Ahimsa Center- K-12 Teacher Institute Lesson Plan
Title of Lesson:Gandhi's "Good Life: The Spiritual DimensionLesson By: Michele Milner
Grade Level/ Subject Areas:
Grade 2 (California)
High School (Texas) / Class Size:
25 Students per grade level / Time/Duration of Lesson:
10-14 one hour lessons
Lesson Goals and Objectives:
- Explore Gandhi's conception of Spiritual Transformation as a tenet of the "good life"
- Cultivate awarenessso that students can begin to understand themselves and the world around them in an empowering and compassionate way
-Writing in journals
-Read, discuss and create poetry
-Mindful eating
- Formulate their own concept of truth by understanding Gandhi's
-Conception of truth and its realization
-Application of truth via satyagraha
- Understand the nexus of religion, spirituality and truth
-Share their own religions, knowledge and experiences
-Visit a religious center
-Describe their own ideal of spirituality and create their own idea of religion by looking at Gandhi's fusion of religious practices as an example
Lesson Abstract:
Gandhi's work can be distilled into four tenets of the "good life"[i]: Spiritual, Economic, Political and Social transformation. The purpose of this lesson is to use Gandhi's ideas and experiments to explore the spiritual transformation aspect of the "good life" by focusing on personal awareness and formulating conceptions of truth and spirituality. Students examine the nexus between truth, spirituality and religion.
All endnotes can be found at the end of this lesson.
Lesson Content:
Awareness
Gandhi repeatedly urged people to "turn the searchlight inward."[ii] Students will experience this process through experimentation with meditation, art, music, breathing, yoga, journal writing and mindful eating.[iii] Awareness exercises serve to ground the students, ask them to pause from their everyday business, and sensitize them to their surroundings.
Truth
Gandhi dedicated his life to seeking truth and employing it for social change.[iv] Students will explore at least three levels of truth: truth as relative, Truth as an absolute, and truth/Truth as a process in what Gandhi terms, satyagraha. The material in the lesson will help to clarify these conceptions of truth and the students should be encouraged to develop their own constructs.
Together, relative and absolute truths incorporate the idea of satyagraha. When the inner truth is identified (a fluid process subject to revision), the challenge then is to live that truth, perhaps as a means to reach absolute Truth as manifested in satyagraha or, on a spiritual level as moksha.[v] In fact, it is through the living of the truth that it comes alive, as Gandhi stated, "the truth of concepts, values, and ideals is fulfilled only in practice. Prior to that practical fulfillment they remain spectral and abstract."[vi]
Indeed, the active search for truth, if done through love and non-violently, is known as "satyagraha," a powerful means and end for self and societal transformation. Satyagraha was the basis of the movement that empowered Gandhi and others to topple the British Government's rule over India non-violently and contribute to the development of spiritual, social and political thought.
Satyagraha turns the concept of weakness on its head: only those in a position of purity, i.e., a genuine desire to serve and love, regardless of economic, political or social status, invoke satyagraha. Satyagrahis become the strong. Those with economic, political or social status are not the powerful unless they meet the standards of satyagraha. The satyagrahi's position of strength is rooted in spiritual belief and she becomes a catalyst for change through nonviolence. As Gandhi stated, "(n)onviolence is a weapon of the strong." Satyagraha also transforms the oppressor by moving beyond intellect and appealing to the heart.
Based on the platform of Gandhi's truth, encourage students to develop their own ideas. In addition, poems are introduced as points of departure for discussion and deeper thought.
Spirituality
The underlying basis for all of Gandhi's actions and search for truth was his commitment to spirituality. Humans for him were composites of body and spirit. Spirit is part of our material being but not separated from the divine.[vii]
Furthermore, for Gandhi, spirituality is beyond the intellect:
There is something infinitely higher than intellect that rules us and even the skeptics. Their skepticism and philosophy do not help them in critical periods of their lives. They need something better, something outside them that can sustain them. . . . A merely intellectual conception of the things of life is not enough. It is the spiritual conception which eludes the intellect, and which alone can give one satisfaction.[viii]
The spiritual world ruled much of Gandhi and he intentionally separated himself from the material or worldly trappings of life, while passionately seeking moksha. Moksha, according to Gandhi, was "renouncing through knowledge the worldly life." He goes on to state:
Renunciation is not to be found even on the peaks of the Himalayas. The true cave is the one in the heart. Man can hide himself within it and thus protected can remain untouched by the world even though living and moving freely in it, taking part in those activities which cannot be avoided.[ix]
This goal was foremost in his mind, and even in his last breath on this planet, he had the presence of mind and heart to pray, he ram, a symbol of God.
