Shiksha Mein Kranti ~ 01

शिक्षा में क्रांति ~ 01

event type	discourse
date & time	<1967
location	Babai (MP)
language	Hindi
audio	Missing, possibly available
online audio	free download from OshoWorld.com (as Shiksha Mein Kranti #01) purchase from Osho.com (as Shiksha Mein Kranti #01)
video	Not available
online video
see also	timeline : Osho Timeline ~ year unknown first edition : Naye Manushya Ke Janma Ki Disha (नये मनुष्य के जन्म की दिशा) (1967.03) first English translation : Revolution in Education (1997, chapter 2.) other editions, translations and links
online text	Manuscripts ~ Shiksha, Shikshak Aur Samaj (शिक्षा, शिक्षक और समाज)

notes

Later included to big compilation Shiksha Mein Kranti (शिक्षा में क्रांति) as ch. 1. See Talk:Shiksha Mein Kranti (शिक्षा में क्रांति) and cf. Talk:Naye Manushya Ke Janma Ki Disha (नये मनुष्य के जन्म की दिशा).

An English translation also was published in Sw Ageh Bharti's book Beloved Osho, ch 12 ("Education, Educator and Society").
CD-ROM on this chapter: This discourse was given to a congregation of teachers and students published in booklet of same name.

synopsis

This is the English translation as presented in 'Beloved Osho (2012) pp. 137 - 155 :

12. Education, Educator and Society

My dear ones,

I feel extremely happy in being with you. I would surely, like to share my innermost thoughts with you on the occasion. I feel deeply pained seeing the sorry state of education. In the name of education dependence is encouraged and such dependence can not give birth to a healthy and independent man. Faulty education alone is responsible for the ugly and crippled mankind. Education has connected man with nature but it has failed to give birth to a culture. What has come out of it is but a distortion. Every generation goes on imposing this deformity on the new. And, when the distortion is mistaken by culture, it is not surprising if this kind of imposition gets glorified as virtue. And, when sin comes out in the guise of virtue, it becomes too dangerous. This is why exploitation takes the form of service and violence clothes it self with non-violence and distortions wear the masks of culture. It is not without reason that irreligiousness resides in the temples of religion. Irreligiousness never comes straight and naked. So, it is always desirable to take off the clothing's in order to see. It is very necessary.

Even I would like to take off the coverings from education. I hope you would not mind it. It is necessary to do so because of our helplessness. In order to get to the real spirit of education it is essential to unmask the so-called garb. Surely some evil spirit inhabits inside the folds of very decent clothings. If it were not so, man's life would not have been so full of hatred and violence.

Do we not feel that we had sown wrong seeds when bitter and poisonous fruits are seen growing on the vast tree of life?

If the seeds are not spurious how can trees bear faulty fruits? What else do the poisonous fruits on a tree indicate if not the poison sown in the seeds?

If man is wrong, certainly, education is not right.

It is quite likely that your line of thinking might be different from mine and my views may not agree with yours. But I request you only to listen to me. I do not ask you to agree. That's enough. For truth, it's enough to hear it peacefully. It is only untrue that demands and insists to agree. Truth brings result only if it is heard. If truth is heard rightly, acceptance comes on its own.

May be that my viewpoint differs or is just opposite to the education system. I am neither an educationist nor a sociologist. But this is really a good luck. Because, they who are very knowledgeable, find it more difficult to know the life. Scriptures always pose difficulties in the way of knowing the truth. When mind is full of knowledge of the scriptures, it stops thinking. For contemplation you need an unbiased and peaceful state of mind. Scriptures and principles create bias and then mind remains no longer innocent towards life and its problems. Forthose who lay importance on scriptures and knowledge, the solution of problems becomes more important than the problems themselves. He starts viewing the problems according to their solution - not the solutions according to problems. It creates such a stupid state that far off ending the problems, it rather increases them. The history of man is its proof.

Why are man's thoughts and actions so different? Why are they so contradictory?

This is the outcome of the solutions imposed on life on the basis of various scriptures, theories and principles. Solutions do not come from problems. They have been imposed on problems. Solutions lie on the surface, problem lie inside.

Solution is in the mind, problems are in the life. And, this conflict has resulted in self-destruction. Now, the insanity which has been nourished in the garb of civilization, slowly and slowly has reached the point of eruption. Mankind is scared of the ferocity of this kind of eruption. But this fear takes us nowhere. The need of the hour is to gauge the situation with courage and fortitude.

