WISDOM FROM WORLD RELIGIONS

In 1987 Sir John Templeton initiated a Laws of Life Contest in Franklin County, Tennessee, where he had grown up. He relates how he himself had been able to discover his own laws of life with so many models and examples of positive character, and wanted to give contemporary young people the same opportunity. From the start he put the success of the Contest down to two factors: cash prizes worth from $100 to $2,000, and the fact that young people were not told what to write about. They reflected on their own beliefs and principles and were publicly recognised at a prize ceremony for affirming the values by which they wanted to live; for instance, love, compassion, honesty, forgiveness and perseverance. The popularity of the Laws of Life Essay Contest has grown almost exponentially so that tens of thousands of students are taking part every year (see www.lawsoflife.org).

These three books are the fruit of this reflection. The first is Sir John's update of his earlier book Worldwide Laws of Life, reviewed in a previous issue, while the other two are collections of essays written by young people from around the world who have taken part in the Contest. Sir John's book is the basis of the Network Project Practical Wisdom in Education, reported under Network News in this issue. The book's structure consists of 200 sections divided into forty weeks with five sections per week, so that the book can be studied over the course of an academic year where suitable. Each section is headed by an aphorism or pithy observation, many of which are by Sir John himself. 'Happiness is always a by-product', 'What the mind can conceive, it can achieve', 'Your life becomes what you think' (Marcus Aurelius), 'Nothing can bring you peace except yourself' (Emerson), 'Service is love made manifest' (Maharishi Sadashiva Isham). Then there is a commentary with sidebar quotations from the world's scriptures, sages, philosophers and saints East and West along with stories that illustrate the point being made. The standard and range of the quotations is quite exceptional and is in itself a rich resource. At the end of each week there is a series of 'spotlights' or reflections on the week as a whole and a paragraph on what it means to live the various spiritual laws.

The book is ideally suited for contemplative reading since the chapters are short and the reflections and quotations so pithy. A number of principles recur during the book, such as the importance of a positive and loving attitude, of determination and perseverance, of forgiveness and humility. Needless to say the selections reflect the life experience of Sir John himself, who at 91 is still actively engaged in his extensive philanthropic work. Sir John himself is an exemplar of many of the qualities about which he writes so eloquently. The book contains the kind of insights that one would associate with advice given by a wise old relative or teacher; many more experienced readers will recognise their own life lessons in the text but younger readers may glean some valuable understanding that will support them through their journeys.

The other books are the fruit of the Laws of Life Contest and show how there is an innate wisdom in younger people that is waiting to emerge in the right circumstances. The editors analyse the contents of Writing from the Heart into the three categories of Positive Character Traits, Principles for Successful Living and Conduct Towards Others. My analysis of Sir John's themes threw up the additional category of Obstacles to Success, which one cannot afford to ignore! The essays in this book are also titled with a quality and a sub-heading, for example 'On Respect: What I learned from Carl', 'On Love: Don't Let the Chain of Love Stop with You', 'On Living by Your Values: A Recipe for Character'. This last essay is one of the most original in the book, divided as it is into Ingredients, Directions, Preparation Time (1 lifetime!) and Yield - one (1) heaping pile of character.

What Matters is set out rather differently and does not have photos of the authors. It is associated with The Young Authors Foundation (Teen Ink) and is subdivided into nine sections: What Matters, Challenging Matters, Family Matters, World Matters, Life Matters, I Matter, Heroes Matter, Younger Matters and Moments Matter, making 90 entries in all. It is clear from the authors' own comments how valuable the exercise of writing the essay is as an opportunity for reflecting on the deeper values and purpose of life. The writing here is vivid and direct, the lessons clear - the reader cannot fail to be moved by these vignettes and the events that touched the young writers and gave them an insight into one of life's laws or principles. As one of them observes, wisdom does not automatically come with age: we need to learn deeply from experience as we go along.