Of All Professions, Teaching is the Noblest

The field of education has long been affli­cted by confusion and contradictory ideals. Many have spent deep thought on the pro­blem but they have not been able yet to achieve a solution that can help to make the life of the educated person both useful and full. Meanwhile, the system is fast sliding into the depth of degradation. Freedom has led to licentiousness; reve­rence has receded from all relationships; institutions dedicated to the worship of the Goddess of Learning (Saraswati) have changed into temples for the worship of the Goddess of Wealth (Lakshmi); apprecia­tion and encouragement are offered not for virtue and good character, but for money and its accumulation. In the conduct of individuals and in human relationships, no trace is visible of morality, charity, justice or rectitude. The situation is fraught with enormous danger for the future of huma­nity. Life today is riddled with fear, des­pair and doubt. Man rolls uneasily on a bed infested with itch‑mites, finding no rest and peace.

Mankind is moving on a huge railway journey. Many alight at the next halt, many more detrain at the second or third station. They are undergoing great anxiety, discomfort and pain, but they need to suffer only for a short while. The young men and women, the students, however, have a far greater distance to go. They have there­fore to be calmer and more composed, more certain of their destination, more circumspect and knowledgeable. They must be more aware of themselves.

A person who is sleeping can be awaken­ed with a little effort; no effort is called for with persons already awake, but, how can a person pretending to be fast asleep be awakened? An ignoramus or dull slothful person can be reformed; a person suffering from a mental phobia can be handled and transformed. But, a self‑satisfied person determined to hold on to his faulty opinions cannot be corrected. This is the crux of the problem in the educational field today.

"Sa Vidya, Ya Vimuktaye" (That is Vidya, which gives Vimukti; that which liberates is true education). Education must liberate man from the shackles of cowardice, pettiness, greed, hate, narrow­-mindedness, from the limits of I and mine. In this era, education has become plentiful and widespread. Schools, and colleges, universities and institutes for teaching have multiplied everywhere. In spite of this, there is no peace, no sense of brotherhood, no flow of love visible anywhere among the people, not even among the products of these purveyors of education.

The reason for this tragic phenomenon lies in the fact that the education has not affect­ed habits and conduct, daily behaviour and inter‑personal contacts. The scriptures declare, `Vidyaa thapobhyaam poothathma' (Education sublimated by dedicated living). Vidya has dual meaning: (1) the worldly education which teaches skills and discipli­nes and imparts information useful for ear­ning one's livelihood and attaining and maintaining a decent standard of living, and (2) moral, and spiritual education which imparts equanimity, tolerance, sense‑con­trol, gratitude, devotion to God and dedi­cation to the realisation of the Reality.

The teacher, known as the Guru, has the greatest share in moulding the future of the country. Of all professions, his is the nob­lest; the most difficult, the most important. He has cultivated in himself humility, compassion and the spirit of loving service, much more than those belonging to other professions, for he is an ideal and an ex­ample to his pupils. If a pupil has a vice, he alone suffers from it. But, if a teacher has a vice, thousands are polluted. The teacher is a beacon which has to guide and lead. If it fails to illumine, many will be wrecked on the rocks.

A school should not be considered to be just a commonplace arrangement designed for teaching and learning. It is the place where the consciousness is aroused and illumined, purified and strengthened, the place where the seeds of discipline, duty and devotion are planted and fostered into fruition. It is said that the schools have developed science and technology into sup­reme heights. But, though man has explor­ed millions of miles of space, he has not mastered the skill of exploring even half­-an‑inch of his own inner space! He is acquainted with the ups and downs on the surface of the moon, but he makes no att­empt to know the joys and sorrows of his next-door neighbour. The scientists and technicians hop from one seminar to ano­ther; they gather in scores of conferences, congresses and committees; they spend heaps of money and thousands of hours. The be­nefit that accrues to the world from these exercises is precious little. The conclusions of their confabulations are spread thick on paper; they do not get applied in actual living for the good of mankind. Those who behaved as heroes on platforms reveal themselves 'as' zeroes in practical life.

The Minister is evincing great enthusiasm to implant great ideals in the hearts of teachers. She is determined to make the curriculum on Human Values an integral part of Primary Education. It is indeed a sign of good luck that such a spiritually-­minded person is the Minister in charge of primary and secondary education in this State. For, the Primary School stage is the very foundation of the educational, the nation‑building structure. Education in Human Values is the very tap‑root of the tree. It can produce pure, steadfast, un­selfish heroes devoted to the country and its culture.

