Member of the FPMT

The idea for Universal Education was founded by my master Lama Yeshe, together with Connie, a nun. Connie is a teacher and enjoys working with children. The objective of a school is to bring up children so that they come to have a compassionate nature, and to have the quality of loving kindness in their minds, so that they grow up with the thought of universal responsibility. They need to have the idea, “I have the responsibility to free others from their problems” and grow up having these qualities. That stops them from giving harm to others; they only benefit others. If we develop the mind in this life, then life to life, as the mind continues, of course it affects our future lives. So, from life to life there is benefit. The children are able to benefit all sentient beings, to bring them to liberation and enlightenment. Many people will not understand this, but this is our goal: to create less causes of suffering and to create more causes for happiness. It brings peace and happiness to the family, country, society, and world.

There is so much violence in the world. In Florida, for example, in recent years, there was a shooting involving a child in a school. And in Columbia, where we have a Dharma center, there are a lot of murders, all the time. What has been missed out in the schools is teaching loving kindness and compassion. Even though the children learn many things, these precious qualities are missed out. By having these qualities, then they only benefit others. For example, look at Osama Bin Laden. His Holiness the Dalai Lama says that Bin Laden is incredibly intelligent, but this increases the harm that he gives. We do not want it to be like that. We want intelligence to only to be of benefit. There is so much violence in schools, and it is difficult for the teachers to control the children. And there are too many drugs available. So, Universal Education is not offered.

There are three main points to Universal Education. First is to develop a good heart. We will supply books explaining how to develop a good heart. Secondly, we will teach inspiring life stories, from different religions or from no religion, using anyone who is an example of compassion in this world, such as Gandhi or St. Francis. Also, we will include the stories of Buddha’s previous lives, such as when he was a bodhisattva offering charity to sentient beings with his possessions and with his body. So, there are different things to teach. We could perform these life stories in the form of theater, so that the children have those beings as their model. If they are able to have these beings as their models, then it will be very beneficial.

A mother has to bear great hardships for her child. She has to sacrifice many things. She has a lot of pain during childbirth, and she has to make many sacrifices day and night to look after a child. She can’t rest, is always changing the child’s diaper and bearing so many hardships for the child. As the child grows up there are many disturbances for the parents. They put many years into the child’s education, and then into its career. The parents give food, clothing, and education. If children take inspiring beings as their role models, then all the parents’ work will have been worthwhile. I advise people to make a plan for the child’s life before having a child. Then the child can bring benefits to the world.

The third main part of universal education is philosophy: to develop a deeper understanding about the mind. This will be taken mostly from the Buddha’s teachings that explain about the mind. There will be simple subjects and more complex subjects. One time when was reading a book on Western psychology I looked for a definition of mind, and I could not find it. In a Tibetan text, a child could find a definition of mind.

So, like a scientist looking for details of atoms etc., we will be making an investigation of the aspects of the mind. However, unless Highest Yoga Tantra is studied, you don’t get a complete understanding of the mind. The subtle mind is only explained by tantra. Sutra explains about the gross mind, but not about the subtle mind. The negative mind is like a poisonous seed that can only produce poisonous fruit. Mainly, we will focus on Buddha’s philosophy, but we will also introduce Hindu and other philosophy. It will be universal. These are the three main points to Universal Education.

The other areas are optional. They are to help beings solve problems. The first of these is feng shui; the second is healing; the third is yoga; the fourth is astrology, to solve problems by doing things at the correct time; and the fifth is psychology. There can be many more, but what makes all of this special is the good heart.

We are in the process of publishing books and training teachers. The main task is teacher training. Then we will begin with one school in the East and one in the West, perhaps in places where there is a lot of violence, such as Columbia. We already have a school in California, at the retreat center Land of Medicine Buddha. It is called Tara Redwood School, and has been going for about three years. The aim is to develop compassion and be kind, for example, to not harm insects, and other animals.

In India we have a Universal Education school in Bihar state in northern India. I think it is the poorest area in India. There are many acts of violence and killing in this state. For some reason, the children needed to go to another school to take their examinations. The children went to the other school and found it to be very rough. When they returned to their own school, they found it so peaceful. Even though the school has only just started, there is so much more peace. Now, the idea is to start many branches in the area and then to have these schools in other countries.

