SPIRITUALITY: THE SINGLE MOST VITAL EDUCATION-INGREDIENT
“Every individual is potentially divine, and this divinity can be manifested by controlling the nature both internally and externally”.
“Education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man. Education is not the amount of information that is put into your brain and runs riots there, undigested all your life. We must have life-building, man-making, character-making, assimilation of ideas. The end of all education, all training, should be man-making” [7].
Swami Vivekananda.
ABSTRACT
Education is per se regarded as an activity that is “charitable” in nature. Charity, a divine virtue, helps explore such other divine virtues as love, honesty, truth, tolerance, cooperation, integrity, etc., in man. In other words, education needs to turn to be a man making. Spirituality emancipates divine potential like charity. In this paper, it is argued that spirituality needs to be a basis, a foundation stone, of education without which education remains merely bulk of crude and cruel information, likely to turn man into passionate animal. Without spirituality, man cannot aspire to attain his total evolution leading towards perfection. Some tools, like, Namjap, devotion and dedication to the Almighty, etc., have been advocated to inculcate and attain spirituality, that is so essentially required in a teacher who can act as a vehicle of spirituality for his/her students. This paper presents some elements of Yogic Practices that can help promote spirituality in an individual. It has been pointed out that the ancient Indian “Gurukul” system was spiritual based that had shown unimaginable outcomes that today we can hardly think of. It is believed that the paper shall prove of interest to all concerned, especially those concerned with value education.
INTRODUCTION
The expression ”spirit” can be considered to be synonymous to the breath of life, the soul, a specter, vivacity, courage, mood, essence, real meaning, intent, etc. Spiritual means pertaining to spirit, and not essentially to material, mental, intellectual, ecclesiastical world. And spirituality indicates quality or state of being spiritual, spiritual nature or character. It is now accepted that spirituality plays a key role not only in one’s day-to-day routine life but also in such several other areas as manufacturing, management and medical sciences. International Congress of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry hopefully look towards spirituality and Yoga for attaining mental health. Spiritual and meditation (a spiritual technique) practices, it is reported, can help cure people [1]. What is spirituality? How to measure it? Spirit can be regarded like other concepts as “God”, gravity, vacuum, etc., which are felt, the effects are seen, but may not always be quantitatively measurable obviously because of the present scientific limitations. Can we measure love? If one cannot measure it, does it mean it does not exist? That is exactly what A Venkoba Rao, B C Roy award winner says: “If you cannot measure it, it does not mean it does not exist” [1].
One often comes across certain self queries that remain mostly unanswered throughout one’s life. For example: Who am I: brain, hands, heart, or what else? What is the aim/mission of my life: wealth, degrees, quality life, political power, more and more status/ recognition, name and fame, self-realization, or service to society? Are not these life’s attainments intertwined? Or do they stand in isolation? How can one resolve this issue and reach to an acceptable proposition? What are the ways to find out solutions to such awkward queries? Who will help me to decide/select the right path? From time immemorial, man is after such and similar queries. At times, man finds himself near to the solution, but the very next moment he finds himself as remote as he could imagine. However, education has been considered, from the time immemorial, as one of the prime paths invoking one’s spirit to resolve such queries. Education, therefore, is expected to deal with mundane activities of the world and beyond as well. The next section deals with some educational models.
THE EDUCATION MODELS
Undisputedly, the history of mankind uncovers the fact that a knowledge based technological society proves to be a competitive one, a society that generates welfare, well-being and prosperity. To achieve this, some models of education system can be as [2]:
1. Gurukul Model :
This is an ancient Indian model a few remains of which still can be perceived in India. It is duty, service, renunciation and spiritual based model. The peak of the scientific temper leads to spirituality. The pivotal point of the “Gurukul” system is the “Guru”, the most revered master in the society, and essentially a Yoga master. It is a time proven model transforming youths mainly through a learning process based on the Guru’s experiences and that of an individual. The Guru offers to one according to one’s potential making one useful to the society. The system was eco-friendly, students used to stay with the guru’s family away from cities, back to nature, and to learn through it. The system was flexible, e.g., it turned Bhima as the best wrestler and the best cook, and Arjuna as the best warrior and the best dancer.
2. Western Model :
The model is being used by most of the developed countries, like, USA, UK, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore, etc. It is right, materialistic and scientific temper based. It, being an outcome of industrial revolution, mainly deals with the promotion of economic prosperity, sometimes at the cost of social and moral ethics. It is more or less curriculum- lecturer-student oriented.
3. Indian (or British) Model :
This model is designed by the British in order to enable them to administer and control this vast country with the help of a few Indian natives, mostly coming from the privileged class. The model, even after 56 years of independence, still exists in the India. It essentially represents a lecture-based method of learning, and is curriculum-lecturer-student oriented.
4. PBL Model :
Most of the industrially advanced countries have introduced the Problem-Project Based Learning (PBL) model three decades ago. It is problem-coach-problem solver based and has three essential components, namely, learner identity, learning context and learning in relation. The essentials of the PBL model are: (a) curriculum around problem rather than discipline, integrated curriculum, and emphasis on cognitive skills, (b) conditions: small group working, tutorial instructions and active learning, and (c) outcomes: development of skills and motivation with ability for life long learning.
5. GYM Model :
This model is an attempt to put spirituality (the peak of scientific temper), industry/ societal needs and PBL model together. It represents the Yoga based Gurukul system combined with Strategic Quality Management oriented Problem Based Learning.
