Achieving Educational Equity via the Cultivation of Qi and Virtue: Fostering a Unity Consciousness

• In Event: Reimagining Equitable Education Through Cross-Cultural Conversation: Toward an Equitable New Normal in the Era of Post-Pandemic

Abstract

How can we cultivate equitable educational systems in the 21st century? This is a big question which requires big thinking. I posit that we cannot achieve educational equity without the fostering of a unity consciousness. Unity consciousness goes beyond the self and sees all beings and existence as equal. Unity consciousness manifests as the sense of oneness, compassion, love, and respect, for all human beings and for nature.
In the Eastern wisdom tradition, qi is this vital life energy in all existence. It can be cultivated through meditation, and in fact doing good for the world is treated like technologies that attract and return this creative energy to oneself as we live in a vibrating, reciprocal, and intelligent universe (Culham and Lin, 2020). With accumulation of this energy, we elevate our consciousness and become able to tap into the much deeper realms of reality realizing our oneness at the most fundamental level (Orr, 2018; Hawkins, 2012; Lin, 2019; Culham and Lin, 2020). When we have elevated our energy, we elevate our consciousness, enabling us to embody the knowing that love is the force propelling all existence in the universe (Lin, 2006), and a sense of awe and respect for all beings and existence naturally arise.
In my paper, I argue that unity consciousness can be fostered, cultivated, and elevated. It is like skills that can be learned, acquired, and applied. Eastern philosophy is based on an ontology that we all have this vital life energy, called qi, prana, Ki, ruach, in various names in various traditions. This energy is the force that creates the universe, which in fact makes our life a miracle (Have you ever wondered why it takes 40 weeks for a fertilized egg to grow into a full-blown baby? What is the a priori script behind?). In human history, many have explored the power of this energy. Religious and spiritual teachers were engaged in the prolonged practice of meditation through which they built up this energy and achieved a unity consciousness (Bourgeault, 2003; Wilber, 1998). In the embodied state of unity with All That Exist, they called for people to embrace love, care, respect and forgiveness as the foundation for our global brotherhood and sisterhood (Lin, 2018; Lin and Parikh, 2019; Culham and Lin, 2020). In a state of unity consciousness, harming others feels like harming oneself, and punching holes in the Earth feels like punching holes in one’s own body. This experience of co-suffering, as well as the experience of mutual joy and happiness, is the foundation of achieving equitable educational systems in the 21st century.
The paper suggests ways to redesign school curriculum and programs that fully incorporate meditation and cultivating virtues into all aspects of learning and being. The new form of education seeks to integrate the body, mind, heart, and spirit. It aims to fostered unity consciousness as an embodied state of being, which propels the inspiration to work for an equable world, a World for the Good of All.

Author

• Jing Lin, University of Maryland