Humanizing the Humanities – The Relevance of the Humanities in Education

© Jason Kunen 2013

There is much debate now on the topic of the Humanities, in the university and in the primary and secondary levels of education.  Policy makers, educators and administrators seem to be favoring the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields, and are moving away from English, Philosophy, History, and related subjects.  It seems to me that there are fundamental problems not only with education in general, but with how the Humanities are generally taught.

The Humanities refers to studying aspects of human culture, including, though not limited to: philosophy, music, literature, history, art, and classical languages.  Fewer people recognize the significance of studying these subjects, and that is partially due to the sad reality that most educational institutions are factories that churn out students in order to work, and partially due to the fact that the Humanities are not made relevant to students’ lives or to the 21st century.  Perhaps a century or two ago, it was sufficient for one to assert he had read Shakespeare, or knows this or that artist, because it was a sign of status.  The educated person had knowledge with which to show off.  Nowadays, however, education is designed to help students find jobs, and the STEM fields are becoming increasingly popular, while the Humanities are beginning to fall by the wayside.  How are the Humanities, and people who teach them, to survive?

Firstly, we must understand the purpose for teaching these subjects.  I suggest that the Humanities, as the name implies, focuses on understanding the human condition.  What is it to be human?  History, art, philosophy, literature…these subjects should be presented as a wake up call to observe ourselves, our inner life, in order to become aware of how we are living and using our mind in the world.  What does an aspect of history, or a work of art, or a piece of music, or a literary composition, tell us about the human condition, and can we identify that within ourselves?  Can we creatively use these works as a tool to reflect on our own nature and clearly see our fears, insecurities, emotions, racism, prejudices, judgments, and the rest of it?  No authority, system, book, or guru can provide Self-knowledge, that is something that must be discovered for oneself, but we can use these subjects to wake us up and realize that we have the power to look at our mind and how we’re living.  If the humanities were taught in this way, I believe we would have a profoundly different kind of society.

Second, these subjects must be made relevant to today’s times.  Learning history has little significance if it does not help students see the issues in the present time and help them ask why the human race continues to perpetuate a cycle of violence, hatred, oppression, and prejudice.  History has been taught, whether in the modern day classroom or by oral tradition by a guru, for centuries, and yet people are still involved with wars, racism still exists, politicians are just as corrupt, and so on.  Reading a book on racism, memorizing some names and events, and taking a test has little effect on students lives.  That same book, when used as a mirror to illuminate the racism in ourselves, our culture, and our language, can send a powerful message, and help students to be aware of it in themselves.  Having been a philosophy student, I’ve seen for myself how philosophy has devolved from true inquiry to trivial intellectual debates on irrelevant topics using fancy vocabulary only a select few can understand.  Only a handful of people (that I have met anyhow) really know philosophy, because they are philosophers; they practice and live what they speak on and understand.

This identifies one of the problems with education: emphasis on the intellect.  Education has been so concerned with cultivating the intellect, the /mind/.  The mind, however, is fragmented, and objectifying; it compartmentalizes and divides.  Moreover, the /mind/ lives in the past; it is based on thought, which is memory, and is of the past, creating a further disconnect with time.  So few people practice what they understand or know because their “understanding” is merely intellectual.  An intellectual understanding does not flower into action.  True understanding is action; it is integrated and whole.  That kind of understanding is beyond the /ego-centric mind/.  Integrated action, inseparable from understanding, arrives when the /mind/ is silent, when the /mind/ is no longer trying to justify, condemn, judge, or escape from what is.  This is the foundation of intelligence.  When we can observe ourselves from moment-to-moment, without interfering and without forcing or desiring something, and the /mind/ becomes silent, then something beautiful happens.  The flower of Self-knowledge, of wisdom begins to open.

