Educational Revolution is a must

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E-Pao! Essay - Educational Revolution is a must

By: Konjengbam Candle *

Today every man desires to creates a new Manipur. He does not like the present. The society in which he lives is not compatible with his thinking, so he is not comfortable in it. But a new Manipur and society can be formed only when a new mind is formed.

The process of reforming life is education. It reforms the basic beliefs and hence, the mind too will be reformed. A reformed mind transforms personality which in turn reforms society. The construction of a new mind is essential for reformation.

Psychologists say our mind is conditioned. It works on the basis of some established beliefs and set convictions-unless these are shattered, the construction of a new society is not possible.

The human mind becomes fully developed, usually at the age of 15. In this stage, the power of lust is controllable. Today we need to revamp and revolutionalise the whole system. For that and educational revolution is necessary for the construction of a new mind and to uncondition the mind. Education is essential for purifying the mind.

According to some Spiritual leaders, there are two types of education; education for living and education for life. We only take care of the first and ignore the second one.

Our educational system helped us earn a living by becoming a doctor, engineer, professional and so forth. Nevertheless, education for life, which caters to our need for spiritual nourishment is no different from management classes which strives to make us good and successful managers in the outside world. Spiritual principles teach us how to manage our inner life successfully.

Education is not mere book learning, but the culture of mind and heart. Education is the harmonious development of all the faculties, and the bringing into view every virtue and perfection. Your education does not end at school, but continues throughout life.

The real education is not what we learn in school and college. If what we learn in school and college are real education, the saying, "LAIRIK HEIRAGA LAISHU KHANGDABA" would have never existed.

There are lot more to learn than what we learn in school and college. Even if we study whole of our life, there will be no end to the "Learning Process". The education system what we are having now was established by British Empire to mould efficient clerks out of us.

Mark Twain stated that, "I never let my schooling interfere with my education".

Our vast human resources have remained frozen owing to so many wrong beliefs and socio-cultural injustices mainly in the form of the caste system and untouchability. All religions must now unite in waging an epic war against the abettors and perpetrators of these beliefs. A mind narrowed by such beliefs is hardly able to perceive the truth.

"Good example and education are the only weapons against narrow mindedness, be it communalism, casteism or partyism".
------- C. Rajagopalachari

Today, education is just a process of going to school, learning various subjects, passing examinations and striving to get better grades. It does not teach us how to become better human beings, how to create a world free of fears and anxieties, and above all it does not teach us how to live a happy and free life. The purpose of education must not be constricted to just getting a job and earning one's livelihood. Education must teach us to understand the whole process of life and make it meaningful and beautiful. "Education has no meaning unless it helps you to understand the vast expanse of life with all its subtleties, with its extraordinary beauty, its sorrow and joys. You may have a series of letters after your name and land a very good job; but then what? What is the point of it all if in the process your mind becomes dull, weary, stupid?"
------ J. Krishnamurti.

People are afraid of a fresh thinking and a new outlook and therefore the individual who blindly follows the established convention would live in the same fears and freedom of thought and action becomes a distant dream that can never be fulfilled.

Education must aim at preparing the individual to his courageous struggle of finding oneself and leading a original life of his own making rather than lead the life of a passive onlooker.

Today our society is shattered into several pieces because of the visionless, egotistic and pretentious human beings who have taken over our society into their hands. "Our society is too dangerous to live in, not because of people who do evil but because of people who sit and let it happen".

Under these circumstances, if education does not prepare the individual to fight against these social disorders and carve out a better way of living, then that education is of no use.

The chief function of education must be to kindle the deep desire in the young minds to create a new and healthier social set up where there is no fear of any kind, where there are no shackles of any kind to limit the mental growth of the individual and where there are no separate policies to divide the society.

Now, is it the function of education merely to help us conform to the pattern of this Decaying social order, or is it to give you freedom, complete freedom to grow and create a different society, a new world ?

Freedom must not be misunderstood as the right to do anything one wants to but freedom is to know and realise the truth by undergoing the testing process and come out as winners with the firsthand knowledge of their experience. We want to have this freedom not in the future, but now, otherwise we may all be destroyed.

We must create immediately an atmosphere of freedom so that we can live and find out for ourselves what is true, so that we become intelligent, so that we are able to face the world and understand it not just conform to it, so that inwardly, deeply, psychologically, we are in constant revolt because it is only those who are in constant revolt who discover what is true, not the man who conforms, who follows some tradition.

So the function of education, surely, is to eradicate, inwardly, as well as outwardly, this fear that destroys human thought, human relationship and love.

Bertrand Russell stated, "Unless man increases in wisdom as much as in knowledge, increase of knowledge will only be increase of sorrow".

The enlightened citizen emerges out of education with a value system, transforming religion into spiritual force and economic development. Integrated development of all these similar aspects would enrich society with peace and prosperity in abundant measure.

'If you don't have Education
how'll you read and write,
If you don't read and write
how'll you know,
If you don't know
how'll you increase your knowledge,
If you don't increase your knowledge
how'll you gain confidence,
If you don't gain confidence
how'll you speak or write,
If you don't speak or write
how'll you become a good speaker or good writer,
If you don't become a good speaker or good writer
how'll you gain confident from people,
If you don't gain confident from people
how'll you serve your "MOTHERLAND",
If you don't serve your "MOTHERLAND"
What is the use of LIVING?'

Konjengbam Candle regularly contributes to e-pao.net
The writer can be contacted at [email protected]
This article was webcasted on May 8th, 2006

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