Toward
the new Education
A talk given by
the Master at Manav Kendra at the inauguration of Manav Kendra Education
Scheme, June 21, 1972. MAN HAS BEEN REGARDED as the crown and glory
of this creation. “Not only is
man at the origin of development, not only is he its instrument and
beneficiary, but above all he must be regarded as its justification and end.”
Man , as Lord Jesus told us, whom God
made in His blessings. But alas! The
man of today has belied most of our
expectations. Increasingly, his vanity
has led him to regard himself as the center of the world, and made him
oblivious of his shortcomings. The
education system which could have remedied all ailments and promoted his all
round development has proved woefully inadequate. Somehow a student of today is unable to get true knowledge, which
could have helped him to acquire the right understanding of life resulting in
right thoughts, right speech and right action.
In fact, the real aim of education is to develop the character and
individuality of a pupil, his mind, will and soul power. The best education is that which teaches us
that the end of knowledge is service. This “service” is another name for love and fellowship
bring with them peace, gentleness and humility, basic values of life whose significance has been repeatedly stressed by
the sages and prophets of India and the world.
To nurture these values, to practice them, and to adopt them
wholeheartedly in life, is what is known as Spirituality .”Spirituality” is not
a name of a few religious dogmas. In
fact, there is no room for dogmatic assertion in spiritual life. Once Huen
Tsang pur a question to Shil bhadra, the head of the Nalanda
Univerity; “What is knowledge?” He replied,
“My child, Knowledge is perception of the principles or law or
life. And the best principle of life is
fellow feeling sharing with other what you have.” He says that those who cook food for themselves alone are
thieves. Jesus once asked his
disciples, “what does it profit a man
if he were to gain the whole world and lose his own soul? “ The voice in them which brought forth the
answer, “None, Jesus, none,” was the voice of Spirituality. The tenth Guru says, Those who put food
in the mouths of the poor and the needy, they put it in my mouth. This capacity to share is known as Spirituality,
without which all education is a sheer exercise in futility. As Gentile, a great thinker, says, “A school without a spiritual content is an
absurdity.” Modern education is largely
egocentric and makes men spiritually and socially incompetent; and they enter
life with a view to gaining money on earth and applause for their own personal
enjoyment, forgetting that true
happiness begins only when one goes out of one’s little self-the ego-and seeks
the larger Self. The most important thing about education is its
relation to life. “ Knowledge without
action is empty as a shadow.”
“Education is not a withered parchment but the Living Water of the
Spirit.” The school should be a home of
teachers and students who reflect in their studies, and on the playground and in their daily lives, the cherished
virtue of humility. Till our knowledge
enables us to imbibe the noble things of life, it has not served its
purpose. Al-Ghazali, a man of
scholarship and meditation, says in his book Child, “Know, my child, that
knowledge without action is insanity, and the noblest action is service.” The chief malady of current education is that it
results in the disassociation of heart and head. It lays emphasis on the development of head, and does sharpen the
intellect to some extent. But more
essential is the liberation of the heart.
That will be done when the reason is awakened in sympathy for the poor,
the weak and the needy. Sacrifice grows
out of the heart, so the heart is required to be unfolded. The young
should: (i) strive after the ideal of sacrifice and not emotions (ii) be simple, for simplicity is strength; (iii)
learn to
cooperate with all, and not let differences in creed or political opinions stand
in the way of solidarity; (iv)
accept the creative idea, which regards
humanity as one and service as the end of all knowledge. Teachers should train students in the spirit of
sympathy and love, blending information with inspiration and knowledge with love. A man
may pass university examinations and yet remain ignorant of the
realities of life. He may have read a
thousand books, yet be no better than a boor.
But true education will make him truly cultured; and the soul of culture
is courtesy. Scholarship may be
proud; culture is humble. Paradoxically enough, culture and agriculture are
similar in many ways. The soul’s
Kshetra [field] must be cultivated by disciplining desires and emotions. Who could have put it better than Buddha
who, while dilating on the analogy, observed,
“I plow and sow and grown, and from my plowing and sowing, I reap immortal fruit. My field is religion;
the weeds I pick up are passions; my plow is wisdom; my seed is purity.” Our
Rishis have prayed, Tamso manifested Jyotirgamaya (“ Lead me from darkness to
light.”) But this darkness cannot be illumined in just a day.
Bricks, mortar, comforts and luxuries cannot give any such training. It is the proper atmosphere which can
deliver the goods; that is why emphasis in the school should be on atmosphere
more than on rules, textbooks and
buildings. The tender heart of a child calls for very delicate handling. In fact, education
begins even before birth and therefore better care must be bestowed upon every
pregnant mother. It is a constant association with gentle forces which breeds
virtuous persons. A child is the center of creative life. It needs to be opened as a flower is opened,
gently, by sympathy, not by force. Do not let the child be imprisoned in the
examination machine; never let him be snubbed and scolded. The fruits of fellowship are four-fold. The first
fruit is Artha, which indicates the economic aspect of education. The second is
Dharma, which preaches reverence for law. Kama provides for the freer and
fuller growth of human beings. The most important is, of course, the fourth
fruit, i.e. Moksha, the complete liberation. This is liberation from our petty
selves, which impels us to shed all our bigotry, narrow-mindedness, and
chauvinism. If education does not enable us to raise ourselves from the levels
of our ordinary selves, our average minds to heights above our normal vision,
it does not fulfill its very purpose.
It is a lamentable fact that present education, which should insure an
integrated growth of human personality, provides a very incomplete and
insufficient preparation for life. In this process, the situation of the school also
plays a major role. The German words
kindergarten is quite suggestive in this context. Kinder means child,
and garden, indicating that every
school should be situated in a lovely spot of nature. In ancient India, every Ashram was a garden of nature. The Manav Kendra is situated at a healthy
and picturesque spot in the Doon Valley, presenting a glorious and tempting
view of the snow-clad peaks of the Himalayas.
In the true tradition of Manav Kendra-the Man Center-it belongs to all
mankind for the creation of understanding, peace, and progress. The institution
is dedicated to the concrete realization of human unity and is projected as an
entirely new concept of integral education and moral living according to the
ethics of spirituality. Human body is the true Temple of God. God resides in
the temple of the made by Him in the womb of the mother, and not in the temples
made by the hands of man. Without an inner change, man can no longer cope with
the all-round development of his life.
To accomplish this vital and indispensable task, the very nature of
education has to be transformed so that it can give society young men and women
who are not only intellectually but emotionally trained for vigorous, realistic
and constructive leadership. We envisage such an atmosphere where persons will
be able to grow and develop integrally without losing contact with their souls. The aim is to make it a place where the needs of the
spirit and concern for human progress will take precedence over material
satisfactions, pleasures and enjoyment. Certainly the education will have to be
spiritually oriented and given, not with a view to passing examinations,
getting certificates and diplomas, and seeking employment, but for enriching
the existing moral, ethical and other faculties and opening up new vistas and
horizons to fulfill the dream of Reality. |