The Brown & White

Education happens when a student is pushed beyond his comfort zone, said Thomas Coburm, president of Naropa University, in a lecture Tuesday.

In his speech, Coburn discussed the buddhist approach to education and the idea of contemplative learning spurs great learning.

The speech was one in a series of events that will be held this spring in anticipation for the Dalai Lama's visit to Lehigh this July.

"That event will be a watershed in Lehigh's history and I'm honored to be a part of the preparation," Coburn said.

Naropa University is a non-sectarian institution located in Bolder, Col., that has integrated Buddhist values into its formal education mission according to the Lehigh press release.

It combines the contemplative traditions of Asia with the liberal arts traditions and pre-professional training of the West, Coburn said.

Coburn's speech centered around his explanation of the complicated concept of contemplative education.

He first compared the concept to a three dimensional sculpture to emphasize its complexity.

Coburn said it was a metaphorical river with two branches - an East meets West dynamic.

Coburn also said liberal arts encompasses learning how to read, write, speak and research.

"What is missing from this roster is the flip side of speaking, listening," Coburn said.

Coburn said contemplative education occurs in the in-between spaces.

It is the space between teacher and student, head and heart, intellect and intuition, educational courses and extracurricular activities, or arts and science. He said this kind of learning happens beyond the comfort zone.

Coburn noted teaching in this way is part science and part art. A lesson should include enlightened moments, whether purposely prompted in a scientific manner or spontaneously inspired in an artful way.

He said this kind of education was paradoxically about both discipline and chaos.

"Contemplative education is a 'both/and' enterprise, not an 'either/or' one," Coburn said.

To demonstrate the difference between a liberal arts education and a contemplative learning one, Coburn answered the question, "What's going on?" in two separate ways.

Responding with a liberal arts answer, Coburn said, "a white-haired man in his 60s is talking about ideas he finds enchanting."

Conversely, responding with a contemplative education answer, he said "feet pressing on floor, hands touching, hum of lights in ears, lunch of soup resting comfortably in stomach."

In his view, this showed the importance of listening as well as the theme of calling your attention to the present.

Coburn also made his audience focus on two separate pictures for an extended period of time, one of the creation scene in Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel and the other of a sculpture of an Indian Goddess.

The extended period of time given to his audience to concentrate fully on the pictures was an experiment in seeing whether they could get past their previous knowledge of either pictures and observe with their senses, being completely present.

Those in attendance could find just as many things to note about the picture of the sculpture, which relatively few people were familiar with, than about the picture of the Sistine Chapel, which almost all were familiar with which was Coburn's point.

Coburn said the geometric shape that most accurately represented contemplative education was the ellipse because, unlike the circle, it has no fixed center.

Usually, there are two factors, or points, at work, such as body and mind, outer world and inner world, or chaos and disciple, as he described earlier.

"The heart of contemplative education is a creative tension," Coburn said.

Coburn ended his speech the same way he began, by instructing the audience to bow, sitting erect with their eyes closed and hands on their thighs.

"I thought the major point was to listen and look in the moment," said Norman Girardot, a professor of the religious studies department.

"I thought what was interesting was that instead of telling us, he made it happen, which was a beautiful way to make it real." Girardot said. "What more could you ask for?"

Coburn, who holds degrees in religious studies from Princeton and Harvard universities.

He became president of the Naropa University in 2003.

Coburn had served as vice president of Naropa from 1996 to 2002.

He was the dean of academic affairs at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y., where he was also the Charles A. Dana professor of religious studies.

His speech was sponsored by Lehigh's Visiting Lecturer's Committee.