Swami teaches... Spiritual heights in education

[Guest guest]

Sai Ram

 

Light and Love Swami teaches.... (24 - 26 June 2005)

 

Spiritual Heights in Education

Today human is devalued into a machine and has forgotten own worth.

Commodities are valued as essential, but, human is not so valued. If human

is valued at true worth, and treated as a Divine spark enclosed in the body,

then, everyone will rise into new heights of achievement and produce all the

necessities of life in profusion. One will not grab or cheat: one will be a

good worker, a pure person and a sincere spiritual aspirant .

The lesson that the Atma (Divine Principle, Cosmic Consciousness), resident

in everyone is the real core of the Universe and that is the supreme sovereign

of the Cosmos will certainly bring together all mankind and ensure peace and

harmony among the nations. Of what avail is life when this truth is not known?

Every person has to try to know own Truth and lead his/her children into that

awareness. The future of every the country depends on the skill and the

sincerity of the youth. Therefore, the necessary enthusiasm and encouragement

must be generated among the youth.

Educational institutions would be the nursery for tradition, loyalty to

culture, and ideals of service to society. They train youth to benefit by the

experience of the previous generations and to march on towards victory in the

campaign to master this world and the next. The students today are the teachers

of tomorrow's colleges; they have to shape the destiny of the country through

their precepts and example.

 

Every child has four debts to discharge - reverence to mother, respect to

the father, obedience to the teacher, and adoration to God. Besides these,

every child must learn to live in peace and love with other children and other

families. Encourage the child to cultivate the pleasure of 'togetherness.'

They will enjoy it; and, you will be sowing the seeds of social peace. The

seeds will grow into universal Peace and universal Bliss.

 

The ideal of simple living and high thinking laid down by the sages of India

will lead to happy lives and greater social peace and also to exemplary lives of

simplicity and sincerity, of spiritual discipline and steady discipline. Learn

the lessons of duty, devotion and discipline from the lips of children; let

each child be a ray of sunshine in the home, shedding light and love. Let the

child's desire to serve other children and the defectives around be an

inspiration to you.

(In the olden times, when the student underwent the basic training under the

teacher, he learnt, before he was 15 years of age, to spin, weave and procure

clothes for own use; to produce the food what required; and to look after own

needs for basic comfort. He was contented and happy, with simple habits which

gave an ample leisure for saadhana, and contemplation of Nature).

What is happening today is the opposite. Parents, teachers and leaders are

inflaming the passions of young minds and encouraging them to indulge in

violent deeds. It is not good for human to be constantly engaged in violent

films and games, exciting food, talk, books, advertisements, etc. They are

raajasik (passionate) things that disturb and agitate the mind. The very people

who preach the message of peace, who talk of the basic principle of child

education, who harp on love, harmony and mutual love, and who elaborate on the

principles of social progress and national uplift are themselves undermining

these hopes by their example.

When you look deep into the theory and practice of modern educational

institutions and compare them with what we know of the theory and practice in

ancient Indian-educational institutions, you will be shocked at the vast

difference in the two systems. The ancient schools aimed at self-knowledge

first and knowledge of the objective world as a corollary. Truly, that is the

sign of the educated person - awareness of own reality. How can persons be

termed educated, when they do not distinguish between the really real and the

relatively real in themselves as well as in the outer world? Among the

educated, it is hard to find signs of self-knowledge, quality of mercy, of

sympathy or compassion. The 'un-educated' has this quality sometimes even more

than the 'educated.'

Imagine the fate of the cows, when a tiger enters the manger. Can they

survive the invasion? So too, the 'cows' of truth, justice, peace and love

cannot survive in the human heart when the 'tigers,' namely, greed, anger and

pride enter and play havoc.

The crisis of character which is at the root of all the troubles everywhere

has come about, as a result of the neglect of this aspect in education. If you

forget these ideals and allow greed, conceit and hate to take root in your

hearts, you are only lowering yourselves to the level of the beast.

Have compassion in your hearts for the unfortunate brothers and sisters, who

are unlearned, ill or suffering. Try your best to open their eyes, to cure their

ills and to alleviate their distress. The sight of suffering softens the heart;

stories of distress urge one to rush to the rescue. But, modern education, as

imparted now renders humans indifferent to the sufferings of others, blind and

deaf, in fact.

