The state government of Maharashtra in India has initiated a new project, “Mitra Upakram” (Mitra stands for Mind in Training for Right Awareness, and mitra also means “friend” in Marathi and Hindi), which offers Anapana meditation courses to 25 million primary- and secondary-schoolchildren. It is hoped that this new scheme will reduce stress and help students to develop calmness and practice non-violence.
Students practicing Anapana meditation in Pune. From globalpagoda.blogspot.hk
Anapana—“incoming and outgoing breath”—meditation teaches practitioners how the natural breath is connected to the state of mind by focusing on the incoming and outgoing breath at the entrance of their nostrils without trying to change the flow. The Mitra Upakram website reports that through the practice “children increase their self-awareness, [and] understanding [of] how they respond to various situations. They gain mastery over the wandering, wild mind.”
Maharashtra’s education department has decided to make the meditation program compulsory for all students as a way to maximize benefits. Dr. Shridhar Salunkhe, the director of secondary and higher education, commented, “It has been observed that the level of interaction between parents and children has gone down. This, in turn, affects their academic performance as well as their general behavior.” He also added, “We have named the initiative ‘Mitra Upakram’ because [it] will entail increasing interaction amongst students and make the student[s] accept each classmate as a friend.” Global Vipassana Pagoda's website goes on to mention that “this is the first and largest human resource development project of its kind in the world.”
Schoolchildren practicing meditation at Hujurpaga Girls' School, Pune. From www.mitraupakram.org
Students initially receive training in Anapana meditation for 70 minutes before being allowed to practice for shorter periods—“10 minutes [in the] morning before [the] start of school and 10 minutes [in the] afternoon/evening, before students leave for home.” Mitra Upakram's website goes on to say that “school teachers, headmaster, [and] staff must also participate [in the Anapana meditation sessions].”
S. N. Goenka, pioneer in the teaching of Vipassana meditation in India.
From www.vridhamma.org
The program of Anapana meditation liberates the mind from problems such as anxiety, anger, hatred, lack of concentration, doubt, laziness, greed, and restlessness. This practical mindfulness training for schoolchildren and their teachers—100,000 teachers have participated in the program so far—has resulted in better concentration, enhanced memory, better self-confidence, higher productivity, and greater efficiency.
As the mind becomes free from negativity, participants experience states of deeper concentration, and compassion and joy in relation both to themselves and other sentient beings. There is also an improvement in relationships with schoolmates, teachers, and parents, all of which helps children stay away from juvenile delinquency, including drug addiction and sexual misconduct. The website globalpagoda.blogspot.hk reports the late pioneer of vipassana meditation in India, Satya Narayan Goenka, as telling students practicing Anapana meditation that “our entire effort is towards understanding the nature of our mind, and correcting it instantly if it goes on the wrong path.”
Vipassana Center, Social Welfare Hostel, Kolhapur. From www.mitraupakram.orggallery.php
Global Vipassana Pagoda has made an international appeal for the adoption of the Anapana mindfulness-training program in schools: “All schools in India and worldwide are encouraged to adopt the Mitra Upakram example, and include Anapana as part of [the] daily school curriculum—for immense benefits of children of today and global citizens of tomorrow.”