The mindful teacher

I began painting "ensos" after attending a contemplative teacher workshop in St. Paul a couple summers ago. The word "enso" means circle in Japanese, and comes out of the Zen tradition, although many cultures have created art based on the circle- sometimes called mandalas . What struck me the first time I painted an enso was the simplicity and spontaneity of the process, and that it involved the complete focusing on the moment at hand. There is also the sense that an enso is perfectly imperfect.  There are other interpretations of the enso, such as wholeness,    completeness , or eternity , but ultimately, it can mean whatever the viewer brings to it. For me, it's also the perfect symbol of the dialectical nature of our daily existence - the constant up/down, in/out balance that characterizes everyone's experience. But this is all  theorizing.  The true master might  just smile and say, "It's a circle --why  add anything more?" A tra...

Should mindfulness practices be taught in public schools?  This question has recently been highlighted by a lawsuit filed in a Cape Cod school district, over a program called Calmer Choice.   There was also a a long essay on the topic recently published in Tricycle magazine (a Buddhist publication). The  concern is that mindfulness programs are actually promoting  Buddhism in schools.  At Highview Middle School (the public school where I teach), I have been leading and sharing mindfulness practices for many years, so this is a topic has particular relevance for me and the community I work with.  At my mindfulness trainings and workshops,  we have never stressed -nor even discussed- the core teachings of Buddhism.  We have discussed the idea that life entails stress and difficulty- a common  sense observation embodied in the "First noble truth" (of Buddhism).  Anyone who is involved in education- or merely alive- can assent to t...