Holistic Education &

.Mindfulness

P.L.Dhar

Why Education ?

Whatever good or bad that you see today in

the society is directly linked to the kind of

education we give to our youth.

Aristotle “..the fate of empires

depends on the education of

the youth.”

Education today

Assured high paying job

Pleasant is good !

We become felicity computers! Materialistic world view

Happiness lies solely in sensory pleasures

No discussion on Values

Aim of life=> material acquisition!

Best education

Consequences of this materialistic

world view

• Life means more ! Ecological degradation,

discontentment

Inequity, Strife, Crime, Violence

Dehumanization, Value erosion

• Neighbour’s envy, owner’s pride

• Na baap bada na bhaya, sabse bada rupaiya

What is real purpose of education ?

Views on Education

• There are two educations. One should teach

us how to make a living and the other how to

live

• Perhaps the most valuable result of all

education is the ability to make yourself do

the things you have to do, when it ought to be

done, whether you like it or not.

• Education is not filling a bucket but lighting a

fire.

Education : Indian

Perspective

Vidyaya amritam ashnute

Education is the manifestation of perfection already in Man

Sa vidya ya vimuktaye

The purpose ….. not to produce mere scholars,

technicians or job hunters, but integrated men …

who are free of fear

UNESCO: Report of the International

Commission on Education for the

Twenty first Century

Learning : The Treasure

Within

Education throughout Life based

on four pillars

– Learning to Know

– Learning to do

– Learning to live together

– Learning to be

Learning to Know

• Not a mere information

gathering but mastering the

instruments of knowledge --

learning to learn – Calling upon the powers of

concentration, memory and thought

– scientific temper

– Understand the environment , to be

able to live in dignity .. various skills

– The sheer joy of learning

Learning to Know

• It is futile to try to know

everything

• But specialization must not

exclude general knowledge. – Developing curiosity

– Need for fruitful synergies

between disciplines

– Future of work : Interdisciplinary -

‘Ecological’

Learning to Do

• Putting learning to practice

• From skill to competence

– Vocational trg + social behaviour + aptitude for team work +initiative + readiness to take risks

– importance of interpersonal relationship – rise of service sector

– Intuition, flair, judgment and the ability to hold the team together

Learning to live together

• By developing an understanding of other people and appreciation of interdependence

• Discovering others, developing empathy – First know oneself

• Working towards common objectives – projects, cultural activities, social

work

• Manage conflicts in the spirit of respect for the values of pluralism, mutual understanding and peace.

Learning to BE

• So as to better develop one’s personality

• Act with greater autonomy, judgment and personal responsibility

• Enable flowering of all potentials

Requirements of a Holistic

Education

Enhancing the power of concentration,

memory and thought

Scientific temper, Developing curiosity

Readiness to take risks … fearlessness

Ability to face failure

Requirements of a Holistic

Education

Managing interpersonal relationships, aptitude for team work, and the ability to hold the team together

Manage conflicts , developing empathy, appreciation of interdependence

Develop one’s personality, Intuition

Enable flowering of all potentials

How to fulfill these requirements?

• Teaching the art of increasing concentration

power to get control over actions, speech and

thoughts

• Teaching the art of handling ups and downs

of life – resisting temptations and handling

criticism !

• Teaching the art of self-observation – to

know the strengths and weaknesses

Present approach in most schools

• Moral Education

• Limitations of didactic approach

• Example from Mahabharata

जानामि धिमि न च ि परवति जानामि अधिमि न च ि तनवति

Need for addressing the root cause

• Root cause of lack of self control:

– instinctive tendency to seek pleasant

feelings [craving] and avoid unpleasant

feeling [aversion]

• Feelings arise at all sense doors

• Bodily sensations are the best anchor

for training

• Systematic scanning of the body to ‘feel’

the bodily sensations and training the mind

not to react to them.

• Using breath as an anchor to raise

concentration [A napana meditation] to

develop the ability to feel subtle sensations

Mindfulness

Emotions

Thoughts Mindfulness

Body : postures,

Activities,

movements,

sensations

Moment

by moment

Non-

judgmental

Open

curiosity

Feelings

Perceptions

Non-

reactive

Being

Consciously

aware of

Meditation process in nutshell

Select object of

meditation

Notice any

reaction --

Relax

Noticing

attention has

wandered

Attention wanders

Return the

attention to the

object

• Moment by

moment

• Open Curiosity

• Non-judgmental

• Non -reactive

Let us practice for a few minutes

International acceptance of

Mindfulness

Moving from unconscious to conscious living

!

Benefits of practice • Increase in concentration & efficiency

• Ability to resist temptations, distinguish

between ‘urgent’ and ‘important’ ; and say NO

• Ability to face ups-downs of life

• Proper self-appraisal- knowledge of strengths

and weaknesses

• Improvement in relationships