Spiritual Education from Texts to the Lived Context

Abstract

The study unveils spiritual knowledge envisaged in the documents and field. For this I had two overarching research questions viz- how can spiritual knowledge be helpful in developing the holistic personality of children? And In what way does the present education system respond to the quest of spiritual knowledge? In order to find out the answers of these questions I examined literatures, reflected my personal understanding, interviewed teachers, parents and students of seven schools of Kathmandu valley. I also observed children in their classrooms and the playground. The findings that I could generate from the field through hermeneutic enquiry were- (a) I found that both the texts and the field really need the knowledge that can establish relation between body, mind, senses and soul. This finding was not only helpful for them to rethink about the perception of god and the importance of human life but also helpful to protect the great and the glorious diverse cultural values and ethical skills and there by remove all the differences of the external world into the principle of singularity and uniqueness. (b) Both literatures and field gave me intuition that the knowledge of discrimination through the five sheaths (Panchakosha viveka); analysis of the three bodies- the (gross, subtle, causal), three states of existence (waking, dream, deepsleep), three attributes (Satva, rajas, tamas), three times (past, present, future), the three states (Ichha, medha, kriya),and subject and object( seer and seen) abundant in the oriental texts like the Vedas, Upanishads and Gita with the practice of using positive values, meditation, silent sitting, introspection, retrospection ,self audit and involvement in the humanitarian activities are essential to be inculcated in the minds of the students, teachers and parents simultaneously. (c) I found that with the attainment of spiritual knowledge the field would automatically find the integral relationship between spirituality and other social institutions and start to accept spirituality as an inseparable part of life. (d) I also found that the present education system has not been responding to the spiritual need of the children and the community. The education system of the country had forced children towards materialization (the grades, the examination, course of study, get got job with handsome salary) only. The field lacks the presence of divine energy. However the field responded positively to arouse the spiritual feelings and need, hidden and become dormant in their hearts through spiritual education. I used a good number of theories to interpret the above findings and provide justice to my study. I studied and used their theme and added spiritual essence to make them fit for application in the field. As an implication of the above findings, I made some programmes to promote spirituality and my first target is to hold exhibition on human and spirituality in the government schools and expand this process gradually. The second programme that I developed was to organize talk programmes on the existence of god and relation of human beings with it. Third programme that I wanted to initiate is to train and prepare teachers for imparting spiritual knowledge to their students Fourth programme will be related to providing specially designed spirituality promoting textbooks for the students. In short I intend to develop prototype materials for the students. My fifth programme will be concentrated on organizing talk programmes on spirituality for parents and community for the revival of the glory of the ancient living.