Acharya Tulsi
Today's students are the prospective mass leaders, society leaders, religious leaders and important officers of the nation. Who knows what is in store in anyone's destiny? What is hidden in future's womb? The flow of water and a child's future, both can't be predicted by anyone. In these conditions, our work should be to improve our pedigree and to make it healthy. For this we need to give our children good enculturation. If the breed is good, the seed is healthy then it would go on to become a huge dense tree. Those who sit under its shadow will be pleasured and forgetting their tiredness, they will experience freshness and peace. Who is a child today, is tomorrow's guardian, teacher, businessman, worker and protector. If the child is well cultured, humble, disciplined, ethics bound, righteous, a pious soul, then there is no doubt that the future of the society and the nation is bright.
As an analogy, students are the roots of a nation. We nourish the tree by watering its roots not its flowers or leaves. The water given to the roots automatically goes to the flowers and leaves. Similarly, if the children are made to become true, good, beautiful and well-cultured, the nation automatically will become progressive, healthy and strong. No extra effort is required to achieve this goal.
Base of evaluation
We have to improve our way of thinking regarding evaluation of children. Clothing and quality of food is not important here. Also, it is not important that the child is rich or poor. Education and development is not related to poverty or affluence rather it is related to the personality. A child born in a humble home and one born in a rich home, both can develop. Being poor by birth are never an obstacle in the development of a child.
A majority of great personalities of this world have been born and brought up in a small village, a small society and a small and poor home. A huge river starts its course as a small stream. It moves forwards, brings in other water source and one day becomes a mighty river. Not only this, it quenches the thirst of many villages and cities in its course, irrigates farming land and finally mixes in the ocean. This is the effect of something starting as a small stream. The point of this example is that we should ignore the outward appearance of a child and look closely at his life. How healthy he is, how righteous and pure he is. We should evaluate him on the basis of these factors and thus try to bring about an improvement in his life.
In my view, these four points are necessary if the child wants to develop or improve his life:
- Courtesy
- Honesty
- Redemption from any vice
- Faith in religion
The base of Indian culture
The more a child is humble, the more his life will be exceptional. Gaining knowledge and being humble has a deep relation. The one who is modest is the right person to gain knowledge, not the haughty one. It is on the soft soil that the water of the rains gets stored and is the source of production of food grains in future. The rain water has no effect on the rocky grounds. The humble imbibes knowledge like rainwater. It keeps it succulent. The seeds sown there bear sweet fruits in the future. It grows, thrives and becomes a tree with many branches. Knowledge taken in through modesty flourishes and thrives. One who is devoted towards his teacher and takes knowledge with humility can see the effects of knowledge quickly.
If we think according to the Indian culture, modesty is the epitome of religion. Some people compare modesty to servitude. This kind of thinking shows lack in their knowledge. Modesty can never be called slavery. There is a huge difference between these two. Slavery is the buttering done due to greed, selfishness, ambition or compulsion whereas modesty is the self-religion practised by a person.
Truth is a Kings way
An honest student's life should be a life of truth. No lie should ever cross his path. He should never speak, write, think the untruth or even stay in the company of a dishonest man. If we think deeply then a child's life is always a life of truth. A child never lies. A small child will clearly and duly say whatever he has done. It does not matter if his deed is good or bad. When the same child grows up, he gains perspicacity and so this easiness, of saying whatever is on mind, disappears. Artificiality takes over the easiness. Then he starts lying. He does not present the actual facts. He says some points, hides some and exaggerates the other. Not only this, he even tries to fool others. To hide one wrong deed he says a number of lies. He does not understand that lying is the wrong path. A person walking on that path can never develop. The right way is the way of truth. A person walking on the way of truth can never get deviated. A person may have a lot of evil in his life but if he chooses the royal path of truth, all these evil can be removed from his life.
Ways to get rid of vices
A father was fed up of his son's bad habits, undisciplined behaviour and unruliness. He tried to talk some sense into him but with no success. He could not be persuaded by words, but even physical punishments like slapping, kicking or hitting with a rod did not have any effect on him. Finally he gave up and one day took his son to his teacher and said -"Respected sir! Please talk some sense into him, teach him and civilize him. He is addicted to all the vices in this world. I am tired and fed up of explaining to him. Now you are the only hope I have."
The teacher was an experienced old man. He knew that scolding or physical punishment was not the right way to improve him. He assured the father and started talking to the son in solitude. He asked with affection-"Son! Do you smoke cigarettes?" The boy's eyes drooped down with shame. He spoke softly - "Yes, sir." The teacher asked next question-"Do you consume alcohol?" He answered in the same tone - "Yes, sir." He asked third question - "Do you eat flesh?" This time too he gave the same brief answer - "Yes, sir."
Before the teacher could ask the next question, the boy said - "Respected Sir! It's not right to lie before you. I do everything. There is not one evil in this world which is not in me." The teacher said -"You candidly confessed to everything, it is a very good thing. But these habits are not good. They ruin a person's life. If you want to make your life healthy, you should leave these habits."
