Morning Talk by Rev.swami shitikantananda June 26,2024

 Morning Talk by Rev.swami shitikantananda                                                            26.06.24

Topic: "The goal of education"

chanting:

ॐ सह नाववतु ।
सह नौ भुनक्तु ।
सह वीर्यं करवावहै ।
तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु मा विद्विषावहै ।
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः 

Om Saha Nau-Avatu |
Saha Nau Bhunaktu |
Saha Viiryam Karavaavahai |
Tejasvi Nau-Adhiitam-Astu Maa Vidvissaavahai |
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih ||

ॐ असतो मा सद्गमय ।

तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय ।

मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय ।

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

Om Asato Maa Sad-Gamaya |
Tamaso Maa Jyotir-Gamaya |
Mrtyor-Maa Amrtam Gamaya |
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih ||

Swamiji stars:

Today we shall learn something about education. There are swamiji's(Vivekananda's) ideas of education.

He reads the below prayer:

so we want that education by which character is formed , strength of mind is increased, the intellect is expanded and by which one can stand on one's own feet.

So, what is education? Education is a tool of empowerment, right? why should we go to school? why should we go to colleges why go there actually to get educated? what is the goal of education? what is the objective of education. Education is a tool to empower human beings, To make us actually more powerful, to make us actually more competent, to make us actually strong to face the challenges of life.

see we all understand you know today education means only for lively hood it has become, the focus has just shifted to there but, in fact the larger more of education is to help us to apprehend the truth, you know in our culture we talk about Chaturvidha Purushartha (means the four aims of life) Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha, Education should give us all these four. but today actually dharma we don't understand morality, values, virtue why we need all that? because only when you practice dharma, we will have moksha that is the ultimate goal. see once the basic necessities of life are fulfilled the real battle starts till those basic necessities of life fulfilled we will be preoccupied with that right? how to provide for physical sustenance Roti-kapada-makhan right? there are the basic necessities of life this is for the physical body there are n number of people in the world today whose basic necessities of life are fulfilled now actually the existential issues are bothering them why am I here? what is the purpose of life? what is the goal of life? why I am not happy as much happy as I want me to be? why I am not getting that sense of fulfillment? so these existential issues will bother.

What is the purpose of life? Why am I here? who has created this universe? what is death? okay? definitely old age is there death is there, and diseases is there, they are all limitations imposed upon life, today we are not thinking much on them because we are preoccupied with you know for physical sustenance. but once physical sustenance taken care of ,  the larger struggle begins, so education in the true sense of the term would help us get employment first objective and afterwards it should help us understand dharma and how to practice it and finally it should help us to go towards the truth, why should you have to know the truth? because truth is something after knowing which there is nothing else needs to be known nothing else needs to be achieved there is nothing more for you gain, you have attained fulfillment, for example, people like Buddha, what did he achieve? fulfillment, total fulfillment, he had attained to that state of immortality, from where there is no rebirth in the sense that because you don't have rebirth means you don't have the suffering that comes through old age, you don't have suffering that comes through disease and you don't have suffering that comes through death. so these limitations he has crossed he has attained to a state to attain to that state for which the universe is created which we call as god that state is called god that is the ultimate and larger objective of education but the education that we get from schools and colleges is it helping us in that direction? definitely no. okay? our education is not so well conceived that's why there are so many issues in that but I don't want to go into the details but Swamiji(Swami Vivekananda) here is saying at least it should help us to expand our intellect and would help us to stand on our own feet, it would help us to build our character and personality because when you have these things it becomes easy for you to travel towards the truth.

You know In ancient india in Gurukula they used to talk about two kinds of education, para vidya, and apara-vidya what is apara-vidya? everything , mundane is apara-vidya how to provide for myself? how to get a job? livelihood that is all apara and also the secular education they consider apara then the para vidya , para vidya is to know God, to know truth, to know your true being, who you are really, who we are here? and why we are here, this is para vidya. Both kinds of education they used to give to children there but today our focus is only in apara vidya that is also not happening in an effective manner, in a efficient manner for various reasons. Today you just see software means everybody go to that, one area means the entire society goes to that, then the saturation comes there and huge unemployment is created there, that means that original thinking and helping the individuals to grow according to their aptitude instead of making everybody go in a particular direction particular area, these things are not happening to create original individuals, individuals who will think for society, individuals who will think ahead of time five years down the line ten years down the line fifteen years down the line twenty years down the line, how the world is going to be, where we will be? how to actually generate new employment new livelihoods at least that creative thinking and that is also not happening through our conventional education system okay? 

So, if you just actually look at the society today more than the educated people uneducated people are happy that's my observation. Educated people are suffering more that means somehow something has gone wrong in the way we get ourselves educated, The struggle for educated man has become more than actually for the uneducated persons why it has happened? why education has not empowered us the way it is supposed to ought to have empowered, so this is a long story cut the story short for you today and in the next prayer meeting also I will talk on this okay? Thank you have a nice day.