concept of education based on vedic culture,tradition and the way you would help your studentsto gain by it to develop an integrated personality.
Answers
Relevance of Vedic Concept of Holistic Education
Mahatma Gandhi defined education as ‘all round development of the child by drawing out the best in his body, mind, and spirit.’ Thus education is the process of holistic development of a child. Though the concept of Vedic education has trickled down to the present times, yet much of its essence has been lost or little understood. The Vedic period has been considered as the idyllic era of education in India when everything was perfect. If it had continued to exist, Indian present education would be the best in the world and there would be far better state of affairs, nationally as well as internationally.
Let’s have a brief peek into what Vedic education actually meant. Rig Veda defines education as ‘Education is that which makes a man self-reliant and self-less.’ Since self-reliance and selflessness were the objectives of Vedic education, students were not given training in skills developments such as reading, writing, grammar, reasoning, critical thinking, arithmetic, etc. they were also taught the values of self-discipline, respect of universal atma which is a part of omnipresent Parmatma.
The educationists during Vedic period knew the secrets of high morals and ethics. Hence, development of morals through Brahamacharya was as important as skills learning. The spiritual aspect was the focus of Vedic education; all else was subservient to it. Owing to Vedic education, India at that time was a very rich nation with abundance of resources, social and political order. The glimpses of Vedic Utopia can be seen in the Historical records of those times.
The modern education has become purely materialistic. Employment, job, career, etc. seem to be the prime motive of contemporary education. Knowledge, self-reliance, and selflessness seem to have forgotten. Hence, in spite of education, there is no stopping of personal, social, political, economical, and national problems.
Education has failed to provide us prosperity, advancement, self-reliance, and the targeted happiness and success. It is all due to omission of core values of self-reliance, high morality, and selflessness. Education without Vedic values is like fire put to wrong use. In place of using it wisely for cooking and lighting, we are burning ourselves with it.
Blending of the Vedic concepts of education is the need of the hour to give the right direction to the misguided education. Though there are subjects like moral education, yet they have been inefficient in providing the right perspective to students.
If I had my way, I would reintroduce Vedic concept through reorientation of teachers and students. I would have the purpose of education redefined. In place of stress on grades and academic performance, again I would make the objective of education as self-reliance, selflessness, and equal development of body, mind, and soul. The students need to be retold that learning skills is important but using them for the welfare of all is more important. They need to be inculcated the sensitivity to dedicate all their words, thoughts, and deeds to the omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent Spirit of the Creator that watches all our actions in secret and rewards us with all-round success accordingly. So they need to be taught to be always righteous in according to the standards of the cosmic wisdom of the Spirit.