Retirement

I found a document from 2007 that thanked my students for the years of teaching them and their children. Here it is.

Dear friends and students, 

I have been reflecting on the adventure of teaching at Carleton University over the past 37 years, particularly as I retire very soon.  It has been a great privilege and blessing to enjoy your presence at Carleton and in my classes.  The wonderful support from gifted cameramen and technicians helped create two classic television courses, which have become a legacy for future generations of students.  They may be shown long after I disappear into the magnificence.  It is time, however, to move on, as for some students from 37 years ago I have had the pleasure of teaching your children, but regret that I will not be around for the similar pleasure of teaching your grandchildren!

 Retirement will be busy, as I am the Co-ordinator for Friends for Peace – www.friendsforpeace.ca – though a better job description may be that of chief janitor and fixer.  As the resident Zen teacher of a Buddhist community in Ottawa, I guide it as an eco-community so that we learn to leave a very small footprint on mother earth as we bring everyday mindfulness to full flower.  My retirement has also prompted a few invitations to be a Dharma Teacher in Residence at a number of locations.  The one that really appeals is Florida during the winter months.  My latest work – Failsafe: Saving The Earth From Ourselves – is being made into a documentary film.  Thank goodness for Al Gore’s Oscar for An Inconvenient Truth, as it opens the door for similar projects.  A film studio in Florida, which have made award winning documentary films, is working on the Faifsafe project.  It does appear that I will not have the same opportunity to be so lazy as when I was a full time professor.

 I have greatly enjoyed your fresh young minds and the inspiration you provide.  My last year of teaching has been a joy, the culmination of 37 years of doing just what comes naturally and actually being paid for it.  I wish for you similar joy and fulfillment in your path throughout life. Thank you so much.

 A deep bow of gratitude to all of you,

 Ian Prattis

Professor of Anthropology and Religion

Carleton University, Ottawa.

www.ianprattis.com

Testimonial – FOUR PHASES: Lost, Impermanence, Bittersweet, Caring

Professor Koozma J. Tarasoff

A book of 91-pages that raises the fundamental issues of peace, climate change, Coronavirus pandemic, respect for nature, and the survival of our species deserves public attention. Ian Prattis, retired anthropology professor in Canada’s capital Ottawa, Guru in India,  Zen teacher, Founder of Friends of Peace, and award winning author attempts just that. He does it by combining nonfiction with poetry (an innovation in itself), shows us how to set a moral example to our children, uses metaphors of kindness to make good things happen spontaneously, and gives us the tools of dealing with stress and burnout. All this was done by a mature man who once befriended a wolf as a pet, met with female shamans, and went to India for two years of training with wisdom people. With a gentle smile, he invites us to walk carefully as we breathe in and out in search of peace, healing and mental health. On our part, we need to visualize a better state of being by connecting reality to the magic state of mind and the silence within. This path is courageous, but requires us to pay attention to our surrounding ecology. In search of peace, for example, we need to get to know the stranger if we are to survive on our beautiful planet. Bravo, Ian, you have given us hope in a troubled world. For the purist at heart, Ian offers the following: ‘Activism without mindfulness practice can lead to disillusionment. Also spirituality without an engaged expression is equally unbalanced.’