THE TEACHER SADHU VASWANI IS A FRIEND *

Sisters and Brothers of the teaching staff!

Today, I am asked to speak to you in English. And my first word is a word of thanks. That word comes from the bottom of my heart. I feel sincerely grateful to you for having so kindly called me here. You are associating me with a function which I value highly. And to me it is a joy that the teachers — sisters and brothers — are come together this evening in order to do honour to one who is worthy of all honour.

There is a little book which 1 love. It is named “God Calling”. God is “calling” us every hour, every moment. This little book I opened before I came to you, and I read the following beautiful words: “I lay my loving hands on you in blessing!” Am I wrong in thinking that at this moment God is laying His loving Hands of blessing on us all?

I read today a pretty little story – of a seeker of God: he goes from place to place in search of the swarga-loka, the heaven world. After many weary wanderings, he finds himself standing at the gate of the swarga-loka. He sees there a gatekeeper, who asks: “Who are you?” “A teacher,” – is the answer. “Stay here, while I go in to report”. He comes back with the words: “The master — there is no place for teachers in the swarga-loka.”

Yes, so many teachers are vain: they parade their little learning: how can there be a place in the swarga-loka for him who lives in a world of vanity?

The teacher, sad at heart, retraces steps to the Earth! He is on the point of leaving the portals of Paradise, when a voice whispers in his ears: “O Teacher! The dust of dead words clings to thee. Wash thyself of this dust with the waters of silence!”

Contd. on page 34

Current education is dissatisfied with itself: and the dissatisfaction grows from more to more. As witnesses to this dissatisfaction we have student unrest in India and other countries of the world. Universities are being burnt, Vice-Chancellors are being gheraoed, teachers are being threatened and mishandled.

“Judge a tree by its fruits,” said the great teacher of Palestine. Judged by its fruits, current education has failed miserably. This education must go. A new type of education is needed — an education which should be related to life, real life. Education must not be merely academic or abstract; it must not aim at stuffing the student with information acquired from dead books or a set of sterile moralities and superficial values. True education should equip the student to cope adequately with life, with what lies ahead

The Spirit Of New Education

DADA J. P. VASWANI

of him so that he may become a worthy participant in the adventure of life.

Hence the need of teachers of the true type. Many of our teachers, I am afraid, are men of books when they should be men of life. The teacher, in ancient India, was rightly called an Acharya. The emphasis, in those days, was on life, not on books. The school or college was meant to be a centre for the training of Life.

Ever since the printing press was invented, books have become available in everincreasing numbers. With all the libraries of books accessible to the student of today he does not find it worthwhile to attend lectures which reiterate information supplied by books. Many of our teachers merely repeat in the classroom what is already told in the books. And there are students who, in book-knowledge, excel their teachers. Little wonder students are becoming more and more dissatisfied with what the school and the college can offer them.

Students are no longer happy with the learning of books which have no relation to real life. Nor are they interested in examinations which elevate text-books to the status of scriptures. They want answers to the pressing problems of life — problems which confront them in their day-to-day existence. They are eager to find out ways by which the world may be changed into a better, nobler, happier place. For no apparent fault of theirs, they find themselves in a world of injustice and exploitation, of cruelty and cut-throat competition, of hypocrisy and cant, of poverty and pain. And to their deep regret they find that the so-called ‘elders’ take things for granted and do nothing to remedy the tragic situation.

For a new type of education there are some who turn to the State. And today, there is talk concerning the ‘nationalisation’ of education. For those of us who believe in the dignity and eternal worth of the individual, nothing can be more alarming. It must never be forgotten that the State exists for the individual not vice versa. First the individual, then the State. But the thought seems to be growing in India and some other countries that the individual can have no meaning apart from the State, and that the life of the individual should be moulded as the State directs. This makes the State almighty and reduces the individual to a cipher. Such a scheme can lead only to disintegration and decay. Our young men and women should be taught to see through this false theory and to realise the sacredness of the individual. The individual is the basic unit, and the State and every other organisation must subserve the individual. It is individuals who have contributed to the richness of humanity in all spheres of life, including religion and philosophy, science and art.

We must be careful to point out that the sanctity of the individual means that every individual must respect every other individual, whatever be his race or religion or status in life. Our society being what it is, every individual depends on other individuals. No man is an island. No man can exist alone. We all are interdependent. No single individual can regard himself as more important than the rest. Worse than useless is that education which gives us a feeling of self-importance. And this is one of the great defects of current education; it makes the educated man an egoist. The rishis, teachers of India in the long ago — when she was respected as a leader of the nations, a builder of civilisation — taught that true knowledge belongs to the humble. Vidya Dadati Vinayam. The truly educated man is never an egoist.

