A National Agenda for Education - Contents of Education for Character Development

6.

Contents of Education for Character Development

Methods and contents of education are interrelated; this is particularly true in respect of education for character development, where methods themselves are in significant measure contents. This is the reason why the treatment of these two subjects tends to have some kind of overlapping. In a sense, the teacher in respect of education for character development has no method and yet every method. Similarly, he has no specific content and yet every content. A simple statement like the one that was given to Shvetaketu by his father, "Thou art that", can become sufficient for the entirety of the contents, and mere meditation would suffice as entirety of method. But this would not suffice in each and every case or when we have to deal with a large number of students, where each individual will need to have a special programme appropriate to his or her needs of growth and his or her special approach and method of growth. It is for this reason that we need to formulate methods and contents in a somewhat general way which can guide the teachers in dealing with such a difficult and subtle subject as education for character development.

It must have been observed that while expounding the methods, we have restrained ourselves to generalities, since what the teacher has to do in specific situations or in specific stages of each of his students has to be determined by him, and no specific prescriptions can be made in advance. In the same way, if we are to present a programme or a curriculum in regard to the contents, it can only be in the form of a very general guideline, and it has to be implemented by the teacher not as a fixed framework of a rigid syllabus, but as a flexible and experimental set of ideas and suggestions. The teacher has to feel free to modify, enrich or alter it in an experimental manner while dealing with his students in specific

situations or in specific stages of development.

An exploratory draft programme which is being presented here should be looked upon in this light.

When we study the concept of character development in all its aspects, one central thing that emerges is that the entire process of character development is ultimately reduced to the process of self knowledge and the process of self-control. In our undeveloped condition, we are a complex of impulses and passions, of rudimentary faculties and capacities and of inarticulate ideas and aspirations. All these need to be developed by three basic processes: introspective observation, careful processes of control, and growing awareness of oneself and of the world and their interrelationship by means of refinement of faculties and capacities. The more we observe ourselves and the more we control our impulses and passions in the right manner, the more we discover what we are truly in our deepest depths and highest heights and how we can deal with the world in a manner by which we can act rightly and contribute to the increasing progress and unification of the society and the world. This entire process can be covered under the general theme of character development, and this theme can best be described under the general title: "To know oneself and to control oneself".

There are three important elements which have magnetic power to lift students from lower to higher levels of character. These are: illumination, love and heroism. Illumination is basically the experience of clarity in respect of understanding of inner states of consciousness, of widening horizons of environment, and of value of relationships and internal complexities of psychological and physical life. At a lower level, this clarity is conceptual, but as we ascend higher and higher, it assumes the nature of intuitive and inspirational enlightenment. Love is that indefinable but powerful force of delight that ultimately brings about harmony in all relations. As Shelley pointed out, "this is the bond and the sanction which connects not only men with men but everything which exists." Transcending selfishness and self-centredness, love opens its portals to the inner cave of our hearts and makes us surrender to the supreme glory that is universal and

divine. Heroism is spontaneous galloping of power that rides on crest of self-giving which cares only for establishment of justice and upholding of all that is noble and true. These three, in their combination, provide irresistible leverage for rising into a transforming process. They render the task of self-control into the tasks of transmutation. Not suppression but rejection, purification and sublimation of the lower impulses and drives is the real secret of self-control.

One of the important instruments by which these three elements can be made operative in the educational process is that of good stories. A programme of character development must provide for a large number of stories that illustrate the themes of illumination, love and heroism. But care should be taken to ensure that these stories should have been written in a language that is chaste and beautiful. They can be selected from the world literature but made available to the children in the language which they all understand and appreciate. They should be full of human interest, and they should be able to create an atmosphere that is clean and uplifting.

Along with stories, selections from poems and plays should also be a part of the programme. Inspiring passages and interesting essays also should be utilised.

Exhibitions play a great role in creating collective atmosphere and also in opening vaster vistas before the children's vision and imagination.

The programmes should also include exercises of contemplation, purification and of aesthetic experience.

