Education of the Future



A TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR:

EDUCATION OF THE FUTURE

Integral Education Series, AuroPublications, Second revised edition, 1996

CONTENTS i

Preface ii

The question – What is the fundamental need or aim of future education? ii

- Is it merely a smarter social being revolving in this limited mental consciousness ii

- Or to create a new Man free from the limitations of the mental consciousness ii

We believe that the spiritual evolution will be the paradigm of the Future ii

- The central ideas of this new paradigm ii

Man is a transitional being – An evolutionary leap towards a supramental consciousness iii

This higher evolution has to be effected by Yoga iii

Education based on the science of Yoga which will play a major role iii

- This “educational technology” of the future will emerge from an Integral Yoga iii

The book explores the future of education in the light of this new paradigm iii

An International University Centre 1

The conditions in which men live on earth are the result of their state of consciousness 1

- No human organisation can change radically unless human consciousness itself changes 1

- Two tendencies in this effort to improve human conditions – Collective and individual 1

- Our effort should be directed along both these lines at once 1

Sri Aurobindo conceived his international university in order to prepare the human élite 2

- A few broad ideas will serve as a basis for the organisation of this university centre 2

Unity – A synthetic organisation of all nations, each one occupying its true place 2

- The grouping should be effectuated around a central idea as wide and high as possible 2

- This higher idea is to give men the conditions of life they need to prepare themselves 2

To make this possible, the children should be accustomed from a very early age 3

- That is why the international university centre will be international 3

- International education will not be merely theoretical, in the classroom, but practical 3

- Only a general idea of the organisation is given here 4

The first aim 4

- To help individuals to become aware of the fundamental genius of their nation 4

- To bring them into contact with the ways of life of other nations 4

In this spirit, all human problems will be studied at the university centre 4

Each nation has a psychic being which is its true being and moulds its destiny 5

- Its national soul makes each one a living and immortal entity – Its true nature and role 5

Intuition: The Faculty of the Future 6

All that happened in the past only prepares the way for the future 6

- It is by cultivating the intuition that one prepares oneself to live for the future 6

In education, both tendencies – To thirst for the marvellous, a sense for exact details 6

- The two poles of discernment – To see the world as it is, exactly, and as it can be 7

The new age is climbing from a full intellectuality towards some intuitive mind 7

- The aesthetic mind can be one of the main gateways 7

The phenomena of genius – The element of genius in the pupil 7

- Faculties so important to humanity cannot be left out of our consideration 7

Intuition always stands veiled behind our mental operations 8

- Intuition gives us that idea of something behind and beyond all which pursues man 8

The foundation of intuitional knowledge is conscious or effective identity 9

- In the subconscient the intuition manifests itself in the action, in effectivity 9

- In the superconscient the intuition manifests itself in its true nature 9

- Between these two states reason and mind act as intermediaries 9

The intellectual understanding is only the lower buddhi – There is a higher buddhi 9

- If this higher Buddhi could act pure of interference, it would give pure forms of truth 10

The action of the intuitive mind must complete the action of the rational intelligence 11

- It may even wholly replace it and do more powerfully the work of the intellect 11

Intuition is a light which brings a precise knowledge on a particular point 12

- It is the first manifestation of the knowledge by identity 12

- There is also a form of foresight – From the faculty of knowing by identity 12

Consciousness is the faculty of becoming aware of anything whatsoever 13

- Mere awareness is not knowledge 13

- Ordinarily, identification leads to ignorance rather than knowledge 13

So knowledge in the ordinary state of being is to be obtained rather by stepping back 13

Your ordinary consciousness is very much mixed up with unconsciousness 14

- By unity with the Supreme you get the full knowledge whenever you identify yourself 14

This is certainly more than what is called in yogic parlance knowledge by identity 14

The thought of the intuitive mind proceeds wholly by four powers 15

- The suggestive intuition and the intuitive discrimination, inspiration, revelation 15

Revelation is greater than inspiration 15

- The highest inspiration brings the intrinsic word, the spiritual Mantra 15

The Future Evolution of Man 17

May not Mind be a form and veil, of a higher power which would be supramental? 17

Man and Evolution 17

An evolution of consciousness is the central motive of terrestrial existence 17

- A change of consciousness is the major fact of the next evolutionary transformation 18