The education system all over the world has been rapidly changing since the last four decades. The system is under a heavy pressure because of such forceful factors as market demands and forces on one hand, and value based society on the other hand. This has compelled for world wide exploration of new but appropriate model(s). Many models like lecture-based, rote, learning by doing, etc., have been proposed. Scientific temper has been considered as one of the necessary characteristics of any education model. But these have hardly come to man’s rescue. What needs for creativity? For innovation? That is the intuition. Intuition is like a flash, a spontaneous pure thought entering suddenly into a clam or intensely concentrated but relaxed mind. Intuition is a divine potential, to be nurtured, a result of spirituality. Therefore, today, management sciences talk about “Management by Intuition”! In fact, a very few scientists like Einstein could realize that the peak of scientific temper leads to spirituality. What is spirituality is what the next section deals with.
SOME ASPECTS OF SPIRITUALITY
Though, it is a Herculean task to define spirituality, an attempt is made earlier to peep into the expressions, like, “spirit”, “spiritual” and “spirituality”. Can one define what is mind? Gravity? Electrical current? God? Infinity? Is it not an abstract idea? Does it not depend on one’s perception about it? In fact, such concepts in a true sense cannot be expressed in terms of some alphabets. The effects or results of such concepts are seen, if these are implemented in a true spirit (!). Likewise spirit is to be felt, to be experienced, to be realized by self. Naturally, the effects of spiritualism need to be understood. Spirit is that divine force within, which, if perceived correctly, leads to one for total evolution of man, the ideal of human life, which is nonexistent in animals due to lack of reasoning power. In a sense, man is endowed with this force or voice within. How to be communicative with this voice within? There are different paths advocated, rather prescribed by each religion, which, if observed in a true spirit (!), can lead man for self realization, salvation. Salvation is a very ambitious goal, achievable by a few great men, like, Swami Vivekananda, Adi Shankarcharya, Jesus Christ, Mohammad Paigamber. It is also seen that by observing the call of spirit, man can accomplish many great feats of worldly nature. But it is not the real objective of being a spiritual. Spirituality can be nurtured through various paths, like, a simple prayer, Bhakti, Namjap, Karmayoga, Dnyanyoga, being dutiful, etc. What exactly happens if a man adopts a spiritual path? It helps one to realize, and to have a proper perception about the true context of worldly affairs, its priority, importance, relevance. True perception of our acts is very important. True perception, it has been realized worldwide, leads to higher creativity, innovation, better vision and foresight, good decision making ability, positive and constructive approach, stressed free relaxed life, effective management, etc. For example, man is born with zero (i.e., nothing carried with) and leaves this world again with zero. What lies between these two zeros? Man carries out several major and minor activities during his life span, i.e., between two zero-points of life, achieves some goals and get joy and happiness, looses something and becomes sorrowful. Then what does lie between two zeros? Lo! It is one more Zero!! Is it not the true perception of life, for what one struggles throughout? But who does help to mold man for such a true perception? Parents, society, nature and most importantly the teacher. If a teacher realizes the true perception of his/her occupation, perhaps many of today’s ills, like, discontentment, corruption, terrorism, passions, antisocial activities, etc., shall have no place on the earth. Indeed, teachers have to play a vital role in building up the knowledge and technological society of the 21st century [3]. Education, therefore, is per se regarded as an activity that is charitable in nature [4]. And students and teachers are the very vital ingredients of the education process, the dynamic teaching and learning process. Thus, a teacher assumes the highest responsibility for making or marring the world. “Gurukul” system, as mentioned earlier, is spiritual based. It represents a process of total education, and encompasses all desirable characteristics that the education system is expected to possess, like, flexibility, eco-friendly, motto of service, renunciation and duty (and not of right?), to one according to one’s potential, multiple entry, students tuition and living free, no discrimination on the basis of sex, creed, religion, age, caste, etc. Therefore, it is vital that a teacher needs to be spiritually charged. How to achieve this? One of the widely accepted paths is Yoga. Some concepts of Gurukul system and Yoga are presented in the next section.
GURUKUL SYSTEM AND YOGA: SOME ASPECTS [2]
Every Hindu, man or woman, is recognized after his/her “Gotra”, i.e., after the name of a “Rishi”, a sage, a master knowledge teacher (Guru), and not after the name of any clan or lord as being observed in some Western countries, like, UK. This shows that from the time immemorial, man knows the significance of a knowledge teacher who can immensely contribute towards the societal development as a whole. These Gurus were men of uprightness, not only master of their subjects of expertise but also master of their minds, obviously an outcome of their Yogic practices. Renunciation and service to society was their motto. Gurus, who were fully supported by the society and king and given the highest respect and status, used to train students through various means and methods, like, physical exercise, reading of scientific and spiritual books, face to face discussion and interactive approach, recitation, to one according to one’s liking and capacity, staying away from cities in eco-friendly environment with their disciples and families, free tuition and living, flexible and cafeteria approach, flexible learning-timings/periods, full autonomy, etc. Such unique characteristics of the “Gurukul” perhaps can answer some of our queries:
1. How could Guru Dronacharya impart diversified education and training to Pandwas and Kaurawas: to Bhima as the best wrestler and the best chef, to Arjuna as the best warrior and the excellent dancer?