Nobility of character is greatly sustained by the mind which is both wide and profound and which aspires to reach higher levels of knowledge. A great effort needs to be made, therefore, to ensure that learning material should have a vast canvas where the East and the West can meet and where subtlety and complexity of life are portrayed in a stimulating manner. Subjects and topics must be presented which develop sense of wonder.

There are a number of topics which are directly related to self-knowledge; there are others which aim at giving a synoptic view of the world; there are topics which are concerned with themes of

mutuality, harmony and true brotherhood. All these topics should suitably be presented in well-graded manner.

Linguistic capacities are a great aid to the development of character. The greater the mastery over the language, the greater is the mastery over thought; and the greater the mastery over thought, the greater is the power of controlling the lower by the higher. The programme should, therefore, provide exercises that aim at chiselling the capacities of linguistic expression, both oral and written. The exercises in this connection should also include those of recitation, singing, and dramatics.

Works of labour and community service with an inner sense of dedication should be underlined. The right attitude towards work should also be cultivated; it must be remembered that one must work, not to come first but to do one's very best, that one must work to achieve perfection and one must be neither in a great hurry nor lazy and sluggish.

One of the important aspects of the programme should be related to bridging the gap between the realms of science and the realm of values. The perception of the unity of the world is a necessary basis for durable striving for harmony and brotherhood. There are a number of topics that could be suggested which would show the unity of Matter, Life, and Mind; and there are various other topics which could show the possibilities of developing mind to manifest higher powers that would, in due course, promote higher levels of harmony. These topics should be presented in a graded manner so that one begins to perceive how the entire world-process is one and how a true harmony between oneself and humanity can be established.

At higher levels in secondary or higher secondary courses, introductory topics which would provide reflections on religions, science, philosophy and Yoga should form an important part of studies. As these subjects are full of complexities and controversies, great care should be taken to prepare learning materials that would encourage impartiality and comparative studies. Instead of providing dogmatic answers, we need to develop the sense of exploration in the growing minds of students.

In the end, it may be emphasised that since character development

is related predominantly to will, and since will is well developed when we provide freedom of choice, special emphasis should be laid on creating environment where students can enjoy freedom. Freedom necessarily raises questions regarding discipline. Ideally, discipline should be a resultant of freedom, and all discipline should be self-discipline. One of the most difficult problems in character development is as to how to inspire students to impose on themselves a programme of self-discipline. The success of the programme of education for character development will depend upon how far the contents and methods of education can harmonise the demands of freedom and discipline. It is worth remembering the famous view of Socrates that it is only when we are utterly free that we cannot but choose the good and the right.

The programme that is presented here aims at providing a flexible framework of the study and practice of those elements which would directly or indirectly promote the basic elements of character development. It is an attempt to correlate the main aspects of what Swami Vivekananda spoke in regard to man-making education with the varieties of subjects that are normally pursued in the primary, secondary and higher secondary courses in Indian schools.

This programme underlines those elements of education which seem to be indispensable for every one to grow up as a well-developed human being, irrespective of what specialities are chosen for specialisation. Everyone needs to know the mystery and excellence of the human body, since the body is the material base of the pursuit of whatever ideals one chooses to embody in one's individual and social life. Everyone needs to understand one's own impulses, desires, emotions and will-power in order to determine how to control and master them and even transform them so that one grows into a personality guided by wisdom and inspired by the sense of harmony and heroic courage. Everyone needs to know how mind functions and how rationality, morality, and aesthetic refinement grow into higher and deeper reaches of psychic and spiritual being. Everyone needs to practise attitudes and powers of concentration and harmonisation of inner and outer life.

Everyone needs to learn how to learn and how to continue to learn throughout life. Everyone needs to be a good pupil and a good teacher and everyone needs to develop the capacity to choose the right aim of life and to pursue that aim with determination and perseverance. Finally, everyone needs to have basic grounding to be able to ask: What is the mystery of this world and one's own place in it so as to be able to play one's role effectively?

These and allied subjects need to be woven together in a graded manner so that the teacher can aid the student in a very flexible manner in the process of growth of character. As stated above, the key-words of the growth are "to know oneself" and "to control oneself". It is to be underlined that both these are difficult, but to render them into processes of supreme interest and unfailing enthusiasm is a task that can be fulfilled only if we chalk out a programme that is psychologically sound and practically workable. Much will depend upon the teacher's skills and powers of inspiration and guidance. And much will also depend upon the quality of the teaching-learning material that will be provided by the educators.

