Within and Without

One of the fundamental purposes of education is to develop genuine sensitivity towards the divine. Unfortunately, modern education has no connection whatsoever with this - with its primary focus on success and accomplishments (at best that is). The only motto is to find a livelihood. A few others go beyond and that too only to the extent of finding something they like in a manner that is not necessarily connected to all of existence. Its also not fair to blame the educational systems alone for causality is an infinitely complex web. Most educational institutions merely reflect the popular ethos of the society - greed and competition. When most individuals do not recognize the divine within and without there is bound to be mayhem in the society because there is no restraint on any of the senses or the mind. But, when the sensitivity to the divine guides actions, the all round mayhem we are witnessing in our world today is bound to come down.

Divinity can be seen everywhere. One simple needs the pure heart to see that. It can be seen in the action of Immaculee Ilibagiza when she forgave the person who killer her entire family during the massive pogrom in Rwanda in 1994. It can be seen in the courage of a 24 year old named Bhagat Singh, who stood up to the death sentence of the Britishers and refused to seek pardon during the Indian independence struggle. It can se seen in the wise and deeply humble words of Ramana Maharishi when he states that he feels everyone is a maharishi and that he no different and this despite popular reverence of him as living god. Such living examples are countless though only the popular ones reside in public consciousness. It can be seen in the mysteries of the physical world where despite tremendous scientific advancements, we still do not where mass comes from (higgs boson is yet to be discovered). It can be seen in the mind boggling vastness of space. It can seen in the infinite variety of life all around us that evolution has produced.

Higgs Boson. R u thr?

Only when the heart is developed to marvel at these, only when we can sense the divinity in these things, can we at all consider the possibility of divnity within us. If not, the mind is just way too active and thus prevents the arising of the sensitivity to the divine within. The divine inside us can be sensed in pure awareness where the individual is absent. Every moment of our lives we are biased by our life story and every thought we have ever had. The moment we can go beyond all of that, the divine within can se sensed. With a little effort from there one, the divinity within can be made the centre of our lives. At that moment, the divine within and the divine without merge into one single divinity.

Education of a human being necessarily needs to concern itself intimately with this. If not, with all our abilities to blast through mountains, we will only cause total havoc like we are doing now. But, if we retain sensitivity to the divine within, then all our immense physical powers may be directed appropriately leading to widespread peace and happiness. When we recognize the importance of this, will we not try and inculcate this within us and in our kids? Will we not inspire each other to recognize the divine within and without? Will we not ask serious questions on the nature of education we are subjecting our kids to?