Annie Birdsong's Homepage



    The Strength and Beauty of Asian Culture


The values that shape society
Western Civilization Needs to Learn From the East

Below is a snippit from the Legacy Series by the great British filmmaker Michael Wood.

He calls Asia "the rainforest of the spirit."



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How to bring about cooperative children
Japanese Child Rearing

  • To get the child attuned to her wishes, a Japanese mother only teaches when the child is in a cooperative mood.


  • The Japanese mother relies on her bond with the child and her smile to elicit cooperation. (If she is harsh, the child will not want to please her.) It is more important to her that the child be in tune with her wishes than for him or her to behave properly.


  • Japanese mothers do not want the child's compliance to be coerced, but to be voluntary least he or she becomes stubborn and the mother-child bond is endangered. Therefore mothers avoid the word "no," and avoid confronting, embarrassing or opposing the child's will to impose instantaneous compliance.


  • When resorting to commands, Japanese mothers tend to soften their words so they sound less harshly demanding.


  • Japanese mothers prefer indirect verbal instructions (hints or suggestions rather than commands.)


  • A Japanese child is brought up to avoid embarrassing his or her mother. For instance, the mother might explain that she will suffer because of the child’s mischief.

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Wisdom from the East
The Happy Smiles of North Korean Children


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Wisdom from the East
The Search for Harmony: How Culture Shapes East Asian Economies



Wisdom from the East
The Wonderful Values of Japanese Capitalists



Enriching culture by learning from others
The Japanese Tea Ceremony

The tea ceremony is a ritual that helps the Japanese program their minds -- helps them absorb the values they believe in, putting their hearts and spirits into order.

The Japanese say the Way of Tea cannot be taught in any book. It is a state of mind -- a living tradition -- a discipline that takes a lifetime to comprehend.

Often, before entering the tea room, they will wash their hands and rinse out their mouths at washing basins along the path that leads up to the tea hut, symbolizing purification of their deeds and words.

They seek to meet heart to heart -- to get rid of the "I" and replace it with "we," creating a single mind.

In the quiet ceremony, they calm themselves, forgetting all disturbing thoughts and enter the pure space in a spirit of grace, which consists of four qualities: harmony with other people and nature, tranquility that comes when you are in oneness with the universal principles, purity and respect.

To achieve purity during the tea ceremony, you cleanse the five senses. You cleanse your hearing when you hear the sound of water. You cleanse your sight when you see the flowers. You cleanse your sense of touch when you touch the utensils used in the tea ceremony. You cleanse you sense of smell when you smell the scent of flowers and cleanse your sense of taste when you drink the tea.

During the ceremony, there is "not a sound to mar the rhythm of things, not a gesture to obtrude on the harmony, not a word to break the unity of the surroundings, all movements are performed simply and naturally -- such are the aims of the tea ceremony," wrote Okakura Tenshin in his book "The Book of Tea."
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Come to the quiet
From Korea: Keeping the Kibun

Boys and girls growing up in Korea are taught that it is really important not to disturb kibun.

Good kibun is when there is a spirit of harmony -- a peaceful and pleasant spirit where people treat each other with dignity and respect.

It is disturbed or upset by such things as: reprimanding someone in the presence of others, conflict, agitation, unpleasant tone of voice, damaging someone's self esteem, complaining, arguing or confrontation.

To maintain kibun, they try not to "disrupt the harmony of the home" or not to "disrupt the harmony of the relationship."

Imagine how it could affect world peace if business interests and other world leaders were deeply devoted to the search for harmony on earth.
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Being intuitive
From Korea: Having Nunci

Nunci is the subtle art and ability to listen and gauge the moods of others.

For instance, when the mother must say "no" to a child, she prefers that he or she discerns this by looking at her eyes and subtle body language so she doesn't have to say it.

If the child keeps asking, she may say, "Have you no nunci?"

A socially clumsy person can be described as nunchi eoptta, which means having no nunchi.
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Learning from the East
Japanese Culture

The Japanese people have a native love for humility, purity, simplicity and in casting off human artifice, turning to nature.

They believe in doing away with "ego" and say true strength and glory comes from yielding pliancy and humble contemtment.

