Điều quan trọng không phải vị trí ta đang đứng mà là ở hướng ta đang đi.Sưu tầm
Thật không dễ dàng để tìm được hạnh phúc trong chính bản thân ta, nhưng truy tìm hạnh phúc ở bất kỳ nơi nào khác lại là điều không thể. (It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere.)Agnes Repplier
Trực giác của tâm thức là món quà tặng thiêng liêng và bộ óc duy lý là tên đầy tớ trung thành. Chúng ta đã tạo ra một xã hội tôn vinh tên đầy tớ và quên đi món quà tặng. (The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honor the servant and has forgotten the gift.)Albert Einstein
Cuộc đời là một tiến trình học hỏi từ lúc ta sinh ra cho đến chết đi. (The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning. )Jiddu Krishnamurti
Người cầu đạo ví như kẻ mặc áo bằng cỏ khô, khi lửa đến gần phải lo tránh. Người học đạo thấy sự tham dục phải lo tránh xa.Kinh Bốn mươi hai chương
Những căng thẳng luôn có trong cuộc sống, nhưng chính bạn là người quyết định có để những điều ấy ảnh hưởng đến bạn hay không. (There's going to be stress in life, but it's your choice whether you let it affect you or not.)Valerie Bertinelli
Cuộc sống không phải là vấn đề bất ổn cần giải quyết, mà là một thực tiễn để trải nghiệm. (Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.)Soren Kierkegaard
Trong cuộc sống, điều quan trọng không phải bạn đang ở hoàn cảnh nào mà là bạn đang hướng đến mục đích gì. (The great thing in this world is not so much where you stand as in what direction you are moving. )Oliver Wendell Holmes
Đừng làm cho người khác những gì mà bạn sẽ tức giận nếu họ làm với bạn. (Do not do to others what angers you if done to you by others. )Socrates
Ngay cả khi ta không tin có thế giới nào khác, không có sự tưởng thưởng hay trừng phạt trong tương lai đối với những hành động tốt hoặc xấu, ta vẫn có thể sống hạnh phúc bằng cách không để mình rơi vào sự thù hận, ác ý và lo lắng. (Even if (one believes) there is no other world, no future reward for good actions or punishment for evil ones, still in this very life one can live happily, by keeping oneself free from hatred, ill will, and anxiety.)Lời Phật dạy (Kinh Kesamutti)

VỀ MỤC LỤC

The 16th United Nations Day Of Vesak Conference 2019

Main Theme: Buddhist Approach to Global Leadership & Shared Responsibilities for Sustainable Societies

at Tam Chuc Pagoda,
International Buddhist Convention Center
Ba Sao, Ha Nam, Vietnam

Sub-Theme: “Mindful Leadership for Sustainable Peace”
Three Intertwined Paths to Leading for Sustainable Peace

Phe Bach, Ed.D.,
Founder and CEO of C. Mindfulness LLC,
Mira Loma High School, ILC, SJTA, SJUSD, California Teachers Association, USA.

W. Edward Bureau, Ph.D.,
Associate Clinical Professor (Retired),
Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Residence in Cochranville, PA, USA

Introduction

Sustainable peace anchors itself in mindfulness of the present, the people, and the microcosms in which we exist. Rather than existing as a static state, the peace is organic and dynamic, flowing itself around the vagaries of “unpeacefulness.” Thus, being a mindful leader begins with the practice of the Five Mindfulness Trainings (Five Precepts) and the Noble Eightfold Path 1 as well as finding the peace within oneself and continues by manifesting that peace every day. Doing so is the seed from which systems and circumstances can, themselves, perpetuate peace.

Thinking about how mindful leadership can sustain peace, we must consider how mindfulness can be cultivated within the individual and how he or she can sustain mindfulness everyday despite external challenges. Integrating the practice of mindfulness with an understanding of “systems thinking” opens paths for sustaining peace within and across organizations, governments, and political structures. Yet, the leader and others must also embrace “the continual flow” and know that a seeming “end” is only a new “beginning.” Peace can sustain us in our circular journeys through systems and time.

Thus, there are “Three Intertwined Paths to Leading for Sustainable Peace.”

Learning and Sustaining Peace Based Mindfulness Practice

Leaders who would sustain external peace must find and cultivate it within themselves. Not a matter of will or of a platitude, being mindful begins and continues through daily practice. Mindfulness transforms lives, rewires the brain, provides relief from physical and emotional pain, and enhances learning. Mindful practices in an organization bring about a more respectful, tolerant, and peaceful climate and culture. Teaching others how to
live a mindful life and how to practice meditation gives them a lifelong skill for coping with the pressures of modern life in a turbulent world and for harvesting sustainable peace.

Peace, universal harmony, and shared responsibilities start from the within, and the inner peace starts with mindfulness and meditation. Mindfulness and mediation-based practices prior to the start of group sessions or daily work relaxes people, and studies show it helps them improve focus while diminishing anxiety. Mindful organizations can become joyful and stabilized as people learn to relax, to feel appreciated, and to relinquish anxiety.

Systems Thinking as a Path for Sustaining Peace

In times of rapid change and uncertainty, leaders are faced with complexities that will and do challenge peace. Seeing and reacting only to particular parts of a system leads to fragmented responses that solve immediate problems. By seeing and being with the system as an organic whole, the leader can co-create sustainable peace. Understanding that a living system will re-create itself opens the possibility for peace being central to the relationships, processes, and contexts of the system.

Having this broader, richer systems view cannot be left to chance or to a vague commitment. Like mindfulness, systems thinking must be learned and practiced daily. Within the works of Peter Senge and Otto Scharmer (Theory U) are concepts and methods for leaders to become practitioners of systems thinking. Doing so enables them to deliberately cultivate organic change and to create the ethos of peace across and among systems, including Buddhism.

Embracing Continual Flow

Some leaders believe that, when something is sustained, it has reached a static state and continues in that state over time. Leaders and those in a system may try to embrace and hold peace, only to find it slipping away. Peace, in this view, is not sustained. Peace, though, can be perpetuated, if we accept that it has no beginning or end. Rather, it is a dynamic and organic phenomenon, one that continually flows from past to present to