2. How could Arya Chanakya convert a village boy into a mighty emperor?
3. How could Dadaji Kindadeo convert Shivaji into the best statesman, the unique general, and the benevolent king?
4. How could an outcast Saint Dnyaneshwara write “Dnyaneshwary” barely at the age of sixteen and took “Samadhi” at the age of 22?
5. How could an almost illiterate Ramkrishna Paramhans transform a highly intellectual Narendra into Swami Vivekananda?
The ancient Indian education system, i.e., “Gurukul” is inseparable from Yoga. However, to understand the “Gurukul” system, it is necessary first to understand the Yoga, because Yoga deals with mind and education is interplay among minds!
Human psychology is a subtle base for all activities and endeavor of man. Patanjali, a great sage of micro-psychology of the ancient India, has propagated the concept of eight-folds (instruments) Yoga through a very compact and concise book entitled “Patanjali Yoga Sutras”. Table 1 summarizes these instruments.
Table 1. : Instruments of the Patanjali’s eight-fold Yoga [5, 6].
1 Yama (Abstinence)
Non-injury, non-falsehood, no stealing, non-indulgence, non-possession. Awareness of the patterns of modes of one’s habits. Cultured individual (See Sutra II-30).
2 Niyama (Observance)
Purity, contentment, simplicity, aspiration. Awareness of the patterns of modes of one’s habit (See Sutra II-32).
3 Asana (Postures)
Awareness of tension and relaxation in bodily postures and carriage.
4 Pranayama (Breath control)
Awareness of in-breathing and out-breathing.
5 Pratyahar (Abstraction)
Sensorial digression and perception inferences. Senses’ Reeducation.
6 Dharana (Awareness)
The drifts of thoughts and mind’s action in defining its own range of observations. Reeducation of mind. A state of physical awareness (psychological, physical perception: mental perception).
7 Dhyan (Attention)
Mind distraction and inattention. Extensive awareness.
8 Samadhi (Communion)
When an object is alone seen. Presence of an observer is completely negated.
It is quite interesting to note that the first four Yoga instruments take care of the outer world, whereas, the next four of the inner world. Further “Pratyahar” the fifth instrument works as a bridge connecting the first four Yoga instruments to the remaining three. The whole exercise of eight instruments of Yoga is aimed at non-conditioning of mind, facilitating the man to attain his/her ultimate goal (mission) of life and occupation [4]. In other words, only mind through meditation can take the man to the ultimate goal of life.
Mind Your MIND and MEDITATION: The ESSENCE [6]
Mind is housed in the cage of human body. The mind is get conditioned by the environment in which a man is brought up over a period of time. This period in fact commences right from the moment a baby is conceived in a mother’s womb. Mind accumulates and saves many experiences, feelings, emotions, and several other psyche matters through the five senses of human body. It means that mind is inclined to project (extrapolate) the future from the past. It thus always attempts to stay in a process of continuity. Obviously a conditioned mind can hardly stay in the present because for such a mind present is the future of the past and at the same time it is also the past of the future. Thus, the mind is in a constant habit of projecting future based on the past experiences, feelings, etc., and never lives in the present. In other words, mind stays in a continuity of time frame. Mind never goes in a timeless state. If anyhow, one could interrupt this continuing chain of thoughts, one can stay in an uninterrupted and timeless state which is really a thoughtless state of mind. However, it is next to impossible to achieve this state. In order to achieve this state, there is a need to bring out a state in which the body, nerves and mind must stay permanently in a pure state. But how does one to achieve this purity of body, nerves and mind? Here Patanjali comes to our rescue. Patanjali starts with the first four Yoga instruments (see Table 1), which duly take care of the outer world wherein an individual gets transformed, i.e., one becomes more and more cultured: a march towards Total Quality people. Obviously, these first four instruments deal with body and nerves trying to make these purer and purer. In such a healthy body, healthy mind resides. Abstinence and observance help in this regards. For instance, non-indulgence (Brahmacharya: not celibacy in a true sense) indicates such concepts as cessation of the frittering away of one’s energies, abstinence from all displays, synchronization of the event and experience, conservation of energy and also renewal of energy, etc. Likewise, all the first four Yoga instruments can be analyzed and represented. Why are all these chores essential? This is essential because observed is always a projection of an observer, i.e., the mind. To put it simply, one perceives what the mind wants to perceive which may be far away from the truth. For instance, one gets a feel of a serpent on a rope lying in dark. The first four instruments help us march towards the truth. “Pratyahar”, as mentioned earlier, is a bridge joining the first four Yoga instruments to the remaining three. It points towards sensorial digression and perception inferences. It generates a state of relaxation. Relaxation is an outcome of reeducation of both senses and mind. This leads to a process of meditation, an effortless (relaxed) type of concentration involving only total (relaxed) attention, which brings about the true perception of the focal point in the thoughtless, timeless, and totally empty mind. Swami Vivekananda also advocates “There is only one method by which to attain knowledge, that which is called concentration” [7].
