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| Friday, 25 June 2004 |
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Educare is True Education: A discourse by Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba by Chandima de Silva First and foremost, we must investigate the five principle aspects of education (the Panchantantra). These are: 1. What is education? Only when we recognize the inner significance of these Panchatantras can we know what true education is.
But today's education gives the students knowledge only about the external world. Only culture or refinement can develop good personality, and not this type of education. So, both education and culture are important. Today's education is devoid of culture and is like a counterfeit coin. Even a beggar does not accept this counterfeit coin. Then how can experienced and intelligent people accept such education? So, to satisfy everyone we must develop Educare. Education without refinement is like a dark room. Only bats can live in dark rooms; such rooms are filthy. So, by pursuing such education that is devoid of culture, our hearts have become dark rooms; hence, many animal qualities find their way into it. Education without culture is like a kite with a broken string. No one knows where it will fall and what damage it will cause to others. Therefore, such education does not benefit anyone. Only if education is blended with culture will it shine forth as true education. What is culture? It is the cultivation of discrimination between good and evil, sin and merit, and truth and untruth that we experience in our daily life. It is also removal of one's evil thoughts, feelings, and qualities and cultivation of good thoughts, feelings, and good qualities. Not only this, culture makes one broad-minded by getting rid of one's narrow mindedness. Today's education imparts only bookish knowledge, which really degrades a person. How long will this bookish knowledge last? It lasts as long as we keep it in our mind. It is not possible to put bookish knowledge into practice. One fills the head with bookish knowledge, goes to the examination hall, fills out the answer paper with it, and returns with an empty head! In effect, the head always remains empty. What we need today is not bookish knowledge, though we require it to a certain extent to cope with life in this world. But what is essential to us is knowledge of the Atma. Spiritual education is the highest education, says the Bhagavad-Gita. It starts with discrimination knowledge, which is like a perennial river. In the perennial rivers, the quantity of water may vary but not the quality. Therefore, students should understand that the quality of education is more important than is quantity. Degrees are not important, but the knowledge accomplished out of education is important. What is the meaning of education? It is not just accumulation of knowledge. "Education is not mere knowledge, it also includes action". Education, which originates from within, has a sound basis and is permanent. It is referred to as sathyam. A step higher than sathyam (truth) is ritam (absolute truth), as proclaimed in the Vedas. What we normally refer to as truth in daily life is merely a fact. People mistake bookish knowledge to be true education. No one today bothers about the aim of education. Education is for life and not for living. Today's education is aimed merely at eking out a livelihood. If mere living is the purpose, then how do birds and beasts live without any education? Even ants and mosquitoes, which do not have any education, live their lives. Is education for merely earning one's bread? What is the essence of education? What is the end of education? People answer this question by saying there is no end to education. Definitely there is an end to what we study from books. The end of education is character. Education without character is useless. Earlier, in Gurukulas, the sages took the students along with them wherever they went and taught them without conforming to any time schedule. This education was a continuous learning process. But today, in schools and colleges, education is limited to strict time schedules. Therefore, education has become limited. But true education, which moulds character, has no limits. When we learn about that which is 'limitless' we attain the end of education. Our character is reflected in our words, behaviour, and conduct in daily life. So we should speak pleasantly and should not hurt others with our harsh words. It is true that we cannot always oblige, but we can speak obligingly. You are pursing different types of education in different countries. But ultimately education should converge into Educare. That can be achieved gradually. Mere acquaintance with books and what is written on the blackboard cannot constitute education. True education throws open the doors of the mind. How can you enter a house with the doors closed? You desire many comforts and pleasures, and also aspire to virtues. For that, you have to open the doors of your mind first. Only then will absolute truth manifest in us. This absolute truth is all-pervasive. In our organization, we should not only wear a uniform dress, we should also develop a uniform mind. The basic thing to be achieved is purity of mind. There are many aspects in the modern educational system that we must understand. But we are not learning what we ought to. Instead, we are gathering irrelevant information. Mere learning of the contents of a book constitutes secular education. Education must be combined with Educare. Only then will you experience the bliss. What is the difference between 'education' and 'Educare'? Education is like insipid water; Educare is like sugar. Merely adding sugar to water does not make it sweet. Only on stirring does the sugar mix with the water and make it sweet. The heart is the tumbler, divinity is the sugar, and secular education is tasteless water. With intelligence as the spoon and enquiry as the process of stirring, we experience the all-pervasive divinity. That is true wisdom, which enables us to recognize the unity of all creation. |
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Produced by Lake House |
What is education? It is of two types. The first type is collection of
facts and knowledge about the external world and sharing them with
students. The second type is Educare. Educare involves deep understanding
of the knowledge that springs from within and imparting it to students.