To be human is to be related.  We cannot understand ourselves based on any book, teacher, or system, or in isolation, but only through moment-to-moment observation of ourselves in relationships.  If we observe how we interact in our relationships, with people, ideas, fears, emotions, nature, objects in the world, ourselves, etc., we begin to deepen our awareness of how we are conducting our mind in the world.  Self-knowledge is an ever unfolding inquiry, not based on the thoughts and ideas of another, but through interest in understanding oneself as one is.  To live a life based on the beliefs, ideas, thoughts, ideals, patterns, and principles of another is to be a second-hand human being.  Each individual is responsible for engaging in this journey of discovery.  The Humanities, and teachers who are on this journey themselves, have the power to awaken that interest in students.  They can encourage and create a safe space for students to deepen their awareness of themselves, the world, and their relationships.  In understanding our own psychological process, our inner life, we have the foundation for entering into dialogue with others, and seeing our interconnectivity as a fact, not as an idea.

If future generations of students were trained solely in the STEM fields, we may have a very technologically advanced society full of intellectuals, but that does not equate to being awakened, creative, ethical, dialogical, and responsible human beings.  This is not to downplay the value or power of those fields, but to suggest that knowledge of the external world should not be privileged over understanding the inner world.  The work of the Humanities is to give students the opportunity to discover how they are living and conducting their mind in the world.  These fields call us to be aware of our inner life, our psychological process, so that we can rise to the responsibility of brining about a peaceful, joyful, creative, and moral society through Self-knowledge.  Such a society cannot come about through information or ideas, but only through integrated and creative action and understanding, which comes not from the intellect, but from wisdom and intelligence.

Related Links:

Home Page

Link to Last Week’s Post: On Free Will – Awareness and the Power of Choice

Changing the World Starts with Understanding Yourself

Here is a great book by my good friends Martha Randolph and Elizabeth Campbell that discusses spiritual evolution in a clear and simple manner.  I highly recommend it, especially to young persons interested in these topics.  It is called, That Which Is.

I also recommend reading the book Navigating the Mazeway: Fulfilling our Best Possibilities As Individuals and As a Society, by my good friend and colleague Tony Parrotto.  Here is a link to his website, The Mazeway Project.

Link to my book, Meditations on Zen and Martial Arts Philosophy

Changing the World Starts with Understanding Yourself

Courtesy of http://www.flower-images.net/purple-water-lily

As we saw in the post, A Call to ((Action)), there are a number of issues that humanity faces today that threatens our survival, and some which will have cataclysmic effects on our planet.  In several ((Dia-blog)) posts, we investigated that the cause of our problems is /ego-mentalism/, that is, we are conducting our mind from a self-oriented, self-centered, objectifying, and fragmented framework.  When we use this mental operating system, we take ourself to be the center of existence and the basis for experience, and contrast it with everything outside of us.  We objectify and cut ourself off from everything else.  This creates the distinction between “I” and “not I,” which leads to constantly comparing, judging, evaluating, and creating more and more divisions.  Thus, all dialogue, experience, interaction, relationship, ideas, and emotions are filtered through our conditionings, memories, thoughts, prejudices, opinions, beliefs, judgments, reactions, and experiences (all these things which comprise the /self/, the /ego/, the /“me”/, our /story/).  Because of that, we rarely encounter moments when we are free of our /self/.  But through this ((Dia-blog)) we are discovering together if there is a way we can encounter and experience things ((as they are)) in a fresh, present, and creative way.

We have also been investigating the fact that we are as we mind.  That is, the world is a reflection of how we are conducting our minds.  Our way of minding is projected into the outer world.  Therefore, if we wish to change the world, we must start with ourself, with our own inner life.  Why?  Because without understanding ourselves, our psychological process, our actions will perpetuate the cycle of /ego-mentalism/, of /objectification/ and /violence/.  If you are full of conflict, jealously, anger, hatred, self-centeredness, whatever it is, could your actions in the world reflect differently?  We will be stuck in /reactions/, not creatively responding to the experience, interaction, or problem.  (For more on this, please refer to the posts On Psychological Freedom and On Relationships).

