Role of Teachers in imparting Man-making and Nation-building Education

1. Role of Teachers in imparting Man-making and Nation-building Education Dr. M. Lakshmi Kumari

2. Let me start with a ? ? ? ?

3. When a plant is withering and dying is it better to water the leaves or the roots?

4. The answer to this with reference to Indian life lies in providing our children with value based education.

5. Life withers when truth is lost and society decays when dharma is lost. We have to enliven truth and dharma through proper educational and religious activities and aspirations.

6. Dharma sustains universe and all that is in it. In scientific terms if Dharma upholds the interconnectedness Interrelatedness and interdependence

7. Dharma is responsible for an individual’sAbhyudaya (achievement in individual material life) and Nishreyas (establishment of awareness of Truth in oneself)

8. Swami Vivekananda's definition of Education: Education is the manifestation of perfection already in man

9. Swami Vivekananda's concept of Education “My idea of education is Gurugriha. Without the personal life of the teacher, there would be no education. One should live from his very boyhood with one whose character is a blazing fire and should have before him a living example of the highest teaching. In our country the imparting of the knowledge has always been through men of renunciation. The charge of imparting knowledge should again fall upon the shoulders of tyagis.

10. Swami Vivekananda's concept of Education “Education is not the amount of information that is put into your brain and runs riot there undigested all your life. We must have life-building, man-making, character making assimilation of ideals. We want education by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased, the intellect is expanded, by which one can stand on one’s feet. What we want is Western science coupled with Vedanta, Brahmacharya as the guiding motto and also Shraddha and faith in one’s own life”.

11. Swami Vivekananda’s definition of religion: “Manifestation of divinity already in man”.

12. It is thus implied that there is Divinity all around us and through Education and Religion we should train ourselves to see perfection and divinity in the whole of creation. Only such an Education can build up character and manhood and offer scope for infinite expansion and evolution of the human personality.

14. What is perfection? There is a spark of the infinite power Satchidananda in every being. Realisation of this Self or Truth is the ultimate goal of life.

15. Education should lead to the realisation of this Truth - through training, pursuit of knowledge and self-effort Through such an Education all the different aspects of Education like Art, Science, Music, Literature etc. will all blossom in a unique way.

16. Three levels of expression: • 1. Integrating body mind and intellect through knowing one self - the Eternal Truth. • 2. Positive interactions with everything around without any unwanted competitions, petty jealousies etc. • 3. Thorough knowledge of one’s own national heritage so as to fit harmoniously into the national frame work. Need to develop national pride and love of Mother land.

17. Our unique National characteristics? “Satyam vada, Dharmam chara” Satyam param dimahi, Satyameva jayate Ekam sat Vipra bhahudha vadanti Vasudaiva kutumbakam

18. How much do we understand!!!! what this Satyam stands for? Are these values truly valid and practical? Are they scientific in modern terms? Is it possible to achieve transformation of an individual through Education of such values?

19. Variety of examples from our Itihasas and puranas like Sri Krishna Sri Rama Prahlada, Dhruva Shibi Harischandra and so on.

20. What great lessons can we learn from them? • How and why have we failed in present times? • How can we redeem the situation? • What are the obstacles? Education for Human Excellence, not in any one field but in life totally.

21. Education must help fashion excellent character out of very ordinary human raw material - culturing of qualities of head and heart in a way congenial to the growth and development of oneself and those around.

22. Qualities needed for this • Truthfulness • Righteousness, • purity in personal life, • self confidence, • integration of body mind and intellect, • love and compassion towards all living beings, • surrender to Almighty.

23. Bagavad Gita lists a number of such qualities by which a human being can become divine and inherit the “Kingdom of God”.

24. A truly educated man like a true Scientist is satisfied with nothing but the one truth of spiritual oneness.

25. Education & Cultural values: Education should be aimed at maintaining the cultural values of the land vibrant and ever fresh from generation to generation.

26. India’s culture is rooted in her spiritual values. Unless these values implicit and explicit in Indian culture find their way into the lives of students, education in India will loose its significance

27. Need for value based education: Recognition of the time tested cultural values should become a part of Education, for the continued maintenance of this perennial supply of spiritual values to the world culture at all times to come

28. What India can give no other country can!!!! An Indian minus this pride is no Indian at all.

29. Through this knowledge alone can a justifiable pride be generated in every youth and the appreciation of values chanalized into true patriotic fervor.

30. Ignorance of this makes our youth look elsewhere for inspiration and guidance, depriving them the vigour that one gets through one’s well nurtured roots.

31. Education also means imparting ethical idealism. Each country has its own ethics its ‘Sadachara’. For India it is based on spiritual values. All that is truly Indian emit the ever fresh fragrance of Indian spiritual culture.

32. Inculcating this ethical idealism in our youth is of paramount importance to keep the Indian society from going astray in the way of many others, in different parts of the world.

33. To keep India right on her spiritual track is a great responsibility which lies with the educationists, the teachers and the taught.

34. Education must contribute to • Personality development, • Make him understand what he really is • Having understood that perfection within, strive in every way to manifest it in the outer world.

35. When at least a semblance of this is achieved by a system of education then we can claim to have really knocked at the doors of knowledge.

36. Manifestation of knowledge means expression of this spiritual oneness in day to day life through all activities

37. Unfoldment of Perfection: By removing all the obstacles on the way to achieving perfection After realising manifest it in one’s own life and activities in a way to benefit the humanity.

38. True test of Education How the inner strength and knowledge are put to use for the advantage of those around.

39. Swamiji’s Karma yoga has this as its corner stone combining knowledge with action. So also does Sri Krishna speak of ‘Buddhi yoga’ in Bhagavad Gita.

40. Swami Vivekananda says “The goal in life is to manifest the divinity, by controlling nature external and internal”.

41. We have a duty to others. This Universe with all that it contains is the most beautiful of Almighty’s creations. The world and its people look ugly and evil only to those who do not Know how to reach out to God and are deprived of love and kindness in their own hearts. Once we train our minds to love Him, as well as what He has created, then our hearts would open up to perceive the beauty and harmony in the creation.

42. To become a Universal Man as Swamiji himself was Man with capital ‘M’ that must be our goal.

43. In each life there are three levels of unfoldment Individual, National & Universal

44. Individual: Build up our individual potentialities and talents to the best extent by incorporating time tested spiritual values satya and dharma in our lives. Our sashtras give all guidance in this connection (yoga, meditation etc,)

45. 2. National: Learn to link our life harmoniously with our nation’s values and traditions. For teachers involved in Man-making & Nation building programmes patriotism must have this deeper and fuller meaning,

46. that is, realising these values in our own lives so that our Motherland finds herself regenerated in each one of us. This is Swamiji’s ideal of Man making and Nation building.

47. 3. Universal: when our identification with the truth reaches its zenith there is an expansion of personality touching on the divine that is when small man grows into universal being a Jagat guru, a viswatma.

48. We must remember that we are children of this great Punyabhumi, Dharmabhoomi, Tyagabhoomi, Karmabhoomi, to mention just a few of them. Hidden behind these epithets lie the realisations of our ancient seers, who for the first time discovered the Oneness of Truth and its all pervasiveness, how this Truth can become practical in one’s life as Dharma, and in our work as Karma Yoga.

49. Combining them all - knowledge love and action - into one is the golden thread of renunciation the most potent of our national values. (tyaga bhumi)

50. Ekam sat vipra bhahuda vadanti