Interconnectedness in The Upanishads and Upon Our Sheds

James Schneider, South Puget Sound Community College

Summary

This activity is designed to provide students an experiential understanding of concepts central to The Upanishads as well as a connection to our campus communities. Through the workshop, students gain understanding of the Hindu concept of monism. The conception of monism found in The Upanishads can be related to the sustainability concept of interconnectedness. The experiential component of this activity seeks to provide students a transformation of self-sense, helping them to not only understand Hindu monism, but also to gain awareness of their own connectedness to their classroom community; as well as the natural environment of the campus. Such understandings can be related to modern eco-feminist movements in India as portrayed in texts such as Staying Alive, by Vandana Shiva, as well as eco-sustainability movements in the US.

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Learning Goals

This activity is designed to provide students an experiential understanding of concepts central to The Upanishads as well as a connection to our campus communities. Through the workshop, students gain understanding of the Hindu concept of monism. The conception of monism found in The Upanishads can be related to the sustainability concept of interconnectedness. The experiential component of this activity seeks to provide students a transformation of self-sense, helping them to not only understand Hindu monism, but also to gain awareness of their own connectedness to their classroom community; as well as the natural environment of the campus. Such understandings can be related to modern eco-feminist movements in India as portrayed in texts such as Staying Alive, by Vandana Shiva, as well as eco-sustainability movements in the US.

Context for Use

I will use this lesson in a second year course entitled Sacred Texts. It will accompany work with the Hindu text, The Upanishads, most specifically, the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. I want my courses to have experiential components that require students' learning to go beyond the course texts. This activity would also work well in any number of religion and philosophy courses that deal with Hindu philosophy and religious concepts.

In my course, this activity will come in the fourth week of the quarter when we are working with The Upanishads. At this point in the quarter, the class will have learned interpretive frameworks for reading ancient texts and have studied older Hindu texts such as sections of the Rg Veda. The activity itself will take one class meeting, around two hours.

The assignment asks students to consider the Hindu conception of monism as explicated in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. To do so, they will practice a sitting meditation in the woods of our campus. After the meditation, class discussion and written reflections will help articulate their experiences and their comprehension of Hindu monism and eco-interconnectedness.

Possible Use in Other Courses: This activity could work in a variety of religion and philosophy classes.

Description and Teaching Materials

Activity

Set up: Students will have read Hindu sacred scriptures and readings on Ancient Indian culture before this activity. As well, students will have practiced techniques of meditation. The activity will directly accompany reading of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.


Workshop:

  1. Students write a brief sketch articulating the spiritual practice and philosophical orientation of the aranyakas. (15 minutes)
  2. As a whole class, review the concept of monism and interconnectedness as discussed in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (10 minutes)
  3. Review meditation techniques (both Zen and Yoga) (10 minutes)
  4. Students leave for sitting meditation (45 minutes)
  5. Upon return, students reflect on experience in journals with prompts such as the following (15 minutes): A. Why did you choose the particular location that you choose? B. How did your use of meditation techniques heighten your awareness of your surroundings? C. If the woods are sacred, what does that mean about forest stewardship?
  6. Whole class discussion on experience and how it informs understanding of key concepts (15 minutes)
  7. After class, students write 2-3 page essays on "forest dwelling," drawing on sketches of the Aranyakas, passages from The Upanishads, experiences with sitting meditations, readings from Shiva's Staying Alive and integration of key concepts

Teaching Notes and Tips

Assessment

Formal Assessment: Students will prepare a synthesizing essay on The Aranyakas and The Upanishads including exhibiting an understanding of this activity's key concepts. Good work will include clear presentation of the role of meditation and the concept of monism ("Atman is Brahman") in the practice of the aranyakas and in the text of The Upanishads. Good work will also include awareness of the interconnectedness of students to the classroom community and the campus natural environment. Such awareness should encourage understandings of the importance of sustainability of the bioregion.

Informal Assessment: Students' participation in the workshop, post-meditation reflections and class discussion will be used as informal assessment of students' conceptual understandings.

References and Resources

Readings leading up to the activity:

Eswaren, Eknath, Ed. The Upanishads. Nilgiri, 2007 (2nd Ed.). 93-118.

Embree, Ainslie T. Sources of Indian Tradition Vol. I (2nd Ed). New York: Columbia
University Press, 1988.

Pelikan, Jaroslav. Sacred Writings, Hinduism: The Rig Veda (Vol. 5). New York: Quality Paperback,
1992.

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan & Charles A. Moore, A Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1957.

Shiva, Vandana. Staying Alive. Zed Books, 1989. 55-95.

We will use the woods and creek on campus for our sitting meditation.