SECULAR ETHICS: BOOK CLUB

Radical Transformation Leadership

~Monica Sharma

Group 2
Day: Sunday
Date: 12th February 2023
Time: 10:00 PM

Chaired by: Saurabh Singh

Team Members:
Saurabh Singh
ThweThwe Moe
Justin Mardy
Anjali Singh
Bragathi
Vrinda Gupta

Minutes of the meeting:

Saurabh
I stand for Hustle, Loyalty and Respect for myself and others. I discovered that the conscious
full-spectrum response (CFSR) involves having a deep concern for both people and the planet,
guided by universal values such as humanity, justice, equality, openness, compassion, dignity,
and others. It's not just meant for ordinary citizens, but also professionals. By incorporating
these universal values, various issues can be addressed. However, it requires consistent
practice to transform weak actions into strong ones. In conclusion, the CFSR approach can be
beneficial in every aspect of life. I am determined to apply this approach by utilizing my personal
strengths and aligning my actions with universal values. What stood out the most for me was
the reflection from the book that highlighted how in academia, we have allowed differences to
divide us instead of embracing our individual and collective greatness. This division has gained
undeserved prominence only because we have operated from a place of fear and competition
rather than abundance, strength, and wisdom. I believe this reflection is immensely valuable
because the goal of academic discourse should be to discuss, reflect, understand, and
collectively evolve to a more nuanced understanding of different perspectives and experiences.

Samuel V
I stand for self-awareness for myself and everyone.

Universal heart for compassionate

Recently one of my fellow student who is pursuing his first year at another school was going through a
tough time and shared with me that he didn’t want to study any further and wanted to take a deferment. I
tried to understand his struggle, took out some, and spent some time with him. Then he took some time,
and now he is doing well and continuing his studies. Now I take out a few minutes of the day and try to
check with him and wish him the day (I don’t want to go into the details of the conversation; I want to tell
the event). I realised that I had acted with the universal heart of compassion. As said in the book, on page
number 38, “ compassion is an integral component of our social intelligence.”

An empathetic burning for Fairness

“ People know there is something wrong when there are high levels of inequality” - page 37. The greater
preference for equity. – page number 38

I had moved beyond speaking up for fairness for others – in one of gathering, when I observed some
students were targeting a person based on their assumption about her views and ideology, even though I
didn’t align with the person her and I align with that students and knew if I spoke up for her, they would
do a cancelling. Still, I did speak up because of the situation she was in.

Our Discerning eye seeing patterns.

“We make decisions without being judgemental, anchored in universal values, willing to alter our point of
view in the interest of humanity as a whole” page number 40 .
The above-mentioned incident applies here as well.

ThweThwe Moe

My name is Moe. I stand for openness for myself and others. This week, I got to know there are
three innate elements that can impact the way of our lives. These are our universal heart of
compassion, empathetic burning for equity or fairness, and our discerning eye. We, human
beings, can feel into another person. That means empathy for the other one. The characteristic of
empathy is taking action compassionately on others’ hardships by realizing their feelings. I have
also made compassionate actions when I saw someone needs help. Here, I would like to share
one of my compassionate actions. When I came back to my native from my workplace last
summer vacation, I met one grandmother who was unwell and weak. She lived alone in her
house that is beside mine. Although her daughters asked her to live together with their families,
she wants to live in her house alone. So, I brought her to the doctor and gave the curry made
myself every evening for 5 days. This is one of the events that I’m proud of myself.

Anjali Singh

My name is Anjali Singh, i stand for kindness and compassion for myself and everyone. Lately i
have been feeling a little off the track since I haven’t been able to concentrate much on my
assignments as i should be. I am trying to make my sports regular. This week i have been
observing how everyone and everything including humans and all materialist things are
replaceable, but we as humans holds this capacity that we are wired to connect and can ‘feel into’
another person. Humans can be very selfish but at the same there is an innate sense of what is
just and fair is present in us. I relate to line on pg.N 38, stating “it is possible to teach and talk
about injustice, but a yearning for a just and fair world cannot be taught- when our universal
compassionate heart breaks open, it is the inner fire within that ignites us. I find the reality in
this statement. I like the fact about how the author has emphasized the most over core human
values that are certainly present in each and everyone( no one missing). I believe if humans were
all acting upon their universal values, it could make one beautiful planet to live on.

“No agenda and yet a profound inner agenda to manifest a humane, equitable, and just world”

JUSTIN MARDY

I Stand for Compassion for myself and others.

I feel fulfilled after maintaining regularity in completing my assignments and other essential tasks in my
life. Today, while reading and contemplating the part from “ Our Universal Heart of Compassion,” I
could relate to the occurrences in our life that breaks open our heart. Similar incidents have taken
place in my life lately. I lost my grandfather due to a heart attack in November of 2022 and a shocking
death of a school friend due to a scooty accident in January. These happenings have had emotional
breakdowns over me. Although accepting such a reality is difficult, I have dared to move on. And a new
outlook toward life and the people has been restored in me. I have realized that our time on earth is
limited; therefore, I should respect whomever I meet on this journey for their innate capacity for dignity
and worth. Somehow the incidents live within me, awaken me, and will always lead me to compassionate
action without thinking about it.