But how does one go about doing this?  To change ourselves, don’t we need to understand what it is we’re changing from?  It is vital to understand the /ego-mental patterns and habits/ within ourselves.  Through non-judgmental awareness, we can watch our reactions, thoughts, emotions, clinging, anger, hatred, and the rest of it.  We can simply watch unobtrusively; once we start judging, condemning, justifying, and interfering, it means we are trying to escape the fact of what we are because we are afraid to look at ourselves.  If you learn to observe yourself in this non-judgmental manner, with an interest and an openness to see what you are, then you begin to understand yourself, and a change happens naturally.  I recommend a book by Osho called Awareness: The Key to Living in Balance.

Changing oneself is not a matter of creating ideals or following a belief system.  When you have ideals (non-violence, compassion, courage, kindness, temperance, etc.) and try to live up to them, doesn’t that mean you are in conflict because you are the opposite of that ideal?  If I am trying to be non-violent, doesn’t that mean I am trying to change myself because I am violent?  Creating this ideal in your mind puts you in conflict with your idea (which is really just an image rooted in your thoughts and memories of what you believe it is), and your actual, everyday experience.  That is why I am not an idealist.  Ideals create conflict, and are an elaborate way to escape from what you are by trying to live up to some belief in your mind.  Instead, through awareness we begin to understand our psychological process and our /ego-mental habits/, and with understanding, one naturally changes.  Then, there is no striving to live up to or become some ideal, but rather, one is kind, non-violent, creative, compassionate, courageous, etc.  These qualities become the very presence of the person; it is their very being.

If you truly understand, not as an ideal or a thought or a belief, but clearly see what /ego-mentalism/ is as a fact, and how it creates divisions, objectifies, fragments, creates conflict, and leads to suffering, loneliness, and a chaotic inner and therefore outer life, no one in their right mind would continue to live with way of minding!  Naturally, you would inquire whether there is a profoundly different way of living and experiencing life and optimizing your relationships with people and the world around you.  This means that understanding is not merely intellectual, but is empathetic, intelligent, creative, and active.  ((Understanding is action)).  You can believe that everyone is interconnected, that we can be non-violent, that we can break free of /ego-mentalism/, whatever it is…but belief does not lead to integrated action.  Integrated action comes from understanding, from seeing what is.  And such ((action)) is, by its very nature coherent, moral, creative, and intelligent.  I suggest reading Jiddu Krishnamurti’s book, The First and Last Freedom for more on this subject.

Through this awareness and understanding yourself, you begin to interact different in your relationships.  Your nature of ((Being)) creates ripples and affects others.  Society, the world, is not independent of you relationship between you and me, between you and other people, the world, ideas, etc.; it is the relationships we have.  Understanding ourselves, our psychological process, leads to a ((transformation)) of our being, not through discipline, force, effort, control, authority, or fear, but through Self-knowledge.  This ((inner revolution)) creates a change in our relationships.  And if the vast network of relationships and interconnections is the world, we thereby affect the entire ((Field of Reality)).  If you want to end conflict and violence in the world, end the conflict and violence in yourself.  If you want to end misery in the world, end the misery in yourself.  If you want to eliminate self-centeredness in the world, self-centeredness must be eliminated within yourself.  No one can be forced to change, but you are responsible for creating and holding the ((space)) for a ((radically transformed Humanity)) through your own ((inner revolution)).

So, if you want to change the world, start with understanding yourself.  If you want to understand yourself, become aware of how you are conducting your mind.  For awareness and transformation to flourish, you must inquire whether a ((total revolution of our being)) is possible, not through force, discipline, or desiring to change, but through openness and willingness to see what is.

If these posts are helpful and interesting, please share them with others.  There are links to share this on Facebook, Twitter, WordPress, and others below.  Many thanks!

Related Links:

Here is a great book by my good friends Martha Randolph and Elizabeth Campbell that discusses spiritual evolution in a clear and simple manner.  I highly recommend it, especially to young persons interested in these topics.  It is called, That Which Is.

