On Education
THEME/S
What a Child Should Always Remember
The necessity of an absolute sincerity. The certitude of Truth's final victory.
The possibility of constant progress with the will to achieve.
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The things to be taught to a child
1. The necessity of absolute sincerity.
2. The certitude of the final victory of Truth.
3. The possibility and the will to progress.
Good temper, fair play, truthfulness.
Patience, endurance, perseverance.
Equanimity, courage, cheerfulness.
An Ideal Child
IS GOOD-TEMPERED
He does not become angry when things seem to go against him or decisions are not in his favour.
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IS GAME
IS TRUTHFUL
He never fears to say the truth whatever may be the consequences.
Is PATIENT
He does not get disheartened if he has to wait a long time to see the results of his efforts.
IS ENDURING
He faces the inevitable difficulties and sufferings without grumbling.
IS PERSEVERING
He never slackens his effort however long it has to last.
IS POISED
He keeps equanimity in success as well as in failure.
IS COURAGEOUS
He always goes on fighting for the final victory though he may meet with many defeats.
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He knows how to smile and keep a happy heart in all circumstances.
IS MODEST
He does not become conceited over his success, neither does he feel himself superior to his comrades.
IS GENEROUS
He appreciates the merits of others and is always ready to help another to succeed.
IS FAIR AND OBEDIENT
He observes the discipline and is always honest.
Bulletin, August 1950
THE IDEAL CHILD
...likes to study when he is at school,
..he likes to play when he is in the playground,
..he likes to eat at mealtime,
..he likes to sleep at bedtime,
...and always he is full of love for all those around him,
...full of confidence in the divine Grace.
..full of deep respect for the Divine.
What should be the main concern in education for children aged eleven to thirteen?
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The most important thing to teach them is the absolute necessity of being sincere.
All untruth, however slight, should be refused.
They should also be taught to progress constantly, for as soon as one stops making any progress, one falls back and that is the beginning of decay.
I suggest the same remedy as the one I was using in my childhood when disagreeing with my young playmates. I was at that time, as you are, very sensitive and I felt hurt when abused by them, especially by those whom I had shown only sympathy and kindness. I used to tell myself: "Why be sorry and feel miserable? If they are right in what they say, I have only to be glad for the lesson and correct myself; if they are wrong, why should I worry about it it is for them to be sorry for their mistake. In both cases the best and the most dignified thing I can do is to remain strong, quiet and unmoved."
This lesson which I was giving myself and trying to follow when I was eight years old, still holds good in all similar cases.
Some words to the children.
1. Never make fun of anyone if you do not want others to make fun of you.
2. Always act in a respectable way if you want others to respect you.
3. Love everybody if you want everybody to love you.
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( An extract from the minutes of a teachers' meeting:) The teachers felt concern over lack of discipline, good manners and right behaviour among some students.
I insist on the necessity of having good manners. I do not see anything grand in the manners of a guttersnipe.
4 March 1960
(A class of young children decided with their teacher on a programme for the year: to speak in French, to read correctly, to write French without mistakes, to count properly, to understand arithmetical problems, to learn how to add, subtract, multiply and divide. The Mother replied in the class notebook:)
My dear children, I have read your letter and I agree that it would be very good if by the end of the year you knew all the things that you have listed here.
But there is one point on which I want to draw your attention, because it is the central point and the most important one: it is your attitude in class and the state of mind in which you come to school.
To benefit from your daily attendance in class, you must go there with a sincere will to learn, to be attentive and concentrated, to listen to what your teacher tells you and to work quietly and seriously.
If you spend your time shouting, fidgeting and upsetting everything like unconscious and ill-mannered children, you are wasting your time, you are wasting
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the teacher's time and you will learn nothing at all. And at the end of the year I will have to say that you are bad students and do not deserve to move up into a higher class.
You must come to your class with the will to learn, otherwise it is a waste of time, because even if only one of you misbehaves all the others will be disturbed. So this is the decision I want you to take: to be good, quiet, attentive, and to work hard. This is what you must promise me to do in this notebook.
And when each of you has written, with all his goodwill, then send the notebook back to me so that I can give you my blessings.
1961
It is no more tiring to hold yourself straight than to hold yourself badly. When you hold yourself straight, the body grows harmoniously. When you hold yourself badly, the body becomes misshapen and ugly.
