Jan 13

In this issue, I ask for your help on a decision I need to make. Please share your opinion with me on the question in the @Me section.

Updates

@Community

Murtadha ran a hackathon called HurryApp Hackathon at Hub200.

Simultaneously, Mina has been running her ceramics classes. It’s fun to see the wide difference between the two activities in this video.

And I have been playing a supporting role at both.

@Family

Mina and I went biking by the Martyr Monument in Baghdad. It was beautiful. Mina created a fun reel about it and will post it soon on her personal Instagram. Subscribe to her if you don’t want to miss it.

@Me

I’ve been learning about frameworks for learning. My favorite so far is Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Bloom’s Taxonomy is a classification of the levels of learning. It’s meant to help educators design learning experiences for the desired learning outcomes.

I’ve stumbled on this as I’m designing the upcoming Lifelong Learners Club, which I’m thrilled to announce soon.

Quotes

I. By Sister Chân Không - Learning True Love (Book)

Some background before you read the quote:

1. “Thay” is a Vietnamese word meaning teacher. When sister Chan uses it by itself, she’s referring to Thich Nhat Hanh.
2. The book Don’t Forget Those Who Suffer is by Thich Nhat Hanh and it was banned in Vietnam.

Now you can read the story:

One day in early September of 1966, I was on my way home from Thay Thong Buu’s temple on my motorbike. I had stopped there to pick up 300 copies of Don’t Forget Those Who Suffer. If I had been driving a car, no one would have paid much attention to me. Wealthy people had private cars, and since they were rarely communist, the authorities never stopped cars to search for guerrillas. But guerrillas did carry grenades on motorbikes, and the police routinely stopped motorbikes. When I drove across Truong Minh Giang Bridge, a policeman stopped and searched me. He saw the books and suspected they might be communist leaflets. When he asked me what they were, I said, “Just some books.” But when he started leafing through a copy of Don’t Forget Those Who Suffer, I became frightened.

I invoked the name of Avalokitesvara, the bodhisattva of compassion and fearlessness, and regained my serenity. I saw that my only motivation was to wake people up from forgetfulness and help them realize the suffering of the people in the war zone. Even if I were sent to jail, I knew I was doing what was right, and I was ready to accept full responsibility. With that thought, a big smile came over my face.

The policeman smiled back, and read the first line: “Dear Em, do you know?” “Em” is the familiar greeting from an older brother to his younger sister or from a young man to his beloved, and it communicates intimacy and kindness. Thay always started difficult essays with sweet beginnings. The policeman read the first sentence aloud and said, “This is a love story, isn’t it?” I smiled again, and he handed me the book and said, “Okay, you can go.” I knew I had barely escaped.

I don’t know why, but I rarely seem to have problems when my heart is pure with the intention to help others.

What a powerful story!

To be so grounded, even as she realizes she’s about to go to jail, she puts on a big smile on her face has been stuck with me everyday since I read this and inspiring me to be present and compassionate.

That’s all for now. Please share with me your feelings and thoughts on this week’s issue.

I wish you a week of compassion and fearlessness,

Mujtaba

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