Religion for Gandhi
Born a Hindu, Gandhi studied Christianity while he was in England and South Africa. Gandhi greatly respected different religious views and incorporated varied religious doctrines into his twice daily prayer meetings that hundreds of people would eventually attend. At these prayer meetings he read from the Koran, the Bible and the Bhagavad Gita, amongst other holy scriptures. He loved bhajans, or sung prayers as well as Christian hymns, such as "Lead, Kindly Light." Gandhi created extensive commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, and remained dedicated to its teachings while still embracing scriptures from other religions.
One religion that encapsulates many of Gandhi's beliefs on ahimsa, or non-violence in thought and action, is Jainism. Jainism's theory of nonviolence, like Gandhi's, is that respect for the life of all beings leads to compassionate living and selfless service. Gandhi's family occasionally received Jain priests in the home and Gandhi was privy to these discussions.
Two other Jain tenets also support Gandhi's views: non-absolutism, which is respect for the views of others leading to mutual understanding and peaceful co-existence. As well as non-possessiveness, which is respect for the environment leading to voluntary limits on desires and ethical living.[x]
Finally, Gandhi, a seeker of truth, married his actions with his conscience, beyond a religious mandate. Yet the religion and his practice guided him in his ever-present spiritual quest of moksha. While Gandhi never claimed to have attained moksha, his unwavering struggle and yearning guided him as if he knew it was already there. Gandhi based his claims to truth on personal experiments or experience, with one exception: his faith that moksha was indeed attainable. And yet it was this ideal that anchored him in all of his struggles.
Note to the teacher: This particular lesson is well-suited for teachers with a spiritual practice or who are aware of and seek personal transformation.[xi]
State Content Standards:
- CaliforniaGrade 2: 2.5 Students understand the importance of individual action and character and explain how heroes from long ago and the recent past have made a difference in others' lives.
- Texas: §113.37. Sociology
Guiding Questions:
- What does it mean to be aware?
- What is truth?
- How are religion and spirituality related?
- How do Gandhi's ideas help us understand these issues?
Materials Needed:
- Access to quiet or outdoor spaces
- Paper, pencils, art supplies
- Snacks (pretzels, raisins, dried apricots)
Lesson Context:
This lesson is an exploration of spirituality and is part of a larger unit on Gandhi's idea of the "the good life" that explores our relationship to the world through spiritual, political, social and economic transformation.
Teaching Activities:
DAY ONE: Introduction Explain to students the over-arching unit on "the good life" and how the lessons on spirituality fit in. For example, within spirituality, the students will explore awareness, the idea of truth and look at how these ideas relate to religion.
On the life of Gandhi
1) Read aloudwith the students, Sethia, Tara. "Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand (1869-1948)" Berkshire Encyclopedia of World History (2005), Volume 2, pp. 802-803.
2) In pairs, students will create a dialog between Gandhi and a reporter. One student will create questions as the reporter and the other will answer according to the article, as if she was Gandhi.
3) Students act out their dialogs in front of the class.
Awareness
Gandhi repeatedly urged people to "turn the searchlight inward." Awareness exercises will be practiced throughout the lessons to facilitate experiential learning.
1) Breathing exercises: introduce long-deep breathing. Inhalation expands the belly and exhalation pushes the belly toward the spine. Practice for up to 3 minutes.
2) Ask students what it means to be aware and if they felt a difference before and after the breathing.
3) Ring a soothing bell and ask the students to listen until the end.
How is this level of listening different from everyday listening?
4) Tell students to get out their journals and have a pencil ready. Ask students to close their eyes, breathe and follow their thoughts. At the end of one minute, ask them to write down the very last thought they had and see if they can trace it to understand their train of thoughts.
Homework: ask students to choose between 3 minutes of mindful breathing or tracing and journaling thoughts for 5 minutes a day.
DAY TWO: Awareness (Three minute breathing meditation: follow the breath in and out with awareness of thoughts.)
Discuss experiences with homework assignment
"Good Life" Discussion
1) Ask students what a "good life" is to them.
2) Ask them to get in groups and to create a diagram with four elements for a "good life" that they all agree upon and then present it to the class.
3) Students present their ideas to the class.
4) Discuss this in light of Gandhi's ideas of Spiritual, Political, Economic and Social transformation as the four main tenets of the good life.
Eating Mindfully to Cultivate Awareness
Explain and do steps 1-4
1) Offer raisins, nuts and crackers
2) Students silently select what they would like to eat by passing around a tray, making eye contact and silently thanking the person who passes the tray to them
3) Students look at each item for one minute
4) Students choose to eat one item silently, and then the others
Then ask and discuss:
5) Which they ate first and why
6) Which food took longer to come to fruition
7) What they see was necessary for creation of the food
Homework: Ask students to try eating three bites mindfully at each meal.