They believe the heart must be cleansed in the same way we cleanse our bodies. There are no curse words in the Japanese language.
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Understanding Japan
The Japanese Love for Nature

While Christianity belives God lives in heaven, the Japanese Shinto religion espouses that the dieties live amidst them within nature.

Over time, this produced a people with a deep love for nature and a desire to live in harmony with nature.

While we allow mountains to be blown apart to extract coal -- 500 mountains in Appalacia have been destroyed -- this would never be allowed in Japan.


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It can all be lost.
Asia: A Fount of Wisdom



What if we made more effort in our inner city schools?
Using Stories to Teach Children Character

Many Asian cultures have rich traditions of using stories to pass on their values to the children, which may have come from Confucian wisdom that example is the most powerful means of teaching we know of.

Below is a video of an old story from Korea that I illustrated and narrated for use in teaching children to live in harmony.

If we go into the schools to read chilren wonderful character-building stories, We can promote a spirit of harmony in order to eliminate gang violence and many other social ills among our children.


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The values that shape society
A Character-Building Story From India

A wonderful hobby is collecting character-building stories for children.

I have found many from India, Japan, China, Malaysia, Vietnam and other countries using inter-library loan and the World Cat database (which is online and available free of charge at http://www.worldcat.org).

I also have many anecdotes from the biographies of great people.

Here is a little story I love that I believe was one of Gautoma Suddhartha's (Buddha's) stories. (He told many many stories.)

As you read it, keep in mind that this is the kind of story we want on children's programming on TV.

If we would illustrate and air such stories, we could end gang violence by enlightening the eyes of children.


The Water Buffalo and the Pesky Monkey

A water buffalo was grazing peacefully when a monkey came along and began to pester him to no end.

First the money swished a stick back and forth in front of his face. He then crawled on his back and put his hands over his eyes so that the water buffalo coudl not see where he was going.

Next, the money tied his tail in a knot. But the water buffalo remained cool and calm, controlling his anger.

A dog who was watching the whole thing said. "Water buffalo, why on earth do you remain so calm and quiet when the monkey is making such a pest of himself? If I were you I would show him who is strongest by kicking him or by crushing him with my hooves."

The water buffalo said, "The monkey has a small brain. He does not understand how pesky he is. So why would I get angry with him. Besides, why should I let a monkey cause me to loose my virture?"

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Caring for one another
People Collaborating to Build a Home in a Japanese Village

n this UNESCO video, you will see, in action, the Japanese ethic of getting rid of the I for the we as people from a village collaborate to build a home.

Keep in mind that community is the highest form of development we know of.


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What if we made more effort in our inner city schools?
How the Chinese Use Music to Inspire Growth in Character


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Is commercial TV creating a weed bed?
The Family Unit Begins to Break Down in China



Love thy neighbor as thyself.
Ancient Loving-Kindness (Metta) Meditation

No matter what religion you are, you will benefit from this buddhist form of loving-kindness meditation practiced daily by millions of people since ancient times.

Keep in mind that while Buddhism is a way of life, a Chinese woman explained to me that they do not consider it a religion, for a religion has to do with God and his instructions to man. China never had that. They have, instead, sages -- wise people who collect wisdom and desiminate it. It is part of their culture to respect the sages -- living and deceased -- and transmit their teachings to future generations.

While China has had many sages, there are three main ones: Confucious, Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha, which means enlightened one) and Lao Tzu, which is mysticism. They feel that without any one of these steams of thought, life would be unbalanced.

This literature is, to them, a great cultural heritage.

Christians are free to read literature from a wide diversity of sources and to think and grow, for Jesus said, "There are many more things I want to teach you." He explained that they were not at that time ready to hear it all. When we read literature, we are to test the spirit.





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The Dhamapada: Teachings of the Sage Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha)



This will make you really think.
Confucius: The Analects



Brilliance.
Confucius: The Great Learning



Great literature
Confucius: The Doctrine of the Mean




Holding Meditation Circles

Here are activities for meditation circles that you might hold in your office or at home with just family or with family and friends.

  • Start off with 40 minute of loving-kindness meditation (see the video on this page).