The Present Crisis 18

The limitations of reason become very strikingly apparent 18

- Can religion then be the guide of human life? 18

True religion is spiritual religion, it is a seeking after God 19

- In spirituality we must seek for the directing light and the harmonising law 19

- Modern man has not solved the problem of the relation of the individual to the society 19

It is wrong to demand that the individual subordinate himself to the collectivity 19

- It is by its most advanced individuals that the collectivity progresses 19

- As the individual advances spiritually – More and more united with the All 19

- If humanity is to survive, a radical transformation of human nature is indispensable. 20

Conduct and Freedom 20

Four main principles successively govern human conduct 20

- The first two are personal need and the good of the collectivity – A conflict 20

- The third principle is the ethical ideal – Conflicts seem to multiply 20

- The supreme law of our divine nature is the fourth and supreme principle of action 20

At the same time imperative law and absolute freedom 20

The Spiritual Man 21

Spirituality is the sign that a power greater than mind is striving to emerge in its turn 21

- Spirituality is a progressive awakening to the inner reality of our being 21

In her attempt to open up the inner being, Nature has followed four main lines 21

- Religion, occultism, spiritual thought, and an inner spiritual realization and experience 21

The Triple Transformation 21

For the mastery of Nature and her transformation – There are three phases 21

- The first phase of this transformation can be called psychic 22

The soul in order to emerge uses three dynamic images – Truth, Beauty and Good 22

- Three ways thus open – The way of the intellect, of the heart, of the will 22

Two principal results follow this emergence – Effective guidance, spiritual experiences 22

- The second phase of the transformation may be called spiritual 23

- To make this new creation permanent, the third phase – The supramental transformation 23

Towards Supermind 23

The transition from Mind to Supermind is a passage from Nature into Supernature 23

- The powers of the Superconscience must descend into us and uplift us 23

- What should be the preparation for the supramental transformation? 24

First, an increasing control and a more and more conscious participation 24

- Four steps of ascent lead from the human intelligence to the Supermind 24

The Gnostic Being 24

The supramental or gnostic being will be the perfect consummation of the spiritual man 25

- Matter will reveal itself as an instrument of the manifestation of Spirit 25

Two questions remain to be examined 25

- What is the place of personality in the gnostic being? 26

In the gnostic consciousness personality and impersonality are not opposing 26

- What will be the nature of the gnostic person? – The place of the ethical element? 26

The gnostic life will reconcile freedom and order 26

The Divine Life 26

To be wholly and integrally conscious of oneself and of all the truth of one’s being 26

- The life of gnostic beings might fitly be characterised as a Superhuman or divine life 27

Towards a Planetary Education 28

The possible founding of a truly universal university 28

- What is needed is a new system of education 28

- A critical need for a new living relation between the university and society 29

- Auroville has been conceived as an experimental symbiosis of university and society 29

- The unity of a universal consciousness in appropriate educational environments 30

The pedagogy of oneness – The fruit of a society dedicated to the ideal of oneness 30

The world university – A union of the universities and other educational centres 30

- The central seat of such a universal university should belong to mankind as a whole 30

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother have prepared this universal consciousness 30

- This new consciousness is materialising in Auroville, the University 31

The University of the Future – 32

The Auroville Model 32

What system of education will be used in Auroville? 32

- It is less a system than an environment which constantly helps to evolve 32

A transformation of the whole being is needed to assure survival for the next generation 32

What does your syllabus include? 33

- Our syllabus is the same as that of evolution 33

What will be Auroville’s contribution to the progress of education? 33

- In Auroville we will humanize education 33

The first thing to disappear will be schools – A big park reserved for children 33

The second thing to disappear will be the teachers – The whole society 33

The third thing to disappear will be education itself – A new way of life 34

How can you organise a university without professors? 34

- The whole town, the university-city, will be at the service of education 34

How then will the students learn? 34

- They will learn mainly by doing and by being – The companion 34

Will you give diplomas? 34

- When man is just beginning to be civilized, how can there be a final examination? 34

Will there be lectures? 35

- Only a few hours or a few weeks of lectures in the year – The rest, in preparation 35

Children can’t be left entirely to themselves. They need to be helped! 35

- The conception of teaching anything has to disappear – A continuous stimulation 35

