Core Beliefs

Education Megaproject Philosophy

The entire Education Megaproject is based on the following few lines by Swami Vivekananda.

Education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man.

Knowledge is inherent in man, no knowledge comes from outside; it is all inside. What we say a man ‘ knows ’, should in strict psychological language , be what he ‘ discovers ’ or ‘ unveils ’. What a man ‘ learns ’ is really what he ‘ discovers ’ by taking the cover off his own soul, which is a mine of infinite knowledge. We say Newton discovered gravitation. Was it sitting anywhere in a corner waiting for him ? It was in his own mind; the time came and he found it out. All knowledge that the world has ever received comes from the mind; the infinite library of the universe is in your own mind. The external world is simply the suggestion, the occasion , which sets you to study your own mind. The falling of an apple gave the suggestion to Newton , and he studied his own mind. He rearranged all the previous links of thought in his mind and discovered a new link among them, which we call the law of gravitation. It was not in the apple nor in anything in the centre of the earth.

All Knowledge Is Within

All knowledge therefore, secular or spiritual, is in the human mind. In many cases it is not discovered , but remains covered, and when the covering is being slowly taken off, we say ‘ we are learning ‘ , and the advance of knowledge is made by the advance of this process of un-covering . The man from whom this veil is being lifted is the more knowing man; the man upon whom it lies thick is ignorant; and the man from whom it is entirely gone is all-knowing, omniscient. Like fire in a piece of flint, knowledge exists in the mind; suggestion is the friction which brings it out. All knowledge and all power are within. What we call powers , secrets of nature, and force are all within. All knowledge comes from the human soul. Man manifests knowledge, discovers it within himself, which is pre-existing, through eternity. No one was ever really taught by another. Each of us has to teach himself. The external teacher offers only the suggestion which rouses the internal teacher to work to understand things. Then things will be made clearer to us by our own power of perception and thought, and we shall realize them in our own souls.

A Key Question for Thinkers on Education

All existing programmes of the Government of India and indeed western education seek to make people literate as a Minimum . Swami Vivekananda gives a totally new perspective and forces us to ask ourselves... "Who are we trying to make literate ?"

He then goes on to say "Within man is all knowledge , and it requires only an awakening, and that much is the work of a teacher ."

Swami Vivekanand therefore is saying that the teachers main role is to help the student discover himself ( i.e. his own soul ) .

Restoring the Social and Economic Position of the Teacher

In India the guru or teacher has traditionally been held in very high esteem. This has been our ancient tradition and India reached the height of its glory when it had the teacher at the top of the social order. There is therefore a need to return to our roots and to restore the teacher to that high position in Indian society that he has lost over the last few decades.

The Education Megaproject that we have designed for the Indian government as a PPP project and the Model institutions / Pilot school projects that the Nataraja foundation plans to operate will demonstrate that we can achieve a huge awakening in India by creating a way of life around the teaching profession thereby attracting the best people to join the education profession in Indian schools and colleges through the creation of the finest of places to work.

Wholesome Education

Education means development. It should not be solely confined to academics. The truly educated is active in mind , agile in limbs, aesthetically inclined and above all sound in character. In addition , students must be trained not only to answer questions but also to question the answers. The Indian Primary and Secondary Education Megaproject has been designed with the primary objective of providing such an environment in schools all over India.

Indian society is getting increasingly polarized due to caste related issues and religious intolerance. We cannot allow this to happen. One of the aims of the foundation is therefore to ensure that children of all faiths are allowed access to good education as long as he / she is keen to learn and co-exist with children from various parts of the country.