Sathya Sai Baba The World-Avatar Teaching and Revelations

thread running through from lesson to lesson. By example and precept,
in the class room and playground, the excellence of intelligent cooperation,
of sacrifice for the team, of sympathy for the less gifted, of
help to the maimed, the weak, the ill and the poor, of love and self-reliance,
of silence and prayer has to be emphasised. The indirect method
of instilling these morals is better than direct teaching through textbooks
and tests. Tell stories from the sacred scriptures and the lives
of saints from all nations and all ages, to illustrate a point while doing
any lesson, in any subject. It is possible to teach even science and
mathematics in a moral or immoral way. Prefer the moral way.
One advantage which will accrue when you take this moral uplift programme
in earnest is that, through the subtle influence of the children,
you are cleansing the atmosphere of the homes also. When the boy
sits in silence and meditates on the Creator of all this wonder and glory,
the parents too will react in the same way and the atmosphere of
the home will be filled with humility and love. 3.4.67, (19-360/363)
The rulers who frame and foster the educational system of the country
are responsible for the discontent, disillusionment and consequent delinquencies
and disturbances of the students. They pay attention only
to the physical and intellectual training of the youth; they forget the attention
must also be paid to mental, moral and spiritual development,
so that an integrated personality can emerge. Now, a child is put to
school so that years later he may get a cushy job! Schooling is for gaining
a living, not for gaining the ultimate in life. In all countries, it is the
same.
Nowhere is youth trained to earn equanimity and peace; everywhere,
the aim is a comfortable life, not a life of peace and undisturbed joy.
(...)
The search for comfort, for riches, for fame, for power over others -
these will make a man so egoistic that he is a danger to himself and
others. The only safe path is to seek bliss within oneself, not in or
through others. There is great joy awaiting the person who radiates
compassion, truth and patience, humility, reverence and piety.
Students must demand a revision of the system on these lines; they
must demand that they be equipped better to meet the challenge of
life. They must convince the administrators that this is essential. After
all, they are your own people, interested in your welfare. 30.7.67, (20-
76/77)
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