I would not like to bring in theories and scriptures in my discussion because I do not wish to be blinded by solutions. I want to emphasize certain things which help us by looking at problems directly.

Is it not possible that we look at life directly? Is it not possible for us to look at the life as the first man must have looked? Can our minds not see the life with that simplicity, freedom, and spontaneity?

I feel that this is the most vital problem in the field of education.

It would not be an auspicious sign for education if it makes man's mind so burdensome, complex and old that his direct contact with life gets shattered. A complex-ridden mind becomes deprived of beauty, happiness, knowledge and all. For experiencing these, namely, beauty, happiness and knowledge, you need a young mind. The body is bound to become old, but not the mind. Mind can remain youthful everlastingly - till the last moment when death embraces. And, only such mind is capable of knowing the mysteries of life and death. Only such mind is a religious mind.

But education makes the mind old. It does not awaken the mind; it infuses the mind. And, infusion makes the mind old. When mind is suffused with thoughts, it gets tired, burdened and old.

Filing the mind with thoughts is filling it with memory. This is not the awakening of thinking or intelligence. Memory is not intelligence. It is mechanical. Intelligence is sensitive and animate. You do not have to impart your thoughts - you have to awaken the capacity to think. Where thought is wakeful, mind is always young .And where mind is young, life flows and the doors of consciousness are always open. There blows the early morning breeze and there alone the rising sun sheds its early light. When man is made a prisoner of borrowed thoughts and words, he loses his capability to fly high in the sky of truth.

But what does education do? Does it teach one to think or is content only by imparting dead and borrowed concepts?

What is more alive and powerful than thinking but nothing can be more of ignorance than merely borrowing and copying the notions of others. It is like death.

Man's insensibility arises from education which is fostered totally by memory and is a collection of views. But in this there is hardly any scope for the awakening of reasons

Collection of thoughts brings about dullness and a state of stupor. It does not give birth to intelligence. For the advent of intelligence too much stress on mechanical memory is harmful. Forthat proper opportunities are essential. Forthat it is necessary to teach doubt, in the place of belief.

Trust and belief bind and doubt liberates.

But, by 'doubt' I do not mean disbelief, for disbelief is the negative form of belief itself. Yes, disbelief is also a belief. Neither there should be belief nor disbelief; for, both kill doubt. In fact, where doubt is not free and intense, neither there is search for truth nor achievement.

The intensity of doubt becomes the search. Doubt is thirst Doubt is intense thirst. In the fire of doubt alone churning of mind happens and thought is born.

Do we doubt the basic values and meaning of life? If not, certainly our education has been wrong. There is no base for right education except right doubt. How can one search if there is no doubt? How can there be discontent, if there is no doubt? How will one be impatient to know and realize the truth if there is no doubt? For this reason alone, we have become ponds of superficial satisfaction and our souls are not the rivers that keep on flowing continuously in search of the ocean.

Who has given birth to this stupor? Certainly the education, and the Educator. Through the medium of an educator, man's mind has been kept in subtle chains. The religious teachers, the political machinery, the rich and all those who are at the helm of society and are in power, have never wanted or accepted that man should think. For where there is thinking, there is the seed of rebellion. A thought, basically is rebellious, for, it is not blind. It has its own eyes. It cannot be led away by force anywhere. It can not be made to do or to accept anything. It can not be made a blind follower. Therefore, those in power are not in favor of such a concept. They are in favor of belief for belief is blind. And man can be exploited only when he is blind. And when man is blind then only he can be engaged in harming his own self.

Man's blindness is a fertile ground for all kinds of exploitation. That is why belief is taught, devotion is taught and dedication is taught. This is what religions have done, politicians have done this. All power-holders are scared of thoughts. With discernment and contemplation, the religions will die, only religiousness will remain. With thoughts there can be no caste, no classes. There can be no exploitation of wealth and the exploitation can not be justified and explained on the basis of virtues and sins. Thoughts' revolution is bound to come in all walks of life. The politicians also have to go and the boundaries of nations will also be finished. The wall that separates man from man cannot exist. This is why the capitalist politicians as well as communist politicians are afraid of thoughts. And to protect these interests, education was invented. This so called education is a part of an age- long conspiracy. It is ruled primarily by the priests and religions.

