, etc. I like the interview with the kids, they are so mature when come to answer about their dealing with their emotions, instead of throwing tantrums for not being happy, they chose to go to a quiet place to meditate and calm down.
This has further proved that Buddhist is not just a religion, it is a way of life, a way that taught us to deal with problems peacefully, whether you are a Buddhist or not, you can learn meditation too, because meditation lead us to conscious living.
If everyone learn to meditate, peace and harmony is near.
Meditation can help us connect most inner nature within our self physically which help us find peaceful, calming our mind and finding the cause of the suffering. I am glad to watched both video introduce buddhist meditation in to school for the young kids to helping them have the right thinking to tap in their mind develop better concentration, gain confidence, increased self-esteem and faster recovery from physical illnesses. It also encourages kids growth in the areas of the brain which are responsible for creative, holistic thinking and the positive emotions such as empathy.
I like the quote of His Holiness Dalai Lama said “If every 8 years old in the world taught meditation,we will eliminate violence within one generation. Meditation can help young kids self discipline and control their behaviour by not hurting others around. This is better way to help the young kids growth well since their are young.
There are more awareness of the benefit of meditation now a day. It even being promoted to young children to practice for their well being growth. It’s very nice to see this post that meditation being taught to the young one and the encouragement from the school.
I have learn breathing meditation from H.E. the 25th Tsem Rinpoche and it’s very beneficial. Eventually meditation is not just to clam our mind but also sharpen our thought and our focus. May meditation expand to more area and create a mindful community all over the world.
Lord Buddha mediate under the Boddhi tree and became enlightened, so do many Buddhist masters achieved attainments. Hence it’s truly important start young. These kids are very fortunate. They will be different from other kids who’s not been in meditation before. It’s a very powerful exercise for our mind.
Meditation has been practiced by all from different religions back ground hence meditation is a universal practice that all can do if you willing to remove the label from it.
Meditation is something suitable for all at the same time it brings calm to us so that we can think and see things thoroughly.
Great to see school children engaging in meditation. With the modern world technology, is so easy for children to get information from internet and have constant online communication. All this actually make the children mind like monkey mind. Therefore is good that children can meditate and has healthy rest of mind and boost their concentration.
In addition, meditation can also balance the child emotion and de-stress. Wish more and more school can teach children on meditation.
Meditation in school is for sure very beneficial. Listening to yourself and discovering how you think and feel is so very important. Yet we get distracted all day long by media, TV, internet, games and so on. Meditation on the other hand is a precious tool which will guide us instead of distracting us. When introduced in schools it can be a powerful tool when practiced regularly. On top no equipment used, only time and a quiet place.
Thank You Rinpoche for sharing.
P. Antoinette
It’s good for the kids learn of meditation from their very young age, that’s so many benefits of meditation :
For health : Meditation is often used to clear the mind and ease many health concerns, such as high blood pressure,[6] depression, and anxiety. It may be done sitting, or in an active way—for instance, Buddhist monks involve awareness in their day-to-day activities as a form of mind-training. Prayer beads or other ritual objects are commonly used during meditation in order to keep track of or remind the practitioner about some aspect of that training.
For spiritual : Meditation may involve generating an emotional state for the purpose of analyzing that state—such as anger, hatred, etc.—or cultivating a particular mental response to various phenomena, such as compassion.[7][8][9] The term “meditation” can refer to the state itself, as well as to practices or techniques employed to cultivate the state.[10]
Full link from : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditation
Thank You
Eric kksiow
More and more people are practicing meditation for relaxation, to destress, to empty their minds, to find peace, to tame their minds. Whatever the motivation, meditation greatly helps us as we discharge the impurities built up within us from the hectic day and lifestyle that most of us lead.
It’s wonderful to see young children in schools learning and practicing meditation. Like what the British school teacher said, “we are creatures of habit…” What the children learned at school may be shared with their parents at home, making it a wholesome family practice to develop good habits.
The introduction of meditation into schools and starting at young age is based on many scientific evidence that while may not be conclusive, they strongly suggests positive influence on the one’s mind and behavioral patterns.
With so many aspects of negative influences available through so many medias to young people nowadays, introducing positive influences can be challenging. Governments and schools taking responsibility over this matter is the right approach.
In countries like America, Buddhist meditation cannot be directly introduced because of its constitution but by taking out the Buddhist aspect of it, mindfulness or mind science is a field that everyone can practice for wellness without the religious burden.
In Malaysia, it would be a very sensitive matter and even harder to try to introduce into public schools even if it’s “secularized”. However, private institutions and companies can take steps to introduce mindfulness and stress releasing meditation for wellness.
Thanks Rinpoche for the sharing this.
Everything is easier when we start them young. I am touched when I saw the kids answer about “Everyone will die.” in one of the video. For a kid to understand this, I believe this kid will grow up to be a person that have more compassion and tolerance to others. Imagine if more people understand about the truth of life since young, they live less suffer when they grow up.
Contrary to the secular education, meditation is teaching “less is more” which happiness and peace come from inside not outside.
May more schools and companies would include meditation session whether it is related to any religion or not, meditation is beneficial in many different levels and for sure will help people positively.
Thank you.