The paragraph that inspired: Pg. 38 2 nd Para: “This empathetic burning for fairness knows within
that we are the kernel for an equitable and humane world to manifest and that we can
manifest it by reaching deep and reaching out. Too often, however, our socialization
process or education dims and may even obliterate this altruistic and kind aspect in
ourselves. It is possible to teach and talk about injustice, but the yearning for a just and
fair world cannot be taught- when our universal compassionate heart breaks open, it is the
inner fire within that ignites us.”

The new learning on Pg.41 inspires: “We now know that decisions are informed by our learned
perspectives and ideological biases, not primarily by knowledge and information
presented to us. We have a choice to “see” what is invisible in different ways based on
universal values- dignity, equity, compassion.”
Sameer Ahmed

My name is Sameer and I stand for empathy for myself and others. This week I can safely say I am
feeling very content and validated with the assignment submissions I had, which turned out very well and
I felt that all my hard work and late nights in the library were worth it. From this week’s learning, the one
thing that really penetrated my soul was the confidence in the human ability to feel into other persons
around us. This may have been more so because I strive to be empathetic towards as many people as I
possibly can, and knowing that there is an innate capacity for humans to feel the pain, happiness and
struggles of others warms my heart greatly. One instance I could remember where I tried to feel into the
heart of one of my friends was when my best friend of 6 years was going through a breakup, and I sat
down with her to listen to her and understand how she was feeling. I took her to eat something nearby and
also watched a movie with her so she could feel better. I feel the little things in life that one may do for
someone they may care about may make all the difference. So this chapter on Universal Heart of
Compassion really made me feel better about the otherwise disheartening life we are prone to witnessing
in these times.

Bragathi

My name is Bragathi. I stand for compassion for myself and others. Right now I am happy to share my
learning here. Each and everyone are inherently able to care about others. This compassion and care is
universal. The lines " To listen is to heal, and as we do this for ourselves we create new possibilities,
designing and establishing different patterns - patterns of equity and justice - for ourselves and for
others" emphasis the importance of focusing the attention to oneself would help the individual to be
aware of one's own potential and values which inturn reflects in my action towards goal of equity and
justice. It was more of a reminder that in order to bring a paradigm shift,more than the result, the way the
goal is achieved through bringing the changes in the norms and system is important.

Lalitya Parihar (M2022LSP011)

My name is Lalitya Parihar and I stand for Hustle, Loyalty, Respect for myself and everyone.
After consistently doing my schoolwork and other important activities in my life, I feel satisfied.
I could connect to the events in life that split open our hearts today as I read and thought about
the passage from "Our Universal Heart of Compassion.". The one lesson from this week that
truly got inside of me was the belief in people's capacity to empathize with those around us.This
week, I've been watching how everything, including people and material possessions, is
interchangeable, but that humans have the ability to connect with and empathise with others
because of the way our brains are constructed.The purpose of academic dialogue is to be to talk,
reflect, comprehend, and collectively develop to a more nuanced knowledge of other viewpoints
and experiences. Accordingly, I think this reflection is of utmost importance.

Vrinda Gupta (M2022APCCP051)

I had only started reading the bit about our universal hearts of compassion when I started
experiencing restlessness in my body and felt like I was on the verge of crying. Ever since I was
a kid, I’ve experienced fierce compassion for people less privileged than I am. I have always had
intense reactions to incidents of discrimination and perpetuation of systemic disadvantage. At
times, I reflect if I have a saviour complex but my heart aches for everyone who’s been
disadvantaged because of their circumstances and deprived by life and I wish do all that I can in
my capacity in order to alleviate their suffering. Discrimination and deprivation on any grounds
be it caste, class, region, religion, language, sexuality or gender is something that really pains my
heart or “breaks my heart open” and I absolutely can’t be a mere bystander to.

The firing at Jamia Milia Islamia during CAA-NRC protests was one incident that absolutely
broke my heart open and I missed an exam to go attend the protest and stand in solidarity with all
those injured in the incident. I absolutely couldn’t prioritize anything over that. All I knew was,
that they didn’t deserve it and the audacity of the police to fire at students in an educational
institution, angered me. It made me even more angry that the only reason they could do that was
because JMI is a Muslim-Minority Institute and they can never pull of something like this with
DU or BHU. Thus, I try to actively embody my values.

My identity comes with a lot of privilege, initially I had a lot of blind spots with respect to
systemic disadvantages and subtler forms of discrimination and abuse but increasingly I have
been able to observe those, acknowledge those and be much more sensitive to them than I ever
was. Thus, I also resonate with the fact that our discerning eye helps us observe patterns.