In the absence of thought, man cannot be created. This is because it lacks the very base of individuality. What is the foundation of individuality? Does it not lie in the freedom of thought? But independent thinking is aborted before it takes birth. Geeta is taught, Quran is taught, and Bible is taught. Capital and communist manifesto are taught. And forming one's concept on that basis, thinking is also taught. What can be farther removed from truth than such thought? Such blind repetition is taught and the same is named as thinking. Where there is a base, where there is frame, where there is a belief and faith; contemplation is impossible. For contemplation you need a mind free from all patterns. It is improper that education provides patterns and the paths. It should rather make one to be careful and aware so that mind should not get enslaved with conditioning and the individual's free thought process can begin. If due attention is paid, it can surely happen. Every human being has the seed of free thinking. In favorable circumstances they can develop also. Who does not want freedom? Who does not want one's own discretion and opinion? It is some thing else if the entire pattern of education system prepares man for dependences and slavery instead of freedom. It is surprising indeed then to see a handful of such individuals who can keep them selves aloof from such a pattern even after passing through it. No task is harder than saving one's talent after one has crossed the portals of educational institutions. Universities have excelled already in crushing individuals' talents and reached their climax in achieving this goal.

Stress is laid on discipline only to make man more and more dependent. Discipline is preached to compensate the loss of reasoning and discretion. If there is discretion, discipline creeps in automatically in man's life- it is not forced. It does come on its own But when no lesson in discretion is imparted, you have to depend on discipline which is imposed from outside. This discipline is bound to be false because it does not come from one's innermost core. And its roots are not in one's own discretion. Man's inner self keeps on burning against it always. Indiscipline is invariably the natural reaction of dependence. It is its own natural echo. A man of freedom never reacts into indiscipline. If you want to flee from the disease of indiscipline you must provide him a free atmosphere to breathe in. But we are aware of two alternatives alone- dependence or indiscipline. We have not been able to prepare for an independent existence yet. Following a borrowed discipline is also dependence. Such discipline is now giving way. It is causing much anxiety. Such a percept is bound to break and it ought to break. The very reasons for its existence are wrong. Its death is hidden in itself. It is suppressing lawlessness by force in itself. And, whatever is suppressed by force is bound to erupt ultimately. Such discipline robs all the spontaneity and happiness of individuals and if broken, then too, it leaves one helpless like a ruin. Imposed discipline is against the interest of mankind in all respects. Education should be free from external discipline. It should awaken the dormant capability of discretion in man. Then, that discretion itself becomes self- disciplined. In such living, there is no suppression, no pressure. Such living is as natural and simple as flowers. And, when life flows in the light of self- discretion, the possibilities of all anarchy and lawlessness come to an end. Where there is no suppression, eruption of anarchy and lawlessness is impossible.

I ask you "Can't we make man free?" It is feared that indiscipline comes with freedom. It is so because we have subdued man with dependence and its soul has, for ages, been clamoring to get free. And, whenever possible, shackles have been broken. But in the effort of breaking the shackles, it gets filled with bitterness, hardness and antagonism. The result of this is that it becomes indisciplined but not free. Freedom is creative, lawlessness destructive. But for an escape from indiscipline, there is no other way but freedom.

Certainly, education can lay such foundation that makes man free. Now we do not need disciplined persons. We need individuals who have attained to freedom and self discretion. They are the only hope and the only future.

What have the methods of discipline done? It has brought dullness and lack of intelligence in man. A disciplined man is bound to be inert. In fact, the more dead a man is, the more disciplined he will be. We see how orderly the machines are. Discretion can not say 'yes' always. It must be able to say 'no' also. Its 'yes' has weight and sense only if it knows to say 'no' also. But discipline does not teach to say 'no'. It always expects a 'Yes'. If you say 'Turn left', it will turn left only. If you say, 'fire', it will fire. It is because of such education that leads to stupor that the wars, and violence and various kinds of stupidities have been going on the earth and still they go on. Do we not want to break this vicious circle of idiocy yet? Will this education of discipline end only after an atomic war? But, then there will no need to stop that, for, then there will be neither discipline nor their makers and followers. For man's future a disciplined mind poses the biggest threat because they know only to obey orders. Disciplinarians only follow the rules faithfully. Those obedient people are ready and eager even to implement the atomic weapons. Alas! They should have been taught discretion instead of discipline, thinking instead of obedience, and then certainly this world would have been altogether different.