Meditation thus means to see with absolute clarity a stream of thoughts. However, meditation is not a thought process. It is a clear and uninterrupted observation of a thought process. This thought process emanates from the focal point: that subject or problem on which one wishes to focus one’s total attention. Meditation is indeed emptying of the mind of all its contents. Surprisingly enough, however, mind cannot be emptied, it empties itself. Thus, meditation can be considered as a three fold process of awareness, attention and communion, i.e., the last three instruments (see Sutra III-4 of “Patanjali Yoga Sutras”). Today one hears much fuss about deteriorating quality of education. Is it really so? What is the quality assessment measures adopted in the Indian education system during the last six decades? One can easily point out that present infrastructure including qualifications of teachers is better than that available in the past, but the teachers of the past carried certain remains and values, although in a much diluted form, of the “Gurukul” system. How to overcome this issue? What is the ultimate goal of education? It is to evolve a total quality life of students throughout their life cycle generating Total Quality People. And to produce such students is indeed a creative job demanding certain personal sacrifices on the teacher’s part. Yoga can help generate such perception of the job. To sum up, though extraneous factors like infrastructure, academic qualifications, teaching aids like multimedia, training, etc., no doubt play an important role, but the factors “within” play even a more vital role. Gurus were in line with this.
It is quite interesting to see Yoga model vis a vis some models of this era. For example, Maslow’s motivation model cannot reason out why a few (great) personalities go on working independently, free from the clutches of hierarchical needs of motivation. Maslow calls them as self actualized people. In fact, self actualization, the ending point of the Maslow’s motivation model, is the very starting point for the Patanjali’s model. Another interesting model is that of Covey which deals with seven habits of highly effective people [8]. These seven habits are:
1. Be proactive.
2. Begin with the end in mind.
3. Put first things first.
4. Think win/win.
5. See first to understand, then to be understood.
6. Synergize.
7. Sharpen the saw.
Cavey has classified these habits in three main domains, namely, first three habits as private victory (paradigm of dependence to independence), next three as public victory (paradigm of independence to interdependence) and the last one as renewal. The Patanjali’s Yoga model presents nano analyses of human psyche which certainly assures formation of seven habits and much beyond that.
In a nutshell, the process of education can be effective and result oriented, if the teachers are trained in spiritualism that in turn can obviously nurture the students, inculcate among them the divine virtues and make the individual and society at large, a place of joy and prosperity. Further, spiritual based (oriented) education does inherit value education as its one of the natural constituents. A simple prayer and/or a few Yogic practices has/have shown wonderful results almost in all walks of life, may be manufacturing, social, scientific research, education and training, sports, cultural activities, and even in cases of criminals in jails! Spiritual based education and spiritual teachers is the call of the 21st Century. Spirituality, thus, indeed forms the single most vital education ingredient.
SCOPE FOR FUTURE WORK
All over the world, the significance of Yoga has been realized. How to propagate, inculcate, organize, and nurture it as a part of the education process in a way; that a common man understands and adopts it, especially in teachers, is a matter of great concern and research.
CONCLUSIONS
Education is per se regarded as an activity that is charitable in nature. Charity is a manifestation of spirituality. Spirituality invokes divine potential within, its observance gives true perception of whatever a man does or desires to do, viz., occupation. It offers vision, foresight, good decision making ability, positive approach, etc., and helps make one’s life contented, stress free and relaxed, peaceful, tranquil, joyful, happy and prosperous. It has been argued that molding of minds plays a vital role in generating Total Quality People, the worthy citizens of society. This is done through a process called education and training. Students and teachers are the two vital ingredients of the education process. Therefore, a teacher has to have a real perception of his/her occupation, responsibility and accountability. This can happen by making a teacher spiritual one, preferably by such simple means as prayer and/or observing certain Yogic practices. The importance of mind’s play and its control through Yoga has been presented but briefly. It has been argued that since the Gurus of the Gurukul system were spiritual oriented, they could possess many desirable divine traits a teacher is supposed to have. In fact, Gurukul system was a total approach towards education and training. Today’s piecemeal approach to education depicts such desirable things as cafeteria approach, flexibility, anytime-anywhere, etc., but in isolation, and hardly presents total education, the man making education. Hence, it is proposed that a teacher needs a base/training in Yogic practices. It can enhance teacher’s spiritual base, making him/her more creative, proactive, innovative, and above all divine. A teacher thus will have the true perception of his/her occupation who can then act as a change agent bringing about astonishing results and transformation in society.
REFERENCES
[1] Jain K, 2002, Spiritual healing speeds recovery, The daily Times of India, 2nd November, p.11.
[2] Waghodekar P H, and Tekawade B Y, 2002, GYM: A Model for Education, proceedings of the National Confluence on “Alternate Learning Orientations: Future Challenges”, organized by Dayanand Institute of Education Management and Research, Navi Mumbai, at Hotel Le Meridian, Pune, 30 November-1 December.
[3] Waghodekar P H, and Tekawade B Y, 2001, Knowledge Teachers for Knowledge Society, proceedings of the 6th Maharashtra-Goa ISTE Section Convention, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University, Lonere, 14-15 December, pp. 1-9.
[4] Anon, 2002, Supreme Court of India Judgment, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 317 of 2002, New Delhi, 31st October, p. 13.
[5] Waghodekar P H, 2001, On Some Aspects of the Patanjali-Meditation Model for Effective Job Performance, Industrial Engineering Journal, Vol. XXX, No. 2, February, pp. 28-32.
[6] Mehta Rohit, 1990, Yoga: The Art of Integration (A Commentary on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali), II Reprint, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House.
[7] Avinashilingam, T S, 1943, Education: Complied from the Speeches and Writings of Swami Vivekananda, Madras: Sri Ramkrishna Math.
[8] Covey S R, 1994, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Restoring the Character Ethic, London: Simon & Schuster Ltd.
