{"id":471,"date":"2013-07-13T01:28:12","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=471"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:28:12","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:28:12","slug":"33-the-mortal-nature-vol-17-the-hour-of-god-volume-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/17-the-hour-of-god-volume-17\/33-the-mortal-nature-vol-17-the-hour-of-god-volume-17","title":{"rendered":"-33_The Mortal Nature.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
\n

\n
\nTHREE<\/span>
\n
\nThe Moral
\nNature  <\/font><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nI<\/font>N
\n<\/font> <\/b>THE<\/font>
\neconomy of man the mental nature rests upon the moral, and the education of the
\nintellect divorced from the perfection of the moral and emotional nature is injurious to human progress. Yet, while it is easy to arrange some kind of
\ncurriculum or syllabus which will do well enough for the training of the mind,
\nit has not yet been found possible to provide under modern conditions a suitable
\nmoral training for the school and college. The attempt to make boys moral and
\nreligious by the teaching of moral and religious text-books is a vanity and a
\ndelusion, precisely because the heart is not the mind and to instruct the mind
\ndoes not necessarily improve the heart. It would be an error to say that it has
\nno effect. It throws certain seeds of thought into the antahkarana <\/i>and,
\nif these thoughts become habitual, they influence the conduct. But the danger
\nof moral text-books is that they make the thinking of high things mechanical and
\nartificial, and whatever is mechanical and artificial is inoperative for good.
\n   
\nThere are three things which are of the utmost importance in dealing with a
\nman’s moral nature, the emotions, the sam- skāras <\/i>or formed habits and
\nassociations, and the svabhāva <\/i>or nature. The only way for him to
\ntrain himself morally is to habituate himself to the right emotions, the
\nnoblest associations, the best mental, emotional and physical habits and the
\nfollowing out in right action of the fundamental impulses of his essential
\nnature. You can impose a certain discipline on children, dress them into a
\ncertain mould, lash them into a desired path, but unless you can get their
\nhearts and natures on your side, the con- formity to this imposed rule becomes a
\nhypocritical and heart- less, a conventional, often a cowardly compliance. This
\nis what is done in Europe, and it leads to that remarkable phenomenon known as
\nthe sowing of wild oats as soon as the yoke of discipline
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage-209<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nat school and at home is removed, and to the social hypocrisy which is so large
\na feature of European life. Only what the man admires and accepts, becomes part
\nof himself; the rest is a mask. He conforms to the discipline of society as he
\nconformed to the moral routine of home and school, but considers himself at
\nliberty to guide his real life, inner and private, according to his own likings
\nand passions. On the other hand, to neglect moral and religious education
\naltogether is to corrupt the race. The notorious moral corruption in our young
\nmen previous to the saving touch of the Swadeshi movement was the direct result
\nof the purely mental instruction given to them under the English system of
\neducation. The adoption of the English system under an Indian disguise in
\ninstitutions like the Central Hindu College is likely to lead to the European
\nresult. That it is better than nothing, is all that can be said for it.
\n   
\nAs in the education of the mind, so in the education of the heart, the best way
\nis to put the child into the right road to his own perfection and encourage him
\nto follow it, watching, suggesting, helping, but not interfering. The one
\nexcellent element in the English boarding school is that the master at his best
\nstands there as a moral guide and example, leaving the boys largely to influence
\nand help each other in following the path silently shown to them. But the method
\npractised is crude and marred by the excess of outer discipline, for which the
\npupils have no respect except that of fear and the exiguity of the inner
\nassistance. The little good that is done is outweighed by much evil. The old
\nIndian system of the guru <\/i>commanding by his knowledge and sanctity the
\nimplicit obedience, perfect admiration, reverent emulation of the student was
\na far superior method of moral disci- pline. It is impossible to restore that
\nancient system; but it is not impossible to substitute the wise friend, guide
\nand helper for the hired instructor or the benevolent policeman which is all
\nthat the European system usually makes of the pedagogue.
