Education in relation with Spirituality

by Gaurav Srivastav, MBA 2005-07, IIIT Allahabad.

We live in a technological age which means that one must believe on the facts only after seeing them, though there are many things we can't see but only realize. In ancient times we only believed in what our inner self could realize, as the horizon of realization was wider then the limit of our eyes. In past sages devoted their life in search of realization and summing up their findings in holy books which we thought as gifts of god. This can be true, as god is in everyone and our soul is the manifestation of god and the principles derived by listening to our soul are none other than the teachings of god.

Now talking about teachings of god. We all know that we are not forced to follow the teachings of god but yet we do. Even though it is not a compulsion to help the needy yet we do so because when we help we realize that serving the poor brings internal satisfaction to us. If we try to write down all the teachings of god then there would be no space left in this world, as previously said that there is a limit that eyes can see. So, with your eyes you cant see all the things in life time but our soul can realize all the findings within a moment and that is why we all understand what is right and what is wrong. Yet we are not forced to do so but when we apply what we know is right, it is then we really bring peace to our inner self and lead to long term satisfaction.

From the above discussion we find that the most suitable way of teaching is not the forced teaching which is followed in classroom, instead is a scattered teaching where all fact and finding are available freely and student is not forced to follow any one that to after experimentation and trying to find out whether that study in reality can help them by making them more skilled in there field, then they pursue that education, it is only then that the purpose of teaching is solved.

From time immemorial we find that freedom attracts everyone as can be seen in case of sports, TV watching and other things that we are not forced to be a part of but we love being a part of it. Let's suppose the case of watching a movie and then appearing in the examination where the questions regarding the same movies have been asked.

If this is done on a regular basis when you are advised to watch a movie and come prepared for an exam next day then the same exercise of watching the movie becomes a burden rather then a source of entertainment as the freedom is lost. The same is the case with books , we like reading novels and storybooks as we are not forced to read them but we dislike the course books.

Take the example of Michael Faraday how he was attracted toward studies, being a book binder he came across lots of books and he used them to educate himself and in a short span of time he went through all the books as he was not forced to study but the freedom he had, made him a lover of books and obviously we all know his contribution in the field of Electromagnetic theories .

With the example of Michael faraday I am not neglecting the importance of the presence of teachers , even Michael faraday had acknowledged that in the absence of any teachers he was poor in mathematics and that is why he had to develop a graphical method called lines of forces to solve different electromagnetic problems which indeed was a very complex method as compared to the mathematical method.

Likewise we also need teachers to provide directions to those who are willing to learn from them .When this kind of freedom is there with the students they will understand the real importance of studies and then only the complete development of ones intellect take place.

One more equally important point of discussion is introducing meditation in studies, as by meditation one can realize the direction in which he can grow & prosper.

Meditation is the most efficient way of motivation as most of the time our mind is just wandering here and there in search of motivation. And for this he keeps on watching motivational movies ,reading motivational novels such as Alchemist yet the motivation produced by this way is impulsive and lasts only for a small time but the internal motivation brought up by meditation is long lasting, as it's the motivation induced in our minds by our own soul so that meditation helps us to grab each and every opportunity by our self and helps us to better utilize the resources present to us

To conclude we can say that to make a student intellectually sound we have to knock the doors of spirituality and find ways to expand their intellect.