According to my observations, it would be very good if you can be involved in Universal Education. You could start a school here and organize it. We can send you materials and you can make suggestions. If it is successful, then it can help the US, other countries, and the rest of the world.

Often in this life, when you meet beings for the first time, they seem very kind, but there is no continuation of this. After some time they become the opposite. In order to not become like that, there are certain vows we can take. There are the 16 human dharmas to help achieve this. To achieve liberation from samsara there are the Pratimoksa vows; to achieve enlightenment there are the bodhisattva vows; and to achieve enlightenment quickly there are tantric vows.

We must practice kindness not only with humans but with animals and all beings. We must also practice tolerance, not harming others. World Wars I and II occurred because of not having tolerance. Another practice for this life is forgiveness. This is very important, because if somebody says something that you don’t like, then you feel angry and relationship problems can develop. This makes you suffer pain, because you are not practicing forgiveness. If you feel forgiveness, then you don’t hold a grudge. There was a woman in the US whose child was kidnapped and murdered. Despite this, she showed forgiveness to the man who did it. It was the most difficult thing to bear, but she offered forgiveness. There was also a man who was shot twice by a sniper, but he didn’t wish for the sniper to be killed.

Rejoicing is also an important thing in this life. When we see someone has a beautiful car or house, then we should think, “How wonderful. How happy I am that they have found this happiness.” When someone who wants children has a child, when someone looking for a friend finds a friend, when someone has success in business or wins the lottery; whenever any good thing happens, we should rejoice. Each time that you rejoice you collect merit. By planting a small seed of merit, a huge tree follows. Rejoicing becomes the means for success. In this life and future lives everyone will be kind to you. Kindness to others looks simple but the results are huge.

As a motivation, think:

By the kindness of all sentient beings and the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, I have not died yet. I am so fortunate to be a human being again today, and to be able to practice Dharma. What I am going to do from now on, especially today, is to not harm others and to give only happiness to all living beings. The only way for me to live my life in this way is to keep my mind in loving-kindness, compassion, and bodhicitta all the time. With this attitude, whatever I do becomes a cause of happiness for all sentient beings and this causes me to have a happy, fulfilling life.

I am responsible for each and every sentient being’s happiness and peace. How? Without compassion, I give harm to others directly and indirectly from life to life, besides harming myself. Due to compassion, I stop harming others and instead benefit them. All other living beings receive so much peace and happiness from this, so that is why I have this responsibility.

Therefore, please, kind compassionate Lord Buddha, please help me to bring each and every sentient being to enlightenment.

Then, you imagine that Guru Shakyamuni Buddha is very happy and loves you so much, and emanates beams of light, which completely eliminate and purify all your obscurations and negative karmas (from which come all the things you don’t like), and you receive all the buddhas’ wisdom, compassion, and power within you.

Recite Buddha’s Mantra: TAYATHA OM MUNI MUNI MAHA MUNIYE SOHA. Recite this five times, three times, or more.

Then, you can pray to Chenrezig, the Buddha who is the essence of all Buddha’s compassion:

Please help me to be able to benefit all sentient beings, from now on, as you did, Compassionate Buddha, by giving me all your qualities, especially compassion.

Then, Compassionate Buddha, Chenrezig, is so happy with you and loves you so much. He grants you all his qualities, especially Buddha’s compassion, and blessings in the form of light beams, which you receive, while you recite the mantra: OM MANI PADME HUM. Recite this five times, three times, or more.

Next make requests to Manjrushri, who is the essence of all Buddha’s wisdom:

Please help me to be able to benefit all sentient beings from now on, as you did, Buddha of Wisdom, by giving me all your qualities, especially wisdom.

Then, Manjrushri is so happy with you and loves you so much, and grants you all his qualities, especially Buddha’s wisdom and blessings in the form of light beams that you receive, while reciting the mantra: OM AH RA PA TSA NA DHIH. Recite this five times, three times, or more.