\n   
\nThe first rule of moral training is to suggest and invite, not command or
\nimpose. The best method of suggestion is by per- sonal example, daily converse
\nand the books read from day to day. These books should contain, for the younger
\nstudent, the lofty examples of the past given, not as moral lessons, but as<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage-210<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nthings of supreme human interest, and, for the elder student, the
\ngreat thoughts of great souls, the passages of literature which set fire to the
\nhighest emotions and prompt the highest ideals and aspirations, the records of
\nhistory and biography which exemplify the living of those great thoughts, noble
\nemotions and aspiring ideals. This is a kind of good company, satsanga, <\/i>which
\ncan seldom fail to have effect so long as sententious sermonising is avoided,
\nand becomes of the highest effect if the personal life of the teacher is itself
\nmoulded by the great things he places before his pupils. It cannot, however,
\nhave full force unless the young life is given an opportunity, within its
\nlimited sphere, of embodying in action the moral impulses which rise within it.
\nThe thirst of knowledge, the self-devotion, the purity, the re<\/span>nunciation
\nof the Brahmin,<\/span> <\/font>
\n–<\/span>
\n<\/font>
\nthe courage, ardour,
\nhonour, no<\/span>bility,
\nchivalry, patriotism of the Kshatriya, – the beneficence, skill, industry,
\ngenerous enterprise and large open-handedness of the Vaisya, – the
\nself-effacement and loving service of the Sudra, – these are the qualities of
\nthe Aryan. They constitute the moral temper we desire in our young men, in the
\nwhole nation. But how can we get them if we do not give opportunities to the
\nyoung to train themselves in the Aryan tradition, to form by the practice and
\nfamiliarity of childhood and boyhood the stuff of which their adult lives must
\nbe made?
\n   
\nEvery boy should, therefore, be given practical opportunity as well as
\nintellectual encouragement to develop all that is best in the nature. If he has
\nbad qualities, bad habits, bad samskāras, <\/i>whether of mind or body, he
\nshould not be treated harshly as a delinquent, but encouraged to get rid of them
\nby the Rajayogic method of samyama, <\/i>rejection and substitution. He should
\nbe encouraged to think of them, not as sins or offences, but as symptoms of a
\ncurable disease, alterable by a steady and sustained effort of the will,<\/span>
\n<\/font> –<\/span>
\n<\/font>
\nfalsehood being
\nrejected whenever it rises into the mind and replaced by truth, fear by courage,
\nselfishness by <\/i>sacrifice and renunciation, malice by love. Great care
\nwill have to be taken that unformed virtues are not rejected as faults. The
\nwildness and recklessness of many young natures are only the overflowings of an
\nexcessive strength, greatness and nobility. They should be purified, not
\ndiscouraged.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nPage-211<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n   
\nI have spoken of morality; it is necessary’ to speak a word of religious
\nteaching. There is a strange idea prevalent that by merely teaching the dogmas
\nof religion children can be made pious and moral. This is an European error, and
\nits practice either leads to mechanical acceptance of a creed having no effect
\non the inner and little on the outer life, or it creates the fanatic, the
\npietist, the ritualist or the unctuous hypocrite. Religion has to be lived,
\nnot learned as a creed. The singular compromise made in the so-called National
\nEducation of Bengal making the teaching of religious beliefs compulsory, but
\nforbidding the practice of anusthāna <\/i>or religious exercise, is a sample
\nof the ignorant confusion which distracts men’s minds on this subject. The
\nprohibition is a sop to secularism declared or concealed. No religious teaching
\nis of any value unless it is lived, and the use of various kinds of sādhanā, <\/i>spiritual
\nself-training and exercise is the only effective preparation for religious
\nliving. The ritual of prayer, homage, ceremony is craved for by many minds as an
\nessential preparation and, if not made an end in itself, is a great help to
\nspiritual progress; if it is withheld, some other form of meditation, devotion
\nor religious duty must be put in its place. Otherwise, religious teaching is of
\nlittle use and would almost be better ungiven.
\n   
\nBut whether distinct teaching in any form of religion is imparted or not, the
\nessence of religion, to live for God, for humanity, for country, for others
\nand for oneself in these, must be made the ideal in every school which calls
\nitself national. It is
\n<\/span>this
\nspirit of Hinduism pervading our schools which<\/span>
\n<\/font> –<\/span>
\n<\/font>
\nfar more <\/span>
\nthan
\nthe teaching of Indian subjects, the use of Indian methods or formal instruction
\nin Hindu beliefs and Hindu scriptures<\/span> <\/font>
\n– should be the essence of
\nNationalism in our schools distinguishing them from all others.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage-212<\/font><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THREE The Moral Nature     IN THE economy of man the mental nature rests upon the moral, and the education of the intellect divorced from…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-17-the-hour-of-god-volume-17","wpcat-9-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}