Articles

     (An article by Swami Arunachalananda Puri in The Vedanta Kesari - May 2024 issue.)

'Education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man.
Religion is the manifestation of the Divinity already in man.'¹
The above two comprehensive definitions of 'Education' and 'Religion' given by Swami Vivekananda cover immense ground. We can trace from them the entire process of evolution of human species on planet Earth. To understand the role of education and religion in the march of civilisations, it would be helpful for us to understand the Vedantic view of a human being. Vedanta views human beings as Brahman (Infinite Pure Consciousness-Bliss) 'appearing' limited by thought patterns and thought, which is the 'power-manifestation' of Brahman. External universe, too, is considered by Vedanta, as Brahman 'appearing' as limited objects; and external objects too are discovered ultimately as nothing but thought patterns. Thus, according to Vedanta, the gross sense-perceived vision of human beings and the universe is in fact concretised thought patterns. Swami Vivekananda explains this as:

If you can get to that subtle vibration, you will see and feel that the whole universe is composed of subtle vibrations. Sometimes certain drugs have the power to take us, while as yet in the senses, to that condition. Many of you may remember the celebrated experiment of Sir Humphrey Davy, when the laughing gas overpowered him - how, during the lecture, he remained motionless, stupefied and, after that, he said that the whole universe was made up of ideas. For the time being, as it were, the gross vibrations had ceased, and only the subtle vibrations which he called ideas, were present to him. He could only see the subtle vibrations round him; everything had become thought; the whole universe was an ocean of thought, he and everyone else had become little thought whirlpools.²

Infinite Pure-Consciousness-Bliss Reality (Brahman or Atman) is thought-projected as Akasha and Prana - the universal substance and universal power - and everything in the universe is a manifestation of these two: 'Akasha is like the water, and everything else in the universe is like blocks of ice, made out of that water, and floating in the water, and Prana is the power that changes this Akasha into all these various forms.'³

We fail to realise this truth about ourselves and the world due to the 'dullness' and 'distractedness' of our intellect or in other words due to the 'impurity' of our hearts; this 'dullness' or 'impurity' is in the form of attachment to the sense-perceived phenomenon and desires for objects and relationships. Vedanta terms this as avidya (ignorance) and the way to regain true knowledge, is through education.

Education in Perspective

Education begins with secular knowledge and ends with spiritual knowledge. In India during the Vedic period and in later developments, all knowledge was considered sacred. The knowledge of 'inner man' was Religion while the knowledge of 'outer world' was Science, e.g. science of physics of things is called 'भौतिक शास्त्र (bhautika shastra)' while the science of spirituality is called 'अध्यात्म शास्त्र (adhyatma shastra)' or 'ब्रह्मविद्या (brahmavidya)'
The Mundaka Upanishad says:

द्वे विद्ये वेदितव्ये इति ह स्म यद् ब्रह्मविदो वदन्ति | परा चैवापरा च ||
तत्रापरा ऋग्वेदो यजुर्वेदः सामवेद: अथर्ववेद: शिक्षा कल्पो व्याकरणं निरुक्तं छन्दो ज्योतिषमिति | अथ परा यया तदक्षरमधिगम्यते ||
- knowers of the Brahman declare that there are two kinds of knowledge worthy to be known, namely, the higher (Para) and the lower (Apara). Of these the lower (knowledge) consists of the Rig-Veda, the Yajur-Veda, the Sama-Veda, the Atharva-Veda, the Shiksha (or the science dealing with pronunciation and accent), the Kalpa (or the sacrificial liturgy), grammar, the Nirukta (or the science dealing with etymology and the meaning of words), prosody, and astronomy; and the higher (knowledge) is that by which that Unchangeable is known.⁴

Also, Swami Vivekananda further explains:

... all knowledge is divided into two classes, the Apara, secular, and the Para, spiritual. One pertains to perishable things, and the other to the realm of the spirit ...
It is not that secular and spiritual knowledge are two opposite and contradictory things; but they are the same thing - the same infinite knowledge which is everywhere fully present from the lowest atom to the highest Brahman - they are the same knowledge in its different stages of gradual development. This one infinite knowledge we call secular when it is in its lower process of manifestation, and spiritual when it reaches the corresponding higher phase.⁵

In India, all phenomena, the domain which science observes and deduces its conclusions from, were always understood to be manifestations of Noumenon - the Infinite Pure Consciousness-Bliss Reality. All nature, as well as all beings, regarded as manifestations of the Infinite substance - Infinite Reality expressing as manifold names and forms, as time and space, is phenomenon. This Reality (Truth or God) was the domain of religion and its expression was science. Swami Vivekananda's definition of science can be understood from this highest and broadest perspective: 'In reality, the metaphysical and the physical universe are one, and the name of this One is Brahman ... ... the variations that the One has undergone, the different sorts of species and individuality It is assuming - that can be understood, and the enquiry into this is called Science'.⁶ He also says: 'Science and religion are both attempts to help us out of the bondage; only religion is the more ancient, and we have the superstition that it is the more holy. In a way it is, because it makes morality a vital point, and science does not'.⁷