Then, after that, pray to Vajrapani, the essence of all Buddha’s power:

Please help me to be able to benefit all sentient beings from now on, as you did, Buddha of Power, by giving me all your qualities, especially power.

Then, Vajrapani is so happy with you and loves you so much, grants you all his qualities, especially Buddha’s power, and blessings in the form of light beams that you receive, while reciting the mantra, OM VAJRAPANI HUM. Recite this five times, three times, or more.

Then pray to Tara, who is the essence of all Buddha’s action (success), to give all happiness, including enlightenment, to you and all sentient beings:

Please help me to be able to benefit all sentient beings from now on, as you did, Buddha of Action, by giving me all your qualities, especially action (success).

Then, Tara is so happy with you and loves you so much, and grants all her qualities, especially Buddha’s action or success, and blessings in the form of light beams that you receive while reciting the mantra, OM TARA TUTTARE TURE SOHA. Recite this five times, three times, or more.

To dedicate these requests, recite the following:

May the good heart, cherishing others, be generated within my mind and in the minds of every living being. May that which has already developed increase forever more.

Due to all my positive actions, all those I have done right now, whatever I have done in the past, and whatever I will do in the future, and also all the good actions done by others in the past, present, and future, may I be most beneficial like Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, Compassion Buddha (Chenrezig), Manjrushri, and Tara, for all living beings, achieve enlightenment, and lead each and every living being to that enlightenment, by myself alone.

Due to all the merits of the three times created by myself, buddhas, and bodhisattvas, which are like a dream, may I lead all sentient beings, who are like a dream, to enlightenment, which is like a dream, by myself alone.

Due to all my merits—the positive actions I have done—in the past, present, and future, and also those which are done by others, may every living being have a good heart. May there be world happiness and peace.

The school should have very clear objectives. It is different from a general school, and what makes it special is that its main objective is to bring up children with kindness and to raise them to be kinder, more loving, and compassionate toward others. The aim is to develop a thought of universal responsibility, so that each child feels responsible for every living being’s happiness and peace. The object is for each child to become a source a peace and happiness for every living being. That is the whole aim of the school.

In this way, when the children have this great quality of a human mind, a good heart, they don’t give harm to others. All other living beings do not receive harm from them, and that absence of harm means they receive peace and happiness from those children. On top of this, the more the children develop, the more peace and happiness they bring to others. Others can receive the peace and happiness of this life from them, and the peace and happiness of future lives as well, up to the highest happiness: liberation from all suffering and its causes. That means the children can bring so much peace into this world, into other universes, in this and in future lives, by continually developing a good heart. Besides bringing peace and happiness to their own country, their own area, and own family, the children can bring great peace and happiness to other countries, areas, and families.

It is OK if there are parents who don’t have an interest in Buddhism and they want to take their children out of the school. You are trying to develop the rest of the children more deeply, and you couldn’t if those parents were blocking you. It would block the development of the children’s inner wisdom and good heart. If you explain it in this way, there should be no negative reaction due to a child leaving the school.

Alternatively, you could give less Buddhist instruction to those children whose parents are not Buddhist, and teach the rest in a fuller way. This would allow the other children to stay in the school.

If the objectives of the school are very clear, people will be happy to offer the school financial help.

Dear Jennifer,
There are many methods that can make children listen. For example, you can do Kurukulla practice or blessing the speech. And there are mantras you can recite to cause others to generate virtue and loving-kindness in the heart. If you recite these mantras before teaching, it helps to generate virtue, loving-kindness, and compassion in people’s hearts.

There are also different controlling deities that can be practiced depending upon the one with which you have more karma. For you, your karma is with Red Tara. If you have received a great initiation, you can generate yourself as the deity. But in your case, you haven’t received the initiation so you can’t generate yourself as the deity. Instead, you can visualize Red Tara in front of you and receive red light coming from Red Tara, bringing all the many qualities of the holy body, speech, and mind of Red Tara, especially the omniscient mind, perfect power, and having completed the mind training in compassion for all sentient beings. You also receive the power of controlling.

