Here's an active learning example that focuses on learning experiences. It's not another "read the textbook and respond to these questions" type of assignment, but it brings learning to students' everyday life.
Mindfulness Practice Commentary
Context: Buddhism, with its many schools and interpretations of the various teachings on the nature of reality, is a profoundly intellectual and scholarly approach to spirituality. However, the quintessential component that most approaches to the Buddhist teachings share is an unremitting emphasis on meditation practice as the means through which the individual may realize their Buddha nature, the intrinsic human capacity for enlightenment, the development of boundless wisdom and compassion.
Task: Assignment #2 (for both Undergraduate and graduate students) is presented as a mini retreat of mindfulness practice. Mindfulness is a meditation technique to develop attentiveness through disciplining one’s mind to stay in the “now.” No escaping to daydreams of the past or promises of the future. No indulgent forays into long streams of discursive thoughts. Being present to the moment is the portal through which an individual can develop awareness: wisdom and compassion.
This “retreat” has several sections. The most crucial element of the retreat is to STOP YOUR SPEEDING and distracted state. You will be preparing and serving a sacred meal. You should allow all the time needed to thoughtfully, appreciatively, do the shopping and preparation. It is not necessarily a solemn occasion but rather a time of staying constantly present and relating to every detail completely: sights, sounds, smells and tastes.
Make out your shopping list first. Consistent with the work of Thich Nhat Hanh, a famous Buddhist practitioner whom you will read in this section, please think of a VEGETARIAN meal and ingredients (Thich Nhat Hanh’s community is vegetarian and vegan, because they do not want to consume suffering).
Leave yourself sufficient time for preparation. If possible, engage your family’s help. Set the table so that it is aesthetically pleasing with flowers at the center. Take infinite care with the details, utensils just so, etc.
Be sure you, your family and friends lock away phones and computers during all sections of the practice. No electronics including cameras. Please do not take photographs at the sacred meal retreat. One of the fundamental Buddhist tenets is that everything, all phenomena, is changing constantly, so trying to freeze a moment on film is a denial of this quality of existence. We are going to be purists for the duration of the retreat. In daily life many Buddhists are avid photographers. People might leave their watches behind and turn clocks facing the wall when possible.
No more than eight people at table works best. You should offer thanks for the bounty of the Earth which you are about to enjoy and which you had the honor to prepare for your family/guests. Enjoy the meal and the presence of the participants. Everyone should engage in the cleanup with as much attention to detail and as much pleasure and appreciation for the meal so thoughtfully prepared and happily eaten.
The final section of this “retreat” is to write a commentary on your experience of preparing and eating the sacred meal. Include the following ideas: Why might the meal qualify as sacred even though Buddhist belief does not include a “God” principle either as a specific deity or an abstract principle? What was the mood or the quality of the exchange among guests? Did you think people were trying to stay mindful, not only with the food and drink, but also in their conversation? What was the group sound like during the meal: joyful, boisterous, argumentative, delighted?
Write a 500 word commentary on your experience, including responses to the above questions. In your commentary include a response to Thich Nhat Hanh’s poem in Earth Prayers p348-349. Did any of these ideas enter your thoughts while participating in the sacred meal retreat?
Source: HU475 week 5
