CONFERENCE ON 'EDUCATION IN THE 21st
CENTURY:
EDUCATION TO EDUCARE', 17th & 18th
AUGUST, 2005
An
International Conference on the subject
'Education in the 21st Century:
Education to Educare' was organized at
Prasanthi Nilayam on the 17th and 18th
of August this year, under the aegis of
Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher
Learning. Many eminent educationists and
administrators were invited to
participate in the deliberations and
share their views, experience and
expertise, under the overall direction
and guidance of the revered Chancellor
of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher
Learning, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba.
The inaugural session of the conference
was conducted on the morning of 17th
August at Sai Kulwant Hall. Bhagawan
arrived in the colourfully decorated
hall at 8 a.m. amidst intoning of Vedic
hymns by the students. The delegates,
who had taken their places on the dais,
rose up to receive Bhagawan in their
midst. The proceedings commenced with
Sri Anil V. Gokak, Vice-Chancellor, Sri
Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning,
welcoming the delegates and Hon. Justice
M.N.Venkatachaliah, the Chief Guest of
the conference. Justice Venkatachaliah
is a well renowned figure in Indian
judicial circles, having held several
key positions including the Chief
Justice of India, Chairman of the
National Human Rights Commission, and
Chairman of the Constitution Review
Committee.
Justice
Venkatachaliah, in his inaugural address
outlined the problems bedevilling modern
society and presented a historical
perspective of the evolution of human
society in the past three centuries.
Some of the more pressing problems that
society is faced with today are the
ethic neutrality of science and
dehumanization of wealth and power, he
said. Man believes that Nature is for
him to conquer. But, this is a
fundamental error because man himself is
a part of the very nature he aspires to
conquer. This is not to say that science
& technology have not been beneficial to
mankind. On the contrary, it has vastly
improved the living conditions of
people. Knowledge, wealth and power are
not evil by themselves, but become so by
wrong use. He punctuated this with a
quip, "If you think education is
expensive, try ignorance!" He said that
this conference has not come a moment
too late and nor could a more
appropriate venue be chosen than
Prasanthi Nilayam where the greatest
experiment in love, service and
compassion is underway. The learned
speaker concluded his talk with an
observation that in the presence of such
a hallowed personage as Bhagawan, it is
better to maintain silence and
appreciate and absorb His teaching and
message.
Consenting
to the prayers of those assembled in the
hall, Bhagawan granted His divine
discourse. He clearly delineated the
roles of secular and spiritual knowledge
saying that worldly knowledge should
culminate in the acquisition of
spiritual wisdom, that alone constitutes
complete education. "The End of
Education is Character", Baba said.
Unless one cultivates love, humility and
a helping nature, there is no use of
education. Self-awareness is true
education; it is within oneself and not
to be acquired through books. "Ekameva
Adwitheeyam Brahma" (There is only
Divinity, not two). Everyone refer to
themselves as "I"; and this "I" that is
common to everyone is the Atma. In order
to realize one's divinity, one must
first practice the lessons of unity and
purity. Dhyana (meditation) is achieved
by unity of the five senses and purity
by cultivating love. One must understand
the fundamental unity of all creation
and develop love towards everybody. That
alone can grant us a life of joy and
bliss. Bhagawan concluded His discourse
with the Bhajan ? "Prema Muditha Man Se
Kaho..." He then graciously and lovingly
presented mementoes to all the
delegates. Then, the participants
assembled in the Administrative Block of
the University to continue their
deliberations.
In
the afternoon, two students presented
the summaries of the deliberations of
the forenoon session. Following this,
there was a presentation by the senior
students of the Institute, entitled
'There is only one caste, the caste of
Humanity. There is only one religion,
the religion of Love'. It depicted the
origin, teachings and beliefs of the
major religions of the world and how
each one of them was designed by God for
the uplift of man, according to the
specific time and circumstances. Though
they may vary in their external rituals
and observances, the underlying
teachings are the same. This concept was
brought out very lucidly in a scene
where four salesmen are promoting the
same product ? coloured candles.
Although all the candles give the same
light, each one was packaged differently
and each salesman proclaimed his product
to be the best and promoted his product
in his unique way. This is not quite
unlike what may be happening in the
socio-religious realm of the world
today. At the end of the presentation,
Bhagawan lovingly granted photos to the
participants and accepted Arati before
retiring to His residence.
The next
day, after the morning darshan and
bhajan session in the mandir, the
participants adjourned to the Institute
Administrative Block for a session that
was chaired by Sri Venu Srinivasan,
Chairman & Managing Director, TVS Motors
Ltd. In the afternoon, everyone
assembled in the Sai Kulwant Hall to
attend the Valedictory ceremony of the
conference. After Bhagawan had granted
darshan and was seated on the dais, the
Vice-Chancellor of the Sri Sathya Sai
Institute of Higher Learning, Sri
A.V.Gokak, made a few introductory
remarks and invited Sri Sanjay Sahni,
Principal, Brindavan Campus of the
Institute, to conduct the proceedings.