With these introductory remarks, a draft programme is presented. This programme is tentative, and this presentation is really in the form of invitation to the participants to study it and to suggest ways and means by which it can be improved and implemented. It will be seen that this programme will require the production of relevant teaching-learning material. It will also demand from teachers new attitudes and new initiatives and dedication. This may also imply a new programme of training of teachers. A good deal of cooperation has to be sought from parents and all those who are connected with the development of children. It may also be necessary to initiate courses of training of parents and others. This will, again, demand the task of preparing the relevant teaching-learning material.

One of the purposes of this presentation is to involve the participants in a long-term exercise through which the required teaching-learning material can be produced, experimented upon and brought to some kind of perfection.

Let us then study the proposed draft programme, given in the Annexure.

To Know Oneself and to Control Oneself

(An Exploratory Draft Programme)

Classes I and II

I. Stories and plays to illustrate the following themes:

1. The ideal of truth:

To speak the truth, whatever the consequences.

2. Aspiration for perfection:

Whatever you do, do it as perfectly as you can.

3. Dreams of the new world:

Where truth alone prevails, where beauty and goodness pervade.

II. Special exhibitions on the above themes.

III. Teachers may recommend the following exercises and help each child to practise them:

1. Exercises in remembering and repeating noble aspirations

and thoughts.

2. Exercises in observation and accurate description (leaves, plants, flowers, minerals, scenes, animals, figures, human body, artistic pictures,musical pieces, buildings, objects, events).

3. Art of bathing, art of cleaning the teeth, art of dressing, art of sitting and standing in right postures.

4. Exercises in control of the senses:

-Control in regulating calls of nature, thirst and appetite;

-Control in speech;

-Control in behaviour;

-Control in movement and action.

Classes III and IV

I. Development of the sense of wonder:

1. Examples from astronomy: distance, vastness, galaxies, expanding universe.

2. Examples from physics: what is matter behind what we see and touch?

3. Examples from chemistry: what is water? Is it mere oxygen and hydrogen or something more?

4. Examples from other sciences: caterpillar and butterfly, language and understanding, outer man and inner man.

II. Training of the senses and their powers:

1. Knowledge of the senses: five senses of knowledge, five senses of action.

2. Exercises of vision and hearing: art and music as instruments.

3. Exercises of concentration in sense activities.

4. Inner senses: capacities to see the invisible and to hear the inaudible.

III. Awareness of the body:

1.. Elementary knowledge relating to health, strength and beauty of the body.

2. Art of relaxation and art of sleeping.

3. The body as the temple of the spirit.

IV. Teachers may recommend, according to circumstances, the following attitudes and exercises:

1. One should study, not to pass examinations, but to discover the secrets of the world.

2. Work with the body is indispensable for true knowledge and experiences.

3. Practice of concentration in every activity: concentration is the key to all progress.

4. Practice of quietude and silence in "Rooms of Silence".

5. Impromptu periods or moments when children are asked to be as quiet as possible.

Directions to Teachers (Classes I-IV)

Some practical hints that result from the application of methods of psychological and value-oriented development are suggested here:

(a) It may first be noted that a good many children are under the influence of the inner psychic presence which shows itself very distinctly at times in their spontaneous reactions and even in their words. All spontaneous turning to love, truth, beauty, knowledge, nobility, heroism is a sure sign of the psychic influence.

(b) To recognize these reactions and to encourage them wisely and with a psychic feeling would be the first indispensable step.

(c) The best qualities to develop in children are:

(d) These qualities are taught infinitely better by examples than by beautiful speeches.

(e) The undesirable impulses and habits should not be treated harshly. The child should not be scolded. Particularly, care should be taken not to rebuke a child for a fault which one commits oneself. Children are very keen and clear-sighted

observers; they soon find out the educator's weaknesses and note them without pity.