I also recommend reading the book Navigating the Mazeway: Fulfilling our Best Possibilities As Individuals and As a Society, by my good friend and colleague Tony Parrotto.  A link to the book and the his website, The Mazeway Project are below:

The Mazeway Project website: http://mazeway.org

Link to my book, Meditations on Zen and Martial Arts Philosophy

Link to Last Week’s Post: On Conformity, Fear of the Known, and Discussing Matters of Life

Jiddu Krishnamurti’s Book, The First and Last Freedom – On Amazon or Online

Osho’s Book, Awareness: The Key to Living in Balance

On Relationships (Encountering Others in the Moment)

© Jason Kunen 2014

When you meet someone, it is important to ask: who are you really meeting?  That is, when you an encounter another, your parents, your children, your friend, your partner, your neighbor, who is it that you are really meeting?  Are you meeting that person as they are, or are you meeting something else?  Please, do not answer according to your tradition which is someone else’s ideas, or some new age philosophy given to you about being the present which you have never experienced, but really observe this question and let us examine it together.

What is our first reaction when we meet another, whether someone close to us or a stranger?  It is typical that we bring forward thoughts that categorize and label this person.  We call to mind all of the knowledge we have of this person, or if they are strangers, we think of various prejudices and stereotypes to fit him into our mental framework.  In other words, we judge this person.  These judgments may even be unconscious; our conditioned habits may create these judgments.  These judgments are based on thoughts of the past, on memory.  Therefore, what has happened is that through memory, we have judgments of others, thereby creating an image of the person.  If we have such an image of the person, are we actually meeting the person as they are?  Are we even really meeting that person?  Please examine and observe this for yourself; the author cannot do it for you.

Clearly, the knowledge we have of the person, this image created from past experience, has a purpose.  Without it, the person would always be a stranger; it would be like having amnesia.  We can use this knowledge to interact with another in a deeper way.  However, rather than using the knowledge when it is needed, we become stuck in a pattern in which we encounter others solely through this image that acts as a filter.  Because we are psychologically insecure, we seek permanency in all things; this applies to these images of others as well.  In other words, we believe that image to be the actual person.  That image, since it is based on the past, is static and unchanging.  Nothing is permanent, and everything is always changing.  Think back to when someone you know did something unexpected.  Why did their actions surprise you?  Isn’t it because it went against the image you had of them?  Their action was perhaps contradictory to what you thought they could or would do based on past memories, and it becomes clear that the image you had of them is no longer accurate, so you now have to create a new image.

So, if we meet people with this image, which we said acts as a filter from seeing the person as they actually are, aren’t we encountering them with half-truth and half-lie?  Physically we might be present, our image of the person may correspond to the person in front of us (unless we easily confuse our acquaintances), but psychologically we are not totally there.  Instead of using the image to help us interact with the person, we are interacting with the image.

I find Miranda Fricker’s book, Epistemic Injustice: The Power of Ethics and Knowing to be a good book on some specific details of this subject.  I also talk about encountering other in the present in my book, Meditations on Zen and Martial Arts Philosophy, available at lulu.com and amazon.com as listed below:

Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Meditations-Zen-Martial-Arts-Philosophy/dp/1105797317

Lulu.com: http://www.lulu.com/us/en/shop/jason-kunen/meditations-on-zen-and-martial-arts-philosophy/paperback/product-20178964.html

Understanding that this is how we typically meet people, we can then ask, is there any way to interact with the person fully?  Can we encounter another without this image that distorts our experience and dialogue with them?  It is not enough to get rid of the image, because what is to stop a new image from being produced in our mind and falling into the same pattern?  These judgments are created from past memories, but judging itself in this way arises from our mental framework.  Our judgments that hold on to stereotypes, prejudices, labels, traditions, religious values, and all the rest are rooted in our conditioning.  We are brought up and conditioned in a certain way, to think, interact, categorize, label, judge, and believe, in a certain way.  This is where these judgments come about.

