An evening with Mr. Lobsang Phuntsok

On Friday, June 17, we had   a fascinating session by Mr Lobsang Phuntsok, Founder and Director, Jhamtse Gatsal Children’s Community. Mr. Phuntsok’s work is focused on transformative education, sustainable development, and social entrepreneurship.

About Mr. Lobsang Phuntsok

Born in 1971 in Arunachal Pradesh, Lobsang Phuntsok was sent away to a monastery in South India at a young age by his grandparents. He studied Buddhist philosophy and practice at the Sera Jhe Monastery in Mysore, Karnataka.

Mr. Phuntsok spent time in the US and Canada teaching and giving talks on compassion and education at various universities in the US, Canada, and Europe.

While in the United States, Mr. Phuntsok visited public and private schools to talk to children and sow the seeds of compassion. He worked with doctors and medical professionals to help them incorporate compassion in their professional practices. He volunteered regularly at hospice care facilities to help people come to terms with end-of-life anxieties and lead peaceful lives in the time they had left.

Mr. Phuntsok established learning centers in the United States and Canada, and founded the Jhamtse Buddhist Center in Boston, Massachusetts. In 2003, he founded Jhamtse International, a non-profit organization in the United States, dedicated to educating the heart, mind and body, which he considers the three essentials of the 21st century. Inspired by Mr. Phuntsok’s vision and mission, many supporting organizations and groups have emerged in around 50 countries, including Switzerland, Canada, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, France, Sweden, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Israel to name a few.

In 2006, Mr. Phuntsok decided to start Jhamtse Gatsal Children’s Community in Lumla near his hometown in Arunachal Pradesh. The Community accepts orphaned and most at-risk children from nearby villages to give them a chance at life and success. Today, it has more than 100 children in its care, including 25 graduates who are pursuing higher education in different parts of the country. Jhamtse Gatsal provides the children with a secure home, education, medical care, until they become financially independent. The Jhamtse Educational Model is rooted in the three essentials of educating the Heart, Mind and Body so that the children can develop compassion (heart) to nurture, wisdom (mind) to guide, and skill (body) to serve.

In 2022, Mr. Phuntsok was invited by the Union Home Minister, Mr. Amit Shah, to chart the development of the educational landscape of Arunachal Pradesh and northeast India. He was also invited by the Government of Arunachal Pradesh to share his vision for the state. In 2021, Mr. Phuntsok was awarded the prestigious State Gold Medal for meritorious service by the Government of Arunachal Pradesh. In 2019, Mr. Phuntsok and Jhamtse Gatsal received the Spirit of Humanity Award (Education) from Americares Foundation.

Mr. Phuntsok’s teachings, his work with schools, universities, adolescents battling with depression and suicidal thoughts, hospitals, hospice-care facilities and faith-based organizations have deeply impacted the lives of thousands of people. His life can be described as one of compassion in action. The story of Mr. Phuntsok’s life and work is showcased in the Emmy and another prestigious international award winning documentary, Tashi and the Monk.

Introduction

We are facing many challenges today. We must come together to make the world a better and more peaceful place. Integrating the heart, body and mind is essential for being effective in the 21 st  century. Prasad explained the significance of the session. In recent years, following leadership failures, particularly after the global financial crisis, there has been a focus on ethics and values. Courses on Ethics have been introduced in BSchools. At the same time, we need to be more human in our interactions. How often when we look back, we realize that we could have been more human in the way we dealt with someone. Prasad introduced the framework of Knowing Being Doing. Knowing refers to the theories and methods.  Doing refers to the practical application of the expertise to real situations. Being focuses on personal values and goals as well as self-reflection. Training in this framework is far more important than technical skills aimed at productivity enhancement. (Actively looking into one’s own values and the values of others is indispensable for any management training. It directly boosts emotional intelligence, people management competence, and negotiation skills. )

Taking care of the doer

Whether in business or a nonprofit, we have to get things done. We have a job to be done and the doer. We have to take care of the well- being of the doer and ensure she is happy. Unfortunately, we often focus on the job and ignore the requirements of the doer, intentionally or otherwise. We provide training to help get the job done but we ignore the human aspects. Unhappy employees may struggle with even simple things. On the other hand, the impossible can become possible if we take care of the well-being of the doer.