Also, request Tara to send red light into the children, whoever you have difficulties with, those who you would like to listen to you, to obey you, to do what you wish. Red light goes into them, completely burning wrong concepts, delusions, and superstitious thoughts that harm you and others, such as thoughts of dislike toward you. Everything is pacified. Think that they are generating the thought that they like you most; they are drawn to you most. They are so happy to obey you, to do whatever you wish. They also generate loving-kindness, compassion, and faith in cause and effect so they abandon negative actions of body, speech, and mind which are the causes of suffering, and only engage in virtue, which is the cause of happiness. You can think they have generated the ultimate good heart, bodhicitta, and actualized the whole path to enlightenment. Do a strong visualization of this and chant the mantra:

OM TARE TUTTARE (insert the names of any or all of the school children you wish to control) WASHAM KURU SVAHA

Another deity that can be used for controlling is Dö-gyel, Hayagriva. There are many methods. Basically, you need controlling power.

The conclusion is that there are various practices that can be done but, of course, it’s all based on a good heart, compassion. It is because of your good heart and compassion that you want them to listen to you so you can teach them how to abandon negative actions and create good karma. This way you can lead them to happiness in this and all future lives, until they are free of samsara. Having to die and be reborn, that could be endless, so you are able to cause them to have happiness in future lives. Not only that, but the best thing is that you are able to bring them to liberation, because being in samsara is still temporary happiness. So, the best thing is to liberate them from all suffering and its causes. The very best thing is to bring them to peerless full enlightenment. This is how you are going to benefit them. That’s why you can use these methods. The motivation is to benefit them; it’s not ego or self-cherishing. You get controlling power so you can help them and guide them, so they don’t harm themselves, which is the small benefit, and instead benefit others, the country, and the whole world, bringing peace to all sentient beings, which is the great benefit.

Generally speaking, in daily life, if you always attempt to create good karma your merit or good luck will be great. Then, others do not interfere with your wishes. They support you. What makes you create a lot of merit every day is keeping in mind the good heart, the wish to benefit others. If your mind is kept in this, everything you do—eating, walking, sitting, sleeping—every action becomes pure virtue and has the highest result, enlightenment, while liberation from samsara, the end of all suffering, comes by the way.

As a Buddhist, there is an incredible opportunity to create merit because of faith in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. That opens up vast opportunities to create great merit. If one is not a Buddhist, one needs to create merit by having a good heart. Good luck is not created by God; your mind has to create good luck. This is the same meaning as “taking care of yourself,” “guiding yourself,” or “loving yourself.” When you live life with a good heart, not allowing yourself to become a slave to the ego or the self-cherishing thought, or a slave to ignorance and attachment, being controlled by them, when you practice renunciation and guru devotion, then that is loving yourself. From that, all success comes: success for yourself and for others. All happiness comes from that: this life’s happiness, future lives’ happiness, enlightenment for oneself and for all sentient beings.

When you practice renunciation, there is a definite emergence from suffering and from the causes of samsara, the continuity of the contaminated aggregates, which are in the nature of suffering. When your mind is transformed into the good heart, bodhicitta, the right view, that is your best love for yourself—transforming your mind into bodhicitta.

On top of that, the secret quick path to enlightenment is tantra. That is even more “loving yourself” because tantric practice is the quick way to get free from samsara and achieve enlightenment. When you follow the self-cherishing thought, you create many obstacles for your wishes to happiness being fulfilled. That means you become an enemy to yourself though you don’t know this. It’s the same when you follow ignorance, anger, attachment, and the delusions. You become an enemy to yourself, also you bring suffering. You hinder yourself from achieving happiness in this life, future lives, and liberation from samsara—the continuity of the contaminated aggregates, the body and mind, which are in the nature of suffering.

The reason that sentient beings are born into a Buddhist family is to meet the Dharma. There are great advantages for them in meeting the Dharma, learning it, and practicing.

One should bring up children by teaching them tolerance, compassion, and loving-kindness, and by teaching them about their responsibility for the happiness of all sentient beings. One should also teach them practices they can do as part of their daily life, such as offering some of their food to the Triple Gem before each meal, prostrating in the morning and at night before they go to bed, and also other practices, such as offering lights, incense, or water. Even for them to offer one bowl of water is very nice. Each child can have his or her own bowl to offer and can offer it to different deities and buddhas. Each child can also have his or her own altar.

