Acharya Tulsi
In the shoes of a Teacher
Acharya Tulsi was a saint, an Acharya and above all a teacher. The teacher in him got enlightened during his childhood when he decided to help his elder sister in learning how to read & write. His sister had just suffered the untimely loss of her husband & had decided to follow the path of sainthood. In those times women (girls) were not allowed to take lessons from male teachers, yet at the age of 7 years Acharya Tulsi helped his sister to complete her primary education.
During the process, Tulsi became enlightened and the 8th Acharya of Terapanth Dharmsangh - Acharya Kalugani initiated both - the brother and the sister. Acharya kalugani realized the potential of muni Tulsi and developed his genius in all aspects. He was made responsible to teach newly initiated monks at the age of 16. He was supposed to teach the student monks along with life style training widening the horizons for himself as a teacher. With this responsibility muni Tulsi witnessed a distinct growth in his skills as a teacher & as an administrator. Tulsi Paushal (Tulsi School) brought laurels with constantly increasing number of students.
Novel Fervour through Teaching
Acharya Tulsi had not even completed 11 years as a monk when he had to shoulder the responsibility of an Acharya. His administrative responsibilities grew tagging along his responsibilities as a teacher, as he could not part with the teacher within himself even after becoming the 9th Acharya of Terapanth Dharmsangh.
He used to teach only monks before heading the whole society, but now he also had to teach the nuns. He is also responsible to make education interesting for nuns through his constant effort.
Acharya Tulsi considered teaching as a medium to development and observing oneself, hence it remained an important part of his daily routine. This is also the reason that teaching never became a burden for him. Be it Aagam (Religious literature), philosophy, grammar, Sanskrit etc, he paid equal sincerity & dedication in teaching them. He used to relish teaching, be it primary, graduate or post graduate groups of students. Teaching used to energize him and refresh him, imbibing into him a novel fervour to educate Strain students till his last breath.
Anuvrat into the World of Education
Acharya Tulsi started ANUVRAT REVOLUTION two years after Indian Independence, in the year 1949. It has a boundary less applicability. The prime objective of this movement was to inculcate moral values into human lives beyond the discriminations of region, religion, caste, creed, language, colour or gender accordingly efforts on all fronts are continuously witnessed. Acharyasri used to strongly believe that education was one field that could apply the principles of Anuvrat in best capacities. If students and teachers both are equally character rich and high on morals, then the whole nation is not far from pinnacles of success. Based on this hypothesis, Anuvrat was accelerated into educational institutions.
Anuvrat has 11 modules for its code of conduct. Keeping in mind various sections of society sectional modules were developed. There are certain regulations for teachers & students among these modules. Considering the intriguingly violent issues of education, Acharya Tulsi presented Anuvrat as a mission to the students of schools, colleges and universities. Acharya Tulsi encouraged all monks, nuns and anuvrat volunteers to widen the reach of Anuvrat into education, A network was developed across the nation through Anuvrat Sansad which has played a very active & important part in proliferating Anuvrat. Anuvrat gained momentum & thousands of students understood & accepted it.
Acharya Sri Tulsi has addressed thousands of students during his journey across the nation on topics like
What is education?
Why education needed?
Where has education lost its soul?
How to educate?
Objective of education & factors
Role of education
New dimensions of education
Worth of education
Sculpting a new student
The ideas delivered by Acharya Sri Tulsi are meant to bring action into the students & educationists towards better quality education for all.
New dose for Education
With the advent of politics & functional economics into education, the future of students is at stake. Considering the seriousness of this issue Acharyasri promoted the idea of constructive mindsets be developed along with imparted knowledge, sculpting every student into a responsible citizen. Jeevan Vigyan is the brain child of this promotion. Jeevan Vigyan is the Art of living life, building life, developing integrated personalities. A student's life needs to be similar to that of a saint. Proper control needs to be applied on the intake of food; visualization of surroundings & speech, if this could be made necessary then transformational process is eased."Let's make Education catalyst of Development & Joy" is a compilation of the radical ideas of Acharyasri Tulsi in relation to the development of education. This book is meant to give new ways for those who learn only to earn, to do politics or to show off a degree on name plates, and also to develop the concept of learning to know, learning to Be, learning to do & learning to live together in the age of computer & mobile learning. Only then can we expect a revolution not only in technical knowledge but also in knowledge based education.
Jaipur
Sadhvi Pramukha Kanakprabha
1 Oct 2008