Similarly the following observations on Education by Swami Ranganathanandaji are very pertinent:

Education is the process by which man, submerged in the collectivity, is raised to the dignity and status of, first, an individual, then, a person, with the capacity to integrate oneself freely with other persons.
All true religion is education and all true education is growth. Education and religion, accordingly, form the earlier and later stages of man's growth in this trans-organic or trans-physical dimension. Secular education continued to our deeper dimensions is spiritual education, says Vedanta.
That is how Vivekananda defines the roles of the physical sciences, politics, and economics, on the one side, and of art, ethics, and religion on the other. The training of the senses and the mind into effective instruments in the search for truth and character-excellence is education, and religion is only continued education.⁸

Thus, not only is religious study rational and scientific but also necessary for moral, ethical development of an individual and society. This broadest possible outlook towards knowledge or education enables us to trace all human activities and the march of civilisations on the face of earth to its proper roots.

Education and Human Evolution

As seen above, education helps in the process of gradual removal of the 'veil' or 'ignorance' which covers the reality; it is the increasing manifestation of the inner perfection through gradual diminishing of 'veiling-imperfection' of thought patterns. Education has thus helped human beings evolve from 'forest-wandering-beasts' to 'cultured-society-based-personalities', and in some cases further to 'saints, seers, yogis, and incarnations'. Homo-sapiens started with hunting and making basic tools which later progressed into cultivation of land and cattle grazing. Basic structure of human society began to take shape; soon tribes formation, development of social institutions like marriage, formation of symbolic noises into words, development of syntax, sentences, and language, etc. followed. Culture in the real sense started taking shape now; the ability to express thoughts in developed languages along with various discoveries regarding laws of nature, i.e., development of external sciences further quickened the process. Science seeks answers from within the system, i.e., not searching for extra-cosmic cause; this is a sure sign of maturing of human psyche. Swami Vivekananda says, '... in one word, what is meant by science is that the explanations of things are in their own nature, and that no external beings or existences are required to explain what is going on in the universe. ... And this is one of the features of science which I mean to apply to religion.'⁹

As with the modern scientists, ancient Indian sages too, at first searched for answers to the perennial questions about meaning of existence in the external world and then turned within. The search for inner, super-sensuous truths is religion. Thus, the entire gamut of science and religion comes under 'Education' and the method of acquiring it is concentration; Swami Vivekananda explains:

All knowledge we have, either of the external or internal world, is obtained through only one method - by the concentration of the mind. No knowledge can be had of any science unless we can concentrate our minds upon the subject.¹⁰

We can roughly plot a chart showing the gradual evolution of psyche from a crude state to a highly refined state as:

Jnana (Self-Knowledge or Self-Realisation or God-Realisation; highest refinement)
↑
Jnana-Nishtha (Abiding in Self-Knowledge)
↑
Jnana-Nishtha-Yogyata (Ability to acquire Self-Knowledge)
↑
Vairagya (Dispassion/ Detachment from transitory phenomenon)
↑
Viveka (Spiritual Discrimination)
↑
Sattva Shuddhi/Chitta Shuddhi (Purification of heart/mind)
↑
Nishkaam Karmayoga (self-less service - Sattvik Avastha with little Rajas, refinement process accelerated)
↑
DharmaYukta Sakaam Karma (Rajasik Avastha) (Human Body, Duty-bound moral work for Bhoga, refinement in action)
↑
Adharma Pradhaan Sakaam Karma (Human Body but immoral means for Bhoga)
↑
Pashu Vritti (Tamasik Avastha)(Either Animal Body or Human Body, crude state)

As seen from the above flow-diagram, the mind evolves initially from 'beastly nature' to first 'selfish human nature' and later 'unselfish/sacrificing human nature'; if the process of refinement is continued, through detachment and spiritual discernment, then we come to Self-Knowledge (God-Realisation). The animal finally becomes a saint. Education is the driving force behind this evolution. Even in the last step of the evolution when the Guru imparts the knowledge of the Self to a mature spiritual aspirant, it is through the 'educational tip' - tat tvam asi (You Are That)! The difference between various souls and steps of evolution is not of kind but only of degree of manifestation of Pure Consciousness, says Swami Vivekananda:

Let us take our stand on the one central truth in our religion - the common heritage of the Hindus, the Buddhists, and Jains alike - the spirit of man, the Atman of man, the immortal, birthless, all-pervading, eternal soul of man whose glories the Vedas cannot themselves express, before whose majesty the universe with its galaxy upon galaxy of suns and stars and nebulae is as a drop. Every man or woman, nay, from the highest Devas to the worm that crawls under our feet, is such a spirit evoluted or involuted. The difference is not in kind, but in degree. This infinite power of the spirit, brought to bear upon matter evolves material development, made to act upon thought evolves intellectuality, and made to act upon itself makes of man a God.¹¹
I have said before that our [Indian] education, intelligence, and thought are all spiritual, all find expression in religion. In the West, their manifestation is in the external - in the physical and social planes. Thinkers in ancient India gradually came to understand that that idea of separateness was erroneous, that there was a connection among all those distinct objects - there was a unity which pervaded the whole universe - trees, shrubs, animals, men, Devas, even God Himself; the Advaitin reaching the climax in this line of thought declared all to be but the manifestations of the One. In reality, the metaphysical and the physical universe are one, and the name of this One is Brahman; and the perception of separateness is an error - they called it Maya, Avidya, or nescience. This is the end of knowledge.¹²

Thus, the development of human species is the result of 'Education'. Let us now see some of Swami Vivekananda's valuable words on Education.