I have some relatives in Darjeeling who have very beautiful children, a daughter and a son. Every day, before going to school, they make three prostrations in the shrine room. The family has a very beautiful shrine room. There is a monk taking care of it, cleaning it, setting up the altar, and performing pujas.

A former center director in London has two children, both sons, and each morning they go to the meditation room before they leave for school. They each have their own cushion, alongside his and his wife’s cushions. The children chant some mantras—probably “Om Mani Padme Hung.” There is a bell on the table for them, and when they finish meditating they ring the bell and leave.

It is very good to teach children some traditional practices. Even if the children are small, it is good to bring them up in this way and let them become familiar with these practices.

In daily life, children could do prostrations, make offerings at the altar, and offerings before eating and drinking. They can learn to be generous to others. Parents can teach them how to be kind to others, how to respect others, and not to retaliate when others harm them or say rude words to them, but instead to be kind, have compassion, and think that the other person is suffering. This is the most important education.

By teaching children to have a good heart and be kind to others, they grow up to be very good human beings. With this good heart, they can benefit others so much, helping them as much as they can. Their hearts become good, tolerant, and kind. Then there is less negative karma in their lives and also less harm to others, which means that other sentient beings receive peace and happiness from your child. There are so many other sentient beings, and they can all receive peace and happiness from your child. Your child can become the source of peace and happiness for all sentient beings, the happiness of this life and of all future lives, as well as liberation from samsara and the highest happiness: enlightenment.

The children can make offerings, as many times as possible, to the Guru, Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha each day. This enables them to collect so many causes for enlightenment each day. When they offer to the Buddha, it becomes a direct cause for enlightenment, and also creates the cause of a good rebirth for hundreds of thousands of lives. Because karma is expandable, the result is experienced many times. As Aryadeva said in his Four Hundred Stanzas: “If you cheat one sentient being, you will be cheated for one thousand lifetimes.” Therefore, because all happiness comes from good karma, these virtuous action take care of the happiness of this life along the way. And because all obstacles come from negative karma, so much negative karma is purified along the way, and some very heavy negative problems are prevented from ever occurring.

This is the correct way to proceed if you really want to help your child to have a successful happy life, a good life. It has to come from their mind. They have to create their own good fortune themselves with their positive mind. Making offerings to the Guru, Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha creates very powerful merit, and is such an easy way of achieving enlightenment and to be liberated from the suffering realms. Also, by collecting merit in relation to sentient beings, by practicing loving kindness and the special attitude of taking responsibility for other sentient beings’ happiness, your children can make so many people happy. With this attitude, with a good heart and generosity, helping others in daily life, so many people are made happy. Then, as a result, so many people will also make your children’s lives happy.

Therefore, you should understand that if you educate your children in this way, one child can become a source of peace and happiness for all sentient beings. In this way, you, the parent, also become the source of peace and happiness for all sentient beings. If you have 50 or 100 children, and you educate them all in this way, even better! It would make the world happier, less violent, and more peaceful.

Of course, children also have their own karma, but, generally, a lot depends on their life situation and the example of people around them. Therefore, the parents become a key condition determining the quality of their life.

Each time the child practices tolerance, compassion, and loving kindness, it benefits others and makes its life useful for others. Similarly, through making offerings, performing prostrations, and chanting powerful prayers and mantras, they collect merit and purify heavy negative karma. This makes worthwhile all the effort of carrying the child in the womb for nine months, bearing so many hardships during pregnancy, and, after that, all the hardships, experiencing all the worry, fears, and concern for the child. Parents undergo all these difficulties and hardships, experiencing endless problems while taking care of the child. Then, each time the child does something good, all those years of life sacrificed for the child gain that much meaning. Their virtue gives meaning to the hardships and sufferings that the parents undertook for that child.

Otherwise, what is the point of having a child if he or she ends up harming the world and sentient beings. What is the point?

Best Education for Children
Rinpoche met with a nun to discuss the best way to educate children.

To educate children is extremely important. There are two places where children should be educated: one is at school, and the other is at home, by the parents. They should be educated in a good heart and tolerance, to have compassion, and be kind to others. These are the basic good qualities of human minds, so parents have a big responsibility.