It is no more tiring to write neatly than to scran. When your work is neatly written, it is read with pleasure. When it is too badly written, it cannot be read at all.
To do with care all that one does is the basis of all progress.
To THE STUDENTS
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It is forbidden to fight at school, to fight in class, to fight in the playground, to fight in the street, to fight at home (whether at your parents' house or in a boarding).
Always and everywhere children are forbidden to fight among themselves, for each time that one gives a blow to another, one gives it to one's own soul.
15 January 1963
True strength and protection come from the Divine Presence in the heart.
If you want to keep this Presence constantly in you, avoid carefully all vulgarity in speech, behaviour and acts.
Do not mistake liberty for license and freedom for bad manners: the thoughts must be pure and the aspiration ardent.
26 February 1965
Isn't this immense freedom we are given dangerous for those of us who are not yet awake, who are still unconscious? How can we account for this good fortune we have been given?
Danger and risk are part of every forward movement. Without them, nothing would ever stir; besides, they are indispensable in moulding the character of those who want to progress.
13 April 1966
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According to what I see and know, as a general rule, children over 14 should be allowed their independence and should be given advice only if and when they ask for it.
They should know that they are responsible for managing their own existence.
July 1968
Mother, why are the hours before midnight better for sleep than the hours after it?
Because, symbolically, during the hours before midnight the sun is setting, while from the first hour after midnight it begins to rise.
Blessings.
22 August 1969
Why is it better to go to bed early and to get up early?
When the sun sets, a kind of peace descends on earth and this peace is helpful for sleep.
When the sun rises, a vigorous energy descends on earth and this energy is helpful for work.
When you go to bed late and get up late, you contradict the forces of Nature, and that is not very wise
21 December 1969
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Sweet Mother,
What is Your opinion about fashion, dress and ornaments? What do You consider to be of good taste in our Ashram life?
Thank God, I have no opinions.
For me good taste means being simple and sincere.
What should our attitude be towards the captains and teachers here?
An obedient, willing and affectionate attitude. They are your elder brothers and sisters who take a lot of trouble to help you.
1 February 1970
As girls and boys are educated together here we have always insisted on the relations between them to be those of simple comradeship without any mixture of sex feeling and sensuality; and to avoid all temptation they are forbidden to go into one another's room and to meet anywhere privately. This has been made clear to everybody. And if these rules are strictly followed, nothing unpleasant can happen.
16 August 1960
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Astrologers say that those who are born in November will be mad about sex.
Why do you believe in What the astrologers say? It is the belief that brings the trouble.
Sri Aurobindo says that a man becomes what he thinks he is.
Try this method of thinking that you are a good boy and will become sex free.
Try this method for five years persistently and obstinater Without admitting any doubt or discouragement, and after five years you Will tell me the result.
Be very careful never to have a doubt about the result.
1965
I have already asked of you all not to think that you are girls or boys, but human beings equally endeavouring to find, become and manifest the Divine.
16 February 1966
A complete lack of knowledge about sex can produce serious trouble. I want to give some information to children whom I know.
A simple notion of medical knowledge may be useful in taking away this silly old harmful feeling of shame which brings perversion.
Nowadays in schools elsewhere, especially in
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What is "sex-education"? What do they teach?
For myself, I don't like people to be preoccupied with these things. In my time we were never preoccupied with these things. Now children talk about them all the time it is in their minds, in-their feelings. It is disgusting. It is difficult, very difficult.
But if they talk about it elsewhere, we have to talk about it here too. They should be told the consequences of these things. Especially the girls ought to be told that the consequences can be disastrous. When I was young, in those days, people never spoke about all that, they never paid attention to these things. In those, days, people did not talk about all that. Here, I did not want this subject to be discussed. That is Why we do physical culture. In that way the energies are used to develop strength, beauty, skill and all that; and one is more capable of control. You will see, the ones who do a lot of physical culture, they are much more capable of mastering their impulses.1
(After meditation) The energies that are used in human beings for reproduction and which take such a predominant place in their existence should on the contrary be sublimated and used for progress and higher development, to prepare the advent of the new race. But first the vital and the physical must be freed from all desire, otherwise there is a great risk of disaster.
1 February 1972
1. Oral reply (first three paragraphs only).
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