What an impressive program in Victoria, Australia, it is a clever use of the Jataka tales to introduce the concept of dying to young children. I suppose it is important to let children know about death, as throughout their young life they will encounter such occurrences and it should not be an experience that encourages revulsion rather acceptance that death is part and parcel of life. Meditation is a journey of self discovery so it is helps kids to get to know about themselves even more. And once they know themselves more with the moral compass from the jataka tales the kids can determine for themselves what they abandon and what they should enhance.
This is really happy to know that there are some school recgnised the benefits of meditation and incorporated meditation sessions in school 🙂 Learning to focus is even more needed especially when we including younger kids are spending more and more time in playing with online games and handphones or heavy usage of electronic media. When children were asked what’s their feeling after the meditation session they told that: they feel happy and have more peace.
If by incorporating simple meditation class in school can help reduce behavioural problems in school, it really would be something relatively simple, practical, and worth to be implemented by schools or parents for their kids or themselves, because meditation is not only benefits children but adults as well.
This is very cute and heartwarming, I’m so glad to know about such a thoughtful implementation in the schools. These kids are very lucky because they have people available to teach them meditation when others don’t.
I personally don’t find meditation a religious activity, for people who practise other religions and are frank, they should really try meditating for a short while every day or even once, twice a week, 5-10 minutes each time. When it’s done correctly, you will realise that the mind is sharper, you become less hot-tempered. I myself is not a good meditator but sometimes it’s good to sit down and have a quiet time of your own.
I know some people are gonna read this and laugh off the inclusion of meditation in a school’s curriculum. For such people, I would like to ask them this – what else are you doing in your life that helps you to develop a better quality of living, that is NOT dependent on external factors which fluctuate in nature?
Meaning, you develop your wealth but wealth fluctuates in value. You develop your career but its state is dependent on other factors like the economy or competition from more skilled workers. You develop your relationship but its duration is dependent on other factors too like compatibility, competition, life goals, etc.
Having examined external factors, we can see they are impermanent and we are always at risk of having them taken away from us. So what else exists in the world, that allows you to develop a better quality of living that’s permanent and isn’t ever at risk of being taken away from you? That skill is meditation.
In our schools, we teach our children the necessary skills to acquire external factors. We equip them and nurture their abilities to engage in the accumulation of external factors. But logic and our own experience tells us external factors are always in flux and as a result of this, we have suffered a life of uncertainty. Do we want our kids to go through the same experiences we have? Why let our kids make the same mistakes as us? If we really care about our children, we would also teach them the skills necessary to develop internal factors of developing happiness, and that is what meditation is all about.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this video.
It is very fascinating to know that even in western country like Australia and England will adopt meditation as a teaching method for the children.
Meditation can help children to learn to focus, practise mindfulness and in a way reduce stress too. Hopefully more parents and school will adopt this method which will benefit the children and mold them to be better adults in the future.
看完这篇博文，觉得值得鼓舞，因为西方国家一部分的教育将佛学容纳进学校教课纲要之一，让学生们从小学习佛法与修心，远离不好与不正确的行为。
不过，我们必须感恩因为在克切拉周日儿童佛法班，静坐与呼吸冥想也是其中一环节。每位学生会先让自己从家里赶来上课的心情平静下来，将杂念抛开和心平气和随着老师的指引，开始静坐。这样长期下去，再加上学生们如果在家勤加练习，这些学生必定可以专心上课与学习、比较懂得控制自己的情绪、头脑清晰和反应会比以前更敏捷。
感谢仁波切的分享。
我赞同上师所说的一切，学校除了教導学术性的課业，也应向西方国家学习，把静坐/冥想这門功課給纳入学校課程之一。让孩子從小学习自我尊重也尊重他人，开發智力及有自信，平静，有智慧，減少暴力或憂虑症的产生，也让孩子有个健全的童年。
人格的培养從小开始是非常重要的，因他们都是国家未来的棟樑。從小就懂的自律，除了家長容易调教，也减少社会问题，正是一舉俩得。
I would typically associate meditation with adult, perhaps that is out of my ignorance. Removing the religious or spiritual aspect of meditation, it is usually associated with helping one to de-stress, relax and calm the mind.
It seems as we evolve and progress, children are “forced” to grow up faster these days. The internet deliver information to us at much faster speed than ever before, events move at much faster speed, instructions get executed much quicker.
Stress and anxiety cases among children and young adults are at a high. There is an increasing interest in teaching meditation to children to help them focus and cope with today’s fast paced and demanding society.
It is good that countries like Australia and Britain are recognizing this problem and the benefits of meditation. These schools are leading the way to help developed a healthier generation – physically, spirituality, mentally and morally.
There are findings that proved that meditation for young children has positive effect on the development of their brain and emotion. On top and above the ones mentioned here, a few additional benefits we found through our desktop research are:
• Fall asleep, especially when practiced before bedtime;
• Deal with grief and other difficult emotions;
• Fight disease;
• Release negative thoughts and behaviors; and
• Get along better with others.
It is therefore encouraged to incorporate meditation in the children classes and I shall try to do that for my class of 2 to 4 years old.
Thank You Rinpoche for this message.
Humbly, bowing down,
Stella Cheang