Education is not to impart discipline. It should teach reason and self - reliance. A discipline which is born out of that only will be propitious. This kind of discipline cannot be exploited. It can not be made an instrument for war and violence in the hands of priests and politicians. On the basis of that a Hindu cannot be made to stand against a Muslim; nor will bloodshed be possible on the imaginary boundaries of different nations. In the name of discipline and obedience, what all man has not been made to do?

Society has been extracting work from the educators to teach discipline to new generation. The teacher has been instrumental in many kinds of exploitations. He has been a means of spreading so many maladies and probably he is not aware of this as he himself has been a victim of such faulty education. Every generation, through its instructors hands down its jealousies, enmities and stupidities to the future generation. With its knowledge and experience they also pass on their diseases and insensibilities. And, they take greater care in bestowing their diseases than they take in handing down their knowledge because their enmities and superstitions are nothing but their egos. A Hindu father teaches his children to be Hindus; a Jaina parent a Jaina and a Muslim father inculcate his religion in his offsprings. And, man wants to heap the next generation with the poison which had been administered to him. And, due to this poisonous teaching humankind does not feel to be one and also we do not open eyes to that religion which is one and which can be only one. In the same way, nationality is preached and nations' egos are glorified. One country stands and is nourished to breed enmity with the other countries. As a consequence, violence is nurtured and fire of wars burn. Where there is ego, there is violence, there is war. Besides, there are many other diseases and the germs of these diseases are spread by the teacher to infect innocent children. This is one of the deadliest crimes committed against man. The educator can be free from such an aspersion only if is alert.

The lords of the society never want to bring about a change in this diseased pattern of society and this is because their power and selfishness and exploitation depend on this pattern only. The teacher continually keeps sowing the seeds of this mode in the children of the new generation, His endeavor is to make children follow and to bind them in dead traditions. He does not teach them to revolt and where the fire of revolt is lacking there can be no development, no evolution. What is the duty of the teacher? His duty is to teach the child to revolt. The day education becomes rebellious; the birth of a totally new mankind is possible.

What do we mean by rebellion? It means revolution in the values. Certainly human values are false otherwise; man's life would not have been so full of stress, meaninglessness and confusion. Are the feelings of ugliness, violence, jealousy without any reason? No, the basic values of life are erratic and this is its natural consequence.

These false values will have to be changed. Man needs new values and for that a massive revolt is necessary.

The teacher has to awaken from his stupor. There is no other solution, no way out that would bring the Ganges of revolution on this earth. But the teachers are in a state of utter confusion. Society may lead them to starvation, but shows a great deal of respect for them. A teacher has always been given deep respect. He is the 'guru' and is respectable. His ego is nourished and he is kept in dubiety. And then he is subjected to mould the new generation into the old. In this way a teacher is sucked in a graceful manner. It is not for nothing that society gives honor to a teacher. In exchange of this 'honor' the society extracts easily the utmost out of him. I ask: 'do the teachers have any idea about this exploitation?'

The history of man is full of stupidities and idiocies. Ignorance and superstitions are rampant everywhere. But the teacher goes on binding the newcomers with the same old chain. He is a servant of the past and thus proves to be the enemy of the future. Is it proper that burden of the past should be on our heads? It can well be the ground under our feet, but it is not proper that it should be burden on our heads. For the making of a bright future, you need a mind free from the past. The experiences of the past should go to add to the knowledge of man but should not bind him. For, he has to go far beyond that also.

The past is the beginning of his journey, not the end. It has to go farther away from where the last generation had left it. Every generation has to leave the previous generation behind, in every way. Not only from the material point of view but also from mental and spiritual points of view. Surely the ego of the outgoing generation feels hurt and this ego blinds the way of its evaluation and the journey beyond. Probably, the jealousy, and self - conceit that is in every human being, the same jealousy and ego take the entire generation into its grips. The former preceptors of religion have not accepted the birth of future religion founders. Every prophet has claimed that he was the last. Also every apostle proclaims himself to be all-knowing and this has closed all doors of knowledge and expansion. The golden ages were in the past. Ahead of us is all destruction and deterioration. This passion for the past clearly shows a diseased mind. This slows down the future progress and the bridges of hope also get destroyed. Life is incessantly moving. It is extremely inauspicious to bind it with the shackles of them that maturity which it must have. It lays buried underneath the heavy stones of the past and is so heavily burdened that all its upward growth is stuck.