********
“Every individual is potentially divine, and this divinity can be manifested by controlling the nature both internally and externally”.
“Education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man. Education is not the amount of information that is put into your brain and runs riots there, undigested all your life. We must have life-building, man-making, character-making, assimilation of ideas. The end of all education, all training, should be man-making” [7].
Swami Vivekananda.
ABSTRACT
Education is per se regarded as an activity that is “charitable” in nature. Charity, a divine virtue, helps explore such other divine virtues as love, honesty, truth, tolerance, cooperation, integrity, etc., in man. In other words, education needs to turn to be a man making. Spirituality emancipates divine potential like charity. In this paper, it is argued that spirituality needs to be a basis, a foundation stone, of education without which education remains merely bulk of crude and cruel information, likely to turn man into passionate animal. Without spirituality, man cannot aspire to attain his total evolution leading towards perfection. Some tools, like, Namjap, devotion and dedication to the Almighty, etc., have been advocated to inculcate and attain spirituality, that is so essentially required in a teacher who can act as a vehicle of spirituality for his/her students. This paper presents some elements of Yogic Practices that can help promote spirituality in an individual. It has been pointed out that the ancient Indian “Gurukul” system was spiritual based that had shown unimaginable outcomes that today we can hardly think of. It is believed that the paper shall prove of interest to all concerned, especially those concerned with value education.
INTRODUCTION
The expression ”spirit” can be considered to be synonymous to the breath of life, the soul, a specter, vivacity, courage, mood, essence, real meaning, intent, etc. Spiritual means pertaining to spirit, and not essentially to material, mental, intellectual, ecclesiastical world. And spirituality indicates quality or state of being spiritual, spiritual nature or character. It is now accepted that spirituality plays a key role not only in one’s day-to-day routine life but also in such several other areas as manufacturing, management and medical sciences. International Congress of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry hopefully look towards spirituality and Yoga for attaining mental health. Spiritual and meditation (a spiritual technique) practices, it is reported, can help cure people [1]. What is spirituality? How to measure it? Spirit can be regarded like other concepts as “God”, gravity, vacuum, etc., which are felt, the effects are seen, but may not always be quantitatively measurable obviously because of the present scientific limitations. Can we measure love? If one cannot measure it, does it mean it does not exist? That is exactly what A Venkoba Rao, B C Roy award winner says: “If you cannot measure it, it does not mean it does not exist” [1].
One often comes across certain self queries that remain mostly unanswered throughout one’s life. For example: Who am I: brain, hands, heart, or what else? What is the aim/mission of my life: wealth, degrees, quality life, political power, more and more status/ recognition, name and fame, self-realization, or service to society? Are not these life’s attainments intertwined? Or do they stand in isolation? How can one resolve this issue and reach to an acceptable proposition? What are the ways to find out solutions to such awkward queries? Who will help me to decide/select the right path? From time immemorial, man is after such and similar queries. At times, man finds himself near to the solution, but the very next moment he finds himself as remote as he could imagine. However, education has been considered, from the time immemorial, as one of the prime paths invoking one’s spirit to resolve such queries. Education, therefore, is expected to deal with mundane activities of the world and beyond as well. The next section deals with some educational models.
THE EDUCATION MODELS
Undisputedly, the history of mankind uncovers the fact that a knowledge based technological society proves to be a competitive one, a society that generates welfare, well-being and prosperity. To achieve this, some models of education system can be as [2]:
1. Gurukul Model :
This is an ancient Indian model a few remains of which still can be perceived in India. It is duty, service, renunciation and spiritual based model. The peak of the scientific temper leads to spirituality. The pivotal point of the “Gurukul” system is the “Guru”, the most revered master in the society, and essentially a Yoga master. It is a time proven model transforming youths mainly through a learning process based on the Guru’s experiences and that of an individual. The Guru offers to one according to one’s potential making one useful to the society. The system was eco-friendly, students used to stay with the guru’s family away from cities, back to nature, and to learn through it. The system was flexible, e.g., it turned Bhima as the best wrestler and the best cook, and Arjuna as the best warrior and the best dancer.
2. Western Model :
The model is being used by most of the developed countries, like, USA, UK, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore, etc. It is right, materialistic and scientific temper based. It, being an outcome of industrial revolution, mainly deals with the promotion of economic prosperity, sometimes at the cost of social and moral ethics. It is more or less curriculum- lecturer-student oriented.
3. Indian (or British) Model :
This model is designed by the British in order to enable them to administer and control this vast country with the help of a few Indian natives, mostly coming from the privileged class. The model, even after 56 years of independence, still exists in the India. It essentially represents a lecture-based method of learning, and is curriculum-lecturer-student oriented.
4. PBL Model :
Most of the industrially advanced countries have introduced the Problem-Project Based Learning (PBL) model three decades ago. It is problem-coach-problem solver based and has three essential components, namely, learner identity, learning context and learning in relation. The essentials of the PBL model are: (a) curriculum around problem rather than discipline, integrated curriculum, and emphasis on cognitive skills, (b) conditions: small group working, tutorial instructions and active learning, and (c) outcomes: development of skills and motivation with ability for life long learning.
5. GYM Model :
This model is an attempt to put spirituality (the peak of scientific temper), industry/ societal needs and PBL model together. It represents the Yoga based Gurukul system combined with Strategic Quality Management oriented Problem Based Learning.
