Educating Human values

[Guest guest]

Giving below is the speech that I gave a few days ago at the Indian

Diplomatic Quarters Function Hall, organized by SSEHV (Sri Satyasai

Education in Human Values) Please feel free to comment... - Madhava

 

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Dear Friends,

 

Sai Ram!

 

I am delighted to see our children playing such a wonderful drama. I am

really moved when I was listening to the song "I love my father and

mother"... I would like to congratulate the EHV Teachers for their

successful endeavor in training the children. The whole program is

flawless. My congratulations to all of you and my blessings to the

children.

 

Children have started their play with Sarva Dharma Prayers. The child who

is acting as a Christian Father prayed "Father in the Heaven, you are the

protector of all."; The child acting as a Buddhist Monk prayed "buddhaM

SaraNaM gaccAmi" means "I shall surrender to the Buddha and follow the path

shown my him"; The child acting as a Islamic Follower prayed "BismillaH

hirrahamAn Irrahim, raB al aalamin"... Here "Rab al alamin" means "God is

one AND God is one for everyone"... And finally the child from Hindu recited

beautifully the Bhagawad Gita slokas from DaivAsura saMpadvibhAgayOga, where

the Blessed Lord is dichotomizing the good qualities and bad qualities. All

children have enacted their role really wonderful.. They all remembered the

Father, an Almighty Lord.

 

Now, let us see what we are teaching our children. Our Yajur Veda,

according to Western Historians, said to be 8000 years old. And our

Taittiriya Upanishad says "mAtRU dEvO bhava, pitRU dEvO bhava, AcArya dEvO

bhava", in this famous upanishad the teacher is saying "Mother is God,

Father is God and Teacher is God". This is what we teach them. Even before

we teach anything else like "Siva dEvObhava, vishNudEvObhava.." Siva is God,

Vishnu is God..--- we teach them to respect the parents, teachers and

guests. The divinity with in expresses itself as respect towards the

outside world. Educating human values means teaching how to respect human

values.

 

We often find problems in educating the world. Actually, I believe that the

problem is with in us. It is not surprising that we are very good in finding

good excuses. We often find problems with world when it comes in doing

good... "Children are very tender, youth are vigorous, elders become

head-strong thinking they knew most of the things, old men bury themselves

in sorrow." It is true.... teaching the world, especially the children, is

not that easy. Yet! I believe that if we teach them at that stage later on

in their life they will for sure thank us for the effort we put in.

 

Unfortunately, we do not spend much of our time with our children. In stead,

we spend most of our time either in front of a TV or reading some novel.

Children find it difficult in understanding certain things. We expect them

to understand. Most of the parents think that their children should excel

them in every aspect. They want their children to fulfill their dreams,

their aspirations. They expect too much, but that much effort they will not

put in making their children grow well, in getting their children properly

educated...

 

Let me give you an analogy... There was this ambitious father, who wanted

his son to become proficient in Sanskrit. So he sent his son to the

Sanskrit school. In the school the teacher was giving his first lesson. He

told this boy to write down the meaning of the word "Aham". Aham in

Sanskrit means "I". The boy, being naive, has written down the meaning

"Aham = Teacher". After the boy went home, in the evening the father calls

the boy to enquire on what he learnt in school. The looks at the notes of

the boy and shouts at him saying "Fool, aham means I --- not your teacher".

This poor boy gets much more confused. So he scratches off the first line

and writes a new line "Aham = Father". The next day the boy goes to the

school. And in school, the teacher obviously becomes furious after finding

that the boy has written "Aham = Father". So he gives one to the boy with a

big stick and yells "I shall punish you severely if you did not get the

meaning of aham straight. aham means I"... The boy gets terribly

frightened and writes in his book "AHAM MEANS FATHER IN HOME AND TEACHER IN

SCHOOL"...

 

An ambitious father, an irresponsible teacher --- both think that by

shouting, yelling and punishing the boy --- they can make him learn. But

they lack the basic principle of making someone understand...

 

One has to exercise enormous patience in order to teach. By punishing

children we are teaching violence to them. By inflicting physical pain we

are teaching them that they can also do the same... Hence I believe that

punishing children is not a wise action. Talk to them. Try to find out

where is the mis-understanding. Show them love, show them what it means to

love. Love can make many things to happen. Sri Satyasaibaba speaks of love

that is unconditional. In EHV classes, our teachers teach the concept of

love, understanding, compassion, patience and all the values that can make

our children the torch bearers of our "sanatana dharma" our great value

based system...

 

More over, I would like to emphasize the point that --- as parents we have

to educate ourselves first. We have to put control on ourselves before we

put control on our children. A father who boozes can not stop his children

from boozing after they grow up! A father who tells lies can not expect his

children to speak truth... A father, when an unwanted phone --- perhaps from

his office boss, arrives tells his child to lift the phone and makes the

child say that he is not at home, can not expect that child to say truth

when needed! When a father speaks a lie in front of his child, the child

obviously understands that it is okay to lie...

 

Beware, that our children keep watching us. They are the closest observers

of our actions, next to our own self. I often hear most mothers say that

their boy behaves just like his father. A child behaves like his father,

because he observes his father. He keeps watching his father and mimics his

actions, gestures and behavior. All children are the same. In my own home,

my daughter Sumedha, regularly tries to wear a tie and sits in the car,

because she keeps watching me wearing a suit and going to the office in the

car. If in case her mother takes of the tie, she starts crying.... It is

because I am doing it, she believes that she has to do the same...

 

In Bhagawadgita Sri Krishna says that "Though I don't have to perform any

action, I keep doing them because if I stop doing, the world will

mis-understand my intentions and stops acting". He also says that "what

ever the Wise-men do, the rest of world tries to do the same, what ever the

Wise-men put as a rule the world will try to abide to it. "yadyadAcarati

SrEShTaH, tattadEvEtarO janaH, sayat pramANAM kurutE lOkastadanuvartatE".

We are the Wise-men to our children. What ever we do our children follow

the same. What ever we put as a rule the children will abide to it. Mind

you, as long as we abide to a regular course of discipline, they get

disciplined.

 

We have to stop spending much of our time in front of TV, reading useless

novels, indulging in gossip. You can't expect your children to do the

homework when you keep watching the TV. If you force them to do them their

homework while you are watching the TV, then the obvious prayer they do is

"Oh God please make me a big-man as soon as possible, so that I can sit and

watch TV in stead of doing home work". Think of it deeply. Watch your

actions, put an end to the bad-values with in yourself first. What ever you

don't want your children to do --- if you are doing them then stop them now.

Change can happen now. Changing yourself after your children have grown-up

is useless. Give them the good parenting, when they need them the most.

 

Giving birth to children is not just fun, it is a responsibility. A

responsibility towards a successful society, a responsibility towards a

great nation. It is a pledge. Make our children bright, our future becomes

bright. Make our children understand love, the future world will become

love, make our children understand compassion, friendship and all human

values. The nation will shine with human values, understanding. Thank you

and all the best to you.