The importance of emotional intelligence

Emotional Intelligence is far more important than IQ. In the 1990s, emotional intelligence became a popular concept in the west. But in India, such skills have been appreciated for thousands of years. Ironically enough, we are now relearning this concept from the west.

Three powerful tools

The heart, body and mind are three powerful tools at our disposal. We have to train people to use them effectively. 95% of our body is uneducated. When we look at a skilled carpenter in action, we realize how uneducated our fingers are. When we listen to someone passionately explaining a work of art, we realize how uneducated our eyes are. We have to train our eyes to see beyond the immediate appearance. Western classical music sounds boring. To be able to appreciate it, our ears must be educated. We are put off by certain types of food. We have to educate our tongue to appreciate and enjoy new types of food.

Educating the heart is also important. We usually practice convenient compassion. Thus, after finishing dinner at a restaurant, we may ask the waiter to pack the leftover food so that we can distribute it to some poor people. But why not give them the best food and why only the leftovers? We must practice compassion when it is inconvenient.

We must educate the heart when people are still young. Then the younger generation will become more kind and caring. As we grow older, it becomes more difficult to learn. All these principles are practiced in Mr. Phuntsok’s community and these principles can be extended anywhere across the world. Educating the heart and mind can help us accept diversity and connect/build relationships with different, diverse sets of people. It can go a long way in promoting Diversity & Inclusion, around which there is a lot of hype these days.

Q&A

On the motivation to embark on this journey

More than motivation, what we need is the fuel which provides energy. In the case of Mr Phuntsok, the energy comes by feeding love to other people. When he feeds love to other people, the love feeds him back. For Mr Phuntsok, educating the children and taking care of them is only a way of feeding love.

On transformative learning

It is all about translating the ideas, knowledge and values and practicing them in our lives to first transform ourselves. We have to transform our own lives first and then help other people transform their lives. We are all leaders in our own way and we must lead by example. There are two types of learning: procedural and declarative. Transformative learning is essentially procedural learning. We have to integrate, implement and put it into practice.  (Declarative knowledge is knowledge about facts and things. In contrast, procedural knowledge is knowledge about how to perform certain cognitive activities, such as reasoning, decision making, and problem solving.)

We cannot learn empathy and compassion in the way we learn how to operate computers by reading a book or manual. If we read books, we can learn about compassion or patience. But we cannot become compassionate/patient. There are two stages in transformative learning. We have to first listen, experience or observe. In the second stage, we must reflect. Without self-reflection, transformative learning is not possible. We make heavy investments in devices and software but often do not utilize them properly. Without making any monetary investment, we can use the heart, body and mind to our advantage. A smile is the most powerful /precious way of making an impact. It does not cost anything at all. If we smile with our heart, body and mind (i.e. the three are perfectly aligned), it becomes a very powerful tool.

We can dress well but people will be able to see if our heart, body and mind are not aligned. On the other hand, we may wear a simple dress but if all the three are in alignment, we will make a powerful impact.

On the major challenges in the integration of heart, body and mind

The biggest challenge is the mindset. Our education system has made the mind rigid. The whole purpose of education today boils down to enabling people to make money. We are driven by fear and greed. We are never content and fail to achieve true happiness. We are all the time restless and crave for more. This kind of mindset will lead to the destruction of the world. Happiness can never be achieved this way.

When we are in school, we think that if we reach high school, we will be happy.

When we are in high school, we think that if we reach college, we will be happy.

When we are in college, we think that with a job and family, we will be happy.

When we have a job and family, we think that when we retire, we will be happy.

But as we reach each milestone, we are unhappy. We are all the time chasing things but we never find contentment or happiness. We never talk to people who have already gone through these stages of life and learn from their experience.

We must enjoy the process of achieving something and not be obsessed with the achievement itself. The current education system is not equipped to prepare the current generation for the tasks ahead. A lot of unlearning has to happen.

On dealing with students of dysfunctional families

We should not give up. Patience, faith and some space for the student will enable the healing of the student. We need a farmer’s mindset. Jhamtse Gatsal Children’s Community stands for the Garden of love and compassion. Every child is a seed of compassion and love. It has the potential to heal itself and then heal others.