The education system all over the world has been rapidly changing since the last four decades. The system is under a heavy pressure because of such forceful factors as market demands and forces on one hand, and value based society on the other hand. This has compelled for world wide exploration of new but appropriate model(s). Many models like lecture-based, rote, learning by doing, etc., have been proposed. Scientific temper has been considered as one of the necessary characteristics of any education model. But these have hardly come to man’s rescue. What needs for creativity? For innovation? That is the intuition. Intuition is like a flash, a spontaneous pure thought entering suddenly into a clam or intensely concentrated but relaxed mind. Intuition is a divine potential, to be nurtured, a result of spirituality. Therefore, today, management sciences talk about “Management by Intuition”! In fact, a very few scientists like Einstein could realize that the peak of scientific temper leads to spirituality. What is spirituality is what the next section deals with.
SOME ASPECTS OF SPIRITUALITY
Though, it is a Herculean task to define spirituality, an attempt is made earlier to peep into the expressions, like, “spirit”, “spiritual” and “spirituality”. Can one define what is mind? Gravity? Electrical current? God? Infinity? Is it not an abstract idea? Does it not depend on one’s perception about it? In fact, such concepts in a true sense cannot be expressed in terms of some alphabets. The effects or results of such concepts are seen, if these are implemented in a true spirit (!). Likewise spirit is to be felt, to be experienced, to be realized by self. Naturally, the effects of spiritualism need to be understood. Spirit is that divine force within, which, if perceived correctly, leads to one for total evolution of man, the ideal of human life, which is nonexistent in animals due to lack of reasoning power. In a sense, man is endowed with this force or voice within. How to be communicative with this voice within? There are different paths advocated, rather prescribed by each religion, which, if observed in a true spirit (!), can lead man for self realization, salvation. Salvation is a very ambitious goal, achievable by a few great men, like, Swami Vivekananda, Adi Shankarcharya, Jesus Christ, Mohammad Paigamber. It is also seen that by observing the call of spirit, man can accomplish many great feats of worldly nature. But it is not the real objective of being a spiritual. Spirituality can be nurtured through various paths, like, a simple prayer, Bhakti, Namjap, Karmayoga, Dnyanyoga, being dutiful, etc. What exactly happens if a man adopts a spiritual path? It helps one to realize, and to have a proper perception about the true context of worldly affairs, its priority, importance, relevance. True perception of our acts is very important. True perception, it has been realized worldwide, leads to higher creativity, innovation, better vision and foresight, good decision making ability, positive and constructive approach, stressed free relaxed life, effective management, etc. For example, man is born with zero (i.e., nothing carried with) and leaves this world again with zero. What lies between these two zeros? Man carries out several major and minor activities during his life span, i.e., between two zero-points of life, achieves some goals and get joy and happiness, looses something and becomes sorrowful. Then what does lie between two zeros? Lo! It is one more Zero!! Is it not the true perception of life, for what one struggles throughout? But who does help to mold man for such a true perception? Parents, society, nature and most importantly the teacher. If a teacher realizes the true perception of his/her occupation, perhaps many of today’s ills, like, discontentment, corruption, terrorism, passions, antisocial activities, etc., shall have no place on the earth. Indeed, teachers have to play a vital role in building up the knowledge and technological society of the 21st century [3]. Education, therefore, is per se regarded as an activity that is charitable in nature [4]. And students and teachers are the very vital ingredients of the education process, the dynamic teaching and learning process. Thus, a teacher assumes the highest responsibility for making or marring the world. “Gurukul” system, as mentioned earlier, is spiritual based. It represents a process of total education, and encompasses all desirable characteristics that the education system is expected to possess, like, flexibility, eco-friendly, motto of service, renunciation and duty (and not of right?), to one according to one’s potential, multiple entry, students tuition and living free, no discrimination on the basis of sex, creed, religion, age, caste, etc. Therefore, it is vital that a teacher needs to be spiritually charged. How to achieve this? One of the widely accepted paths is Yoga. Some concepts of Gurukul system and Yoga are presented in the next section.
GURUKUL SYSTEM AND YOGA: SOME ASPECTS [2]
Every Hindu, man or woman, is recognized after his/her “Gotra”, i.e., after the name of a “Rishi”, a sage, a master knowledge teacher (Guru), and not after the name of any clan or lord as being observed in some Western countries, like, UK. This shows that from the time immemorial, man knows the significance of a knowledge teacher who can immensely contribute towards the societal development as a whole. These Gurus were men of uprightness, not only master of their subjects of expertise but also master of their minds, obviously an outcome of their Yogic practices. Renunciation and service to society was their motto. Gurus, who were fully supported by the society and king and given the highest respect and status, used to train students through various means and methods, like, physical exercise, reading of scientific and spiritual books, face to face discussion and interactive approach, recitation, to one according to one’s liking and capacity, staying away from cities in eco-friendly environment with their disciples and families, free tuition and living, flexible and cafeteria approach, flexible learning-timings/periods, full autonomy, etc. Such unique characteristics of the “Gurukul” perhaps can answer some of our queries:
1. How could Guru Dronacharya impart diversified education and training to Pandwas and Kaurawas: to Bhima as the best wrestler and the best chef, to Arjuna as the best warrior and the excellent dancer?