In those days, our educators — the rishis — believed that the student was not merely a brain on two legs; the student was, essentially, a spiritual being. Therefore, education must not be merely an intellectual process. True education must aim at giving a triple training — of the head, the heart and the hand. Current education with its emphasis on book-learning, does nothing to train the imagination and the will of the student. True education is that which educates the whole of the student, not merely a part of him.

Sadhu Vaswani believed profoundly that the one urgent need of India and the nations was a new type of education — “an education which would integrate the character of the pupils and prepare them to become servants of India and Humanity.” Such an education, he said, must be inspired and directed by men and women of light, illuminated souls.

A humble attempt is being made in St. Mira’s Educational Institutions to translate Sadhu Vaswani’s ideals into action. We are still very far from the goal: but the inspiration of the ideal is ever before us.

The number of schools and colleges and universities in India is multiplying. Graduates and holders of ‘doctorates’ are increasing. Knowledge has spread. Has the nation grown in freshness, vitality, strength? Have our youths become more appreciative of the deeper values which alone give a meaning and significance to life? Or do they feel bored, cut off from great ideals, singing in their hearts no song of sacrifice?

Sacrifice grows out of the heart. And so the heart needs to be unfolded. Current education lays emphasis on the development of the head and has, in some measure, sharpened the intellect. Our schools and colleges have produced a number of clever men; how many of them are unselfish? I am afraid, says Sadhu Vaswani, “Not a few of the educated are only educated egoists. Sharpening of the mind — yes! But more than that is needed liberation of the heart. Not a few of our intellectuals are selfish. Current education releases power but, oftener than not, it is abused. It will be used well when the heart is awakened in sympathy for the poor, the weak, and the needy.”

Sadhu Vaswani’s hope is in the bands of students and youths filled with faith in the World-Will, the Divine Ruler of the Nations, and eager to serve the poor and broken ones. He asked the young (1) to strive after the ideal of sacrifice, not ambition; (2) to be simple, for in simplicity is strength : and the hope of a new humanity is in a new simple civilization; (3) to learn to co-operate with all and not let differences in creed or political opinion stand in the way of solidarity; (4) to help in reconstruction of village life; and ( 5 ) to accept the Creative Ideal which regards humanity as one and service as the end of all knowledge.

In such bands of students and youths is still the hope of a broken India and a bleeding humanity.

The Teacher Is A Friend Contd. from page 16

And the story proceeds to tell us how the Teacher learns to listen to the words of Saints and he spends sometime every day in silence.

One day, as the teacher is in meditation, sitting in silence, with a pure aspiration that he may see the lotus-feet of the Lord, he hears the words: “The Teacher is a Friend! And if you would enter swarga-loka, breathe out this aspiration: “May I be a friend of all, friend of brother-teachers, friend of all pupils, friend of all men, all birds and beasts — friend of God’s creation!”

This aspiration awakes in him and he says: “May I be a friend of teachers and pupils, a friend of the poor and needy, of the sinner and the suffering one!” When, lo! And behold! Portals of Paradise are open: and the angels greet him, saying:

“Blessed among the mortals are you. Enter in and behold the Master!”

And I recall the words of Plato, who in one of his “Dialogues”, develops the thought that the secret of education is friendship.

And may the spirit of friendship work from more to more within the walls of the Mira Institution! Brotherteachers when you meet together, meet as friends, remembering the teaching of the ancient rishis, which was, also, teaching of Plato and which is the teaching of modern educationists “The secret of education is friendship!” May the benedictions of the Lord be on Shri Chandiram and his staff and all students of St. Mira’s Institution!

Ernest Hemingway, world traveller, received a letter in Cuba addressed simply: “To Ernest Hemingway — God Only Knows Where.” The sender got a reply very promptly. “You were so right.” Scribbled Hemingway. “God Knew!”

***

When Pierre arrived at summer camp, the children were asking each other, “What’s your name?” Most replied by turning down the necks of their sweaters to show the name tags sewn into them. Pierre’s mother had forgotten to observe the regulation, so for four weeks he was called “Pure Cotton.”

***

Watching his class take a true-false test, a teacher notices a young man flipping a coin before writing each answer. “What are you doing?” he asks the student.

“Taking the test,” the young man replies. “Heads is true and tails is false.”

The period ends, and as the teacher collects the papers, he sees the student frantically flipping the coin and staring at his exam paper. “And what are you doing now?” asks the teacher.

“Checking my answers.”

***

A woman was helping her teenage son with his maths homework. A week later he brought his exercise book home. “I’m sorry, Mum,” he sighed, “but you got zero.”

***

Two little boys were talking.

“My eighty year old grandfather gets up early morning to jog eight kilometres.”

“That’s fantastic! What does he do in the afternoon?”

“The last kilometer.”