The actual meaning of education
Without moral excellence, degrees and awards are worthless. Education does not mean using only for selfish purposes. If you use it for wrong purposes such as to exploit the people who are backward, weak and ignorant, you must be ashamed for this behavior. It is much better to have no education than to have bad education.
In ancient time, in India, students used to live with their teachers. They had few books to read. Due to lack of book, teachers taught them verbally. In fact, students saw the living style of their teachers and learned many things like – how much they worried for society and what he did for them and how they used their education. They found their teachers did many things for society than for themselves. The teachers taught them “spend simple life with high thinking”. Actually the students learned more from their activities than what they said.
In those days, honesty was the essential thing to the scholars. The teachers wanted their students to speak the truth, always be honest and always choose the right path. It is said that Righteousness and honesty are the hallmarks of education. If an educated person has none of these qualities, then his education is useless.
Our educational institution is supposed to create hard-working, intelligent and the man and woman who can devote his time for others. If it fails to produce these qualities within them, education is worthless. Education is a kind of process which continues whole life, because life always changes its state. If there are opportunities, there are also difficulties and challenges that you will have to face throughout your life.
Education always teaches you to move forward. You always have to change yourself as life doesn’t remain same. It is just like a river which always move forward. If you stop changing yourself, it means you are dead. Thus, you must change for better life.
Education not only helps you being the best, but it also helps you discover new principles, new thoughts and new techniques. Human beings are always eager to find out something new such as a new world, a new life, a new atmosphere. But it is most important for everyone to be new man and woman. You understand that there is something wrong, but you are not able to locate where actually the problem lies.
It seems, the world is progressing downward, because the violence and bloodshed is on the rise all over the world. Every country has nuclear weapons that can end the human race. They may use those weapons, should they have a war. Thus, it is mandatory to stop them using those deadly weapons. But how is it possible? It can only be possible by good education. Good education means to create good qualities in people like to love each other, to have sympathy for others, to be selflessness, and to create good will. Only decency can fight evil to dismiss it.
Sometimes you find people seem to be heartless. They don’t have love for others. They only love themselves. The only principle that exists across the world is “might is right”. Political and religious leaders often talk about love and forgiveness, but, in fact, they have failed to implement these qualities.
Have your degrees and awards that you proud of ever helped you to love others, to feel that you all belong to a single human family? If not, then such degrees and awards are useless.
Good education also helps you improve your life. you try to have better food, better income that make your living status high, but never think about good qualities that make you better men and women.
You definitely require education, but the sort of education that helps you improve your physical well being as well as moral and spiritual conditions.
Extracted from Swami Lokeswarananda's speech
very good writing :)
Thank you
Good stuff from Swami Lokeswarananda.
The first thing is that govern-cement (not public) schools, school children. They do not teach or educate; they are their to indoctrinate.
(a school of children all swim together, all turn left together, all get up and go to the next class at the sound of the bell, all obey the teacher...)
I have learned that everything I was taught in school is wrong. Everything, math, english, science, history. All wrong.
And the worst part, they school you to stop thinking.
It may be but what they mentioned there is right. I also think that we should not use education for wrong purpose.
The problem with basing education in morality, is by whose morals do we judge it. Morality is subjective and likely to vary from culture to culture. For myself, education is a search for truth.