Therefore, if we can become aware of our conditioning, we can understand how we judge others and what framework we are using to do so.  In this way, we release our attachment to this framework, these judgments, and these images.  It is not that we are incapable of creating images of the person (again, it’s not some kind of amnesia we’re talking about), but the image no longer obstructs our ability to meet another in the present moment.  We see the person as they are, without a filter.  This allows us to understand them in a deeper way, and we realize they are not a static object, but a living, changing being.

Though I made it some time ago, I have a short youtube video speaking on this subject below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICPS6S9ieQo

Links to other posts, essays, youtube channel, and my book:

On Destiny, Meaning, Purpose, and Fear (Part 1):

https://jasonkunen.wordpress.com/2013/11/06/on-destiny-meaning-purpose-and-fear-part-1/

On Destiny, Meaning, Purpose and Fear (Part 2): 

https://jasonkunen.wordpress.com/2013/11/13/on-destiny-meaning-purpose-and-fear-part-2/

On Happiness:

https://jasonkunen.wordpress.com/2013/10/24/on-the-nature-of-happiness/

On Boredom:

https://jasonkunen.wordpress.com/2013/10/22/on-boredom-102213/

On Dialogue and Education:

https://jasonkunen.wordpress.com/2013/10/17/reflections-on-dialogue-and-education-10162013/

On Education:

https://jasonkunen.wordpress.com/2013/10/14/reflection-on-education-10142013/

Link to my book, Meditations on Zen and Martial Arts Philosophy:

http://www.amazon.com/Meditations-Zen-Martial-Arts-Philosophy/dp/1105797317

Link to my youtube channel:

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1WvSC3gztbbKOEkyztw3jw

Link to other essays:

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=1837756

On Boredom

© Jason Kunen 2013

Boredom is a profound feeling.  If we have awareness, if we really pay attention, boredom can be a transformative experience that can lead to tremendous insight.  But most of us cannot handle boredom.  We try to avoid it as much as possible, and it has such a negative connotation.

We can all relate with the feeling of boredom.  Perhaps you’re a teenager that lives in an area with few peers and few attractions and have nowhere to go (I’m thinking of the song Subdivisions by Rush).  Or maybe you’re an adult who has time off and you’re stuck at home with nothing to do.  Or perhaps we see the workaholic who finds himself on vacation or without work and becomes stir-crazy, and deliberately attempts to find any possible work to do.

I’m sure we can all think of examples when we have felt this way, but what to do?  Usually, we take up some mindless activity that keeps this feeling at bay.  We might go obsessively cleaning, surf the internet for hours, watch TV, and all kinds of escapes; anything we can do to get away from boredom.

Why do we do this?  It is fear is it not?  We are afraid and unwilling to face our mind and our thoughts.  We cannot stand to have this built-up energy and no external outlet to direct it to.  In the midst of an activity, only part of our attention can be directed towards our thoughts, we don’t have to face them in full force.  But when we are bored, we have to face our thoughts, our fears, our insecurities, and we have no external activity that can take our attention away from it.  Don’t take my word for it, but see if you can observe it for yourself.  I am not here to give you some other escape in the guise of some meditative or philosophical practice.  Let us try to see what boredom actually is.

First, we must understand boredom.  Solving any problem requires understanding and patience.  No issue can be resolved by running away from it or trying to eliminate it.  We have tried that numerous times and yet we still find ourselves bored; so clearly, trying to escape from boredom has not worked.  Observe boredom; try to really see what is happening in your body and your mind when you feel bored.

It seems to me that boredom occurs when we are fed up with the activities we direct our attention to.  Our mind is always looking in this and that direction, and finally, it gets tired of such activities.  The mind no longer feels satisfied, and we become restless.  We seek something that can catch and hold our attention.  It is at this point when fantasizing and thoughts of lust grow strong, for example, because they have the power to keep our mind occupied and hold its attention.  But let us stick with the issue of boredom for now.