2. How could Arya Chanakya convert a village boy into a mighty emperor?
3. How could Dadaji Kindadeo convert Shivaji into the best statesman, the unique general, and the benevolent king?
4. How could an outcast Saint Dnyaneshwara write “Dnyaneshwary” barely at the age of sixteen and took “Samadhi” at the age of 22?
5. How could an almost illiterate Ramkrishna Paramhans transform a highly intellectual Narendra into Swami Vivekananda?
The ancient Indian education system, i.e., “Gurukul” is inseparable from Yoga. However, to understand the “Gurukul” system, it is necessary first to understand the Yoga, because Yoga deals with mind and education is interplay among minds!
Human psychology is a subtle base for all activities and endeavor of man. Patanjali, a great sage of micro-psychology of the ancient India, has propagated the concept of eight-folds (instruments) Yoga through a very compact and concise book entitled “Patanjali Yoga Sutras”. Table 1 summarizes these instruments.
Table 1. : Instruments of the Patanjali’s eight-fold Yoga [5, 6].
1 Yama (Abstinence)
Non-injury, non-falsehood, no stealing, non-indulgence, non-possession. Awareness of the patterns of modes of one’s habits. Cultured individual (See Sutra II-30).
2 Niyama (Observance)
Purity, contentment, simplicity, aspiration. Awareness of the patterns of modes of one’s habit (See Sutra II-32).
3 Asana (Postures)
Awareness of tension and relaxation in bodily postures and carriage.
4 Pranayama (Breath control)
Awareness of in-breathing and out-breathing.
5 Pratyahar (Abstraction)
Sensorial digression and perception inferences. Senses’ Reeducation.
6 Dharana (Awareness)
The drifts of thoughts and mind’s action in defining its own range of observations. Reeducation of mind. A state of physical awareness (psychological, physical perception: mental perception).
7 Dhyan (Attention)
Mind distraction and inattention. Extensive awareness.
8 Samadhi (Communion)
When an object is alone seen. Presence of an observer is completely negated.
It is quite interesting to note that the first four Yoga instruments take care of the outer world, whereas, the next four of the inner world. Further “Pratyahar” the fifth instrument works as a bridge connecting the first four Yoga instruments to the remaining three. The whole exercise of eight instruments of Yoga is aimed at non-conditioning of mind, facilitating the man to attain his/her ultimate goal (mission) of life and occupation [4]. In other words, only mind through meditation can take the man to the ultimate goal of life.
Mind Your MIND and MEDITATION: The ESSENCE [6]
Mind is housed in the cage of human body. The mind is get conditioned by the environment in which a man is brought up over a period of time. This period in fact commences right from the moment a baby is conceived in a mother’s womb. Mind accumulates and saves many experiences, feelings, emotions, and several other psyche matters through the five senses of human body. It means that mind is inclined to project (extrapolate) the future from the past. It thus always attempts to stay in a process of continuity. Obviously a conditioned mind can hardly stay in the present because for such a mind present is the future of the past and at the same time it is also the past of the future. Thus, the mind is in a constant habit of projecting future based on the past experiences, feelings, etc., and never lives in the present. In other words, mind stays in a continuity of time frame. Mind never goes in a timeless state. If anyhow, one could interrupt this continuing chain of thoughts, one can stay in an uninterrupted and timeless state which is really a thoughtless state of mind. However, it is next to impossible to achieve this state. In order to achieve this state, there is a need to bring out a state in which the body, nerves and mind must stay permanently in a pure state. But how does one to achieve this purity of body, nerves and mind? Here Patanjali comes to our rescue. Patanjali starts with the first four Yoga instruments (see Table 1), which duly take care of the outer world wherein an individual gets transformed, i.e., one becomes more and more cultured: a march towards Total Quality people. Obviously, these first four instruments deal with body and nerves trying to make these purer and purer. In such a healthy body, healthy mind resides. Abstinence and observance help in this regards. For instance, non-indulgence (Brahmacharya: not celibacy in a true sense) indicates such concepts as cessation of the frittering away of one’s energies, abstinence from all displays, synchronization of the event and experience, conservation of energy and also renewal of energy, etc. Likewise, all the first four Yoga instruments can be analyzed and represented. Why are all these chores essential? This is essential because observed is always a projection of an observer, i.e., the mind. To put it simply, one perceives what the mind wants to perceive which may be far away from the truth. For instance, one gets a feel of a serpent on a rope lying in dark. The first four instruments help us march towards the truth. “Pratyahar”, as mentioned earlier, is a bridge joining the first four Yoga instruments to the remaining three. It points towards sensorial digression and perception inferences. It generates a state of relaxation. Relaxation is an outcome of reeducation of both senses and mind. This leads to a process of meditation, an effortless (relaxed) type of concentration involving only total (relaxed) attention, which brings about the true perception of the focal point in the thoughtless, timeless, and totally empty mind. Swami Vivekananda also advocates “There is only one method by which to attain knowledge, that which is called concentration” [7].
