Home education helps prepare young minds to achieve the true purpose of life.

Having established dharmic order in society as the basis of Rāma Rājya, let us consider how education can be the true means to foster such an order.

सा विद्या या विमुक्तये ।

True knowledge is that which liberates.

It frees society from the search for employment. Such being the case, adherence to dharma alone constitutes true knowledge.

What is Knowledge?

Underscoring this, Mahatma Gandhi in 1946 wrote in the Harijan, “Knowledge includes all training that is useful for the service of mankind, and liberation means freedom from all manner of servitude even in the present life. Servitude is of two kinds: slavery to domination from outside and to one's own artificial needs.

"The knowledge acquired in the pursuit of this ideal alone constitutes true study.”

Independence is the innate joy of life. Just like every atom and cell, every organism in this world is free in the real sense. None requires support from any external agency for anything in their lives, except for life-support as infant from mother’s milk.

An awakened individual is capable of governing himself and he alone is thus his own governor.

Today, our schools, colleges and universities have yet to awaken children to their potential. Far from serving as means to freedom, the so-called education shackles the spirits of students and, in a way, enslaves them.

Instead of preparing the minds to achieve greatness through the path of dharma, the institutions go to great lengths to ‘instill’ knowledge of mundane things and of shortcuts in life, which have often proved to be the root of adharmic behaviour as the young grow up.

The consequent ignorance of one’s innate strength and the lack of know-how to tap the potential have made today’s generation largely insecure in their minds. The education has contributed to a growth in dependency syndrome: A sense of looking for support from others at every turn.

It is this dependency that has, over a period, given rise to sheer disorder in society. It has facilitated the dominant play of base instincts in humans, with lust being the foremost negative trait visible widely nowadays.

Course Correction

For the creation of a civilised world order, it is therefore evident that the education system needs a serious correction. The new system should enable every young mind to realise the lofty goals of life. It must equip citizens with the right tools for the purpose. Education should be based on the supreme idea of Love. Such education will foster understanding of the marvellous order of the universe, its characteristic harmony of unity in diversity, and thus help create a new world order over time.

If we carefully observe, every element in the universe is absolutely independent: It functions independently on its own momentum. But at the same time, each element is interdependent as part of a whole: It works towards fulfilling the glorious scheme of the divine. Every element’s mere existence sustains the entire universe. It is this beautiful arrangement that goes by the name dharma.

True Catalyst

Dharma is indeed the expression of the Supreme Love of God. Therefore, it follows that, Love is the subtle and crucial catalyst that enables one to grasp the fascinating harmony of individual dharma with the universal dharma. Such an environment, based on Love, will enable humankind to discover the dharmic order.

Moreover, a loving approach in everything is the crucial element in childhood education. It is important that parents realise this and take every step to harness the power of parental love while facilitating the initial learning of the child.

Home-schooling for children, in their formative years, with a focus on character development, is an important component of this endeavour. Only when young wards receive unstinted love, attention, care, and imbibe true values from their parents early in life, can there be a significant movement towards the glorious world order of Rāma Rājya.

(Published in Tattvāloka of May 2019)

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Reflections of a Home-Schooling Parent

Imagine having to learn a creative pursuit like yoga in a competitive environment. How stressful it would be! Many would master the physical exercises for the sake of a certificate. While they would cross the bridge, they would fail to see the beauty of the bridge. They would miss the main point of yoga of turning inward to where the infinite creative energy lies.

To facilitate thinkers and philosophers, it is important that students appreciate not just the bridge but also the sights around and under it.

My home-schooling journey began about eight years ago when my son was to be born. Each minute since then has been a process to enhance my own existence and take him along in the process.

Home-schooling necessarily means that one learns on his own, facilitated by the foundations provided by the parents. Learning happens through storytelling sessions. Stories are powerful tools for not only character building but also to awaken the thinking faculties.

Learning at home happens according to the mood of the moment and of the people involved. One gets time to think and understand at his own pace, without pressure.

Each relationship of the student is important and unique to the learning process. The joint-family facilitates a high level of interaction. There is less possibility for the parents to be overtly attached to their kids, enabling their free interaction with everyone, and in the process learn.

- Janhavi Abhyankar