Education is to unburden man's soul, for, only the unburdened souls can reach the Heights of Godliness. The weight of senseless conditionings does not allow the seed of consciousness to sprout at all; and it dies under the earth. Man's own individuality cannot develop unless and until he is free and unburdened from the past. When the hold of past is loosened, then alone progress in future is possible. The past is a ladder to lead through. It is not wise to carry it on one's head.

In the world, material prosperity does increase. This is because every generation takes it farther than the previous generation. But spiritual prosperity does not increase because in that direction, our minds are too much tied with the past. A son does not hesitate in getting a bigger mansion constructed on the one built by his father. But in furthering the legacy that Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Mahavira or Christ has left, we are extremely apprehensive and this fear deters us from going farther off. This fear is tutored fear. It has been imposed on us. Annotations can be written on Geeta but none can think beyond this. There is nothing beyond Quran. This has crippled humanity and spiritually, it has become bankrupt. If the son goes one step ahead of his father, it is not insulting or disrespect for the father. As a matter of fact- this gives him greater respect. It is a glory and matter of pride to him. Every generation should prepare the next generation in such a way that it overshadows the previous. The desire to get tied to, and revolving round, the old generation is like a disease. It is an indication of unhealthy mind. It is necessary to ponder whether this kind of education has not been instrumental to support the unhealthy way of educational system?

I do not understand this frenzy at all. My love prompts me to declare that those who follow me should be far ahead of me in every respect. They should form a world which could not even be imagined by us. Their spirit should be more luminous than ours. Their idea should be purer. Their eyes should see the truth which we could not and their feet should touch the untrodden paths of which we could not even dream. Love can pray in this way alone. As for me, I would not like our children to be tied either by my knowledge or by my experiences. I would rather liberate them. Love always liberates. That which binds is not love at all; it is only violence.

Education should be future- oriented and not the past. Then alone mental uplift is possible. Any creative activity will aim at future prosperity. Is it not desirable to preach love and respect to posterity? Enough with the meaningless worship of the past. Should not our hearts be full of prayers for the coming generation? But, we are fastened to the past. Past is that which is dead and gone and is lingering in the memory. It exists nowhere. All our principles, concepts and ideals have been handed down to us by the past. In this manner the dead is ruling the alive. Showing respect to the dead is one thing and its governance another. In reality healthy respect is not possible because of this kind of governance or ruling. A fire of defiance keeps burning deep inside against this discipline. Hearty respect for the past will arise only when there is no ruling of the past. This type of honor will be absolutely hearty and there will be gratitude and gratefulness. This sense of gratitude will not bind us -it will make us feel lighter. Heart feels simply grateful towards that which liberates. Gratitude is unnatural and impossible for something that binds. Education is supposed to be the expansion of knowledge. Surely it should be so but if it expands also the ties that bind, it cannot be considered to be education.

Knowledge exists where mind is free. If the mind is in chains how can awakening be possible? Knowledge itself is freedom.

Education teaches fear, greed jealousy, and competition. Education teaches the frenzy of ambition. How can such education help the expansion of knowledge? How can such education be liberating? How can it make a human being mentally healthy? Actually it is the spreading of fatal maladies. Friend! This is not the spreading of knowledge at all; it is spreading of ignorance certainly.