Teachers are not the only moulders of the future of this land. They should not, be blamed exclusively for the type of stu­dents we now are worried about. Venkatesh said now that the peace and prosperity of the country rest on the pedagogues and the police. I must add a third crucial party—­the parents. They must bear ninety per cent of the blame for spoiling the behaviour and character of the students. They show too unintelligent an affection and give too indiscriminate a freedom to their children. They do not provide them with examples of honesty, self-control and discipline. You must have seen gardens where snake‑gourds are grown on raised pandals. When the gourd starts growing, the gardener hangs a small stone at its end, so that the pull may make it grow straight. When it grows larger, the stone becomes heavier. So too, according to the age level the discipline enforced must become harder and harder in order that the child may grow straight forward, steady and strong.

Some people talk of an educational the­ory, advocating full freedom to the child, allowing it to grow just as it likes. The parents are advised not to curb or control. This is a sure way of making the child wild, a burden to itself and a nuisance to society. The parent sends the child to school but does not verify whether he has attended the class or slipped into the cinema theatre. The child does not come home, straight from school. The parent does not inquire why or insist that it comes on time. By this tendency to dote, the career of the child is ruined. The pity is that the child­ren most spoiled by this misplaced affection come from the homes of officers, those wielding power and authority and of edu­cated elite. Vidya, the teachers can give; the Tapas, discipline, the rigorous control of the senses and behaviour must be administered by the parents. Then, the children become Poothathma, sacred souls, holy, sanctified individuals. Even while their minds are tender and their hearts are unsoiled, children must be trained to purify and sweeten their thoughts, words and deeds. Artificial manners and hollow be­haviour should be avoided. They will cause splits in the personality.

Students must find joy in hard work, not in soft jobs, jobs where the hands do not handle dirt or dust, jobs which do not soil their shirts or pants, which can be done while whistling tunes in air‑conditioned rooms, reclining on the soft cushions of the sofa under the whirl of fans. We require and the schools must provide, men and women who are delighted when they earn their livelihood through the sweat of their brow, who are ready to offer help to the weak and the poor, who adhere to truth, whatever the consequence. They ought to be free from the inordinate and exclusive att­achment to their own happiness. Envy is the demon born of this egotism. It thrives on misunderstanding and ignorance. It is a pest that destroys the bloom of content­ment. They should not long for authority over others. Fulfilling one's duty to the best of their knowledge and the utmost of their skill‑these alone can endow them with authority.

Time flees with cyclonic speed; life ebbs away, with every second. So, it is the immediate duty of man to win joy and contentment, calm and balance. Look at the beasts in the forest. They are not agitated by limitless desire, by the agony of envy, the ambition to attain higher life‑styles. They are as they are. It is good education to watch them.

While educating children, great attention has to be paid to the cultivation of good conduct, good speech and good thoughts. I have been entrusted today with the task of releasing, for the edification of teachers, parents and children, a book of prayers, a book of stories for children and a third one on guidelines for teachers. These have come from the brain, and it is no good, if the teachers pack them back into their brains! They have to be assimilated into the consciousness and find expression as compassion and fruitful activity. You are provided with a course of training so that you may instil the zest and the zeal to in­spire other teachers in their task of planting fundamental Human Values in children. Do not memorise the book and pour the pages onto the answer books at the time of the examination at the end of the course, as students do now. You must imprint the message and the methods, on your heart. And, it has to become, not a Polaroid print from which it is difficult to make copies, but a negative from which as many copies as we want can be taken. You have to train and inspire many other teachers to do this great task successfully.

The fresh and free hearts of children should be handled with great care in a re­verent worshipful mood. Every action be­fore them will have a reaction, good or bad. Every sound will resound, every image will cause a reflection. So, the teacher has to be vigilant and wise. The awareness of the One that has become Many and is resident in the Many must activate you always. Jesus said, "All are One, my Dear Son! Be alike to every one" for in every one, the Divine is the Reality

The Minister has resolved to reinforce the educational process through emphasis on Hunan Values and these orientation courses for teachers. When oil is poured from one tin to another, the hand that pours and the hand that receives have both to be steady and held tight. They should not shake.

Calm, concentrated, unshaken attention should be paid by those who teach and those who learn. Neither should yield to sudden fits of anger, anxiety or agitation. By discharging the duty assigned to them and accepted by them, teachers will be promoting the progress of the society, the nation and the world. By discharging the duty that this period of life demands of them and the task imposed on them by their parents, their country and the world, the students will earn the appreciation and the gratitude of their family, society and motherland. Of course, these are difficult tasks. But, joy is derived only through pain; difficulty alone can lead to delight.

- Discourse Delivered during Orientation Course in Education in Human Values, Jubilee Hall, Lal Bagh, Bangalore, on May 17, 1981