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"LOVE ALL SERVE ALL" "HELP EVER, HURT NEVER" Sai Baba

Purity Educare And the Regular School Environment

Educare is the philosophy of the system of education that underpins the Sri Sathya Sai Education in Human Values (SSEHV) programme. It is concerned with reaching deeply into the child’s higher levels of consciousness and bringing out the values and divinity that are inherent there. The following statement outlines the essence of Educare:

“Educare is not the learning from books by rote, to be vomited in the examination halls. But it is the learning from life, which is absorbed into living and transforming. This gives a new meaning to dull mathematics and geography, a new vitality to language, cosmic understanding to science and an enhanced beauty to music and art.

“It is not to be stuffed from without into the ears of innocent children. Rather it comes from within. It is the release of the inherent intuition and divinity which is within every individual. Educare is also the art of ensuring a perfect constant balance of the five elements within by managing the mind and the inputs from the five senses, so that the surge of the Divine energy from within flows uninterrupted.

“In other words, a harmony between thought, word and deed has to be achieved in such a manner that the physical world is perceived as an extension of the spiritual world…

“Educare is when we have sensitized ourselves, when we sensitize our children to begin to respond and become caring people.” - Sathya Sai Baba

In Educare the pupils:

 Are encouraged to appreciate the five basic human values of Truth, Right Action, Peace, Love and Non-violence as essential to be development of character.

 Learn the cultures, customs and religions of other people as well as their own in order to appreciate the brotherhood of man.

 Acquire decision-making skills which help to facilitate the development of moral learning.

 Develop a sense of responsibility for the consequences of their action and act with regard for the rights, life and dignity of all persons.

 Develop self-discipline and self-confidence necessary to promote the fulfillment of their potential by enhancing their moral, physical, social and academic achievements.

 Develop value skills needed for personal, family, community, national and world harmony.

 Develop a caring attitude towards all forms of life and to value the need for preservation, conservation and general care of the environment.

“Triple Purity: a tongue that never indulges in falsehood, a body that is not tainted by causing harm to others, and a mind that is free from attachment and hatred.” Sathya Sai Baba

Though Educare children are taught two important lessons for life. One is that whatever thoughts come into their heads they should first think about and examine in their hearts before they act. This is 3HV, the harmony of head, heart and hands.

The other is concentration and inner stillness. The main ingredient is love, and through love they are helped to become self-reliant, self-confident, self-sacrificing and eventually self-realised, or pure.

Many teachers will argue that it is impossible to ‘teach’ a topic such as purity in mainstream education because the curriculum is usually already too crowded with other topics. However, with Educare it is not necessary to actually TEACH a topic but rather it is possible to use examples and take advantage of opportunities that arise in the regular school day to draw out the children’s inner purity.

‘Does Educare entail a new curriculum or a new course content? Once again the answer is “No”. The answer lies in our implementing this technology in our lives. Am I able to control my desires? Am I conscious of the inputs of the five senses in my mind? Am I able to turn my mind inside? Am I able to experience the power of love within? These are the questions that all of us have to ask. Because we are not communicating knowledge, we are not communicating words, what we are really communicating is experience.’ Sathya Sai Baba

To bring out these qualities, Educare teachers constantly examine all their activities and interactions with their pupils by reflecting on the questions:

Does it go to the child’s heart?
Does it have practical application?
Does it help the child transform?

Using The Theme of Purity In An Existing Curriculum Area
This article aims to use some examples from mainstream education to illustrate that it is indeed quite possible for teachers to draw out their pupils’ purity without having to think of it as an ‘add-on’ to the already over-crowded curriculum.

This example was taken from a series of activities developed by a group of final-year English student teachers in Hong Kong. They were asked to identify ways in which SSEHV could be integrated into the four components of the English curriculum: reading, writing, listening and discussion.

Pupils can be given a list of quotations about purity to use for their lesson planning. For reading exercises, they can be given a selection of stories and asked to match the quotation to these.

For example, the story ‘A Perfect Heart’ can be matched to several of quotations. The students can be given a selection from the quotes that refer to the purity of the heart and asked to identify which one best matches the theme of the story.

