Welcome! Be happy. You have reached The Real Janna Weiss.
Wisdom Heart promotes healthy minds based on science, secular ethics, generosity, kindness, compassion and universal responsibility so that we may all contribute to and help create a kind, peaceful, ethical and compassionate world together.
May all beings be happy.
Mental health means non-violence. The moment physical, verbal or mental violence arises, mental health is absent. The Dalai Lama, the neuroscientist Richard Davidson and Daniel Goleman (author, Emotional Intelligence, Destructive Emotions, A Force for Good) use the term: emotional hygiene, mental hygiene. We are, by nature, non-violent creatures. We do not have fangs, or claws for grasping prey. We do not enjoy eating raw meat dripping with blood. We prefer the colors, smell and taste of fruits.
The human mind is capable of causing enormous harm. The human mind, the same mind, has enormous potential to do good, to benefit countless others.
It’s very important that we get to know our mind, how it functions, what are its constituent parts, what are the causes for happiness and inner peace, and what are the causes for suffering and violence. If we do not familiarize ourselves with our own mind, with how the wish to harm others arises in the mind, and with the importance of applying antidotes against harmful intent, against the wish to harm others, when it arises in the mind, we ourselves will not be happy. The wish to harm others is itself a moment of suffering.
The Public Health Model to Heal Violence explains how the wish to harm others arises in the mind. The model presents the mental causes for the wish to harm others. Breaking the model down into more steps shows how violence arises in the mind in finer detail.
In Israel, and outside Israel, there is a lot of violence. People are violent towards one another, in the family, in the community, and at every level. If we want genuine peace, we will need to change.
Tibet was once a very violent society. The Tibetans internalized the importance of education for non-violence, and for 1300 years (with some gaps here and there, like during the reign of King Langdarma), the Tibetans created a compassionate society, a society that values virtues such as humility, patience, contentment, rejoicing in the joy of others, respect, kindness, honesty.
The different religions are precious precisely because they are treasuries of methods and ways to cultivate virtues, good qualities. Secular people also need practical knowledge in cultivating virtues and reducing violence.
It’s possible to overcome the wish to harm anyone. In Judaism, the person who overcomes the wish to harm anyone is called a hero (גיבור, gibor), Peace Pilgrim on the true hero:
"It concerns me when I see a small child watching the hero shoot the villain on television. It is teaching the small child to believe that shooting people is heroic. The hero just did it and it was effective. It was acceptable and the hero was well thought of afterward.
"If enough of us find inner peace to affect the institution of television, the little child will see the hero transform the villain and bring him to a good life. He’ll see the hero do something significant to serve fellow human beings. So little children will get the idea that if you want to be a hero you must help people."
Educating the heart, also called Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), or even better: Social Emotional Ethical Learning (SEE Learning), is "in." Everyone, without exception, wants to be happy. No one wants suffering. That's a universal truth. What does it take to be happy? What are the causes of suffering we need to abandon? What are the causes of happiness we can adopt?
Happiness is a mental state, hence any solution to the conundrum of happiness will be internal, related to the mind, rather than external - "more stuff." "More stuff" doesn't lead to lasting happiness. Acquiring more stuff is like drinking salt water. The more you drink, the thirstier you get. The more stuff you acquire, the more you feel you lack. There's always more and more and more you can get. One ends up chronically dissatisfied. What's the solution?
Getting off the hamster wheel...
There are three essential conditions or necessary elements for cultivating lasting happiness, a profound sense of well-being, of inner contentment, of inner peace: single-pointed concentration, compassion and wisdom.
COMPASSION is a strong wish that all beings be free of suffering, a deep and sincere concern for others' well-being. The foundation for developing compassion is the practice of universal ethics. In this context, 'universal' means: applied to all without exception, a non-biased ethics. We abandon harming others and gradually adopt a loving and compassionate altruistic outlook, extending our concern beyond the familiar, those who are near to us, to include neutral people, strangers, people we have difficulty with, even our so-called "enemies." Love is the strong wish that all beings be happy, and is a prerequisite and counterpart to compassion, the strong wish that all beings be free of suffering and the causes of suffering.
WISDOM is the profound understanding of selflessness, of the emptiness of inherent existence of self. In Thich Nhat Hanhs's words: interbeing. We exist interdependently and co-evolve. We ourselves and all compounded phenomena exist in this interdependent, impermanent, continual changing, selfless way.
