STUDENTS GET A VALUABLE LESSON OF PEACE

[Steve Poynter]

In May of this year a group of our middle school students and teachers were fortunate enough to be able to hear a speech by His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.  Shortly after the visit, a letter to the editor appeared in the local paper. In a nutshell, the author didn't appreciate the use of taxpayer money for such a trip since; as he put it, "there are Christian leaders that have larger followers than the Buddhist, yet I doubt that our school would transport kids to hear them speak. This is clearly a double standard set by those in charge."  He continued by stating, "Our nation is founded on Christian principals, not Buddhist or Hindu or Muslim, but Christian, yet we have turned our backs on the very teachings that have made us a great nation."  As a teacher, after reading his letter I felt it necessary to fire off a reply, which follows: Dear Editor:I would like to respond to Mr. ------ letter- Taxpayers shouldn’t pay for trip to the Dalai Lama- May 24, 2011. I was fortunate enough to have been able to attend the Dalai Lama’s speech on May 11 with six other teachers.  Mr. ----- said that the Dalai Lama is in no way a world leader. His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of the people of Tibet, a very large country on the western border of China.  Notice I said spiritual, not world, and not religious leader, and there is a difference.  Religions have a tendency to separate humans and spirituality can bring people together in peace, which is what happened on the university campus that day.I have heard the Dalai Lama say many times that he considers himself a simple monk, no different from any other person on this earth.  I feel that when people think of world leaders, for some reason, they think those particular criteria must be met in order for a person to be seen as a leader.  He is a spiritual man who is not attached to status, power or title.  As for whether it was appropriate to take the kids to hear his speech, which by the way was entitled, Nonviolence in the 21st Century, what could be a more appropriate subject for school children to hear.  I was very inspired by his message, which was one of love, compassion and tolerance for all human beings. I remember specifically his response to a question from the audience concerning how we should respond to our enemies.  He said, and I’m paraphrasing, that without enemies we would not have opportunities to demonstrate love and tolerance for others, especially those who might malign or attack us. This is one message I would hope our students picked up from this great man.  A message of peace, love, compassion, and tolerance instead of retaliation, all coming from someone other than a religious leader. What a novel idea. It’s about time kids heard such a message.  With this having been said, I say to Mr. ----- that I immensely appreciate his comments and I value the chance to practice a little compassion for him and a great deal of tolerance for his views. Here’s hoping he keeps up the good work. NOTHING LIKE TEACHING A LITTLE PEACE!