The only thing the educator has to do is to awaken and stimulate interest 36

Why the implied reproach of even our progressive schools? 36

- Our schools do not really remove ignorance 37

How can it be different? 37

- Education in Auroville will marry the inner and the outer worlds 37

A practical example of this method of education 37

- The exercises which can lead beyond limitations, sensory and intellectual 37

To concentrate our attention on a subject for a very long time 38

Is this the way you will create specialists? 38

- The only specialization which is important, the truth of one’s own being 38

Do you envisage an education entirely without fixed programmes? 39

- Everything we do will be as servants, as playmates, as architects of evolution 39

What do you consider to be perfect education? 39

- The passage of the consciousness with all its contents from the master to the disciple 40

Do you think that such an exalted education is again possible in India? 40

- It will give a capacity to handle facts, to learn and to acquire a mental instrument 40

What can be the role of computers in modern education? 41

- Computers will liberate teachers from the Sisyphus-labour of endless repetition 41

- They will liberate students from rote learning, calculation and mechanical remembering 41

- Education should avoid being accumulative and be purely transformative 41

- Repetition is not merely annoying to the child, but indeed harmful 42

- All that we have to provide is a stimulating environment 43

It is this learning environment that we want to provide in Auroville 43

What is the minimum that an education should give? 44

- To give each child is the opportunity to be creative, to be a truly individual being 44

Are you not in danger of cutting yourself off from the traditions of the past? 44

- Education has to lead generations yet unborn out of the past into the future 45

The children of Auroville may never have a chance to learn many things 45

- Of course. We live in an evolutionary universe and the sum of knowledge is infinite 45

What will be the most striking or revolutionary aspect of education in Auroville? 45

- The education of children under three, and prenatal education 45

A transmission of consciousness, an imprint with a total vision of the universe 46

Your conception of an ideal education might be possible only in some far distant future 46

- We possess both the technology and the psychological knowledge 47

People speak a lot about teaching a child in his mother-tongue 47

- Our children in Auroville will learn and speak many tongues 47

And what about the so-called dead languages, Sanskrit, Latin, Greek? 48

- Sanskrit may become a living language in Auroville, in a simplified form 48

Doesn’t simplification usually mean impoverishment, a rather poor language? 48

- Simplification of Sanskrit should be done in the sense of a necessary evolution 48

What will be the official language of Auroville? 48

- An international language – The natural mother-tongue of the children of the future 48

How will you teach general knowledge? 48

- There will be little teaching, but a great deal of discovery 48

To establish the correct relation between things is to know them 49

But he has to learn how to establish correct relations! 49

- For that to become fully possible we have to invent a new language 49

What importance do you attribute to modern mathematics? 49

- The aspirant of the future will study modern mathematics 50

What place will be accorded to physical education? 50

- A non-stop education – Spiritual, mental, vital and physical dimensions in harmony 50

Each one of these ways of being is as important as the others 50

There are centres of education which serve a whole district or region 51

- In Auroville, educational functions – It is the whole society and not just a few schools 51

Is there a scientific way of learning? 51

- Up to now our education has been rather instinctive – True educational research 51

What are the respective roles of nature and education in the development 52

- Where nature stops intervening directly, education or a conscious evolution starts 52

What kind of research do you envisage in Auroville? 53

- We are thinking of research on the fundamental properties of consciousness 53

- There is also fundamental research to be done in the field of education 53

- The next great conquest ahead will be the conquest of time – Consciousness 53

The scientific ambition of Auroville? To be the inspirer of this conquest of time 54

What are your sources of inspiration? 54

- Evolution holds in itself its own sources of inspiration and force of becoming 54

How do you conceive education in its broadest meaning and aim? 54

- An education leading out of indifference into the heart of joy 54

Education of the Future 56

We are living in a fast changing world 56

- Knowledge due to advanced science and technology has been multiplying itself 57

- Due to advanced science and technology the modern world has shrunk 57

- The modern science and technology can be useful if they are utilised properly 58

Man does not possess the wisdom to use this scientific and technological power properly 58

Almost all the universities of the world are faced with five crises 58

The Crisis of Numbers 58

There is a need for many more educational institutions 58

The modern age is essentially a technological age – The need for science-based education 59