So, boredom is when our mind no longer finds satisfaction in our activities, and our energy and attention have no place to go.  If we can observe this in a non-judgmental way, and we avoid escaping from it, we can begin to understand boredom.  In doing so, we begin to direct our attention inwards; we start to observe our mind.

Certainly, one can take up the practice of meditation, but even this too can become an escape if one is not aware.  What I am suggesting can be called a meditation, but this is not a formal practice or method.  Any method, any system can be turned into another form of escape and conditioning.  I am offering no method here, but saying that we must be aware.  Be mindful of your body and mind; what are their reactions to events?  How do you react to boredom?

What comes of this non-judgmental observation you might ask?  In becoming aware of boredom and seeing what it is and how we react to it, we no longer feel uncomfortable about being bored.  We no longer try to escape through mindless activities, and we begin to relax with what is, the present moment.  Instead of pacing throughout the house, we can sit and enjoy the breeze, or the light entering the window, or eating our food.  We start to discover simplicity, and a great happiness arises, because we can enjoy every breath, every moment.  We are no longer seeking something other than what is.  We are content with that very moment.

Once we understand this, then we can take up any activity we choose, because we go into with awareness, with mindfulness.  We are not afraid to stop this activity because we not afraid of the feeling of boredom.  The fear of boredom no longer has a hold on us, and therefore, the fear of being present, of presencing, of letting ourself go with what is, also fades.

Reflections on Dialogue and Education

© Jason Kunen 2013

In this global and technological world, our children are being exposed to cultures, worldviews, and perspectives from around the globe, and have the opportunity to transform the way they experience reality.  However, despite the advantages of globalization, we must also face its obstacles.  Multiplicity, while potentially enriching our view of reality, can also breed conflict and disunity when not soundly integrated into one’s own conceptual framework or viewed from the common ground of human experience.

From the standpoint of the ego, one feels knowledgeable having learned about different conceptions of life, but it is crucial to consider how these forms of living are integrated in a coherent manner into one’s own way of being in the world.  Philosophers and religious traditions from around the globe have been advocating that to truly change our world and progress on the path towards peace and unity, we will have to change the way in which we are conducting our minds and shift towards a different kind of consciousness, one driven by compassion and wisdom.

Through awakening our meditative intelligence and becoming critically reflective, we can move to a new stage of human development that is characterized by wisdom and compassion.  After studying various traditions and with many teachers, in addition to my own insight and experience, this means realizing that the plurality of mental frameworks and worldviews, in fact, share a fundamental common ground.  Developing our awareness to understand that vastly different forms of life are deeply interwoven will allow us to unite as a powerful force to tackle the problems of our age.  This unity is not to be misconstrued in an anthropocentric sense, but rather in the sense that we have a responsibility to ourselves, others, and the world, regardless of ego-based discriminations like race, religion, gender, nationality, age, and other such distinctions.

With the vast plurality of worldviews and cultures in nearly all areas of life, it is necessary for cross-cultural and inter-faith dialogue, coupled with a sensitivity that appreciates diversity, to be prevalent in society.  Education, therefore, must now address the philosophical issues relevant to our time, and return to the ground of concrete reality and real-life experience, rather than merely fixating on theory and textbook knowledge.  It is quite common that many school curriculums emphasize intellectual cultivation and abstract ideas far removed from students’ lives and psychological development.  Education has become nothing but tools for examinations and preparing students for the next stage of schooling, rather than cultivating their abilities and providing them with skills they can apply in their lives.  Intellectual cultivation is merely one side of education, but most others tend to be overlooked or neglected.

Growing as a student is not only about acquiring knowledge, but learning how to interact with people and how to consider how others make sense of the world.  Such a skill requires learning the art and ethics of dialogue, but not in the sense of typical conversation, but a way of inquiring into the framework of the other without violating it in order to engender real appreciation and empathy.