NOTE: My blog will close at the end of this year.
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Mongolia
This is my third and last time in Asia as retirement approaches, and such a stunningly beautiful and interesting trip it was. The meeting with three of the four people in the whole country who hold AMI teaching diplomas, took place in a Tibetan restaurant with authentic süütei tsai—or milk tea, as popular in Mongolia as in Tibet, Sikkim, any country with a herding tradition where the daily staple was a hot drink made of yak butter, tea, and salt. Tibetan Buddhism has had a great influence in Mongolia, for example the dancing and costumes in the short video below that I took at a culture performance in the capital, Ulaanbaatar.
During the meeting we decided to follow the lead of Russian Montessorians and provide a free PDF of the book Montessori for Family and Community which contains QR codes leading to short video clips of children in Montessori environments (home or school). For more information on this project, CLICK: Russian project
Saka Dawa —literally translates to the month of the “Saka star,” which is prominently visible in the night sky during this month of celebrating the birth, enlightenment, and death of Buddha. Today, May 31, Saka Dawa Düchen is the highlight, tonight a full moon, and is celebrated as a festival all over the world. Old and young gathered in Sükhbaatar Square to hear the prayers and to meditate together, followed by traditional dancing, foods, crafts, and opportunities to be helpful to animals and people. It is believed that the karmic effects of all actions are multiplied millions of times on this day.
Japan
In the middle of this 3-week trip Tsolmon, my hostess (environmental scientist and head of the AMI affiliate for Mongolia), and I flew to the southern reaches of Japan to celebrate the successful completion of the AMI 0-3 course in Fukuoka, and to talk about Montessori in Asia. We met on the island of Ishigaki—animals one does not usually expect to see in Japan, and so many tropical plants inspired me to constantly get out my phone to look identify and learn about them on my plant app!
Seiko (on the far right in the picture) is the director of the training center in Fukuoka and our hostess. Tsolmon is next to her, then Akiko soon-to-be AMI 0-3 trainer, and Sharlyn, the oral examiner for this course. Seiko is so very good at finding the best Japanese food and telling us all about it, such as this special seaweed that the restaurant runs out of early in the day.
On the second day Seiko took us by ferry to an even smaller island, called Taketome (see map earlier in this blog post) where I rode a bike for the first time in years. Yes, the ability to balance comes back! For the first ½ mile it felt like we were going downhill so I immediately registered the work it was going to take to come back uphill! Then I realized that this was an electric bike, and if I remembered to click the little button on the left handlebar, it would be an easy ride. Well heated, we headed for a beach. I had not come prepared with a bathing suit, but I was not alone—underwear and a shirt were just fine. Tsolmon, from land-locked Mongolia, had to be talked into trying the snorkel mask, then we couldn’t drag her out of the ocean.
For more information on the Montessori teacher training center in Fukuoka, held at one of the most beautiful and authentic Montessori school I have ever visited, CLICK: Fukuoka
Back to Mongolia
After a few days off, Tsolmon went back at work on an exciting international energy project. Her husband and sons and young cousin and I traveled out into the countryside, such a sigh of relief as we get further from the tall buildings and the traffic. We saw yaks, camels, a famous structure called Camel Rock, and a colorfully decorated pile of rocks next to it. Such a shamanic pile of rocks in Mongolia is called an Ovoo. These sacred cairns act as altars to honor mountain spirits, ancestors, and the sky god Tengri. You will find them on mountain passes, lakeshores, and long steppe roadsides.
The last Montessori meeting was held with Ariunsanaa and Tsolmon, the two officers of the AMI affiliate for Mongolia, both with AMI diplomas from The Montessori Institute in Denver. For more information about the famous Choijin Lama Museum in the background, go to this link that I found on a QR code at the museum, CLICK: Choijin Lama
It was so very interesting to meet the head of the TM center in Ulaanbaatar. Otgon welcomed us with treats from a morning vegan fair, and after one of her students arrived we all—Otgon, Tsolmon, student, me—meditated together. TM has several things in common with Montessori: neither are connected with any one spiritual belief but are practiced by followers of many religions; scientists, Maria Montessori an MD and Tony Nadar, head of TM an MD, PhD from MIT, and fellow at Harvard Medical School; both movements are being studied by modern neuroscientists; both are practiced daily (3+ hours in a Montessori primary class for example, and twice a day for TM); both support deep levels of consciousness which results in mental and physical health, happiness, and natural compassion toward others.
Since I was here seven years ago the Chinggis Khaan museum has been completed. Don’t miss it if you are in this part of the world. For more information and pictures, CLICK: museum
I was thrilled to find a temporary exhibit at the museum put together by SFMN (Science for Monks and Nuns created by the Dalai Lama in 1999) and LTWA, (The Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamsala, where I studied for two summers). My favorite part was “The Secrets of Particles” (quantum systems) because there are constantly new discoveries about the relationship between particles and time and space, consciousness and the material world; past and present and future; and the relationship between the observer and what is being observed. There were even beautiful thangkas showing the exploration of reality by physicists Niels Bohr, Heisenberg, Max Born and the Copenhagen interpretation. And another illustrating the double slit experiment first described 1801, explored by Einstein and others and still being explored today, MIT in 2025 for example. Sorry to go on so long about this but it fascinates me that reality is affected by the observer, the above example showing that a light wave is changed into a particle just by watching it. Maybe the material world begins with consciousness and maybe it is true that we create our own reality.
Personally, I believe that the kind of children’s daily concentration we inspire and protect in authentic Montessori environment (and whatever we practice as adults) teaches a person how to be beyond the awareness of thoughts, emotions, and words; I believe that this kind of deep consciousness is the basis of valuable and much-needed creativity in society. Maybe if we regularly experience the part of ourselves that exists beyond the material world, we don’t have to get so lost in the small details of life and we can appreciate the larger picture and the joy of connecting with and helping each other.
Maybe Montessori was talking about this when, in The Absorbent Mind, she speaks of the periphery and the center. When a child is supported in reaching their center she says, “They simply do not want other people’s things, and violence repels them. Perfection attracts them because it is in their nature. Their search for it is not sacrificial, but is pursued as if it satisfied their deepest longing.”
For a climax of exploration of Asia in 2026, another new friend invited me to attend a weekly performance of the history of Mongolia presented in song and dance. It is called “Land and Sky”, and I was not the only one taking pictures and recording video clips. One of the most interesting performance was of ancient shamanic drumming, chanting, and dance. I was so excited to record this to share with you that I accidently pushed “slow motion!” But watching it later I decided that the slow version captured the correct energy very well.
More about the pre-Buddhist shaman beliefs here, CLICK: Shamanism in Mongolia
I hope you enjoy this video and everything else I am sharing about my last trip to this part of the world before retiring.
Blessings,
Susan
Home page – CLICK: Susan