Introduction to Integral Education

INTRODUCTION TO INTEGRAL EDUCATION Beloo Mehra, PhD Date: March 25, 2019 Venue: School of Education, Pondicherry University There are many serious concerns and problems in our present education system, and many of them are in some way inter-connected. But one of the most serious flaws, something really fundamental, perhaps the root cause for many other problems, is this – our present approach to education is largely based on an industrial-rational-materialistic view of individual, life, and society. Because of this guiding view, education has ended up only as a means for social success, a doorway to socio-economic upward mobility and a key to enter the hallowed chambers of ‘economic elite’ in the society. Education should help learners become equipped with the right kind of preparation and skills for a profession or vocation of their choice. But this must be done in the larger framework of a much wider and deeper purpose of education. It is critically important that we move away from the prevailing industrial-rational-materialistic view and ground our educational approach in a more humane, holistic, Indian spiritual view which is based on much deeper views of an individual, a society, a nation and the purpose of human life. ‘Get a degree only for a job’ kind of mentality must be done away with, if we want learners to grow in a more holistic and allrounded manner. In order to do this, it becomes essential to know what is a human being in essence; what are the different parts or layers of a human being; how are these different parts – parts that must be developed – interconnected; and what is the most essential or ultimate aim of human life. India, since times immemorial, has seen in the individual a soul, a portion of the Divinity enwrapped in mind and body, a conscious manifestation in Nature of the universal self and spirit. The phrase “enwrapped in mind and body” deserves a second look and a greater reflection. According to this view, the soul is the first and foremost truth of an individual being, and this soul expresses itself through the outer instruments of mind and body. Integral Education is based on this conception of individual. Education, in this light, becomes the means to help prepare learners for a deeper transformation and inner evolution, which requires that all parts of their being – mental, emotional and physical – are properly prepared and developed to their fullest potential in order to manifest a harmonious and integral personality. In this light, education begins with the birth of the individual and continues throughout the life. The role of a teacher, particularly the significance of the teacher’s inner work and the influence of his or her overall presence, becomes a key aspect in such an educational approach. According to Sri Aurobindo, education’s central aim is “the building of the powers of the human mind and spirit, it is the formation, or, as I would prefer to view it, the evoking of knowledge and will and of the power to use knowledge, character, culture, – that at least if no more” (Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo, Vol. 1, p. 421). True and living education helps to “bring out to full advantage, makes ready for the full purpose and scope of human life that is in the individual man, and which at the same time helps him to enter into his right relation with the life, mind and soul of the people to which he belongs and with that great total life, mind and soul of humanity of which he himself is a unit and his people or nation a living, a separate and yet inseparable member” (ibid, p. 425). Here we also see that education can never ignore its collective or social purpose which is closely inter-related to the individual existence. But the collective purpose is not only limited to the immediate society or nation, it extends to the whole humanity. This has great implications for curriculum planning, pedagogy and actual dayto-day teaching practice in classroom. A truly Integral Education should thus have three central aims – 1) for an individual, it is growth of the soul and its powers and possibilities, 2) for the nation, the preservation, strengthening and enrichment of the nation-soul and its Dharma, and 3) to raise both the individual and nation into powers of the life and ascending mind and soul of humanity. “And at no time, will [education] lose sight of man’s highest object, the awakening and development of his spiritual being.” (ibid, p. 427). This highest object of human life must inspire the aim of a true and living Integral Education. Education must help create an awareness and facilitate an opening in the young minds and hearts for the fact that there is a personal inner truth, independent of and transcending all the layers of outer identity of the individual. And that the discovery of this inner truth through intense self-search and deep self-knowledge is the ultimate aim of human life. It is essential to understand that this is not religious education. Seen in this light, all life becomes a means of education, in order for us to walk the path of discovering and realizing the aim of our life – individually and collectively. As the Mother, the spiritual collaborator of Sri Aurobindo, reminds us, “the aim of education is not to prepare a man to succeed in life and society, but to increase his perfectibility to its utmost.” (Collected Works of the Mother, Vol. 12, p. 120).