Household children are the future citizens

26 January 2014

[On the 2^nd day of the Aatma Tattva Sameeksha Discourse Series
based on Ashtavakra Samhita in Thrissur, Kerala.]

The security and strength of any Nation consist in the love and feeling of integrity that arise in those born there. The effort to instill fondness for the Nation and citizenly awareness in young people should come equally from parents, teachers, people and the Government.

Food, clothes and house are the primary needs of body alone. Values and principles constitute the nourishment for the mind.

Spiritual truths alone can empower a person to act with confidence, stability and conviction, in any critical situation or circumstance, by grasping and assessing the facts and compulsions around.

The behavioural characteristics of people based on spiritual truths themselves form the cultural traits. Only the first part of this is begotten from birth; the other is developed through education and interpersonal interactions. It is necessary to establish methods for instilling spiritual values and truths through lessons and practical sessions in homes and educational institutions.

This is where Central and State Governments should discharge their individual responsibilities with discretion. However, the story so far has been of failure only.

Programmes on the lines of Five-Year Plans of the country, should be formulated and launched to educate the young students in National fondness, fidelity and cultural values. Methods to monitor the efficiency and utility of the scheme and to take timely measures of correction to make them fruitful should also be instituted. This should be taken up with the sense of immediacy.

In providing the cultural education, there should be no unnecessary religious overtones. Our culture has always been one of self refinement, self invigoration and self-empowerment, to remain devoted to the service of others. These virtues are imbibed from spiritual truths and values, all of which relate to and rest upon the emotional mind and rational intellect. So much so that they allow no rejection on grounds of religion or religious practices.

Culture itself is the artful expression of the intellectual achievement of a society, regarded and practised collectively by its members. Its strength and inevitability come from the people themselves, their thoughts, aspirations and ideals. The term ‘intellectual achievement’ instantly makes culture rational and scientific.

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