Yama, Thanks for your kind words.
Onward and upward! Gerald On Fri, Jan 21, 2011 at 11:22 AM, Yamandu Ploskonka <yamap...@gmail.com>wrote: > WOW! > > you *are* a Courageous Leader! (not to be confused with a N k0rea title > :-) > > which reminds me of an excerpt from Krishnamurti that I have had doing the > rounds, precisely on how younger people have an easier time collaborating > than so-called adults. Because of its potential OT nature, I am copying it > below the fold to mitigate offense - I put in bold the relevant part, to > make the load lighter... :-) > > BTW, reading in between the lines, it turns out it was not that *you* were > reluctant, but rather your teachers? Nice of you to take up the blame. I > feel so encouraged by your attitude, and much honored to learn from you > > Yama > > > On 01/21/2011 10:04 AM, Dr. Gerald Ardito wrote: > > Yama, > > Your response actually gave me an idea. > In the various situations in which I have worked, I have been able to > develop students (even at ages 9 and 10) to be real leaders. Perhaps they > are the way in to this dilemma. > I will find a way to add them to this community. > Perhaps, just as in the classroom, when teachers (and others) find the > students participating so actively and responsibly, they will be called to > join in? > > What do you think. > Gerald > > > one of my favorite blogs, framablog.org, had recently a version of this > text by Krishnamurti. Since great friends Padmanabha and Rama Rao run the > Krishnamurti school in India, it all came together to make me wish to share > this with y'all - the subject matter is something we all wonder a lot about: > *the purpose of education, cooperation...* > > " > One of the basic problems confronting the world is the problem of > cooperation. What does the word "cooperation" mean? To cooperate is to do > things together, to build together, to feel together, to have something in > common so that we can freely work together. > > But people generally don't feel inclined to work together naturally, > easily, happily; and so they are compelled to work together through various > inducements: threat, fear, punishment, reward. This is the common practice > throughout the world. Under tyrannical governments you are brutally forced > to work together; if you don't "cooperate" you are liquidated or sent to a > concentration camp. In the so-called civilized nations you are induced to > work together through the concept of "my country," or for an ideology which > has been very carefully worked out and widely propagated so that you accept > it; or you work together to carry out a plan which somebody has drawn up, a > blueprint for Utopia. > > So, it is the plan, the idea, the authority which induces people to work > together. This is generally called cooperation, and in it there is always > the implication of reward or punishment, which means that behind such > "cooperation" there is fear. You are always working for something--for the > country, for the king, for the party, for God or the Master, for peace, or > to bring about this or that reform. Your idea of cooperation is to work > together for a particular result. You have an ideal--to build a perfect > school, or what you will--towards which you are working, therefore you say > cooperation is necessary. All this implies authority, does it not? There is > always someone who is supposed to know what is the right thing to do, and > therefore you say, "We must cooperate in carrying it out." > > Now, I don't call that cooperation at all. That is not cooperation, it is a > form of greed, a form of fear, compulsion. Behind it there is the threat > that if you don't "cooperate" the government won't recognize you, or the > Five Year Plan will fail, or you will be sent to a concentration camp, or > your country will lose the war, or you may not go to heaven. There is always > some form of inducement, and where there is inducement there cannot be real > cooperation. > > Nor is it cooperation when you and I work together merely because we have > mutually agreed to do something. In any such agreement what is important is > the doing of that particular thing, not working together. You and I may > agree to build a bridge, or construct a road, or plant some trees together, > but in that agreement there is always the fear of disagreement, the fear > that I may not do my share and let you do the whole thing. > > So it is not cooperation when we work together through any form of > inducement, or by mere agreement, because behind all such effort there is > the implication of gaining or avoiding something. > > To me, cooperation is entirely different. Cooperation is the fun of being > and doing together--not necessarily doing something in particular. Do you > understand? *Young children normally have a feeling for being and doing > together. Haven't you noticed this? They will cooperate in anything. There > is no question of agreement or disagreement, reward or punishment; they just > want to help. They cooperate instinctively, for the fun of being and doing > together.* But grown-up people destroy this natural, spontaneous spirit of > cooperation in children by saying, "If you do this I will give you that; if > you don't do this I won't let you go to the cinema," which introduces the > corruptive element. > > So, real cooperation comes, not through merely agreeing to carry out some > project together, but with the joy, the feeling of togetherness, if one may > use that word; because in that feeling there is not the obstinacy of > personal ideation, personal opinion. > > When you know such cooperation, you will also know when not to cooperate, > which is equally important. Do you understand? It is necessary for all of us > to awaken in ourselves this spirit of cooperation, for then it will not be a > mere plan or agreement which causes us to work together, but an > extraordinary feeling of togetherness, the sense of joy in being and doing > together without any thought of reward or punishment. That is very > important. But it is equally important to know when not to cooperate; > because if we are not wise we may cooperate with the unwise, with ambitious > leaders who have grandiose schemes, fantastic ideas, like Hitler and other > tyrants down through the ages. So we must know when not to cooperate; and we > can know this only when we know the joy of real cooperation. > > This is a very important question to talk over, because when it is > suggested that we work together, your immediate response is likely to be, > "What for? What shall we do together?" In other words, the thing to be done > becomes more important than the feeling of being and doing together; and > when the thing to be done--the plan, the concept, the ideological > Utopia--assumes primary importance, then there is no real cooperation. Then > it is only the idea that is binding us together; and if one idea can bind us > together, another idea can divide us. So, what matters is to awaken in > ourselves this spirit of cooperation, this feeling of joy in being and doing > together, without any thought of reward or punishment. Most young people > have it spontaneously, freely, if it is not corrupted by their elders. > " > > >
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