Educational institutions should teach students to adhere to truth and to discharge their duties as a sacred obligation. Students should not allow success or failure to raffle their minds unduly. Courage and self-confidence must be instilled in the students.
Bend the twig and bend the tree, says the proverb. The moulding of character must start with children at the earliest age. Begin developing human values from the primary school. Some are concerned about our living in a "secular state". Secularism really means equal respects for all faiths and beliefs. There should be no hatred towards any faith. Other creeds or beliefs should not be condemned or derided. Some time ago there was an absurd idea that Sathya Sai educational institutions were religious institutions. Sai educational institutions are based on equal respect for all religions. They are wedded to unity and harmony.
Whatever studies you may pursue, do not give up your faith in God. To give up God is to give up life itself. Life is God. Truth is God. All that you do as an offering to God will be an expression of human values.
The educationists and Vice-chancellors who have assembled here have come to some decisions as a result of their high-minded deliberations. They are firmly convinced that human values have to be promoted. Whatever their limitations, they should strive to the extent possible to implement their decisions. The Divine is installed in their hearts. It is enough if they follow the promptings of the Divine. They are bound to achieve their objectives. If faith in God is strengthened, all values will develop in due course. Sublimate your lives by remembering, worshiping and adoring God.
Valedictory discourse to the National Symposium on Value Orientation on. 26-9-198 7.
The Lord has endowed man with a body and that is why every limb and every sense is worthy of reverent attention. Each must be used for his glory. The ear must exult when it gets a chance to hear the wonderful talks on God. The tongue must exult when it can praise him. Otherwise the tongue of the man is ineffective as the tongues of the frogs which croak day and night sitting on the marshy bank.
BABA
Friday, December 26, 2008
Unity Is Lacking In Colleges And Universities
If there is unity among educationists, any undertaking can be successful. Today unity is lacking in colleges and universities. Students and teachers are at loggerheads. How, then, is national integration to be promoted? When there is no unity or harmony at home, how can there be national unity?
Those in power operate under their own compulsions. They can take over properties and enterprises, but they cannot promote values. They may occupy temples and take over temple properties, but they can exercise no control over God. Governments may exercise control over men, but they have no hold over men's qualities.
Educational institutions must promote the spiritual outlook among students. When students acquire spiritual values, human values will grow in them of their own accord. Human values are not things to be implanted from outside. They are within each individual. They have to be manifested from within.
Human values are in everyone. What we need are persons who will provide the stimulus and the encouragement to bring them out. If the feeling that the divinity that is present in everyone is one and the same, is promoted among all, human values will sprout naturally in every person. To have this sense of spiritual oneness is the prelude to experiencing the highest bliss.
Those in power operate under their own compulsions. They can take over properties and enterprises, but they cannot promote values. They may occupy temples and take over temple properties, but they can exercise no control over God. Governments may exercise control over men, but they have no hold over men's qualities.
Educational institutions must promote the spiritual outlook among students. When students acquire spiritual values, human values will grow in them of their own accord. Human values are not things to be implanted from outside. They are within each individual. They have to be manifested from within.
Human values are in everyone. What we need are persons who will provide the stimulus and the encouragement to bring them out. If the feeling that the divinity that is present in everyone is one and the same, is promoted among all, human values will sprout naturally in every person. To have this sense of spiritual oneness is the prelude to experiencing the highest bliss.
Educationist's Vision Is Turned Outwards
Many educationists and Vice-chancellors are present here today. Their vision is turned outwards toward the external physical world. I am concerned with the Inner Vision. It is not possible to reconcile the physical and the internal spiritual vision. The heart cannot be transformed by lessons in a classroom. The world cannot be changed by mere preaching. Only through action and practical example can the impulse for change be intensified. When one leads a disciplined and regulated life, the lesson will be learnt without any teaching. The people will follow of their own accord. This applies to human values. Only when they are practised by teachers and elders, will students practise them.
Those who seek to impart the values of Sathya, Dharma, Santhi, Prema and Ahimsa to others, must first try to practise them themselves whole-heartedly. To imagine that values can be instilled by teaching is a mistake. Such learning will have no permanent effect. Educationists must take note of this fact. If transformation is to be effected in students, the process must start from a very early age.
To propagate human values, it is advisable to keep as far away as possible from the powers that be. It is not possible to promote sacred values through the help of governmental authorities. Some well-intentioned leaders may formulate commendable schemes. But there is a frequent change of men in the seats of power. What, then, happens to human values? It is essential to be self-reliant and stand on our own legs.
Only when you are untrammelled and independent can you propagate these sacred values freely and effectively. Educationists should try to set up an independent body for the formulation and implementation of educational policy, free from control or interference by the government. Only then will the promotion of human values succeed.
Those who seek to impart the values of Sathya, Dharma, Santhi, Prema and Ahimsa to others, must first try to practise them themselves whole-heartedly. To imagine that values can be instilled by teaching is a mistake. Such learning will have no permanent effect. Educationists must take note of this fact. If transformation is to be effected in students, the process must start from a very early age.
To propagate human values, it is advisable to keep as far away as possible from the powers that be. It is not possible to promote sacred values through the help of governmental authorities. Some well-intentioned leaders may formulate commendable schemes. But there is a frequent change of men in the seats of power. What, then, happens to human values? It is essential to be self-reliant and stand on our own legs.
Only when you are untrammelled and independent can you propagate these sacred values freely and effectively. Educationists should try to set up an independent body for the formulation and implementation of educational policy, free from control or interference by the government. Only then will the promotion of human values succeed.
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