Know Thyself

Friday, June 1, 2007
Know Thyself
"I was born Intelligent, but education ruined me",heard this phrase, read it, and i've simply started believing in it with time,First of all, i do not know what purpose does India feel endcation solves?
is it about reading "The Glimpses of world history", for once and for all, devided into three basic books of three years?Or is it about trying out science and the eucledean plane for once and for all?Or is it more about practicing mathermatics, which becomes useless in the world of computers and calculators and cellphones all combining into a single, portable entity?
I do not know how this system has been framed and what kind of purpose it solves,if man who's 18 years of age, Named and "Adult" by the constitution is completely unaware about his body and the methods to keep it healthyAbout his brain and the methods to make it work in a proper directionif it does not talk about religion and the myths which are philosophically still the ultimate resource of authors like Sri Aurobindo and Osho,whats this education?And what do we do of it?
I am not sure, for i feel from the strengt of my heart that education could be of two basic typesThe one is about the vocation, more about the systematic training of how to perform a job well,second is about knowing what to do to keep mind and body healty, how to generate ideas which could give peace and stability,How to keep yourself intellectually awake and contribute to the society positively
But CBSE has lost its purpose lately, noone knows how to apply these things to practice and all which goes on from 50-60 years seems to be trial and error,the first step, to education could be to understand our ownselves, how do we react to situations?What interests us, and what do we not like,the various possibilities to our likes and dislikes, and what is the result of them all,to know all about mind and body, which has been reasoned and discovered till now,how to keep ourself historically updated and make sure that our decisions comprehend the history as it was, not a version that suits a particular ideology,Know what Ram,krishna, Jesus, Gurunanak stood for,what were their version and the situations they had faced in their lifetime!What is the law of land, how could we assure that it sustains and the different manner in which laws are framed!
Perhaps all this is taught, but what is the use, if noone could assimilate it?there ought to be a different manner, in which all this should be brought down to people, so that they know the world they survive in,All my text books always seemed to be stuffed with so many facts and reasons that i could never believe that i am going to use all this in life,When i read about photosynthesis in class three, i wondered if it has something to do with reality at all!
But know i understand what waste of time it was,when i revisit those facts today, in a much more complex manner, i understand the depth of it all, but still i am not very sure, it besides this i was taught methods to remain healty, to understand morality and its effects,to know what is good to society and what is not!
Perhaps we need to do something to save out future from such intense useless pressure, for if a system is to be formed,the one that works, the components need to be aware of their own properties and the different manner in which they could be used, to make the system working perfectly as a whole,that is what the motive should be, not knowledge which turns out to be useless in the end.
1:49:49 AM
Posted By Ankur Beohar Comments (1) Society
Comments
K.Venugopal Friday, June 1, 2007 10:18:31 PM
The only thing we need to know to be educated is to know a language. This we do soon enough, even before we are admitted to school. The 15 or 18 years we spend in formal schooling is never a waste because it helps us consolidate our language and give it its dimensions. And then, for the rest of our lifetime, we are always learning and always with the use of language. Our civilizations have been built through language and are being sustained through language, one or the other and all together. Indeed, education is all about language and when we master a language, to the level of realizing the power of mantras, we have opened the door even to spirituality and beyond. Let us wake up to our true potential through language and silence.

Ankur Saturday, June 2, 2007 12:26:35 AM
Language Sir, is just a method of communication, what to communicate, how to communicate, are perhaps no part of it, so if i believe i do not learn the latter two in my skool life, it is indeed a waste of 18 years, nothing else!

K.Venugopal Saturday, June 2, 2007 1:51:46 PM
Actually, the subject of language is very interesting. While we have to learn what to communicate and how to communicate, as you said, language is much more than communication. The point is, having the basics of language with us even from a young age, we have only to realize that wherever we want to go to, to that point we can reach through the medium of language. Therefore, it is upon us to build upon our foundation of language. Even failure, as they say, could be a stepping-stone to success.

What I am trying to say is, language is not really a means more than it is the end. Or the beginning of another realm - that of silence.