Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda succinctly spoke of the importance of education when he remarked, “Invest in your child, not on your child.” He further went on to beautifully delineate holistic education thus: “Children are the very cream of our generation and they are the rulers and makers of tomorrow. Upon them depends the future of the nation and the safety of our culture and tradition. Let us give them a healthy physical and mental atmosphere for growth, ingrain in them respect and love for all living creatures, team spirit and national fervour and pride in our hallowed, divine culture.” It is only such a holistic education envisioned by Swami Chinmayananda that can truly bring out the ‘true self’ of every individual.
There is hidden potential in every layer and facet of an individual. If education thus unfolds that potential, then we will have a truly glorious world. Inversely, if holistic education is lacking, we are sadly rendering injustice to our youngsters. Our ancient system of education was wholesome and worked on the all-round blossoming of the human being. Unfortunately, over the years, due to various reasons, we have strayed from the core of education and the Indian education system has veered away from its moorings.
Integrated Development
Today’s education hones only some aspects and builds upon them to a great extent, completely ignoring the other facets of our being, resulting in an imbalanced personality that collapses at the onslaught of challenges. For instance, if a person excels at logic but does not know how to manage anger or how to deal with desires, then such a person finds life stressful and difficult to manage.
True education encompasses not only physical development but also emotional maturity, intellectual clarity and the highest spiritual ethics. If education does not enable the blossoming of all these facets of an individual, then education that is essential for the cultivation of the soul is just not happening.
Patriotism
Another vital aspect of education is the inculcation of patriotism. Sans patriotism, none can contribute to the welfare of the totality. Without patriotism, the focus remains limited to me, my children and my family. Patriotism creates the urge to contribute, to be part of a larger community.
Patriotism is love for and pride in the nation. It is thus, a compound emotion, not one dimensional. Love by itself is an illogical, automatic expression of the heart. We can love without a reason – ‘I love my father’, ‘I love my cat’. Thus we say love is blind. But pride is not blind. Pride springs from the crystal clear knowledge of the greatness and glory of its object. Love for the nation is natural. But pride can arise only in the awareness of the country’s greatness and the nation’s accomplishments.
Culture and Knowledge Traditions
Unfortunately, the Indian education system has become such that our children and youth are not introduced to the national repository of wisdom. Once in a while, there is a mention of zero having been discovered by Aryabhatta or the iron pillar in Delhi being rust-proof. But how did Aryabhatta discover the zero or what went into the making of such an iron pillar are not taught or discussed. Consider any field of knowledge, be it Architecture, Engineering, Chemistry, Mathematics, Ayurveda… Indians have excelled in them all! Yet, we know so little about these. Why?
A nation that does not know its culture, its traditions, is akin to an offspring that does not know about its parents. The lack of connect and knowledge of our country’s greatness is the worst thing that has happened to our ancient nation after independence. We have been unwittingly orphaned! Holistic education is thus also about being rooted in Indian culture. Much of the wealth of Indian knowledge traditions is available in Sanskrit. This beautiful language is being viciously maligned as old and dead. By consciously allowing Sanskrit to die a slow death, aren’t we chopping our roots and destroying the very foundation on which the nation stands?
Universal Outlook
While we must be patriotic and rooted in Indian culture, we should be conscious that we are all citizens of the world, too. Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda envisioned a universal outlook as a vital component of education.
In India, there is a natural spirit of inclusiveness and multiculturalism, which is part and parcel of Indian thinking. We don’t just ‘tolerate’ variety, we value variety, and we appreciate the beauty of many-ness. Even though there are numerous spoken languages, a vast variety of food, attire and so on, India truly practices ‘vasudhaiva kutumbakam’ – the whole world is one family!
In the Sabarmati ashram where Mahatma Gandhi lived, the day would begin with a prayer meeting with readings from various scriptures. Once a reporter asked Gandhiji, “In your ashram, you chant the Bhagavad Gita, read portions from the Bible and recite from the Koran… Which among these is your favourite?” Gandhiji reflected for a while and replied from his heart, “You have a mother, he has a mother, she has a mother, I have a mother. Which mother do l love the most? It is my mother that I love the most! But the very fact that I love my mother so much, helps me to comprehend your love for your mother. In the depth of my love and my respect for my mother, I see the depth of your love and your respect for your mother.” This all-inclusiveness, mutual respect, mutual appreciation – and not just tolerance and accommodation – is an essential vision of the Indian ethos. This is what is termed ‘universal outlook’ and this is yet another facet that education must strive to instil.
Vision for Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth
Our children are our future, but it is our youth who are our immediate future! Holistic education has to begin early in childhood with one’s parents, continue to flourish in school with teachers, and reach its perfection through university education. This was the core of what Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda envisioned as holistic education, which led to the founding of the Chinmaya Vidyalaya Schools and in the year 2016 to the establishment of Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth.
Pujya Swami Tejomayananda, the Founder Chancellor of the Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth, encapsulates these truths of education in the vision-verse for the University:
विद्यया रक्षिता संस्कृतिः सर्वदा । संस्कृतेर्मानवाः संस्कृता भूरिदा:।। vidyayā rakṣitā saṁskṛtiḥ sarvadā, saṁskṛtermānavāḥ saṁskṛtā bhūridāḥ. Knowledge protects culture forever; cultured people share abundantly.