3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5 Thou
hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt
thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
~ Matthew 7:3-5 King James Version (KJV)
The more our view of reality is in accord with reality, the less anxiety and the more happiness and well-being we experience. It is said that the ordinary mind perceives: suffering as happiness, impermanence as permanence, and selflessness as self. The wisdom mind perceives: suffering as suffering, impermanence as impermanence, and selflessness as selflessness. Wisdom mind has no confusion, no mistake, no exaggeration of positive or negative projection tacked onto the perceived object - the perception of reality accords with reality. Our mistaken perception of self, of "I," is the "speck in the eye" that gets in the way of clearly perceiving self and others.
In order to properly cultivate and internalize compassion and wisdom at the most subtle levels of mind, we must cultivate single-pointed concentration. Single-pointed concentration prepares the mind to be "serviceable and pliant." We can exercise our "mental muscle" in a way that is analogous to exercising our physical muscles. By continually bringing our wandering attention back to a consistent object of concentration - the breath, the body, the mind, or a mental image - we can train and tame our wild and unruly monkey mind, our wild horse mind, our wild elephant mind.
ETHICAL MINDFULNESS, mind training, taming the mind, is essential for happiness. Our mind colors every moment of our experience. In order to have a stable unwavering mind that perceives reality compassionately, yet without exaggeration, we must train our minds.
Excerpt by His Holiness the Dalai Lama on inner peace as our top priority.
His Holiness ranks 1. inner peace, 2. health, 3. friendship, 4. money, in that order.
Imagine All the People: A Conversation with the Dalai Lama on Money, Politics, and Life as It Could Be His Holiness the Dalai Lama with Fabien Ouaki Boston: Wisdom Publications, pp. 5-6. 1999.
Dalai Lama: Let me say this: money is good. It is important. Without money, daily survival - not to mention further development - is impossible. So we are not even questioning its importance. At the same time, it is wrong to consider money a god or a substance endowed with some power of its own. To think that money is everything, and that just by having lots of it all our problems will be solved is a serious mistake.
In the Buddhist approach, worldly happiness is based on what we call the four excellences: the Dharma, wealth, nirvana, and satisfaction. Nirvana, or freedom from suffering, is the ultimate goal. The satisfaction achieved from a successful temporal life is just a transient goal. The teachings are the means to achieve ultimate inner freedom, whereas money and wealth facilitate worldly happiness, temporary satisfaction. One strives to achieve that which is positive for all beings. To do so, one must attend to both ultimate and temporary goals. Well-being and money belong to the latter category. In fact, Buddhist texts mention the fruition of eight qualities, including wealth, health, and fame that define a 'fortunate" human existence.
To enjoy even temporary happiness, however, one must first have peace of mind. Next comes health, then good companions, and then money, in that order, though of course all four aspects are connected. For example, when we had to escape from Tibet, our first priority was to save our lives. Being penniless was secondary. If one is alive, it is always possible to make friends and earn money. Peace of mind must come first. Peace of mind generally attracts prosperity. Certainly someone who has a peaceful mind will use his or her money judiciously.
The mind is key. If anything should be considered a god, so to speak, it is the mind, not money. A healthy, positive mind is the utmost priority. But if we were to reverse the order of these priorities, what would happen? I find it hard to imagine how a person with great wealth, bad health, no friends, and no peace of mind could feel even slightly happy.
Fabien: But many people live that way.
Dalai Lama: Yes, especially rich people like you! And then alcohol becomes their best friend, doesn't it? In the end, their fortune is exhausted and their health is spoiled. That is why someone who grasps peace of mind but not the other three elements can still survive and be happy, even in poor health. Inner peace alone can be enough to define happiness. Following the same logic, if you are in peace, healthy and surrounded by trusted friends, surely you can survive without money. But reverse the situation and observe what happens. If someone has only money and not the other three elements, then they have nothing but problems. That is how I see it.
Analytical meditation on the selflessness of self - His Holiness the Dalai Lama
An Experiment in Single-Pointed Concentrative Meditation
Today's Adventure:
What is meditation? Why meditate?
How to meditate on the breath?
What did we learn experience or discover?
1. What is meditation?
Meditation is also called mind training, mindfulness or awareness. Meditation = Ethics (not harming others) + Single-pointed concentration We will learn concentrative single-pointed meditation on the breath.
