Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Education

Even within my life-time I have seen how so-called education had become little more than job preparation — and I am speaking here only about worldly education. I could go on and on about this—about the decline of the arts and literature — about children's inability to think or concentrate — about how people increasingly are terrified of being alone. Of course, this is how things are in the Kali Yuga — the age of darkness.
In the following excerpt, Upasani Maharaj speaks alluded to a different kind of education — for want of a better term, a spiritual education. This education is not our common Sunday school education; it is not the screaming and preaching we hear from the rabbis, priests, imams, and dasturs of all the world’s isms. No, the education Upasani is speaking about is quite simple, quite normal, and quite easy to live. No great intellect is necessary to grasp it; no special state of consciousness is required to attain it; has more to do with the heart than the head and it leads to real happiness and the ultimate infinite bliss.

The Talks of Sadguru Upasani-Baba Maharaja
Volume II Part B
Pages 708 – 708

The present mode of education neither teaches how to establish God within, nor how to have plenty of worldly pleasures; it does not lead one to mental and physical strength and happiness. The present education does not teach the people even to provide for their simple needs and simple food; it only leads to suffering. Whatever improvements are thought of pertaining to it only resulting in increasing the suffering of the country; no wonder that everybody is unhappy, discontented and suffering today.
It is hence very essential to give the spiritual education right from the beginning. Being educated in the modern way, everybody fills his heart with all sorts of worldly thoughts that only lead to a life of continuous discontent and suffering; then in old age, bent down with that suffering, people begin to look to their religion — to God. Some approach a Satpurusha, put forth the history of their suffering and request of him his Anugraha (his grace). But when one’s whole life has been spent in a worldly way, when the heart is full of worldly thoughts and is continuously habituated to them, how can one expect to get God’s grace? How can you have a proper solid building on a foundation of sand? The state of the heart and the way of life of the people these days resemble a weak — faulty — a sandy foundation.

1 Comments:

Anonymous keysunset said...

One thing that I think this excerpt does, is place a responsibility on parents and other adults in contact with children to be a pointer to God from the child's infancy. As adults, people make their own choices, but without a background of spiritual education, what type of informed choices can people make? And what type of life do they lead. I think we can look around and see evidence of that.

12:24 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home