Monday, February 21, 2005

Education

There are two aspects to education: 1. Imparting Knowledge. 2. Instilling character.

It is an age old saying that "If character is lost, evertything is lost". Nobody says "if knowledge is lost, everything is lost". Today, education has become synonymous with gaining more and more knowledge, be it theoretical or practical. This section itself is not very good. What is happening is that the character side of education is facing severe neglect, mainly because the teachers themselves lack them. In the case of knowledge, even if the teacher is dumb, students have other sources like books, internet etc. But for character, the sources of learning for a child are parents and teachers. A parent/teacher of a great character can produce students of great character, even against the so-called peer pressure, because in those cases, peer pressure reduces due to the overwhelming influence of the teacher/parent. Sad part is neither the parent nor the teacher have that character. Where from are you going to select good teachers in this regard?

If you think about it deeply, the philosophy of education itself needs to be modified to not just produce great engineers and doctors, but to produce, basically a good human being who has heart, and not machines that work only for themselves. The present system only leads to the formation of such machines. Unless something is done about it soon, the world will surely be ruled by robots - robots who have flesh around their bones and blood running through their veins. Sooner we act, the better it is.

But the age old question remains: Who will bell the cat?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds good but please define what you mean by "values" and "character".

When I was in India I was amazed that if an unmarried adult woman of 35 was having a mutually satisfying sexual relationship with a boyfriend, she was considered "characterless", despite her honest and clean heart.

So if by "values" you mean the teachers should not be having normal sexual relationships, I disagree.

krishna said...

the highest value is not to hurt anyone physically or mentally... to best of your knowledge. character is nothing but addhearing to this value habitually.

so as long as u don't hurt anyone.. u have the freedom to do what ever u want..
you say..
"So if by "values" you mean the teachers should not be having normal sexual relationships, I disagree."

this statement was uncalled for.. i never said anything like that, please don't assume.. why this if, u have question ask.. why disagree with something i haven't even said...??

i would love to talk to people who bold enough write their names..

Unknown said...

You hit the spot! We definitely need to do something before it gets out of control. Fortunately, I am involved in a non profit organization that is working on the issue. Like you said more and more people have degraded character. However, the education system can't instil character in someone, it comes from within. Qualities such as, reliability, honesty, generosity, compassion, forgiveness, etc. all are inner virtues. Therefore, the problem lies within the mind. The mind is polluted; in result, our actions are polluted. We must get hold of our mind. That is done through a practical solution, Brahm Gyan. When your third eye, or pineal gland, is activated then meditation starts. Then you have a focus point. Your soul then takes hold of your mind and absorbs it into the divinity within. Therefore, your polluted mind becomes divine and you become a true human being. This isn't just information this is a practical solution being given today and thousands of people have been transformed like me.