Swami Vivekananda and Education

Swami Vivekananda wanted 'Education' to cover a vast ground and not be limited to being mere 'book-learning'; he says, 'The education ... ... which does not bring out strength of character, a spirit of philanthropy, and the courage of a lion -- is it worth the name?'¹³
And also, 'By education, I do not mean the present system, but something in the line of positive teaching. Mere book-learning won't do. We want that education by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased, the intellect is expanded, and by which one can stand on one's own feet.'¹⁴

He wanted education to help an individual to get hold of his/her will-power and channel it to fruitful purposes. The panacea for India's woes, he traced to education. He wanted poor and oppressed millions of Indians to gain self-confidence, practical efficiency, and a sense of human dignity through education. The eduation in schools and universities that did not achieve this and rather produced merely 'foreign-ideas-stuffed-brains' that were practically inefficient and devoid of all self-respect, he considered useless.
Hence, Swamiji was of the view that in India education should be based on the ancient gurukula system, where the students lived with the teacher's family and imbibed not only the syllabus but also all the positive qualifications required to make them grow spiritually and be beneficial components of social and national fabric. He says, 'My idea of education is personal contact with the teacher - gurugriha-vasa. Without the personal life of a teacher, there would be no education. Take your Universities. What have they done during the fifty years of their existence? They have not produced one original man. They are merely an examining body. The idea of the sacrifice for the common weal is not yet developed in our nation'.¹⁵
In modern times these gurukulas also need to include, in their syllabus, the English language and modern technology, to make the future citizens equipped to handle the rapidly interconnected global stage. In the words of Swamiji, 'What we want are Western science coupled with Vedanta, Brahmacharya as the guiding motto, and also Shraddha and faith in one's own self'.¹⁶

Considering the education scenario in India, we still need a lot of work to be done in the direction pointed out by Swami Vivekananda. Even seven decades after Independence, the Indian education system is not fully free from its colonial hangover. This needs to change urgently.

Conclusion

Education should help an individual to find the hidden source of inspiration within himself/herself. Swami Ranganathananda puts it as:

In the sentiment contained in that famous short sentence [naitat tvayyupapadyate, 'ill doth it become thee' (Gita 2.3)], we have the appeal, through psychology, to every individual to rise higher and higher, and to find new sources of strength within oneself. The educational value of this appeal is supreme. How to help another person, how to make him or her stand on one's own feet, is a great educational problem. How to undertake the task of making that person rise higher and find ways and means to develop one's own life and power? In this larger context, this consideration becomes relevant because Sri Krishna's appeal is a general appeal; it has a positive content.¹⁷

And education should

Enable all students to achieve at least a fraction of the synthesis of East and West, spirituality and science, contemplation and action. It is the science of spirituality, the para-vidya, the supreme science, that fosters in the human being ethical, aesthetic, and spiritual values, including the moral values associated with pure science. The harmony of all these values, and the intrinsic harmony between science and religion, always upheld in Vedanta, became revealed in our time in the deep spiritual kinship between Narendra (the later Swami Vivekananda), the representative of apara vidya, and Sri Ramakrishna, the full embodiment of para vidya. ...
It is thus obvious that if the current secular school and university education is high and higher education, the spiritual education that Swami Vivekananda received from Sri Ramakrishna in our time, bearing wonderful fruits of character strength and compassion, deep as the ocean and broad as the skies, and harmonising East and West, religion and science, the sacred and the secular, is the highest education into which the other two, to fulfil themselves, must lead a child. Sri Ramakrishna's experience and example also make it clear that the human being can enter into, and benefit from, this spiritual education from any stage or level of his school or college education.¹⁸

Let us hope that every human child gets this total education and he/she becomes capable of realising the Immortal.

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References:

1. Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda (9 Vols.), Advaita Ashrama, Vol 4, p. 358
2. Ibid., 1.151-2
3. Ibid., 1.396
4. Ibid., 3.85
5. Ibid., 4.434
6. Ibid., 5.520
7. Ibid., 7.103
8. Eternal Values for A Changing Society, Vol III, p.193.
9. Complete Works, 1.371
10. Ibid., 4.219
11. Ibid., 4.350
12. Ibid., 5.519
13. Ibid., 7.147
14. Ibid., 5.342
15. Ibid., 224
16. Ibid., 366
17. An Introduction to The Study of The Gita, Eternal Values for a Changing Society, Vol I
18. 'Science and Religion', Ibid

--- @Holy Trio