Sri Sahni, then, welcomed the Chief
Guest for the occasion Mrs. Kumud
Bansal, Secretary, Primary & Secondary
Education, Government of India. He also
introduced the speakers for the
valedictory session of the conference.
The
first two speakers were students from
the Post graduate classes, who read out
the summaries of the day's proceedings
of the conference. Following the
summaries, Sri Sanjay Mahalingam, a
Research Scholar from the Department of
Management of the Institute began by
quoting from an open letter sent by a
World War II survivor to 'the teachers
of the world'. The author of the letter
had witnessed unspeakable horrors
perpetrated by engineers, doctors and
nurses during his incarceration in a
concentration camp. These men and women
who had been trained to serve society
were now engaged in merciless killing.
He refers to them as 'learned monsters'
and 'intelligent psychopaths' in his
poignant letter. He concludes with an
appeal to all teachers that they must
educate their students such that they
become more human. Sri Mahalingam said
that if today the field of education
presents a bleak scenario, the system of
education laid out by Bhagawan Sri
Sathya Sai Baba holds out a promise of a
brighter tomorrow. He drew the attention
of the audience to the many
accomplishments of the students of the
university ? the stupendous feats of
adventure and endurance that students
display during the Annual Sports and
Cultural Meet and the numerous
distinctions secured by the students in
national level examinations, a case in
point being the All India 1st rank
secured by a student of the M.Sc.
(Physics) course in the GATE examination
conducted last year. He also referred to
the upcoming alumni meet of the
Department of Management of the
university and noted that the former
students of the university have done its
alma mater proud not only by rising to
high levels in the corporate world but
also by their noble conduct and
integrity that has earned them and the
university, appreciation from the
industry. But, Sri Mahalingam pointed
out, it is not for achieving worldly
success alone that Bhagawan has called
His students to Himself. In the vision
statement of the university given by
Bhagawan Himself, He says, "The main
purpose of this college is to help you
cultivate self-awareness and
self-confidence, so that each one of you
can earn self-sacrifice and thus attain
self-realization". It is this lofty goal
that makes Bhagawan's students unique
and very special, Sri Mahalingam
concluded.
After
the forceful and inspiring talk by Sri
Sanjay Mahalingam, there was a speech by
Sri Jagadish Chandra, who is currently
pursuing his M.Phil (Physics) in
Bio-Optics. He spoke about the human
values of Sathya (Truth), Dharma
(Righteousness), Shanti (Peace) and
Prema (Love) and said that these are
pillars of the edifice of
Self-Realization. With anecdotes drawn
from Bhagawan's teachings, he elaborated
on the significance of human values in
our daily lives. He said that the
greatest inspiration on this path is
Bhagawan Himself, for through His
service projects such as the water
projects and the super-speciality
hospitals, He exemplifies these values.
He said that it is the greatest fortune
of students to acquire Bhagawan as their
Master, for He with His selfless Love
constantly mould the students to become
better human beings and ultimately
grants them the priceless gift of the
Vision of the Self.
Sri
S.V.Giri, former Vice-Chancellor of Sri
Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning,
spoke on the uniqueness of the education
system established by Bhagawan, that has
been named by Him as 'Educare'. He said
that the university orients the students
towards social welfare and that
education should never be removed from
the context of society and its uplift.
He further went on to say that the
remarkable achievements of Bhagawan's
educational system have to be replicated
to benefit all humanity, and the
Institute of Sathya Sai Education in
Thailand and the Sathya Sai School in
Zambia have proved that it is indeed
possible even without Bhagawan being
physically present, as His Grace and
Compassion are not bound by the spatial
limitations.
Smt. Kumud
Bansal, Secretary to the Government of
India, Dept. of Elementary Education and
Literacy, who spoke next, observed that
while discipline problems in the
country's schools are not too many, the
same cannot be said of the colleges and
universities. The educational
institutions run by Bhagawan hence stand
out as an oasis in this respect, given
the high caliber and conduct of the
students of His university and prayed
for His continued guidance and
blessings.
The
Vice-Chancellor of the university, Sri
A.V. Gokak then presented his concluding
remarks, thus bringing the curtains down
on a truly enlightening conference that
not only highlighted the problems faced
by the modern day education system but
also held out a ready solution in the
form of the human values based approach
adopted in Bhagawan's schools and
colleges. The Sri Sathya Sai Institute
of Higher Learning has already been
acknowledged as the crest jewel among
universities in India by the National
Assessment and Accreditation Council and
in their citation the Council mentions
"this model is worthy of emulation by
the institutions of higher learning in
the country and elsewhere, so that these
benefits would be reaped fast and on the
widest possible scale". Such
conferences, that increase the awareness
of the treasures that our ancient
Bharatiya culture has to offer to modern
society not just in the field of
education but in other spheres too, are
bound to have a snowballing effect that
will transform the world we live in, and
the dream of heaven on earth will then
become a reality.
Jai Sai
Ram!