How Students Can Improve Their Memory

The Sathya Sai Bal Vikas programme, which was launched in India under the in­spiration of Bhagavan over twelve years ago, acquired new momentum and dimen­sion in August this year when over 400 Bal Vikas gurus from more than thirty overseas countries assembled in Prasanthi Nilayam for intensive training in Educa­tion in Human Values. Simultaneously over 600 Bal Vikas gurus from all the States of India attended a training pro­gramme to extend Bal Vikas teaching to students of the age‑group 13‑15 (pre‑Seva Dal.) In His inaugural message to both the groups on August 14th, Bhagavan summo­ned the Bal Vikas gurus to a career of dedication to the service of the young so that the children may grow into worthy human beings who cherish the higher values of life‑Truth, Righteousness, Peace and Love. "Look upon your task as a Sadhana, a form of worship," He said. Teachers have to fill their own hearts with good thoughts, good ideals and yearn­ing for good deeds and devotion to God. They should be like the sun which stimu­lates the lotus buds to bloom and scatter fragrance. Gurus imbued with Divine Love and understanding are urgently nee­ded in every country. The two training programmes got off to a flying start with the inspiring message of Bhagavan. The overseas gurus had come from every continent and represented many races, religions and nationalities. They had come from countries as far apart as Australia, New Zealand and Fiji in the Pacific, to Canada, the U. S. A., Mexico and Salvador in the western hemi­sphere. It was a thrilling sight to witness such a gathering of teachers, predomina­ntly women, united by their common faith in Sai ideals and dedicated to the cause of Sai education as the key to the building up of a new world based on Dharma and Prema. The training programme for the over­seas teachers consisted of lectures by specialists on the role of human values course in overseas countries, the unity of faiths, scriptures of the world, the power of prayer, the role of group devotional singing, the technique of story telling and the use of role play and aptitude tests, the development of parent‑teacher relation­ship, the preparation of teaching materi­als, and allied subjects. By combining expositions of the subjects to be handled with practical demonstrations of teaching methods, the training programme offered to the overseas gurus a complete insight into the objectives and methods of educa­tion in human values. On the 17th, Prof. V. K. Gokak, Vice­-chancellor of the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, and the principal ex­ponent of the Sai philosophy of education, offered some clarifications regarding the human values which were included in the educational programme. Truth, for in­stance, had a complexity of meaning. In­tuitive truth is the most significant aspect of Truth as a value. The Bal Vikas gurus should awaken the intuitive faculty in the children. Intuition is related to the soul, while knowledge is related to the senses. Dharma (Right Action) relates to exercise of will and not merely observance of scrip­tural injunctions. It calls for an exercise in discrimination in making the choice between right and wrong in various situ­ations in life. Peace has a twofold significance. It represents calmness in the individual—what the Greeks called stoicism, the ab­sence of desires, passions, etc. This is a negative concept. The positive aspect of Peace is experienced during meditation. There is no agitation of the mind. The stillness of the mind leads to self‑reali­sation. Prof. Gokak recommended reading of good poetry to children as one method of awakening their love of the beauty in Nature and the divinity that permeates the Universe. Bhagavan's Discourses Beyond the scheduled lectures, the most inspiring and enlightening part of the training programme was the series of dis­courses given by Bhagavan on every day of the programme. His discourses were not only incisive commentaries on some of the lectures—like His simple but illumi­nating exposition of the Nyaya‑Vaiseshika, Sankhya‑Yoga and Purva Mimamsa and Uttara Mimamsa systems of Indian meta­physics—but, more than that, they provi­ded deep insights, into the purposes and methods of education in human values. Swami gave generously of His time to answer the questions submitted to Him by the teachers. More than an hour was devoted one morning to clear the doubts of overseas teachers who were keen to ex­tend the programme of education in human values to children outside the Sai fold. - Sanathana Sarathi, September 1983