(f) When a child makes a mistake, one must see that he confesses it to the teacher or the guardian spontaneously and frankly; and when he has confessed it he should be made to understand with kindness and affection what was wrong in the movement and that he should not repeat it. A fault confessed must be forgiven.

(g) The child should be encouraged to think of wrong impulses not as sins or offences but as symptoms of a curable disease alterable by a steady and a sustained effort of the will — falsehood being rejected and replaced by truth, fear by courage, selfishness by sacrifice, malice by love.

(h) Great care should be taken to see that unformed virtues re not rejected as faults. The wildness and recklessness of many young natures are only the overflowing of an excessive strength, greatness and nobility.

(i) An affection that is firm yet gentle, sees clearly, and a sufficiently practical knowledge will create bonds of trust that are indispensable for the educator to make the education of a child effective.

(j) When a child asks a question, he should not be answered by saying that it is stupid or foolish, or that the answer will not be understood by him. Curiosity cannot be postponed, and an effort must be made to answer questions truthfully and in such a way as to make the answer comprehensible to his mental capacity.

(k) The teacher should ensure that the child gradually begins to be aware of the psychological centre of his being, the psychic being, the inner seat of the highest truth of our existence.

(1) With that growing awareness, the child should be taught to concentrate on his presence and make it more and more a living fact.

(m) The child should be taught that whenever there is an inner uneasiness, he should not pass it off and try to forget it, but should attend to it, and try to find out by an inner observation the cause of the uneasiness, so that it can be removed by inner

or other methods.

(n) It should be emphasized that if one has a sincere and steady aspiration, a persistent and dynamic will, one is sure to meet in one way or another, externally by study and instruction, internally by concentration, revelation or experience, the help one needs to reach the goal. Only one thing is absolutely indispensable, the will to discover and realize. This discovery and this realization should be the primary occupation of the being, the pearl of great price which one should acquire at any cost. Whatever one does, whatever one's occupation and activity, the will to find the truth of one's being and to unite with it must always be living, always present behind all one does, all that one thinks, all that one experiences.

All the above suggestions are to be implemented from day to day under various circumstances and in the context of living problems of the growth of children.

The role of the teacher is to put the child upon the right road to its own perfection and encourage it to follow it, watching, suggesting, helping, but not imposing or interfering. The best method of suggestion is by personal example, daily conversation and books read from day to day.

Class V

I. Science and Values

A simple statement of the major facts of evolution:

1. Emergence of matter.

2. Emergence of life in matter.

3. Emergence of mind in life.

4. Man is evolving.

5. Striking phenomenon of the mutation of a caterpillar into a butterfly.

6. Future possibilities of the evolution of man. Yoga is a scientific and methodised effort of the evolution of man.

II. Aids for the Development of Value-Consciousness and Experience

1. To ask oneself: what am I?

2. Story of the search of Svetaketu and Nachiketas.

3. Listening to music: selected ragas (Indian) (Western).

4. Pictures of the beauty of nature.

5. Study of great personalities: the Buddha (a detailed study).

6. Need for physical fitness: what it means (topic for study and reflection).

III. Teachers may recommend the following exercises according to circumstances and in response to the individual needs of each student:

1. Resolve daily to be truthful, to be free from fear and to have goodwill for everyone.

2. Works of labour and community service with an inner motive of dedication.

3. Clarity of thought: there is a distinction between appearance and reality (Examples from science, history, literature and philosophy).

4. Cleanliness and purity of the body, exercises for the body.

Class VI

I. Science and Values

Striking facts revealed by science:

1. Extraordinary phenomenon of intelligence in animals and birds.

2. Possibility of intelligence even in matter or material objects.

3. Complex organisation of social life in certain species of insects, animals and birds.

4. Man's intelligence: is it superior to the intelligence of animals

and birds in every respect?