As a follow-on writing activity, they can be asked to write their own stories to illustrate a quotation of their own choosing. These stories can be exchanged with classmates who read them and identify which quotation the story is trying to illustrate.

As a conclusion to this series of lessons, and another writing activity, the pupils can be asked to create their own quotations or find quotations that reflect their own values for life, that is, the ones that give them inspiration for their own lives. These can be the basis for discussion.

Using Purity as a Basis for Classroom Discipline
A teacher can do a lot to help a child to overcome these obstacles to purity. For example, when dealing with an angry child, many teachers make use of a ‘time-out’ place where the child can ‘cool down’ so that it is more feasible to talk to him/her about the reason for conflict and the consequence of being angry.

Teachers are finding that if they respond to pupils with gentleness and do not allow themselves to disturb their own sense of inner peace, by becoming angry, then they will provide an important model.

Jealousy is another big obstacle to purity. In a mathematics lesson in Guangdong, the teacher introduced a quiz at the end of the lesson. Six questions were asked and the children who answered correctly were given a small prize. All of the children were enthusiastic to be the chosen ones and as each question was asked, and the chances for a turn diminished, their desperation to be chosen became even more evident.

The teacher realized that even though the game was fun and enjoyable, he had also created a situation where some of the children could be disappointed and feel jealous of their classmates (not necessarily the brightest ones) who were chosen to answer the questions.

The teacher saw this as an ideal opportunity to raise discussion with the children about jealousy and disappointment, to help them to learn that these emotions damage only themselves and that it is far healthier to be happy for the ones who have success, and to know that they cannot be winners all the time.

This discussion took only a minute of his mathematics lesson but with repeated exposure to this kind of lesson, the children gradually took an important step towards purity.

The following are some examples of ways in which teachers can discipline children when it is needed, rather than giving a punishment like writing lines, and help to remove the obstacles to purity at the same time.
Misdemeanor: Being unkind
Corrective Consequence 1: Give the child/children a caring responsibility e.g. looking after plants or class pet.

Key Vocabulary: As a responsible member of this class. I am entrusting you with the noble task of looking after the class plants. The plants are very important to our class as they help produce the necessary oxygen which we breathe. Plants respond only to kindness and if neglected or dealt with harshly, they may grow deformed, stop growing or even die. You are now in charge of their future.

When we are aware of the oneness of all, nobody can hurt another. It is important for us to learn not to cause hurt – even by a word, a look or a gesture.

Anecdote: Dr. Art-Ong Jumsai reported a series of experiments he conducted in which some plants were treated with unkind words and thoughts, others were treated with kind, gentle words and thoughts, whilst yet others were not given any treatment. He found that the kind words and thoughts had significant effects on the growth and health of the plants that received these. On the other hand, the plants that received the unkind words and thoughts become stunted and in some cases died.

Corrective Consequence 2: Ask the child to write the nicest thing s/he can say about the other children in the class.

Anecdote: A teacher asked her class to list the names of all the other students in the classroom and to write the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates. Later she complied a list for each student. Before long, the entire class was smiling. “Really?” she heard whispered. “I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!’ and “I didn’t know others liked me so much” were some of the comments.

Years later the teacher and classmates attended the funeral of one of the class members who was killed in an accident. His parents showed her the list which he had carried with him ever since, and the other classmates gradually revealed that they had also kept and treasured their lists for many years.

Corrective Consequence 3: Give a class list to the pupil who is being unkind. Ask him/her to write beside each name the times when s/he helped each of them or when they helped him/her. Ask the child to list six acts of kindness and draw cartoon pictures to illustrate them.

Make a five-point star. On the first point write “Something kind for myself”, on the second “Something kind for my family”, on the third “ Something kind for my neighborhood”, on the fourth “Something kind for my school”, and on the fifth “Something kind for the world.” Ask the child to write one kind act that s/he can do for each of these. Hang it on the wall. Get the student to make a board game for younger children about acts of kindness (e.g. “helped Mike when he was crying”, “Took Bruce’s homework to him when he was sick”, etc.)

