Sri Sathya Sai Education - International Sri Sathya Sai Organization

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Of course the most important thing is that we, as educators, must practise the values ourselves. The famous American poet and philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson is remembered for saying, “What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.” Swami, too, has always insisted that practising His Teachings is more important than preaching. Practical Spirituality for Children Once we start practising the values ourselves, then we can begin to talk about the values with children. One simple activity I used to do with my students is to discuss the well-known saying, “Do good, be good, and see good.” After introducing the quote to the class, I used to ask them which one must come first: doing good, seeing good, or being good Then the students organise themselves into groups according to their own choice and feeling about the sequence of the quote. Then the students would discuss a rationale for why they believed the sequence should follow the order they chose. Next, the groups would begin to discuss and debate which order made the most sense. Some would insist that we must first “Be Good” before we can “Do Good” and only then can we “See Good.” Others would say that they understand differently, and explain their own understanding and rationale. Ultimately, after much discussion, we would all agree that the most important thing is that Being, Doing and Seeing Good are really interdependent; they cannot be separated or isolated from one another if we are to be good. Practical spirituality for young people deals with questions like “What is happiness, and where does it come from” “Who am I and what is my purpose” Helping young people to understand that their thoughts and feelings and actions are responsible for their happiness, that happiness is something within them, not outside of them is very helpful to them. Very often young people will say, “No one has ever told me this before.” What is the point in talking to young people about Vaikunta (the celestial abode) if they don’t know who they are, and how to live happy lives here on Earth In sharing Human Values with young people I have seen the transformation of many children – self-centred children have become sensitive to others; angry and violent children have become soft-natured and compassionate; insecure children have become confident. All of this transformation is due to Bhagavan. Everything Is in His Hands Once a group of young boys from America were waiting outside of Trayee Brindavan for Swami to come down and interact with them. The atmosphere was Divine—gardens, trees, quiet, … suddenly, His door opened, and He slowly came down the ramp towards the boys. Excited, we all rushed towards Swami. As we gathered around Him, He held out His Hand, empty and palm up for us to see, and He asked, “What is in My Hand” Of course it was empty, and I think more than one of us thought to ourselves, “Nothing is in Your Hand, Swami.” And then He slowly repeated out loud, almost with a question mark at the end, “Nothing, nothing, nothing” And then He corrected, with increasing strength, “Everything, everything, everything is in this Hand!” And indeed it is true: everything is in His Hand. He says, “I can turn earth into sky, and sky into earth with a wave of this Hand.” Today, there is nothing more urgent, more in need of the rescue by the Divine Hand than our institutions of education. Those of us that work as professional educators know the challenges and obstacles that children face in this world – children in poverty, children of broken homes, children lost on the road of life. And those of us that have worked to serve these children know how hard it can be to lift them up. But as I have reflected on my experiences, I have come to believe that the solution we so often seek can be found in Faith. Not an exclusive and sectarian faith, but a universal faith. Not faith in something that divides us, but faith in the universal human values that unite us all. I pray that Bhagavan will lift us all up with His Hands and deliver us to Truth, Right Action, Peace, Love and Non-violence. Jai Sai Ram. Mr. Jeremy Hoffer is a high school English teacher who began his teaching career in 2000. He has in-depth experience in education reform and integrating human values in public schools. He recently won recognition in Denver, Colorado, USA, for advancing educational opportunities for low-income and minority children. He has been active in the Sathya Sai Organisation for the past 18 years as a centre and regional officer and most recently as a regional young adult advisor in his region. He attended Bhagavan’s Summer Course in Brindavan in 1995 and all three World Youth Conferences. 42
Sathya Sai Education — Transformation Sri M.K. Kaw July 21, 2008 •• My humble Pranams at the Sacred Lotus Feet of Bhagavan Baba. Brothers and sisters from around the globe, Om Sai Ram! We are indeed fortunate to be taking part in this Global Conference on Human Values, and are very grateful to Swami for allowing us to participate as delegates. Vision of a Global Civilisation The Sri Sathya Sai International Centre for Human Values at New Delhi was inaugurated by Swami on March 12, 1999. Right from its inception, the Centre has tried to live up to Swami’s vision of a Global Civilisation coming up in the world. Swami has not come to establish a new cult or set up a new religion. He wants every one of us to be a person of character with full harmony between thought, word and deed. He wants a Hindu to be a better Hindu, a Muslim to be a better Muslim, a Christian to be a better Christian, and so on. In order to achieve its objective, the Centre has embarked upon a number of activities like monthly lectures by eminent people, professional workshops for IAS (Indian Administrative Services) and IPS (Indian Police Services) Officers, Railways and Military Officers, production of a bi-monthly newsletter, publication of books and reports, managing a website, etc. Reaching Out to Principals of Schools Above everything else, we followed Swami’s advice that values are best inculcated in childhood and to begin with school children would be the most effective strategy. When we surveyed the field, we found that we had to reach out to millions of children, or if we tackled the teachers, to thousands of them. The task was too daunting for a fledgling Institution like ours. After much consultation, we decided to concentrate in the first instance on principals of schools, who were in hundreds and could be trained as master trainers. We have accordingly taken this approach. Beginning in January 2004, we have conducted 35 orientation programmes for principals of CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) affiliated schools like Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navodaya Vidyalayas, Army Public Schools and Sainik Schools. As of today we have covered 803 principals. Orientation Programme Each orientation programme is for five working days, Monday through Friday, and caters to 25 principals. In addition, there are some interested principals, teachers or other social activists 43
Page 1: Sri Sathya Sai Education Proceeding
Page 4 and 5: © 2008 Sri Sathya Sai World Founda
Page 6 and 7: Contents Sri Sathya Sai Education S
Page 9 and 10: Sri Sathya Sai Educare— Human Val
Page 11 and 12: ighteousness go together, love emer
Page 13 and 14: Lead an Ideal Life and Set an Examp
Page 15 and 16: Respect Your Parents Another aspect
Page 17 and 18: Control the Mind and Constantly Con
Page 19 and 20: Control the Mind In the name of med
Page 21: come together, any task can be achi
Page 24 and 25: Divine Instructions for the Confere
Page 26 and 27: espond to the high ideals and the e
Page 28 and 29: Sri Sathya Sai Education in India S
Page 30 and 31: Redemption of Humanity through Sai
Page 32 and 33: True education, by the process of E
Page 34 and 35: delight, Swami had the college boys
Page 36 and 37: What signifies blossoming, manifest
Page 38 and 39: desires. In Prasanthi Nilayam, we r
Page 40 and 41: Critical Success Factors for Educar
Page 42 and 43: our student remained firm in his re
Page 44 and 45: other than Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai
Page 46 and 47: here are your fruits.” I thanked
Page 48 and 49: Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba: Teach
Page 52 and 53: who request for participation and a
Page 54 and 55: Educare through Silence Mr. Sanjay
Page 56 and 57: His Silence Sisters and brothers, l
Page 58 and 59: Blessed Opportunity Sages and saint
Page 60 and 61: talks by Brothers Victor Kanu and S
Page 62 and 63: Yama as the latter spotted the litt
Page 64 and 65: assistance will be taken from the I
Page 66 and 67: world at large. We will prevail in
Page 68 and 69: 60 Inauguration of the Exhibition T
Page 70: Highlights •• 62

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