Kamal Ghorui
Education as a process for preparation of mind for living & working yet remaining oriented towards self-realization
1) Some Key Features of National Education Policy, NEP 20: To promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Less content, and more towards learning about how to think critically and solve problems. Education must build character, enable learners to be ethical, rational, compassionate, and caring. Development of the creative potential of each individual. Social, ethical, and emotional capacities and dispositions.
The rich heritage of ancient and eternal Indian knowledge and thought must be the guiding light for envisioning education towards a Naitik and Viksit Bharat based on GOI vision of i) Karma Yogi ii) ‘One World. One Family. One Future’ iii) Kartavya-palan iv) Nagarik Devo Bhava…
Education and Schooling shouldn’t be mere pursuit of Knowledge for material success; growing up must be a process of Imbibing knowledge as Wisdom & Truth, guided towards the highest human goal; this is the USP of India that is Bharat. Thus, aim of education must be not mere acquisition of knowledge as preparation for life in this world, or life beyond schooling, but for the complete realization and liberation of the self. Indian culture and philosophy are in total harmony with Global and International philosophies:
International Yoga Day. Karma Yoga (Actions/work as yoga). Devotion as Yoga. Knowledge as Yoga. Raja Yoga (Mind management as Yoga). Yoga as a self-development process to realize our Oneness with all!
UNESCO’s pillars of education, viz. “Learning the Treasure within”; “Learning to be”; “Learning to Live Together”.
Age-old wisdom of “Know Thyself”. “Kingdom of God within”. An-al-Haqq’. “Each soul is potentially divine (Consciousness)’. The goal is to manifest the divinity within” …
These rich legacies to world heritage must not only be nurtured and preserved for posterity but also researched, enhanced, and put to new uses through our education systems.
2) USP of India: i) Yunan-o-Misr-o-Rome sab mit gaye jahan se, Baqi abhi talak hai nam-o-nishan hamare, Kuch bat hai ki hasti mit-ti-nahin hamari, Sadion raha hai dushman daur-e-zaman hamara” – Iqbal.
ii) Jism aur Rooh ka rishta bhi ajeeb rishta hai; Zindagi bhar saath rahe, par taarouf na hua.
iii) Jo kuch hai so tu he hai, tujhse hamne dil ko lagaya – Bahadur Shah Zafar
iv) “Mine & yours are spoken of by petty, narrow-minded people; for the large-hearted noble souls, the whole world is our family. (as Self, Life, Consciousness we’re all eternally One)”
3) Consciousness: Western scientists are still struggling ‘to know thyself’, trying to know consciousness! This is like the Torch wanting to study source of its Light… but the moment it removes the Battery, torch is dead! Consciousness is the singular, Seer, Subject, Knower, Observer. Consciousness is Infinite. Consciousness is One without a second. There’s no other who can ‘see’ it! So, it is Eternally existing alone, akela. Finite ‘me’ has no independent reality within Infinite! Nevertheless, here am I!
4) Idea of Student, i.e. Vidyarthi: ‘Vidya’ is described as that which gives humility and Freedom! And ‘arthi’ as he who has a ‘burning desire’. Thus, a Vidyarthi is beautifully described as a student who is striving and has a burning desire to become Free from slavery to our self-centered Mind with its vast storehouse of past selfish memories! Why? To RE-GAIN (Latin of Religion) and Unite (Yoga) with our Self, Consciousness that as Life makes us conscious, human beings.
During 20-25 years of education, schooling, growing up I must be convinced that identified with my respective storehouse of self-centered memories, I will remain narrow, petty minded selfish individuals! I must learn that I must be the ‘boss’ of my mind not a slave; and so, I must learn and practice how to train and control my Mind so that it may learn to respect each other and ‘Learn’ to be selflessly committed to duties.
Only thru Inner Governance Practices & reflections, PRAXIS, can we realize, re-gain, re-unite with the whole Creation!
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