From Sathya Sai Education in Human Values Resource Manual for Teachers No. 1.
New Zealand Sri Sathya Sai Baba Organisation, 1989.
Purity Through Service: A Lunchtime Activity

“Purity must express itself in loving service… Let them continue this practice of doing unselfish work which will purify the mind.

“There should be both inner and outer purity. Bodily purity relates to the physical. It covers such cleansing acts as bathing, wearing clean clothes, eating pure food and the like. Even in studies, the books should be wholesome and elevating.

“But mere external cleanliness without internal purity is of no value. Everyone from the common scholar to the common man is concerned only about external cleanliness and not about the purity of the heart within. However pure the ingredients may be if the vessel in which they are cooked is not clean, the food will be spoilt. For a man his heart is the vessel and he must see that it is kept pure and untainted.

“For the purification of the heart everyone must undertake selfless service. Attachments and aversions which pollute the mind should be avoided by concentrating on service. It is only when the heart is pure the selfless service can be performed.” Sathya Sai Baba

In an attempt to introduce an attitude of service into her school, assistant principal Maureen Street came up with a simple idea: to teach the children to knit so they can knit squares to make rugs for the elderly in their community. She advertised in the school’s newsletter for scrap wool and knitting needles.

Soon the equipment had been collected and the next step was to call for volunteer knitters. Maureen informed the children that she would be conducting two lunch-time sessions per week to knit squares to make rugs for people, and the volunteers began to arrive. Approximately twenty children turned up on the first day and over a period of a month the total number of student involved increased to thirty-nine.

Some children came to just one session but then continued to knit at home. It was not necessarily the children who Maureen would have expected who came. It was an interesting mixture of grades and ages, and included boys who were usually weak students and often behaved badly in and out of class.

Maureen was fascinated by the way in which these boys settled to the task and the concentration they gave to learning the new skill. They would sit silently and concentrate on the task for the whole lunch-hour. She cherishes the mental image of one such boy, who was a bully in the playground, sitting patiently beside a younger boy, showing endless patience as he taught him how to knit.

“If I had been asked to name the child most likely to be doing this,” laughed Maureen, “I would never in a million years have named this boy.” This was certainly a chance to glimpse the purity within even the most troublesome children.

The Teacher As A Living Model Of The Values

“Teachers are reservoirs from which, through the process of education, students can draw the water of life. You should do your best to see that the reservoir is not contaminated by the microbes of hatred or pride.” Sathya Sai Baba.

In the interview room after the presentation of SSEHV Diplomas in Prashanti Nilyam in November 2002, Sathya Sai Baba asked a younger teacher from the Sathya Sai School of Thailand what he wanted to be. The teacher replied that he wanted to be the best Educare teacher that he could be.

Sai Baba replied, “Transform yourself then and the rest will take care of itself.” He then turned to the other teachers in the room and repeated, “If the teacher transforms himself, the rest will take care of itself.”

Most teachers, wherever they are, are dedicated to their jobs and love their students. But the reality is that teaching can be very stressful occupation; we are all human beings and sometimes we get tired, unhappy or angry in such a way that it reflects on our pupils. But even on their ‘bad’ days it is important for teachers to live and model appropriate values so they become mirrors to reflect the same values that are inherent within the children.

Teachers who do this consciously report that over time it becomes easier for them to do so and they begin to notice a transformation in their pupils as well. Teachers may well keep in mind the following quotations:

“With Purity of Heart, You can Achieve Anything”

“Purify the heart by being good and kind to all. Do not attempt to find fault with others. Look upon all with love, with respect, with faith in their sincerity.”

“Leave the company of those who oppose your thoughts. By listening to others’ bad talks your mind gets polluted. Do not listen to anything bad. Run away from evil company. This kind of practice leads to purity of mind and heart.” Sathya Sai Baba

Confidence Contributes To Purity

“The character of the children must be made strong and pure. Give them all the confidence they need to become good, honest and self-reliant children.” Sathya Sai Baba

There is much that teachers can contribute to the growth of confidence by creating classroom environments that students perceive as caring and supportive, and where there is a sense of belonging and everyone being valued.