  • Sing four songs. (Click here to see the words to songs you might sing during this time. Perhaps one of you could play the guitar. If you can't, you might sing along with songs you have downloaded from Itunes. YOu can download Itunes software free from the apple.com website. Songs cost about .99 cents apiece.)


  • Hold a tea ceremony by serving tea and meditating on the four qualities of grace: harmony, tranquility, purity and respect.
    • First, the host says: May we seek after a spirit of harmony on earth in all that we do..

      People who wish may speak out. For instance, one might say, "May there be world peace." Another may say, "May we live in harmony with our rivers." Another may say, "May our politicians harmonize with the scholars." Another might say, "May we harmonize with the wisdom of our parents."


    • Next, the host says: May we abide with others in a spirit of tranquility.

      One person may say, "may the people be strong and silent when their partners are agitated and yelling." One person may say, "may we be calm and hopeful when our son can't find a job." Another may say, "May we I respond with patience, a quiet spirit and dignity when my little girl won't get in the bath tub."


    • Next, the host says: May we achieve purity in our words, motives and deeds.

      Another person may say, "May I rid my heart of bitterness." Another may say, "May my motives be clean with no hidden agendas." Another may say, "May we give up lying." Anther may say, "May we uphold the values that protect the family unit." Another may say, "May we give up curse words, for they sound so bitter and harsh."


    • Next, the host says, "May we have respect for others."

      One person may say, "May we listen carefully to others." Another may say, "May we care about the poor and ignorant, finding ways to lift them up." Another may say, "May we listen respectfully to the wisdom of our parents." Another may say, "May we not gossip about others."
  • The people join hands and close their eyes and the host says, "Let us meditate on ridding ourselves of the I for the we." (five minutes.)


  • End with jewish folk dancing or sacred dance (See the "Health" section of this website and the "Sacred Dance" page in the "Culture" section of this website.)


    • Note. If you think there will be time for yet another activity, you might have everyone read "Apple Seeds" at home before coming to the circle (these are quotes from around the world that I have put on this website in the "Culture" section, on the "Inspirational Thoughts on Wisdom and Beauty" page.) When reading this material at home, the person might pick one quote and apply it to his or her life -- how it gave inspiration or direction -- to discuss during the meditation circle.

    Also, from time to time, you might even show a documentary video on an environmental concern, hold a discussion of a book you are all reading together or hold a lecture on an environmental or health issue by a speaker, a professor or environmental activist or author that you've invited. For instance, there might be a lecture on how to set up community solar electricity, how to do worm composting, how to start a natural food co-operative or a lecture on why we should consume organic food.

    The meetings might begin with a potluck, where everyone brings a dish of food.

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    A cultural wonder
    Bali: Masterpiece of the Gods

    In this video, you will see the amazing creativity of the people of Bali in Indonesia, who nurture their culture on a daily basis by using stories that teach wisdom, which they depict in their dances, art work and shadow puppet shows.

    Everyone is Bali is an artist.

    Notice that no one is wearing blue jeans.



    Esteeming that which is wealth indeed
    Wisdom From the East

    Why is there such disorder in the economic and political systems in America? It's the fevered effort to be rich. No amount of money ever satisfies.

    As the great Mahatma Ghandi once said, "When people want too much, they figure out how to take it from others."

    That goes for not only money, but political power.

    We crave inequality.

    Our cities have lovely enormous homes on one side of town, where only the wealthy could aspire to live, juxtaposed againt the mediocre homes and the ghettos in the poor part of town.

    Everyone wants to be the big "I" looking down on the little you -- to feed our ego off the inferiority of others.

    But in England, you can't tell a difference in who is rich and who is poor. There is no poor side of town or rich area -- all have high quality homes.

    They live in lovely row houses, like in D.C. (There is compact, tight development in the core so there is room for unbroken countryside on the outskirts of town.)

    The Japanese also emphasize equality. Their philosophy instructs them that "that which is high and lifted up must be brought down and that which is low must be lifted up."

    They bow their heads low as if to say, "I am beneath you." They say, "The riper the grain, the lower it bows its head."

    It's a veneration of humility. All are respected and their inward development nurtured.

    How might we come to esteem -- not money -- but that which is wealth indeed: harmony, tranquility, purity and respect -- getting rid of the "I" for the "we."