5. Value-oriented methods of developing intelligence and knowledge:

-Concentration — Silencing of the mind

-Intense search for the truth

-Sincerity in thought, word and deed

-Deep humility

II. Aids for Development of Value-Consciousness and Experience

1. Introspection: distinction between thought, will, emotion, impulse, sensation, perception, and functions of the body.

2. Story of Arjuna at the beginning of the Mahabharata War to illustrate the above distinctions (other similar stories).

3. Determination of the aim of life:

-The meaning of an ideal

-Ideals of truth, beauty and goodness

-Ideal of perfection

4. Study of great personalities: Jesus-Christ (a detailed study).

5. Listening to music: selected ragas (Indian) and harmonies (Western).

6. Examples of poetic excellence: regional poetry, Sanskrit poetry, English poetry

7. Need to control and master the lower nature (topic for study and reflection)

8. Diet and health.

III. Exercises to be recommended:

1. To make in daily life the choice for control and mastery, for regularity and punctuality; the choice for truth and perfection, for work and perseverance to the end of the work, for seriousness of purpose and inner joy and equality in all circumstances.

2. To remember the aim of life and to:

(a) Review daily before retiring one's actions, thoughts,

feelings, in relation to the aim of life.

(b) Try to harmonize thoughts, words, feelings and deeds so

as to progress more in this direction.

3. To observe in oneself and to practise through daily effort and exercise:

(a) Creative urge towards poetry, music, art, crafts, dance, drama, reading, writing.

(b) Capacities to feel wideness, intensity and height of consciousness and experience.

4. Works of labour and community service with an inner motive of dedication — learning the art of sweeping rooms, courtyards, washing of dishes and clothes, and elements of first aid.

5. Enlarge interests: there is no subject which is not interesting.

6. Will always for health, strength, agility, plasticity and beauty. Remember: it is not a virtue to fall ill. If ill:

(a) Examine diet

(b) Examine habits

(c) Examine feelings, thoughts and actions — correct them and recover health

7. Daily one hour of relaxation and games, etc.

Class VII

I. Science and Values

1. How are plants different from animals?

2. Do plants and trees have feelings?

3. Experiments of jagdish Chandra Bose.

4. Experiments of effects of music on plants.

5. Study of flowers as symbols of psychological states and powers.

II. Aid for the Development of Value-Consciousness and Experience

1. Calm and intimate company of plants, trees and flowers;

2. A study of the :

(a) Stories of Bodhisattva from the jatakas.

(b) Parables from the Bible.

(c) Questions put to Yudhishthira on the bank of the lake and his answers.

(d) Messages received by Prophet Muhammad from the Angel.

(e) Account of Rabindranath Tagore's experience of his opening to poetic inspiration.

(f) "Powers of the Mind" — from Swami Vivekananda.

3. Topic for deep study and reflection: how to progress continuously?

4. Study of great personalities: Prophet Muhammad (a detailed study).

III. Methods for the development of the following qualities and skills:

-Quietude

-Interest in languages

-Poetry and music

-Clarity of thinking

-Will-power

IV Exercises to be recommended:

1. Develop awareness.

2. Go deep, very deep within in search of the soul. (Concentrate on the region of the "solar plexus" and collect all your consciousness, and go deeper and deeper in that region, with quietude, and practise this often).

3. Study repeatedly and practise the message given in:

(a) The description of the Sthitaprajna as given in the Gita

(b) "The Sermon of the Mount", from the New Testament.

(c) "If you hast the work, this is thy work", by Sri Aurobindo.

4. Works of labour and community service with an inner

motive of dedication.

5. Daily one hour of exercises, games, etc.

Class VIII

I. Science and Values

1. Surprising mysteries of the human body as revealed by science.

2. Value-oriented concept of the body:

(a) The body as the temple of the spirit.

(b) The subtle body and its functions.

(c) The concept of chakras (centres of vibrations) and their functions.

(d) the concept of kundalini: how it can be awakened in different ways.

3. Yogic concept of the perfection of the body by a total psychogical transformation.

II. Aids for the Development of Value-Consciousness and Experience

1. The ideal and practice of brahmacharya (example of Dayananda Saraswati).

2. Study of passages from Plato, particularly from the Apology and The Republic.

3. Study of passages from the Upanishads, particularly Isha Upanishad.

4. Contemplation on the concept of "Universals".

5. Topic for deep study and reflection: "What is my role in the world?"

6. Reflection:

(a) What is the aim of learning languages? How to enrich knowledge of languages?

(b) What is the essence of mathematics?

(c) What is science?