DAY THREE: Truth (Begin class with a 3 minute silent meditation)
1) Discuss experiences with mindful eating.
Truth Discussion
1) Ask students what truth means to them and discuss.
2) Then present the following:
Gandhi's Ideas on Truth
A. Relative Truth
"It is a million times better to appear untrue to the world than to be untrue to ourselves.[xii]"
"What may appear as truth to one person will often appear as untruth to another person. But that need not worry the seeker."[xiii] In this sense, truth exists insofar as it resonates with an[xiv] individual.
Show students the famous picture of the vase that also looks like a face as an example of being able to see one thing as two different things. Discuss with the students.
Now this idea can go even deeper to recognize the importance of honoring this truth by reading the following statement in groups of four, discussing as small groups, then as a big group.
There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening, that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost.[xv]
B. Absolute Truth
In regard to absolute Truth, Gandhi claimed the "realm of human values contains a level of truth deeper than what meets the eye. For him, moral reality was as certain as physical reality: there is 'truth in thought, truth in speech, truth in action.'"[xvi] This over-arching truth is the same, at some level, for everyone. As a point of departure for discussion, the teacher could suggest that peace, harmony and stability are possible absolute truths.
Ask students if they believe in this idea of Absolute Truth and why or why not.
4) Ask students to consider the two representations of truth and explore how they support similar ideas or differences. Have they ever felt that something was really right for them? When? Have they ever experimented with their diet, beliefs, exercise, or remedies? What did they find out? Have they ever not listened to a voice inside of themselves (conscience)? When? Why? How did they feel? How does this affect the world? Have they ever felt that something that is right or true for them must be the truth for others and is therefore an absolute truth?
5) Guided Meditation
- Have students sit or lie down in a comfortable position, close their eyes and do long, deep breathing. Lead them through aguided meditation that begins with a journey. On the journey, the students choose, in their minds, where they are going. They see the place in their mind. When they arrive there are two delicious meals laid out, one of roast beef and the other with fresh fruit. They can only choose one. Which do they choose? There they meet a wise person and they imagine what that person looks like. They ask the person the direction home. What does the person say? They listen to the person, thank the person and then they journey back home.
- Students share their journey: the place, the food, the person, the advice and what they may see as their own truth.
- Students journal their journeys and reactions.
1) Start class by passing out and reading, "popcorn style" the following poem:
Two Kinds of Intelligence
There are two kinds of intelligence: one acquired,
As a child in school memorizes facts and concepts from books and from what the teacher says,
Collecting information from the traditional sciences
As well as from the new sciences.
With such intelligence you rise in the world.
You get ranked ahead or behind others
In regard to your competence in retaining
Information. You stroll with this intelligence
In and out of fields of knowledge, getting always more marks on your preserving tablets.
There is another kind of tablet, one
Already completed and preserved inside you.
A spring overflowing its springbox. A freshness
In the center of the chest. This other intelligence does not turn yellow or stagnate. It's fluid,
And it doesn't move from outside to inside
Through the conduits of plumbing-learning.
This second knowing is a fountainhead
From within you, moving out.[xvii]
2) Ask students to identify the two types of intelligence and discuss their differences. Ask how the intelligences relate to the idea of truth. Do they value one type of intelligence over the other? Can they identify an experience they have had with inner truth? Again, does this inner truth have anything to do with absolute truth?
- Students journal their responses.
The term Gandhi used for truth, satya, is based on the Sanskrit verb meaning to be. It implies a connection between truth and existence. Truth, in this sense, is what is.[xviii]
Ask the students what would happen if they mixed truth with Truth and put it toward an action for social change. More specifically, have they ever felt moved by something they thought was wrong - like one kid bullying another? Have they ever acted upon that situation because they felt like it was so wrong?
Read the story, The Secret of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman with these questions in mind and then facilitate a discussion.
This story presents the idea of satyagraha: use the content description to help explain this idea.
4) Revisit the idea of conscience coinciding with actions. What would the students do if they were in the shoes of the protagonist in the story? The bully? What would you do if one of your friends told you that they liked someone. Would you repeat it to others at school? What if your friends make fun of you because you decide to eat lunch with kids from another classroom? Do you listen to them? What do you say? What if there is a new kid in the school who sits alone at lunch? Do you sit with the new kid? What if kids talk about another student behind her back? Do you participate? What do you say?