Religion does not have a monopoly over morality or ethics. In other words, you don't have to be religious or even be associated with a religion to be a moral or ethical person.
Many societies exist in the world which are considerably less religious than Nepal but, as far as I am concerned, are considerably more moral and ethical.
Given how money has been the driving force behind what a majority do in Nepal and given how little people with power and influence value other people's lives, even during calamitous times -- such the aftermath of the 2015 earthquakes and the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic--we in Nepal must education children about empathy at home and school and raise them to be compassionate human beings.
Of course, there are at least a few different ways of doing that.
The caste system has corrupted the minds of Nepalis. Here is an example of how it has corrupted the minds of the Hill so-called High Caste Hindus.
Blinded as they are by structural privilege and their sense of entitlement their social group has enjoyed for generations, they demonstrate subtle internalized casteism stemming from their unconscious sense of superiority.
We don't have a dearth of Nepalis who frequently make the mistake of interpreting what someone else is saying, writing, and/or doing from only where they stand -- culturally, economically, socially, experientially, emotionally, intellectually etc. -- and, in the process, miss a lot of where the person is coming from and also the value in their message and/or their act.
This is an example of that from twitter.
On May 23, 2020, a mob of 50-60 so-called higher caste villagers lynched half-a-dozen Dalit males. Not long after, the story mostly disappeared from mainstream media in Nepal. But that's NOT surprising in a society of people whose minds have been corrupted by the Caste System.
Nepal needs a revolution...a revolution of the mind.
The caste system is highly corrupting. It has corrupted the minds of so many Nepalis for so long that, even while taking pride in the country as the birth place of Buddha who introduced compassion to the world and denounced the system, we are very short on compassion.
And this blog post documents just one example of that: responses to a tweet by a Dalit woman desiring "to live as a human being today."
What one does in life must be for oneself...not in a selfish way, of course. That is, the justification for and the drive behind one's most important decisions, actions, and values must be intrinsic.
I visited Nepal for the first time in three years the Summer of 1993. During my stay in the country, I wrote to a number of my friends abroad. This is a reproduction of the first snail mail I sent my good and dear friend E in the US. It provides a glimpse into what Kathmandu was like then.
Nepali teachers, I have observed, do not use humor much or often. I am not sure why.
This blog contains embeds of two short clips from a presentation to students at a school in Kathmandu in which I use humor.
This is an embed of a video of a Zoom session I had with potential United World College scholarships applicants in Nepal. Having had my own experiences at a UWC put me on the path to make me into the person I have become today, I share the details from my life experiences to convince them to apply for a UWC scholarship.