The 16th United Nations Day Of Vesak Conference 2019

Main Theme: Buddhist Approach to Global Leadership & Shared Responsibilities for Sustainable Societies

at Tam Chuc Pagoda,
International Buddhist Convention Center
Ba Sao, Ha Nam, Vietnam

Sub-Theme: “Mindful Leadership for Sustainable Peace”
Three Intertwined Paths to Leading for Sustainable Peace

Phe Bach, Ed.D.,
Founder and CEO of C. Mindfulness LLC,
Mira Loma High School, ILC, SJTA, SJUSD, California Teachers Association, USA.

W. Edward Bureau, Ph.D.,
Associate Clinical Professor (Retired),
Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Residence in Cochranville, PA, USA

Introduction

Sustainable peace anchors itself in mindfulness of the present, the people, and the microcosms in which we exist. Rather than existing as a static state, the peace is organic and dynamic, flowing itself around the vagaries of “unpeacefulness.” Thus, being a mindful leader begins with the practice of the Five Mindfulness Trainings (Five Precepts) and the Noble Eightfold Path 1 as well as finding the peace within oneself and continues by manifesting that peace every day. Doing so is the seed from which systems and circumstances can, themselves, perpetuate peace.

Thinking about how mindful leadership can sustain peace, we must consider how mindfulness can be cultivated within the individual and how he or she can sustain mindfulness everyday despite external challenges. Integrating the practice of mindfulness with an understanding of “systems thinking” opens paths for sustaining peace within and across organizations, governments, and political structures. Yet, the leader and others must also embrace “the continual flow” and know that a seeming “end” is only a new “beginning.” Peace can sustain us in our circular journeys through systems and time.

Thus, there are “Three Intertwined Paths to Leading for Sustainable Peace.”

Learning and Sustaining Peace Based Mindfulness Practice

Leaders who would sustain external peace must find and cultivate it within themselves. Not a matter of will or of a platitude, being mindful begins and continues through daily practice. Mindfulness transforms lives, rewires the brain, provides relief from physical and emotional pain, and enhances learning. Mindful practices in an organization bring about a more respectful, tolerant, and peaceful climate and culture. Teaching others how to

live a mindful life and how to practice meditation gives them a lifelong skill for coping with the pressures of modern life in a turbulent world and for harvesting sustainable peace.

Peace, universal harmony, and shared responsibilities start from the within, and the inner peace starts with mindfulness and meditation. Mindfulness and mediation-based practices prior to the start of group sessions or daily work relaxes people, and studies show it helps them improve focus while diminishing anxiety. Mindful organizations can become joyful and stabilized as people learn to relax, to feel appreciated, and to relinquish anxiety.

Systems Thinking as a Path for Sustaining Peace

In times of rapid change and uncertainty, leaders are faced with complexities that will and do challenge peace. Seeing and reacting only to particular parts of a system leads to fragmented responses that solve immediate problems. By seeing and being with the system as an organic whole, the leader can co-create sustainable peace. Understanding that a living system will re-create itself opens the possibility for peace being central to the relationships, processes, and contexts of the system.

Having this broader, richer systems view cannot be left to chance or to a vague commitment. Like mindfulness, systems thinking must be learned and practiced daily. Within the works of Peter Senge and Otto Scharmer (Theory U) are concepts and methods for leaders to become practitioners of systems thinking. Doing so enables them to deliberately cultivate organic change and to create the ethos of peace across and among systems, including Buddhism.

Embracing Continual Flow

Some leaders believe that, when something is sustained, it has reached a static state and continues in that state over time. Leaders and those in a system may try to embrace and hold peace, only to find it slipping away. Peace, in this view, is not sustained. Peace, though, can be perpetuated, if we accept that it has no beginning or end. Rather, it is a dynamic and organic phenomenon, one that continually flows from past to present to future.

Embracing the continual flow brings the phenomenon of peace into a

leader’s mindful practice of it on a daily basis. “The O Theory” (Drs Bach and Bureau) lights the way for leaders to mindfully live the flow of peace. Recursive in nature, “The O” flows circularly through elements of: recognizing, accepting, embracing, learning, practicing, transforming, sharing, completing. Were a leader to be aware of and live these, he or she would live peace, would be peace. “Being peace” sustains peace. It is another proposal to a Buddhist Approach to Global Leadership and Shared Responsibilities for Sustainable Societies.

Learning and Sustaining Peace Based Mindfulness Practice

"We can choose how to live our lives now. We can seize any moment and begin anew." and "You need to wake up from your autopilot mode. You have to live deeply and with more awareness so that you can be attentive to each moment." - Thich Nhat Hanh

As a Buddhist practitioner and educator, Dr. Bach has been practicing and teaching Mindful Leadership as a model of peace-based mindfulness practice in his way of life and livelihood. Among the workshops he provides are “Leading From Compassion” and “Embracing Continual Flow” (For more information about his workshops, contact Dr. Bach). As Malala Yousafzai (the Nobel Prize Winner in 2014) put it, “Let us bring equality, justice, and peace for all. Not just the politicians and the world leaders, we all need to contribute. Me. You. It is our duty.” It is our responsibility for us to bring this kind of spiritual leadership, peace, and mindfulness to ourselves and to others.

Being mindful, is being aware of something that may be important. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) or as the Oxford Dictionary defines it, Conscious or aware of something; Inclined or willing to do something. That willingness to do something is the practice of mindfulness in everyday life. Mindfulness hones focus, concentration, and awareness; it is the foundation of success and is a skill that requires practice to allow us to feel emotions without reacting, to respond rather than be reactive when it comes to stimulations. In education alone, according to Parker,

et al. (2014), mindfulness enhances children's self-regulatory abilities, showing significant improvements in executive functioning skills, and substantial reductions were found in aggression and social problems. Black, D. S., & Fernando, R. (2014) also informed that teachers reported improved classroom behavior of their students (i.e., paying attention, self-control, participation in activities, and caring/respect for others). Researchers have reported empirically-supported benefits of mindfulness including: reduced rumination; stress reduction; increase in working memory; more focus; less emotional reactivity; more cognitive flexibility; an increase in relationship satisfaction; increase in emotional intelligence and social connectedness; increased morality; increased fear modulation; increased immune function; improvement in overall well-being; increased information-processing speed; decreased mind wandering; decreased blood pressure; increase in empathy/compassion; decreased anxiety; enhanced self-insight; improved relationships; regulated attention; enhanced academic and other intellectual outcomes.

Mindfulness, as in the Right Mindfulness, in the Noble Eightfold Path, is the art of living, a notion of a peaceful, harmonious, and righteous way of life that enhances the safety and happiness of family, community, and society. Thus, the daily practices of mindfulness and meditation are the way of life. As Bach (2014) pointed out, mindfulness is the energy of ‘paying att