{"id":4235,"date":"2013-07-13T01:54:22","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:54:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4235"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:54:22","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:54:22","slug":"05-vital-education-vol-12-on-education-volume-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/02-works-of-the-mother\/01-cwmce\/12-on-education-volume-12\/05-vital-education-vol-12-on-education-volume-12","title":{"rendered":"-05_Vital-Education.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n

\n <\/font><\/span>\u00a0 <\/font> <\/span>Vital Education
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/i><\/b>
\n <\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nO<\/font><\/span>f all
\neducation, vital education is perhaps the most important, the most
\nindispensable. Yet it is rarely taken up and pursued with discernment and
\nmethod. There are several reasons for this: first, the human mind is in a state
\nof great confusion about this particular subject; secondly, the undertaking is
\nvery difficult and to be successful in it one must have endless endurance and
\npersistence and a will that no failure can weaken. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed,
\nthe vital in man’s nature is a despotic and exacting tyrant. Moreover, since it
\nis the vital which holds power, energy, enthusiasm, effective dynamism, many
\nhave a feeling of timorous respect for it and always try to please it. But it
\nis a master that nothing can satisfy and its demands are without limit. Two
\nideas which are very wide-spread, especially in the West, contribute towards
\nmaking its domination more sovereign. One is that the chief aim of life is to
\nbe happy; the other that one is born with a certain character and that it is
\nimpossible to change it.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The first idea is a childish deformation
\nof a very profound truth: that all existence is based upon delight of being and
\nwithout delight of being there would be no life. But this delight of being,
\nwhich is a quality of the Divine and therefore unconditioned, must not be
\nconfused with the pursuit of pleasure in life, which depends largely upon
\ncircumstances. The conviction that one has the right to be happy leads, as a
\nmatter of course, to the will to \u201clive one’s own life\u201d at any cost. This
\nattitude, by its obscure and aggressive egoism, leads to every kind of conflict
\nand misery, disappointment and discouragement, and very often ends in
\ncatastrophe. <\/span><\/p>\n

In the world as it is now the goal of life
\nis not to secure personal happiness, but to awaken the individual progressively
\nto the Truth-consciousness. <\/span><\/p>\n

The second idea arises from the fact that
\na fundamental change of character demands an almost complete mastery over<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 18<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

the
\nsubconscient and a very rigorous disciplining of whatever comes up from the
\ninconscient, which, in ordinary natures, expresses itself as the effects of
\natavism and of the environment in which one was born. Only an almost abnormal
\ngrowth of consciousness and the constant help of Grace can achieve this
\nHerculean task. That is why this task has rarely been attempted and many famous
\nteachers have declared it to be unrealisable and chimerical. Yet it is not
\nunrealisable. The transformation of character has in fact been realised by
\nmeans of a clear-sighted discipline and a perseverance so obstinate that
\nnothing, not even the most persistent failures, can discourage it. <\/span><\/p>\n

The indispensable starting-point is a
\ndetailed and discerning observation of the character to be transformed. In most
\ncases, that itself is a difficult and often a very baffling task. But there is
\none fact which the old traditions knew and which can serve as the clue in the
\nlabyrinth of inner discovery. It is that everyone possesses in a large measure,
\nand the exceptional individual in an increasing degree of precision, two
\nopposite tendencies of character, in almost equal proportions, which are like
\nthe light and the shadow of the same thing. Thus someone who has the capacity
\nof being exceptionally generous will suddenly find an obstinate avarice rising
\nup in his nature, the courageous man will be a coward in some part of his being
\nand the good man will suddenly have wicked impulses. In this way life seems to
\nendow everyone not only with the possibility of expressing an ideal, but also
\nwith contrary elements representing in a concrete manner the battle he has to
\nwage and the victory he has to win for the realisation to become possible.
\nConsequently, all life is an education pursued more or less consciously, more
\nor less willingly. In certain cases this education will encourage the movements
\nthat express the light, in others, on the contrary, those that express the
\nshadow. If the circumstances and the environment are favourable, the light will
\ngrow at the expense of the shadow; otherwise the opposite will happen. And in
\nthis way the individual’s character will crystallise according to the whims<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 19<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

of Nature and the determinisms of material
\nand vital life, unless a higher element comes in in time, a conscious will
\nwhich, refusing to allow Nature to follow her whimsical ways, will replace them
\nby a logical and clear-sighted discipline. This conscious will is what we mean
\nby a rational method of education. <\/span><\/p>\n

That is why it is of prime importance that
\nthe vital education of the child should begin as early as possible, indeed, as
\nsoon as he is able to use his senses. In this way many bad habits will be
\navoided and many harmful influences eliminated. <\/span><\/p>\n

This vital education has two principal
\naspects, very different in their aims and methods, but both equally important.
\nThe first concerns the development and use of the sense organs. The second the
\nprogressing awareness and control of the character, culminating in its
\ntransformation. <\/span><\/p>\n

The education of the senses, again, has
\nseveral aspects, which are added to one another as the being grows; indeed it
\nshould never cease. The sense organs, if properly cultivated, can attain a
\nprecision and power of functioning far exceeding what is normally expected of
\nthem. <\/span><\/p>\n

