Gilroy
– Three Mt. Madonna students are in India to meet the
internationally recognized Dalai Lama and work on a documentary
through an endeavor called Project Happiness.
Gilroy – Three Mt. Madonna students are in India to meet the internationally recognized Dalai Lama and work on a documentary through an endeavor called Project Happiness.
At this very moment, 12 other students from Mt. Madonna High School in Watsonville are meeting other students from Nigeria and India to interview them, since they read the Dalai Lama’s book on “Ethics of a New Millennium,” to create a guide book to happiness that could be taught as curriculum in schools.
The motivation for this project was the lack of instruction that American values provide for young people, said Randy Taran, executive director of Project Happiness.
“American Values today are completely in flux,” said Taran. “In this bling and booty culture, many young people are striving for happiness but have no real foundation to come back to. Project Happiness explores the connection between ethics and lasting happiness.”
These students spent a whole year exploring the causes of happiness by interviewing others in the community on their definition of the word.
“One thing that connects everyone is that we all want to be happy,” said Nina Castañon, a Morgan Hill resident and senior at Mt. Madonna High School who is currently in India.
Some of the values she learned from the Dalai Lama’d book are interdependence and putting others in front of yourself. Castañon said she has a hard time accepting the value of self sacrifice, as the book also indicates that in order to take care of others, one must take care of themselves first. It’s finding the balance in between, said Castañon.
Another student said the book has helped her gain a deeper understanding of happiness.
“After reading the Dalai Lama’s book, I’m fining happiness not just for myself but for everybody; teaching people about happiness,” said Madeline Weston-Miles. a Morgan Hill resident. “We read the Dalai Lama book and now we are making the curriculum out of the book.”
Mt. Madonna is one of the first school to look at this curriculum. Reading the Dalai Lama book is only a starting point for the discussions.
“They’re getting quite a reception when they get there,” said Leigh Ann Clifton, marketing assistant for Mt. Madonna High School. While in India, in addition to a private audience with the Dalai Lama, the students will be interviewing President Abdul Kalam, Raja Sabha member and well-known Gandhian, Nirmala Deshpande, and the United Sates Ambassador David Mulford, wrote Clifton in a press release.
Traveling with them will be a professional film crew from America tracking the experience of the students for a documentary for public television. The crew has been filming the students for the past year as they have prepared for this journey and explored the essential questions of what creates lasting happiness, Clifton said.
The students are scheduled to return Sunday.
“I’m hoping this will start a spiritual revolution,” said Castañon. “Where people will be comfortable to speak about religion.”