-Is language a science?

-Is mathematics a science?

-Is history a science?

-Is geography a science?

(d) What is the difference between science and art?

7. A detailed study of the life and work of Tiruvalluvar.

8. Daily one hour of exercises and games, etc.

Class IX

I. Science and Values

1. The concept of matter in modern science and yoga.

2. The concept of life in modern science and in yoga.

3. Importance of the sun and its energy for the life on the earth.

4. The nature of the light of the sun (Saura Agni): how it is different from the light of ordinary fire (Jada Agni) and electricity (Vidyut Agni).

5. The concept of Agni in yoga.

6. Speed of light: its importance in science. Position of an object moving at the speed of light. The concept of the mobile-immobile. Compare this with: "It moves, It moves not" — the Upanishadic description of reality.

7. The concept of time in modern science.

8. Speed of consciousness exceeds that of light according toyogic knowledge.

II. Aids for the Development of Value-Consciousness and Experience

1. What is the process of thinking? How is thinking different in science from that in philosophy?

2. What is technology? How should technology be learnt?

3. What is the difference between art and technology?

4. Observation of the different levels of being in man: the distinction

between the physical man, the vital man, the mental man the spiritual man and the integral man.

5. Topic for deep study and reflections: "Unity of knowledge" or "All knowledge, scientific, philosophic or yogic, tends ultimately to be identical".

III. Exercises to be recommended:

-Repeated study and contemplation of Chapter XI of the Bhagavad Gita

-Vow of the Buddha

-Selected Psalms

-Islamic prayers

-Selected portions from Tulsidas

-Songs of Mirabai, Surdas, Tukaram, Ramprasad, and other saints

-Prayer of Swami Vivekananda

Class X

I. Sciences and Values

1. Our knowledge regarding man:

(a) Man in evolution

(b) Has man made progress?

(c) Limitations of man

2. The phenomenon of death. What is death? (in the physical, psychological and yogic senses). Can death be conquered?

3. Dependence of bodily life on respiration, food, blood circulation and sleep. Is this dependence necessary or indispensble?

4. The yogic powers of mastery over food, sleep, respiration and blood circulation. Limitation of these powers; dangers of these powers; real perfection.

5. The right attitude towards food, sleep, respiration and other limitations of the body. Need for temperance: avoidance of

extremes. Need for change of consciousness. Mastery over bodily limitations possible only at the highest levels of yoga.

6. The concept of the divine body.

II. Aids for the Development of the Yogic Consciousness and Experience

1. Elementary powers of expression.

Necessity and methods of development of these powers, particularly in relation to:

(a) Faultless language expression.

(b) Faultless bodily expressions: recitation, singing, eurythmics and dramatics.

(c) Faultless deeper expressions: poetry, dance, art and craft.

2. Elementary powers of perception.

Necessity and methods of development of these powers, particularly in relation to:

(a) Refined vision and audition, appreciation of art and music.

(b) Inner yogic visions and voices.

(c) Sympathetic feeling and understanding, experience of cooperation, harmony, mutuality and oneness.

3. Elementary powers of action.

Necessity and methods of development of these powers, particularly in connection with:

(a) The relationship between knowledge and action.

(b) The relationship between ideal and practice.

(c) The relationship between dedication and heroism.

4. Works of labour and community service with an inner motive of dedication.

5. Study of great personalities (A detailed study of the life of Mahavira)

6. Why and how to study? (A topic for study and reflection).

III. Exercises to be recommended:

1. Remember and practise in daily life:

(a) Work, not to come first, but to do your very best.

(b) You have no right to criticize anybody, unless you can do better than the one whom you want to criticize.

(c) Cultivate in yourself those qualities which you want thers to cultivate.

(d) Select books, magazines, and films with utmost care, and under the guidance of some teachers whom you trust.

(e) Do not indulge; do not kill your emotions, but learn the difficult art of control, purification, mastery and transformation.

(f) You have within yourself an inner soul, full of purity, joy and love and light. You are to discover it and bring it forward in all your activities, thoughts and feelings.

