If one takes some of our most crucial modern issues like income inequality, world hunger and climate change, you will find a shortfall of concern for the wellbeing of others blocking the way forward. At its core, secular ethics is a compassion-based endeavour to address a lack of conviction to moral principles, without being based in any religion. As wonderful and useful as religion is to billions of people across this planet, no one religion can be universally accepted. We must also consider that an estimated 22% of the world’s population is not affiliated with any religion (11% of which is atheist), according to a 2015 poll conducted byWIN/Gallup International Association.
How do we address the moral needs of these people? Furthermore, how do we address the lack of harmony between people of different religious traditions which is root to so much sectarian violence? His Holiness the Dalai Lama frequently expresses the opinion that utilising secular ethics is fundamental to his number one life commitment of promoting inner peace. His Holiness also stresses that this must be done from the platform of basic human values, scientific evidence and the cultivation of warm-heartedness. This is upon the overwhelming scientific evidence that good mental health correlates to physical resilience.Secular ethics also builds upon the view that developing a genuine concern for the well being of others will leave little room for violence, hypocrisy and distrust in day to day life. Utilising human intelligence while developing our capacity for compassion, we can reduce man-made problems and re-establish a sense of trust between different communities.
It is also important to consider how secularism is perceived amongst different cultures. In the west, the French Revolution of 1789 drove atheistic thought into western political ideology. Many influential atheistic western philosophers, including Karl Marx and Friedrich Nietzsche, made an impact on western philosophy to the effect that for many political ideologies, religion became seen as an obstacle to progress. Thus, for some in the west, secularism can be perceived as disrespectful to religion. In countries like India, the idea of secularism is built upon the foundation of respect for all religious traditions. This religious tolerance is not new to India and can be traced back to 3rd century BCE, during the time of Emperor Ashoka.
It is important to understand that secular ethics looks holistically at basic human values common to all religious traditions. The aim is to share with religious and non-religious individuals the values of compassion, forgiveness, and self-discipline which can be found at the heart of any moral system and are therefore universal values.
The 1990 international Human Genome Project gave humanity clear proof that, on average, we are at most 0.1 percent genetically different from any other person on the planet. We are mentally, physically and emotionally the same; based on the common desire to live a happy and fulfilled life. Yet, we hold grudges, wars and spread prejudice because of an overemphasis on this 0.1 percent difference. It would seem secular ethics hopes to bridge this gap from the ground up through, amongst other things, education.
On the frontlines of educating individuals on the matter of secular ethics is the SEE Learning curriculum developed by Emory University in the United States and The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. SEE Learning is a Social and Emotional Learning programme (SEL) developed for primary and K-12 schools which has secular ethics and mindfulness at the heart of its curriculum. The global launch of SEE Learning was unveiled in April 2019, and has seen some schools in the United States and India adopting its programme as part of their curriculum throughout the year. This is promising for anyone interested in secular ethics as in time we will see what effect is has on the individuals under its care, hopefully, from a young age, making them more aware, compassionate and mentally well individuals.
Secular ethics will attempt to bridge the perceived gap between different cultures and traditions, leaving anyone who adopts it more aware of the interdependent nature of the world around them. Secular ethics aims to build a happy individual, giving rise to a happy family, which results in a happy community and creating a happy world. One can imagine that over time, our sense of tribalistic boundaries may expand. Secular ethics is not for distilling complex ethical issues but rather for cultivating a calm mind with genuine concern for others, which will in turn allow us to discern these complex issues more mindfully.
***Building on Lha’s Secular Ethics Fellowship earlier this year, we have commissioned a series of articles looking at different aspects of Secular Ethics, leading up to a research project next spring which will look at the education aspects in more depth and at what is happening in the schools in Dharamshala. Look out for our follow up articles in the coming months by Okechukwu, our volunteer who’s interest in Secular Ethics has led to his offer to look at how it is being received in various locations, and how the students and educators feel about its inclusion in the curriculum. Find the articles on our Secular Ethics page.
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