When the farmer/gardener plants anything, he does not know what will happen down the line. But he acts and lives for the future with unshakable faith. Indeed it is because of such faith that we are all alive today. Every day, the farmer also practices patience.

With faith and patience we can create the space for children to heal themselves. As Sudhakar summed up, it is about creating an ecosystem in which these children can heal themselves.

On making government schools more meaningful to children

Mr. Phuntsok is working closely with government schools. The focus is on training the teachers of the district to begin with and then the entire state of Arunachal Pradesh.

Talking about schools in general, Mr. Phuntsok admitted that it is important to change the mindset of the teachers and make them unlearn and relearn. The focus should be on educating the body, heart and mind. There must be a much greater emphasis on compassion and empathy. Policy makers, teachers and parents have to orient themselves. Educating the heart, body and mind is the need of the hour. If we do not do so, we will end up paying a heavy price. In an era where many jobs are getting automated, it is human skills like compassion which will be at   a premium. Emotional intelligence will be more important than ever before.

On the current education system

Our education system has failed to deliver. We have enough jobs but our youth do not have the necessary skills. What is not important is churning out degrees but ensuring that people have some valuable skills. The 21 st  century beggars may well be the people with many university degrees but no skills! There are a few people like the great football players or singers or dancers who withdraw from the traditional education system, identify their hidden talent and work hard and do well in life. But this is a small minority.

Not only is the current education system failing to deliver the necessary outcomes but it is also putting a lot of pressure on children. Every hour, one child is committing suicide due to the inability to cope with the load.

On educating differently-abled children

All of us are in some ways differently abled. The need of the hour is compassionate education. We must find some strength/talent in the child and encourage the child to develop it without having to make too many adjustments. To help such children, we have to change our mindset. We tend to define success very rigidly. If we orient ourselves, we will see the amazing potential in differently abled children. If we train our eyes, ears and hearts, we will be able to identify the potential of such children.

On the role of grandparents

It is unfortunate that society considers old people a burden today. In his community, Mr. Phuntsok has set up the Right Livelihood Village where people who have served for more than 25 years can stay and are taken care of during their remaining life. This is a great investment. The grandparents have learned so much from experience. They can share their wisdom with the children. So what happens in the community is that children take care of these grandparents. In turn, they benefit from the interaction and get enriched.  Instead of paying money to expensive

nannies (and this is alien to our culture), our grandchildren can teach these small children core values and build a strong foundation. Mr. Phuntsok once met a couple in Singapore who were unhappy that their child was not familiar with Chinese culture. But the child was spending 7 hours in an American school and 4 hours with a Philippine nanny. So what else could they expect? Who better than the grandparents to teach children about culture and values? Why employ nannies?

On the role of technology

Technology has become an integral part of our life. We cannot ignore it. Indeed, technology provides several benefits. But we should be careful in the way we use it. Otherwise the damage may be more than the  benefits.

We must learn to shut down and take a break from technology once in a while. Preferably once in a day or at least twice in a week.  We must practice dating with ourselves. A date is an enjoyable event. So we must learn to enjoy being on our own. Only if we can date ourselves, can we date our boyfriend or girlfriend or spouse. Spending time on human interactions without being distracted by technology from time to time will have a tremendous impact on our wellbeing.

While responding to another question, Mr. Phuntsok mentioned that love for the self is not separate from love for others. If we truly love ourselves, we will find it easy to love others. It is an interdependent world. We are the product of several generations of parents and grandparents. When we are loving ourselves, we are loving the people who came before us and the people who are living with us. We are all connected to each other.

Summary

Our education system has traditionally emphasized economic goals. It has conditioned our mind and led to skewed priorities. We must develop our heart, body and mind. We must learn empathy and compassion. We must invest in sustainable living. We must give grandparents a central role in society. Loving ourselves is not different from loving others. Sudhakar added that yoga, meditation, self-dating, self-reflection and journaling can help us in integrating our heart, body and mind.

We thank Dr. Vedpuriswar for bringing out the highlights in the form of this note