Otherwise, without this education, it is like giving birth to the children to suffer. The children will have a life full of suffering, and they will also cause so much suffering, torture to their parents, and also to other people. They can cause other sentient beings so many problems with their untamed minds, without a good heart, and a sense of universal responsibility.

If the parents want their children to be kind to them, they have to teach them how to have a good heart. If the children have tolerance and compassion toward other beings, other beings will love them and help them. This way they will have a good heart, which makes them happy, and then from being happy, they will have more space in their mind to be kind to others, and this makes others happy.

The stronger influence out of parents or school is the parents, because that’s where they spend more time, and there, the way of teaching is by example. In school, you learn by the head but not by the heart.

What is needed is education for both parents and children in having a good heart.

Advice to Schoolchildren
Rinpoche visited the school run by the FPMT in Bodhgaya for Indian children, and gave this advice to the schoolchildren.

You should think of getting an education, going to school, to be able to benefit all living beings.

Violence in Schools
Rinpoche gave this advice to the director of a school in Switzerland for dealing with violence at school.

For half an hour a week, or up to one hour, have a meeting about achieving a better quality of life and peace of mind and happiness in life. Discuss the importance of a good heart for teachers and for children.

Read booklets by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and write down points about touching the heart. You can then make them into a booklet that also includes your own understanding.

Here is the psychology to teach the children: You don’t want people to harm you. You want people to praise you, say good things to you, and not harm you. This is what you want. Others also want exactly the same things. Everyone wants, needs, has the right to, and likes to receive respect, praise, and help from you. They have the right to receive these things from you. This is the foundation for the children and also for the teachers.

If this advice is constant, some children will change. That is the benefit. Not all will change—this would be a miracle—but some will change.

It is also important to act this way with the children, to play it out. Acting out anger, show the harmfulness of anger. Instead of talking about it, act it out, for example, “I am angry. Because of this, I make others angry too. I destroy my family, relationships, and material possessions. When you get angry, with anger caused by something very little, almost nothing, the consequences become so big. Therefore, it is so important to practice patience.”

An unsatisfied and degenerated mind is natural unless you get enlightened. The important psychology to teach—without using the words “karma” or “rebirth”—is to teach about karma in day-to-day life. If you start to dislike somebody, then you are sending that person bad vibrations and disrespect. It disturbs that person and makes him unhappy with you. The effect comes back to you. Therefore, what you are doing also makes you unhappy. This goes on and on with that person, and with many other people. You make your own mind and life unhappy, and are unable to make your life happy.

It becomes very important to change your attitude toward this life. Establish the concept to like others, by thinking of the benefits. When others disrespect you, you think it is totally harmful, but it has also an opposite side. It isn’t only harm. If you interpret others’ minds and actions as harmful, then that is what you see. You can also interpret them as positive, by seeing the benefits of the way the person thinks of you—with dislike, anger, undesirable actions, and so on—that they are helping you to develop compassion, loving kindness, a warm heart, and peace of mind. Then life becomes more satisfied and happy. The person is just showing how he or she is suffering by showing anger, being overtaken by anger. The person has not the slightest freedom. They became a slave to the demon of anger, which only makes that person so unhappy. These people are helping you not to have anger at all. At first it looks like only negativity, that this person is harming you, but when you look at the positive side, then you see that the person is helping you not to have anger at all. This way you will never find enemies, only friends. Then your life becomes peaceful and happy. Everybody loves you, and you love everybody. It is very important to emphasize how you look at things. Everything relates to one’s own mind, whether you see the positive side rather than the negative. When somebody is harming you, or angry at you, look at the positive side. Always tell people this, to look at the positive side. Because not having developed this side, the positive side, your mind is easily disturbed. If we have a positive outlook and develop the mind in this, then the mind becomes more and more stable.

This is the real psychology. It is very fundamental. The mind becomes stable. There is always peace. If your mind is at peace, your job will go well, your family life will go well, your life goes well. In this way, you don’t harm others, you only help them, bring joy to them, to your family, parents, school, and children.

That is the best way to teach.