We need to help pupils to have a realistic awareness of their personal strengths and weakness, and the ability to create reasonable goals. The teacher has an important and active role to play in developing confidence. For example, it is important to use positive visual and body-language cues (nodding, smiling) and prompts (ah ha, hmm) to encourage them to arrive at appropriate answers, and to be careful not to frown if a child makes a mistake and not to allow other children to frown if a classmate makes a mistake either.

The following story illustrates the role of a sympathetic teacher in promoting the self-confidence of a child with a learning difficulty:

‘Sarah was a seven-year-old girl who loved her teacher and always tried her best with her schoolwork. When the headmistress came into the classroom one day and announced that some important visitors would come to the school and that everyone must do their best to make a good impression, Sarah hoped desperately that her artwork would be chosen to display for the visitors.

‘But sadly for Sarah she was always the slowest and always the last to be chosen for anything so she thought that it was very unlikely that her work would be chosen. So she was incredulous when her teacher asked her to stay behind after school and told her that she had been chosen for the most important task of the day. The following extract from the story speaks for itself:

‘She couldn’t believe what she’d heard. “Me?” she asked incredulously in a small voice. You’ve chosen me?”

“Yes, you Sarah,” said Miss Ellis, smiling, “You have a very special quality.”

A look of such amazement and joy swept over Sarah’s face that it was a moment before Miss Ellis went on. “Tomorrow, Sarah, when our important visitors arrive, I want you to be there at the door to greet them. You will be the very first person they see. The very first! And I want you to give them your beautiful smile!”
First impression by Rosemary Abbeyfield.
Australian Woman’s Day, October 25, 1999 p.87

Silent Sitting
“All that you have to do to achieve purity in thought word and deed is to follow these five injunctions:
See no evil; see what is good.
Think no evil, think what is good.
Hear no evil, hear what is good.
Talk no evil; talk what is good.
Do not evil; do what is good”
Sathya Sai Baba

Throughout the world, teachers are utilizing silent sitting for just a few minutes at the beginning of the lesson and achieving amazing results. Teachers in mainstream schools in Guandong who used it regularly at the beginning of their mathematics lessons found that their pupils were better able to concentrate, and their behavior was improving. The children reported the same changes, and also that they found it easier to find the solutions to their mathematics tasks.

Anita Devi, in the UK, reported the same findings after the regular use of silent sitting in her Grade 4 mathematics classroom. The use of the light meditation given to us by Sathya Sai Baba is particularly powerful in helping to purify the students’ thoughts, words and actions.

In a mainstream school in Delhi, where this is done by the school of 4,000 in assembly every morning, it has had a tremendous purifying effect on the whole atmosphere of the school.

Group Singing Purifies the Environment

In the Sathya Sai School of Zambia two assemblies are held each day, and in each of these the students sing several spiritual songs from their own culture, and in their own Bemba language. The effect of this singing is miraculous in the atmosphere that it sets for the school day – in fact the whole staff often leave to have a staff meeting while the children remain in the assembly hall singing.

Over time this use of singing has had amazing spin-off effects in purifying the environment around the school, so much so that now five churches have been built in the immediate vicinity.

Conclusion

As has been shown from these examples, it is both appropriate and possible to instill purity through an Educare approach in mainstream schools without having to find extra time to treat it as an add-on topic.

In fact, it has been claimed that if it is treated as a stand-alone topic in a special values or moral education class there is a tendency for the children to show the appropriate behavior in that particular class but not to carry them over into other aspects of their lives outside that class.

Therefore, the holistic Educare approach is potentially more effective in eliciting values that children will live by in all aspects of their lives. So if you are a teacher, please take some time to reflect on how you can incorporate purity into your everyday classroom practice. If you are not a teacher, please pass this article to somebody who is!!

“Be like the ant: When the ant gets a mixture of sand and sugar it selects only the sugar. It neglects the sand. See only the good in others; pay no attention to the bad.” Sathya Sai Baba

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