Meditation thus means to see with absolute clarity a stream of thoughts. However, meditation is not a thought process. It is a clear and uninterrupted observation of a thought process. This thought process emanates from the focal point: that subject or problem on which one wishes to focus one’s total attention. Meditation is indeed emptying of the mind of all its contents. Surprisingly enough, however, mind cannot be emptied, it empties itself. Thus, meditation can be considered as a three fold process of awareness, attention and communion, i.e., the last three instruments (see Sutra III-4 of “Patanjali Yoga Sutras”). Today one hears much fuss about deteriorating quality of education. Is it really so? What is the quality assessment measures adopted in the Indian education system during the last six decades? One can easily point out that present infrastructure including qualifications of teachers is better than that available in the past, but the teachers of the past carried certain remains and values, although in a much diluted form, of the “Gurukul” system. How to overcome this issue? What is the ultimate goal of education? It is to evolve a total quality life of students throughout their life cycle generating Total Quality People. And to produce such students is indeed a creative job demanding certain personal sacrifices on the teacher’s part. Yoga can help generate such perception of the job. To sum up, though extraneous factors like infrastructure, academic qualifications, teaching aids like multimedia, training, etc., no doubt play an important role, but the factors “within” play even a more vital role. Gurus were in line with this.
It is quite interesting to see Yoga model vis a vis some models of this era. For example, Maslow’s motivation model cannot reason out why a few (great) personalities go on working independently, free from the clutches of hierarchical needs of motivation. Maslow calls them as self actualized people. In fact, self actualization, the ending point of the Maslow’s motivation model, is the very starting point for the Patanjali’s model. Another interesting model is that of Covey which deals with seven habits of highly effective people [8]. These seven habits are:
1. Be proactive.
2. Begin with the end in mind.
3. Put first things first.
4. Think win/win.
5. See first to understand, then to be understood.
6. Synergize.
7. Sharpen the saw.
Cavey has classified these habits in three main domains, namely, first three habits as private victory (paradigm of dependence to independence), next three as public victory (paradigm of independence to interdependence) and the last one as renewal. The Patanjali’s Yoga model presents nano analyses of human psyche which certainly assures formation of seven habits and much beyond that.
In a nutshell, the process of education can be effective and result oriented, if the teachers are trained in spiritualism that in turn can obviously nurture the students, inculcate among them the divine virtues and make the individual and society at large, a place of joy and prosperity. Further, spiritual based (oriented) education does inherit value education as its one of the natural constituents. A simple prayer and/or a few Yogic practices has/have shown wonderful results almost in all walks of life, may be manufacturing, social, scientific research, education and training, sports, cultural activities, and even in cases of criminals in jails! Spiritual based education and spiritual teachers is the call of the 21st Century. Spirituality, thus, indeed forms the single most vital education ingredient.
SCOPE FOR FUTURE WORK
All over the world, the significance of Yoga has been realized. How to propagate, inculcate, organize, and nurture it as a part of the education process in a way; that a common man understands and adopts it, especially in teachers, is a matter of great concern and research.
CONCLUSIONS
Education is per se regarded as an activity that is charitable in nature. Charity is a manifestation of spirituality. Spirituality invokes divine potential within, its observance gives true perception of whatever a man does or desires to do, viz., occupation. It offers vision, foresight, good decision making ability, positive approach, etc., and helps make one’s life contented, stress free and relaxed, peaceful, tranquil, joyful, happy and prosperous. It has been argued that molding of minds plays a vital role in generating Total Quality People, the worthy citizens of society. This is done through a process called education and training. Students and teachers are the two vital ingredients of the education process. Therefore, a teacher has to have a real perception of his/her occupation, responsibility and accountability. This can happen by making a teacher spiritual one, preferably by such simple means as prayer and/or observing certain Yogic practices. The importance of mind’s play and its control through Yoga has been presented but briefly. It has been argued that since the Gurus of the Gurukul system were spiritual oriented, they could possess many desirable divine traits a teacher is supposed to have. In fact, Gurukul system was a total approach towards education and training. Today’s piecemeal approach to education depicts such desirable things as cafeteria approach, flexibility, anytime-anywhere, etc., but in isolation, and hardly presents total education, the man making education. Hence, it is proposed that a teacher needs a base/training in Yogic practices. It can enhance teacher’s spiritual base, making him/her more creative, proactive, innovative, and above all divine. A teacher thus will have the true perception of his/her occupation who can then act as a change agent bringing about astonishing results and transformation in society.
REFERENCES
[1] Jain K, 2002, Spiritual healing speeds recovery, The daily Times of India, 2nd November, p.11.
[2] Waghodekar P H, and Tekawade B Y, 2002, GYM: A Model for Education, proceedings of the National Confluence on “Alternate Learning Orientations: Future Challenges”, organized by Dayanand Institute of Education Management and Research, Navi Mumbai, at Hotel Le Meridian, Pune, 30 November-1 December.
[3] Waghodekar P H, and Tekawade B Y, 2001, Knowledge Teachers for Knowledge Society, proceedings of the 6th Maharashtra-Goa ISTE Section Convention, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University, Lonere, 14-15 December, pp. 1-9.
[4] Anon, 2002, Supreme Court of India Judgment, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 317 of 2002, New Delhi, 31st October, p. 13.
[5] Waghodekar P H, 2001, On Some Aspects of the Patanjali-Meditation Model for Effective Job Performance, Industrial Engineering Journal, Vol. XXX, No. 2, February, pp. 28-32.
[6] Mehta Rohit, 1990, Yoga: The Art of Integration (A Commentary on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali), II Reprint, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House.
[7] Avinashilingam, T S, 1943, Education: Complied from the Speeches and Writings of Swami Vivekananda, Madras: Sri Ramkrishna Math.
[8] Covey S R, 1994, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Restoring the Character Ethic, London: Simon & Schuster Ltd.
********