Why meditate?
Meditation helps develop a calm and peaceful mind. By counting 10 or 20 breaths instead of reacting immediately when we're angry, we can deal better with our anger and the situation.
2. How to meditate on the breath?
Sit comfortably. Listen carefully and please follow my instructions....
5-10 minutes every morning upon waking, and every evening before going to sleep. Sit 1. cross legged, or in a chair, feet on floor, 2. straight back is most important, 3. hands on knees, 4. shoulders relaxed, 5. head straight and slightly bent forward, 6. eyes very slightly open, letting in a sliver of light, 7. tongue touches the upper palate. Bring attention to the tip of your nose, where the air comes in and goes out. Notice if you can feel the cooler air coming in and the warmer air going out. Count ten breaths, then repeat. Gradually bring the attention back to the body to end the meditation.
3. Please share aloud (and/or write down), in one or two words or a short sentence, what you learned, experienced or discovered about meditation?
Nurturing Mindfulness in Families, Schools and Youth - Mark Greenberg 45 min
Janna Weiss' cautionary note: Creativity is only useful if coupled with compassion, with a pure motivation to benefit others. The A bomb was also a creative endeavor.
A MODEL FOR ADOLESCENT HEALTH EDUCATION IN TRADITIONAL MEDICINE AND MEDICINAL PLANTS
Purpose An outdoor non-frontal course for adolescents was designed and implemented to impart basic skills and knowledge in the areas of traditional medicine, medicinal plants and interpersonal communication. Course goals included increased awareness of (1) the body in health and disease, (2) plants as medicine and food as medicine, (3) the importance of dosage, (4) the relationship between emotions and the body, (5) the role of nature and the environment in relation to health and disease, as well as (6) enhanced self-esteem through a positive group experience, (7) empowerment through acquisition of basic healing skills, (8) interpersonal communication skills and guided imagery.
Methods During 3 consecutive semesters, 3 heterogeneous groups of 25-27 adolescents, ages 12-15, met in the wadi behind the school for 90 minutes each week, for a semester-long science elective at the Reali Haivri School, Haifa, Israel (January 2004-June 2005). The course was led as a facilitated group. Activities included Mesoamerican healing rituals, medicinal plant preparations, Chinese medicine, guided imagery, art, and interpersonal communication games.
Results Qualitative assessment was based on student responses, course popularity, the author’s participant observation and documentation. The course increased physical and emotional self-awareness, facilitated a constructive group process, imparted basic skills for preventive health care, enhanced appreciation of nature, of traditional medicine and medicinal plants, and otherwise met the stated goals.
Conclusions The course fills a lacuna in adolescent preventive health education. The course has yet to be assessed quantitatively and applied in diverse cultural settings, for which it is expected to be well suited.
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This presentation was presented orally at two international conferences.
Photos by Janna Weiss, unless otherwise indicated. I have not been able to trace origins/owners for the downloaded images. I would appreciate receiving permission for their use and to be able to acknowledge their creators. Thank you.
Feel free to borrow ideas. Acknowledgement is always appreciated.
All individuals in the photos are now over 18 years of age.
May all beings be happy!
Additional comments
I was inspired to begin teaching this course after treating a 49 year old woman who suffered migraine headaches since puberty, which only intensified at menopause. Had she been treated with traditional medicine at puberty, she most likely would have been spared a great deal of suffering. Her 18 year old daughter suffered primarily from improper and inadequate nutrition due to lack of knowledge. I helped set her on a good course that would serve her for life. I would also like to mention that my son's nursery school had a great nutrition course for kids with a similar concept of providing wise life skills.
The Chatino woman being treated gave her explicit permission to show her image publicly. Chatino women traditionally, historically, wore only beads on their upper body. In my experience and to my understanding, breasts do not have a sexual connotation for the Chatino people, and are shown publicly when nursing, sometimes after nursing and during bathing in rivers. Nudity or partial nudity is perfectly acceptable in many human societies, mainly in tropical or warm regions where clothing may be cumbersome and impractical.
The course was accompanied by occasional handouts, for example, showing point locations. We examined our own tongues with small cosmetic mirrors. Conflicts that arose between the kids were incorporated into the course, for practicing and modeling constructive conflict resolution skills. On rare days of inclement weather, we moved indoors for a slide show on Chinese and/or Chatino (Oaxaca, Mexico) medicine.
