Spiritual Education

Education should make us think creatively, discover our talents and realise our potential. It is not merely about surviving. It is about living fully, growing and enjoying. It is not only about livelihood but about meaning. It is not only about what we can do, it is mainly about what we are. If it is mandatory to know the science of Matter, it is the requirement of life to know the secrets of our Self.

Education has become too objective, too dry, too ruthless, too scary, too accumulating, too rational, too selfish, too selective and too alienated. We want to make it more subjective, more enjoyable, more relaxed, more instinctive, more imaginative, more loving, more humanistic and all-inclusive.

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In Maramia, 'Most of the children are not learning anything'! ... some of our teachers in Maramia used to lament. 'Do not despair. Look at their backgrounds. They have been uprooted. Here they have built makeshift bamboo shelters on someone else's land. It is hardly a village, it's a slum. They live in miserable conditions. The men find some little work and throw away their earnings in gambling and country liquor. They beat up their wives, kick the children and scream profanities at night. 12-year old girls elope with 11-year old boys and within a couple of years they start to have children. After a few years the women again run away with someone else. Men also have parallel affairs with other women and bring more babies into the world through them. And almost each night a drunken brawl breaks out, everyone fights everyone else till the police step in to make a few arrests. The only thing that they can do together is to find an excuse to hire giant loudspeakers so that they can drink and dance with obscene music which invariably lead up to more violence and ugly fights.

These children are the first generation to fiddle with a slate and a chalk, a paper and a pencil, who try to open a text book while sitting in front of a teacher. Be grateful to God that their wretched parents have, at least, not stopped them from coming to you to get the benefit of free lessons. Some of them may never learn to spell their own names, add single- digit numbers, memorise the names of kings and wars and the details of the planets in our solar system. But here they are absorbing the atmosphere of another world where people do not scream and fight. They observe when you scold them. They hear another language, devoid of slangs and aggression. They feel the love in your smiles, the selflessness of your efforts. They notice your sincerity, your commitment...they learn a lot from all these things without your conscious trying. Ask them to take a shower before they come to the ashram, to comb their hair and cut their nails. Do the same yourself. They learn, they grow. Do not ever lie to them. They will stop lying to you'.

'Train them to keep the ashram clean. Once a week go on a cleaning spree with the children as a part of your class. Take out all the plastic and paper, burnt bidis and the rubbish from the grounds and throw them into the wastepaper baskets. They will learn to keep their bags tidy and to clean the sheets on which they sleep. Make them feel proud of the little things that they can do. Watering trees, making clay dolls, running fast or throwing a ball. Play with them, make them do exercises and yog, be absolutely fair and impartial in your treatment towards them. They will learn. They will learn life. And that is what really matters. Some of these children know that they are not making much progress in their studies. And yet they come every day. Why? This place is oxygen for them, a complete contrast to the little dark holes in the nights beside abusive families. It is a place that brings out the innocence, the beauty and the playful enjoyment of their inner being. Even subconsciously, automatically they will learn respect, decency, humility, confidence and communication. Touch them with a taste of what life can be and you will see how their eyes change from aggression to wonder, from suspicion to loyalty. Maybe they will not become scholars and graduates, some may not even go beyond the high school. But that will give them an opportunity to discover for themselves their tendencies in other areas, things that really matter to them. What they do is less important than HOW they do it. And they will never gamble and drink till they become monsters because they know the difference. And they will, one day, change the culture of their own homes'.

In fact, the change has been more dramatic than I had imagined. The slums have become a village. The violence and the fights have stopped completely. Women have become responsible mothers, the men have learned not to squander away their earnings. The language is changing, the people look more settled and motivated to improve the quality of their life. We are trying to impart a kind of life education by just being us. The society consumes enough of livelihood-centric education. It is time that we stress more on the art of living. The rest can take care of itself.