 

Wisdom flashes like lightning amidst the clouds of the inner sky; one has to

foster the flash, and preserve the light. That is the true sign of the

'educated' person. Do not believe that mastery of many tomes make you wise.

Wisdom can grow only where humility prevails. Mental peace as spiritual ground

for wisdom cannot be secured by blaming others and avoiding one's own

responsibility.

The objectives of true education are only two. The first and the most basic

of the two is education for the provision of food, clothing and shelter, for

the promotion of health and harmony in society, for avoiding pollution and

promoting honesty. The second objective of education is the culture of the

mind and the spirit. This is very much like to agriculture. We want dhaanya

(grains) to sustain the body; we require dhyaana (meditation) to sustain the

spirit. In agriculture, you prepare the soil, plant seeds, feed the plants with

fertilisers, and reap the harvest. In heart-culture, we have to plough the

hrudhaya-kshethra (the field of the heart), remove the weeds and wild growth,

and plant the seeds. The weeds are pernicious tendencies, attitudes and habits;

the fertilisers are devotion and dedication. Water to help the plant grow is the

quality of love. The seeds are the names of God, which are deposited within the

purified heart. The harvest which is the reward of all this spiritual

discipline is Wisdom.

Heart-culture has been the goal and aim of Sanaathana Dharma (Eternal

Universal Religion), the ancient religion of India. This Dharma exhorts us to

plant the seeds of Love and reap the harvest of Wisdom, for the sake of social

harmony and national prosperity and the uplift of all humanity. Sanaathana

Dharma makes you realise the Unity that underlies all the diversity that is

apparent. The unity is the basis and the justification for loving all, with no

desire for any benefit therefrom.

 

The worldly aspects must be harmonised with the spiritual aspects in order

to live a full life. Moral and spiritual principles have to be emphasised all

along, even while merely material subjects are taught and learnt.

Mutual respect can be built on the faith that all are children of God and

all are Divine. This is the law of Creation, harmony and order of Creation, the

special coordination or synergy between the Greatest and the smallest (human

consciousness) - part of the Greatest. On that basis, there can be the

coordination with the Divine (dedicate all your activity to God what is really

the manifestation of the Divine Will) and enthusiasm for work. Each will then

do the best, knowing the duty and own responsibility. By such way the harmony

and synergy with the Divine power is achieved.

(A pictorial example to this from other area. The eye, the hand, the nose,

the head, the stomach, each looks different; each does one special task; each

has different name and function. Their functions are strictly coordinated and

subserve the interests of the one body to which they all belong. When such

coordination is disturbed, the body falls ill.

The comparable situation may happen when the collective praying, singing

Indian devotional songs (bhajans) is performed. Every member must strictly know

the real meaning and significance of the words, intonations and their deep

implications. However, people (who are not Indians) may not be aware of the

exact meaning, pronunciation and value of the Sanskrit words they utter

mechanically. Then the spreading of the divine vibrations may be disturbed).

The years of life allotted to humans is very short; the world in which they

live is very wide; time extends far behind and far beyond. What little

individual has to do here has to be done quickly, at the place that is assigned

within the time that is allotted to human being. Life has been bestowed not for

just eating and digesting, roaming and reclining, but, for the realisation of

the Divinity in us, in all that exist around us and even beyond all things that

strike our senses.

The task is no less than the manifestation of the Divinity latent in human

being. Besides education, the easiest and the most pleasant means by which this

can be accomplished is the service of other human being, done in a spirit of

dedication and devotion.

The best type of seva is feeding the hungry. God gave the rains, fostered

the sapling and ripened the grain. It is not dhaana (charity) that you do; you

are only offering gratitude to God; you are sanctifying the grain you have

harvested by offering the food prepared out of it to these Naaraayanas (Gods in

human form). Call it Naaraayana Seva. Deserve the Grace of God by helping the

weak and poor, the diseased and the disabled, the distressed and the

downtrodden. (Reet's compilation by, Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol.13. "Culture -

Agriculture," Chapter 1, "Naaraayana seva," Chapter 4, " 'Youth Guides' for

youth," Chapter 5 and "Give them their due," Chapter 7).

Namaste - Reet