The boy said - "Respected Sir! Whatever you are saying is true. But I am totally stuck in these bad habits. Now it is not possible for me to get out of these. As you have insisted I will get rid to one evil. I will take an oath to get rid of whichever evil you want me to leave." Teacher said - "Look, you are saying this but I want you to think deeply about taking an oath. After taking an oath, it is important that you fulfill it with justification without ever breaking it. Otherwise you will be part of a great sin." The boy spoke confidently - "Sir! I have thoroughly thought about it. I give you my word that I will fulfill the oath given by you without breaking. I will not let the oath break even at the cost of my life."
The teacher thought - It's good that the root cause was exposed. Instead of getting superficial details like branches, leaves, flowers, getting hold of the root is more beneficial. If we get hold of the root then in comparison we get hold of everything. We don't need to catch each and every thing individually. Addressing the boy he said - "Okay, if you are ready then I do not have any problem in keeping forth the rule. You have to follow only one rule that you will never lie." In the evening the boy's father again came to the teacher's house. He was assuming that the teacher would have soaked out all the evil out of his son. In this anticipation he eagerly asked his son- "So my son, have you quit smoking?" The boy spoke while nodding his head in denial -"No."
The father asked the second question - "Did you quit drinking liquor?" The boy said - "No." The third question was - "Have you stopped eating flesh?" The boy had only one answer-"No."
The father was very disappointed. He immediately went to the teacher and said - "Sir! What have you done! Even under your guidance he could not improve. You did not make him quit a single of his bad habits." the teacher said -"Don't worry. I have found out the root cause of his bad habits. Now, he will quit all his bad habits automatically."
The next day the boy came home a bit late at night. His father asked - "Son, where have you been? How come you returned so late?" At that time two-three distinguished persons of village were at his house for some work. His father questioned him in front of them. The boy was in a dilemma- should I say the truth - but how? Should I lie - but how? I will be breaking the oath given by the teacher. He had no choice but to answer his father. He gathered some courage and said - "Father, it would be better if you do not ask anything on this topic." father said - "How would I not ask. Tell me where you were?" The boy said slowly - "Father, please forgive me. I was drinking..."
The distinguished men seated nearby exclaimed - "Your son drinks alcohol!" The boy was ashamed. He thought -"What! Everyone knows my weakness. Now I would not drink alcohol. From today onwards I will never touch alcohol." Thus he got rid of drinking.
His father found the key to improve him. The next day as he got ready to go out, his father asked- "Where are you going?" The boy had to say that he is going out to gamble. But he was embarrassed to his core. So he got rid of gambling too. Similarly, he got rid of all other bad habits one by one. He became good and pure. He transformed from an animal to a human being.
Religion is an elixir of life
Religion is like an elixir for life. Religion gives new life to a person in the same way an elixir does. The person who understands the importance of religion and incorporates religion in his life, his life is always full of happiness. He finds his heart at peace. If we have to put it in one word, religion is nothing but the art to live life. One, who imbibes religion, learns this art of living life. In this view, I consider religion even more important for life than food, water or air. The radical elements of religion- non-violence, truth, amity, compassion, mercy etc. should be cultured in the students from the very beginning. This will give their life a strong base and then they will be able to guide the society and the nation in the right direction.
From where should the improvement begin?
One important point of concern for the teachers and the guardians is that, if they want to improve the children, they should improve themselves first. The holy process of improvement should begin with them. Until and unless we do not give attention to this point, we cannot achieve the goal to improve the children. For example- A teacher tells his students that cigarette smoking is injurious to health. It makes us prone to a lot of fatal diseases. So, everyone should try to protect themselves from getting addicted to it. But if the teacher himself smokes cigarette outside school then what effect his preaching will have on the students, I don't need to say it. In fact, the students pay very less attention on what the teacher says. Rather, he observes what the teacher does. When he observes that what his teacher says and what he does are complete opposite of each other, his first reaction to this is that people say things just for the sake of it, but practically they do different things.
The same goes for the guardians. Parents motivate their children to speak the truth but they themselves lie. Under these circumstances the children can never learn to speak the truth. They can only learn to lie. So it is an obligation of the teachers and the guardians that before starting the process of improvement of the children, they should improve themselves. They can en-culture the children only when they themselves are cultured.
The cultured lifestyle of the teacher and the guardians can have a direct impact on the students. But for this they need to become more receptive and understand that they play a major role in the development of a society and nation. Today, the big officials have their eyes on the students. They have big expectations from them. They are beholding them with utmost sincerity. Will they support them? Will they prove themselves according to their expectations? My implication with the support needed is very clear. Those who has the ability to become the cornerstone of ethical vigilance of the society as well as the country and has received active and operative training in life transformation would be able to significantly help and support the country. In order to achieve this they have to mould themselves with morals and ethics, and have to align themselves with the tactics of life transformation.
The ultimate golden path for happiness: Devotion
We have started creative and constructive programs in the form of devoted revolution keeping in mind the goal of ethical vigilance and life transformation. This is the venture of becoming a human in the true sense. In other words, this is the ultimate golden path of happiness. Those people who wish to achieve peace and happiness should follow the golden path of devotion. The meaning of following the golden path of devotion is - to stay away from non violence, lies, theft, cheating, corruption, exploitation. Lead your life with self-control, simplicity, truth, self-content and equality. We can achieve the goal of happiness if we follow this golden path of devotion. The person can achieve inner peace.