In some ancient initiations it was stated
\nthat the number of senses that man can develop is not five but seven and in
\ncertain special cases even twelve. Certain races at certain times have, out of
\nnecessity, developed more or less perfectly one or the other of these
\nsupplementary senses. With a proper discipline persistently followed, they are
\nwithin the reach of all who are sincerely interested in this development and
\nits results. Among the faculties that are often mentioned, there is, for
\nexample, the ability to widen the physical consciousness, project it out of
\noneself so as to concentrate it on a given point and thus obtain sight,
\nhearing, smell, taste and even touch at a distance.<\/span><\/p>\n

To this general education of the senses
\nand their functioning there will be added, as early as possible, the
\ncultivation of discrimination and of the aesthetic sense, the capacity to
\nchoose and adopt what is beautiful and harmonious, simple, healthy and pure.
\nFor there is a psychological health just as there is a<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 20<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

Physical health, a beauty and harmony of
\nthe sensations as of the body and its movements. As the capacity of
\nunderstanding grows in the child, he should be taught, in the course of his
\neducation, to add artistic taste and refinement to power and precision. He
\nshould be shown, led to appreciate, taught to love beautiful, lofty, healthy
\nand noble things, whether in Nature or in human creation. This should be a true
\naesthetic culture, which will protect him from degrading influences. For, in
\nthe wake of the last wars and the terrible nervous tension which they provoked,
\nas a sign, perhaps, of the decline of civilisation and social decay, a growing
\nvulgarity seems to have taken possession of human life, individual as well as
\ncollective, particularly in what concerns aesthetic life and the life of the
\nsenses. A methodical and enlightened cultivation of the senses can, little by
\nlittle, eliminate from the child whatever is by contagion vulgar, commonplace
\nand crude. This education will have very happy effects even on his character.
\nFor one who has developed a truly refined taste will, because of this very
\nrefinement, feel incapable of acting in a crude, brutal or vulgar manner. This
\nrefinement, if it is sincere, brings to the being a nobility and generosity
\nwhich will spontaneously find expression in his behaviour and will protect him
\nfrom many base and perverse movements.<\/span><\/p>\n

And this brings us quite naturally to the
\nsecond aspect of vital education which concerns the character and its
\ntransformation. <\/span><\/p>\n

Generally, all disciplines dealing with
\nthe vital being, its purification and its control, proceed by coercion,
\nsuppression, abstinence and asceticism. This procedure is certainly easier and
\nquicker, although less deeply enduring and effective, than a rigorous and
\ndetailed education. Besides, it eliminates all possibility of the intervention,
\nhelp and collaboration of the vital. And yet this help is of the utmost
\nimportance if one wants the individual’s growth and action to be complete. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>To
\nbecome conscious of the various movements in oneself and be aware of what one
\ndoes and why one does it, is the in<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 21<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

dispensable starting-point. The child must
\nbe taught to observe, to note his reactions and impulses and their causes, to
\nbecome a discerning witness of his desires, his movements of violence and
\npassion, his instincts of possession and appropriation and domination and the
\nbackground of vanity which supports them, together with their counterparts of
\nweakness, discouragement, depression and despair. <\/span><\/p>\n

Evidently, for this process to be useful,
\nalong with the growth of the power of observation the will for progress and
\nperfection must also grow. This will should be instilled into the child as soon
\nas he is capable of having a will, that is to say, at a much earlier age than
\nis usually believed. <\/span><\/p>\n

In order to awaken this will to surmount
\nand conquer, different methods are appropriate in different cases; with certain
\nindividuals rational arguments are effective, for others their feelings and
\ngoodwill should be brought into play, with yet others the sense of dignity and
\nself-respect. For all, the most powerful method is example constantly and
\nsincerely shown.<\/span><\/p>\n

Once the resolution has been firmly
\nestablished, one has only to proceed rigorously and persistently and never to
\naccept any defeat as final. To avoid all weakening and backsliding, there is
\none important point you must know and never forget: the will can be cultivated
\nand developed just as the muscles can by methodical and progressive exercise.
\nYou must not shrink from demanding the maximum effort of your will even for a thing
\nthat seems of no importance, for it is through effort that its capacity grows,
\ngradually acquiring the power to apply itself even to the most difficult
\nthings. What you have decided to do, you must do, whatever the cost, even if
\nyou have to renew your effort over and over again any number of times in order
\nto do it. Your will will be strengthened by the effort and you will have only
\nto choose with discernment the goal to which you will apply it.<\/span><\/p>\n

To sum up: one must gain a full knowledge
\nof one’s character and then acquire control over one’s movements in order to<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 22<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

achieve perfect mastery and the
\ntransformation of all the elements that have to be transformed. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now all will depend upon the ideal which
\nthe effort for mastery and transformation seeks to achieve. The value of the
\neffort and its result will depend upon the value of the ideal. This is the
\nsubject we shall deal with next, in connection with mental education. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/font><\/span>Bulletin<\/span><\/font><\/span><\/i>, August 1951<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 23 <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n <span
\n <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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