2. Continue to enlarge interests.

3. Continue to will for health, strength, agility, plasticity and beauty.

4. Daily one hour of exercises and games, etc.

IV Programmes of Self-Education

The following exercises may be recommended:

1. Observation and developments of the natural tendencies, preferences, inclinations and interests.

2. Where have I reached in my progress?

3. What are my defects?

4. How to face defects without depression?

5. What should I do to overcome my defects?

6. Preparation of a programme of self-discipline.

7. Am I talking too much? To learn to speak only what is necessary.

8. Am I lazy? To resolve to remove idleness.

9. How to organize my life and my activities?

V. Study of selections from Valmiki and Vyasa

VI. A detailed study of the life and work of Guru Nanak.

Class XI

I. Science and Values

1. The role of intuition in discoveries and inventions of science. Yoga as a conscious method of the development of intuition.

2. Ancient Indian sciences and yoga.

3. Ancient Indian knowledge and modern scientific knowledge: some striking examples.

4. Systems of yoga: Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Tantra, Integral Yoga.

II. Aids for the Development of the Yogic Consciousness and Experience

1. Need for the systematic knowledge of the principles and methods of yoga.

2. Need for the Teacher: the real inner Teacher.

3. Need for inner aspiration in the student.

4. The right attitude towards time: to do everything as quickly and perfectly as possible.

5. Study of great personalities: Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekaananda (a detailed study).

III. Exercises to be recommended:

Reflections on:

1. Scientific and philosophical methods of knowledge.

2. Can science and philosophy explain the ultimate reason of events and processes of the world?

3. Value and limitations of the philosophical concepts of:

-Deism

-Pantheism

-Theism

-Monism

-Omnipresence, omniscience and omnipotence of God.

4. Value and limitations of the philosophical proofs of the existence of God.

5. Can God be experienced? Affirmation of spiritual experiences. Varieties of spiritual experience. Yoga as a systematic knowledge of spiritual experience.

Class XII

I. Science and Values

1. Yoga as an exploration of existence by an enlargement of consciousness.

2. Yoga, like science, is a systematic body of knowledge.

-Yoga, like science, is non-dogmatic.

-Yoga, like science, accepts the criterion of verification by experience.

-Yoga is science, par excellence (statements from Swami Vivekananda on this subject).

3. Materialism, science and yoga.

4. Need for the synthesis of science and spirituality.

5. Science and the discovery of the fourth dimension.

6. Discovery of the manifold dimensions of human personality .

II. Central Experiences of Inner Consciousness

1. Experience of true individuality:

(a) Experience of the Witness Self.

(b) Experience of the Psychic Being in formation.

(c) Experience of the discovery of the Psychic Being — experience of the second birth.

2. Experience of Silence or of nirvana.

3. Experience of the Cosmic Consciousness.

4. Integral experience of the simultaneous Silence and Dynamism.

5. Supramental time-vision.

6. Change and transformation of human nature.

III. Aids for the Development of the Yogic Consciousness and experience

A brief study of the following topics:

1. All life must be accepted, but all life must be transformed.

-Works of knowledge

-Works of love

-Works of life-force Problems in accepting and transforming these works.

2. Synthesis of the four main theories of the aim of life:

-Supracosmic

-Supraterrestrial

-Cosmic-terrestrial

-Integral

3. Development of a vision of ideal perfection, individual and collective.

4. Man's present condition and possibilities of his further evolution.

5. Psychological experiences of various parts and domains of being. Conflicts between the rational being, the aesthetic being and the ethical being. How to resolve these conflicts?

IV. Exercises to be recommended:

1. Sustained exercises of clear thought.

2. Intensive introspection.

3. Progressive harmonization of various parts of the being.

4. Creative work with sustained enthusiasm and the spirit of perfection in expression.

5. Programmes of dedicated community service.

6. Consistency in aspiration, effort and dedication.

7. Equality in success or in failure, while working constantly for the triumph of the Truth.

8. Development of the powers of philosophical reasoning, scientific observation and experimentation, artistic expression,

and technological skill. Harmonization of these powers by rigorous internal exercises of will.

V. Programme of Self-Education

To discover within oneself the secret guide and teacher and to take up the charge of educating oneself progressively and integrally.