nwasianweekly.com
Mar. 21, 2008

Amy Lu

Seeds of compassion: Be the change, see the change

By Amy Lu
Northwest Asian Weekly

Does this scene look, sound or feel familiar to you?

Two young teenagers stand, faces only six inches apart. Arms and shoulders are tautly held back by peers and teachers as they forcefully attempt to move forward. Angry, threatening words, encrusted in profanity, echo throughout the halls. With a sudden harsh jerk, one gets loose and charges at the other, fists out. A mob pushes closer together, enclosing the scene while encouraging these kids to “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

As a former educator of three years in a Seattle urban middle school, the reality of a teacher wasn’t always about teaching the planned academic lessons. Instead, it was listening to the students voicing their concerns: concerns about friendships and family, self-identity, street life and survival. Kids were seeking acceptance, belonging and love, whether it was from a healthy or unhealthy source. In a society where violence is acceptable in media, profanity and substance abuse is normal, neighborhood streets are dangerous for play, and where adults fear the youth, children are being subjected to an early life of chaos. This forces them to grow up faster than their natural adolescent cycles allow, oftentimes resulting in poor decision making.

Sadly, some of our youth are born into unfortunate circumstances. For others, they are strongly influenced by the ill actions of adults or other youth in our community. As the saying goes, “Actions speak louder than words,” and it’s those actions that kids learn to mimic. As little as we realize it, every second we speak or move we are a role model to an individual, though we may not be aware of it. So when you think your words are not being heard and your cell phone conversations are private, in reality, someone seeking direction is listening to you.

By being mindful of others and our environment, we can extinguish many of the usual accompanying emotions: anger, stress, sadness and jealousy. Practicing compassion and peace every day in our professional and personal lives requires us to avoid assumptions, not take comments or actions personally, and the overall ability to just let go. We should take time out of our busy days to attentively listen and show love. Life is full of pleasant surprises, such as finding a long-lost family member, and unpleasant circumstances, such as being seriously hurt by an inattentive speeding car.

Trying to positively live each of our days as though it’s our very last allows us to appreciate the finer details in life — a simple raindrop during a light spring shower. We can teach positive lifestyles and set the example of living for our youth, who can impact future generations, developing stronger and healthier citizens for our world.

Seeds of Compassion, founded by Daniel Kranzier and Lama Tenzin Dhonden, is a committee aimed towards instilling peace and compassion in the community, encouraging us all to look deeper into ourselves to understand our actions, and loving everyone in a world of hate, anger and disconnect.

Executive Director Raj Manhas, former Seattle public schools superintendent, and his team believe Washington state is capable of being a leader in the global movement towards compassion. His Holiness the Dalai Lama and other luminaries will be joined by leading scientists, community leaders, educators, parents, children, and various civic organizations and businesses in promoting and creating this social change.

The free five-day ticketed event, April 11-15, will celebrate and explore opportunities for building compassion through forums and discussions, workshops, a resource fair, an interfaith/spirituality breakfast and public gatherings. The largest event scheduled for Saturday, April 12, at Qwest Field, will be a conversation led by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and fellow luminaries. Workshops and other special talks will be hosted at both Seattle Center and Qwest Field. Unlike many other events, this will be broadcast worldwide via the Internet and satellite in 30 different languages.

Please join His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Seeds of Compassion team and partake in this wonderful historical event. As His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said, “Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.”

For more information and tickets, visit www.seedsofcompassion.net.

Amy Lu can be contacted at alu@ccawa.org.

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