05 | September | 2013

. By T.V. Antony Raj

“Teachers like being appreciated, but they usually don’t expect recognition from students. When they get it, it does feel good,”
– Suma Padmanaban, Principal of Asan Memorial Senior Secondary School.

Happy Teacher's Day

During the 20th century, the concept of celebrating Teachers’ Day took root independently in many countries. Unlike many other international days, people in many countries celebrate Teachers’ Day as a unique day to appreciate the contributions made by teachers within the field of teaching or for their service to their community. They celebrate a local educator who is or was an important milestone in education in their country or region. This is the primary reason countries are celebrating this day on different dates though the World Teachers’ Day is celebrated on October 5th every year.

Since 1962, India celebrates Teachers’ Day on September 5, the birthday of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, a philosopher, statesman and the second president of India from 1962 to 1967.

According to UNESCO, the teaching profession is currently losing its status in many parts of the world.

The Voice of the Teacher Survey 2013, conducted by education service provider Pearson and market intelligence firm Spire Research and Consulting represents the views of 3,262 teachers from 223 cities across 25 states, collected between July and August.

This nationwide survey reveals that three out of four teachers rated gratitude from students as a form of recognition more valuable than the salary or praise from their employers.

Happy Teachers Day

While the study found that a majority (72%) of teachers in the south feel students adequately acknowledge them for success, 61% teachers in northern India feel there has been a decline in gratitude over the past decade.

Among cities, Jaipur has the highest percentage (85%) of teachers who feel that students thank them enough for their success. Next comes Bangalore (82%) and Chennai (78%) is listed third.

The job satisfaction levels of teachers in TN (82%) and Chennai (80%) is higher than the national average at 66%.

Happy Teacher's Day

Teachers can trim, shape and mould or maul the minds of their students the way they want. Ha Ha … I know this because I was a teacher too…

Teachers’ Day (en.wikipedia.org)
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (en.wikipedia.org)
Teachers’ Day: Tamil Nadu teachers give gratitude top marks (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
Passion and burn out of a teacher (marcusampe.wordpress.com)

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By T. V. Antony Raj .

Digital StillCamera

Buddhism is a way of life that got transformed into a religion. It is indigenous to the Indian subcontinent that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs, and practices largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhārtha Gautama, also known as Gautama Buddha, Shakyamuni, or simply as the Buddha. The Buddha, meaning “the awakened one” lived and taught in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent between the 6th and 4th centuries BC.

According to Dīpavaṃsa, the oldest historical record of Sri Lanka, Buddhism was introduced into the island during the reign of Sri Lanka’s King Devanampiya Tissa (307 BC to 267 BC) by Venerable Mahinda, the son of the great Indian Emperor Ashoka.

Around 228 BC, Sohn Uttar Sthavira, one of the royal monks of Emperor Ashoka came to Suvarnabhumi (or Burma, the present day Myanmar) with few other monks carrying Buddhist sacred texts.

Buddhism was introduced into China during the reign Emperor Ming (58-75 AD).

In 372 AD, about 800 years after the death of the historical Gautama Buddha, Buddhism was introduced to Korea from Former Qin, a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms in China.

Buddhism took root in Japan during the Kofun period (250 to 538 AD).

During the reign of King Thothori Nyantsen (5th century AD), a basket of Buddhist scriptures written in Sanskrit arrived in Tibet from India which were not translated into Tibetan until the reign of king Songtsän Gampo (618-649 AD) who had married a Chinese Tang Dynasty Buddhist princess and a Nepalese Buddhist princess, named Bhrikuti.

Eventually, Buddhism became the established religion in these countries.

Tibetan Buddhist 108 Ox Bone Skull Prayer Beads Mala

The Buddhists in India adopted the Hindu practice of using Japa mala for repeating mantras or counting breaths. As Buddhism spread to other eastern countries so did Japa mala for meditation. They also used the Japa mala as a divination tool.

The voices of groups of monks chanting together resonate from the Buddhist monasteries in a continual monotonous murmuring. Chanting with a string of 108 prayer beads helps the Buddhist faithful to reach an interior state of supreme reality beyond time and place.

Like the Hindu Japa mala, the Buddhist Japa mala too are usually composed of 108 beads or divisions of that number, 54 or 27. The 108 beads represent the number of worldly desires or negative emotions that must be overcome before attaining nirvana. Buddhists believe that saying a mantra for each fleshly failing will purify the supplicant.

The Buddhist Japa malas are made of sandalwood, seeds, stones, or inlaid animal bone.

Burmese Buddhist monks prefer strings of black lacquered beads.

In Tibet, Japa malas of inlaid bone originally included the skeleton parts of revered monks, to remind their users to live lives worthy of the next level of enlightenment. Today’s bone malas are made of yak bone, which is sometimes inlaid with turquoise and coral.