The Crisis of Finance 59

Educational institutions all over the world require more finances 59

- University autonomy all over the world is being threatened 60

The Crisis of Relevance 60

Much of knowledge and learning has become irrelevant in a modern and dynamic society 60

- Students today want such education as will equip them for the future 60

The Crisis of Priorities 61

Today the need is to provide such education as will enable to be self-employed 61

- The educational system needs to be based on work-experience 61

Doubts are raised in the accepted beliefs, ideals and principles 61

- One of the functions of the university is to encourage new thinking 62

When a traditional society proceeds towards industrialisation – Three alternatives 62

- The first is that it may continue to hold its traditionalism 62

- The second alternative is that it may remain uncertain and permit a kind of drift 62

- The third alternative is to resolve the cultural crisis and adopt a world view 62

The third alternative should be our goal and the task of education is to pave the way 63

- The concept of the good of all and a glorious future for the man of tomorrow 63

Youth and the Future Education 65

Youth is the stage of life most capable of ushering in great changes 65

- Nature endows it with hope and faith in the future and of courage and endurance 65

- But it is left with one weakness – Uncontrolled working of the normal human impulses 65

The Present Juncture 65

The best traditions and standards are being felt today as inadequate 65

- We are in a general way turned towards the future and the new possibilities 65

- Sri Aurobindo says Nature now attempts a fresh self-exceeding 65

- But youth forsakes its high purpose and often becomes negative in its method 66

The Real Purpose 66

What needs to be done is a clear identification of the real purpose 66

- If youth succeeds in understanding and appreciating the great cause – A new world 67

- But then youth must make itself wide, large and full of brotherly feeling 67

Creating a New Future 68

The important – To eliminate attachment to the past and get concentrated on the future 68

- What is needed is a consciousness whole and large, a personality integrated and uplifted 68

- This is the work which is being attempted by youth all over the world 69

- Indian youth has for this task a special aptitude and, therefore, a special responsibility 69

Sri Aurobindo saw the coming of this epochal change and evolved the lntegral Yoga 69

Academy of the Future 71

An Academy where the highest philosophy of life can be studied to create leaders 71

- Sri Aurobindo’s psycho-philosophy would supply a natural basis for such study 71

- Western thinkers would complement and balance the contribution of Sri Aurobindo 71

- Such a specialised academy – The highest potential of the faculties of the world 72

Not only for creating a leadership of competents but to institute research 72

Our aims and purpose will be on three levels – The Individual, the Nation, the World 72

The Individual 72

The Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo would stand as an excellent ‘backbone’ 72

- Man needs two basic requirements, love and security – The urge to progress 73

- Human beings are capable of unlimited self-perfection 73

This self-perfection is five-fold, physical, vital, mental, psychic and spiritual 73

Education has not been able to keep pace 74

- Time and consciousness, however, waits for no man 74

- Our first efforts towards this ideal of human unity is to educate man 74

- We have first to establish a specialised school of learning to train dedicated people 75

It is to the parents that the first appeal must be made – An adult education for the child 75

The Nation 75

The nation is the evolving expression of man’s collective consciousness 75

- Politics as we know it today completely fails to achieve what it proposes 75

- It can only come from the people dedicated to the ‘soul’ of the nation 75

India will arise to give to the whole world the Sanatana Dharma 75

The World 76

Our Academy of The Future is to be located in Pondicherry and Auroville 76

- It is the aim of this Academy to bring great souls together 76

- The central purpose of the Academy would be concerned with yogic research 76

The leaders of tomorrow will have to be disciplined in Integral Yoga 76

A Learning Society: 78

Today and Tomorrow 78

The establishment of school systems with a universal vocation 78

- Yet, the prospect is already not limited to setting up systems 78

Another scheme of things must be envisaged, beyond a purely systematic conception 78

Education is spreading – The entire human being in all his dimensions 79

- Too vast and complex to be contained within the limits of any ‘system’ 79

- The act of teaching gives way to the act of learning – The subject of his own education 79

- Broadening the educational function to the dimensions of society as a whole 80

All sectors must take part in promoting education 80

Society as a whole has a more important educational role to play 81

The very nature of the relationship between society and education is changing 82

- The learning society – It implies that every citizen should have the means of learning 82

Is this a utopian vision? – There is no good strategy without a utopian forecast 83

REFERENCES TO THE ARTICLES REPRODUCED 85

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