When I ponder, I find that no disease is more dangerous than the disease of fear. In life, what is more dreadful than fear itself? Fear paralyses life. Fear destroys the very spirit of rebellion. Fear makes change impossible; fear ties one to the known and blocks the path of the unknown -that also when whatever is worth knowing and attaining in life, is the unknown only. God is unknown; truth is unknown; beauty is unknown, love is unknown. But the fearful mind due to fear sticks to the known only. It never deviates from there; it runs along the known track only. It becomes a machine to tread in a fixed circle. Religions preach fear - fear of hell, fear of sins, and fear of being punished. Society again instills the feeling of fear - fear of disrespect. Education also teaches fear- it fills with the fear of being failure. And, then there are allurements - lure of heaven, lure of the reward of good and noble deeds - lure of respect and dignity, lure of success and reward! Such attractions are the other side of the coin. In this way, the mind is filled with fear and greed. One is driven towards the fire of jealousy and rivalry. The fever of ambition is provoked. No wonder if life gets entangled in these foolish discussions and comes to an end. Such education is dangerous. Education is that which teaches fearlessness. That settles in non-avariciousness. That provides courage and bestows energy to revolt. It should give courage to accept the challenges of the unknown. It should teach love, not jealousy and competition. It should not provide the feverish speed of being ambitious. Rather it should lead one to the path of self-motivated progress. However, this is possible only when we accept the uniqueness of each individual. It is wrong to compare one with the other. Comparison leads to rivalry. No one is greater than the other, nor is one worse than the other. None is above the other; none is below the other. Everyone is one self and everyone has to be oneself. But the teaching of idealism does not allow this. Children are asked to become like Rama, Buddha or Gandhi. What can be worse than this? Can one ever become the photocopy of the other? Has this ever been possible? It is impossible to become Rama. One can copy the Rama in a play (Ram Lila) that is why there is so much of hypocrisy rampant everywhere. Pretension is the reflection of an ideal and it will be there till idealism is forced on us. It is necessary to shed away from idealism if we desire to come out of the clutches of hypocrisy. In fact, no man is born to be like another, each individual must have his own identity. Everyone has to take the seed to the tree which is hidden in him. The day education accepts the matchless entity of a human- being, the day will be the beginning of a great revolution. Then we shall not force the identity of a man on another. Contrarily, we shall endeavor to arouse the hidden being. There has been a great deal of violence due to ideals and man has been denied the opportunity of being what he could be. And, in trying to be somewhat different from what he actually is, he has been neither here northere. Ultimately, he is denied the privilege of being what he actually could be.

I humbly request that an individual should be allowed to remain what he is born for. A rose is a rose, a jasmine is a jasmine and one is not inferior to the other. The evaluation of one being superior or inferior to the other is absurd and false. This is to be eradicated. A poet is not superior in any way to a cobbler, nor is any leader greater than a lay man. A teacher does not achieve greatness just by becoming a president. Life is co-operation. Can you not see that attaching designation and dignity to a profession, the entire humanity has fallen into a mad race of ambition? It is foolish to call a rose a jasmine or a grass-born flower a lotus. What matters is that whether it is a rose or a grass-born flower, it should be in full bloom. Their petals should not remain unblossomed; nor should their fragrance remain unsensed or unfelt. The ultimate bliss of life lies in the blooming of one's own potentialities. There is no other bliss beyond this. This is right direction to the cause of education.

There is no need to preach the ideals. Similarly, no body should be forced to follow any body. How an individual should attain to his fullest, all our efforts should be arrowed to one single direction. Then alone we shall get rid of the ambition and the fever of jealousy. And then, a society can be created which can attain to equality and peace. Only ambitionless society can be classless and free from exploitation.

Can there be no such education which is not based on ambition? Is mathematics or music learnt only to make other learners feel that they are left behind? Can mathematics not be leant for the love of mathematics and music for the joy of music? I personally feel that music can be learnt and its depths can be touched only when one has a deep love for music not for competition with others. How can a rivalry-ridden mind know or feel the bliss that music provides. Rivalry is anti-music.

Only those have known the music who have dipped into it, not those who run the race of rivalry. Drowning and running are contradictory. Running breeds tension; drowning is relaxation. Running is akin to fever. It takes one out of oneself. Drowning is health; as, by drowning one can fathom the ultimate depths of ones own. Learning is the art of drowning That which preaches running, I call it anti-learning.

Once I had been to an assembly of teachers. The occasion was the Teachers' Day. There, I told them, "If a teacher becomes a President, where is the honor for teacher? Is a teacher inferior in any way to a President? If it is so, it is not an honor to the teacher; it is honor to the president. Well, if a president becomes a teacher, then perhaps it may be an honor to the teacher. As long as we attach more importance to politics and politicians, we teach our children politics only - knowingly or unknowingly. Although, the politicians say that the teachers and the students should keep away from politics, the prestige of politicians enkindle ambition in others too, and if these other teachers also start dreaming of becoming education ministers and vice presidents and presidents and endeavor to reach that goal, one should not be surprised. It is quite natural and if other teachers also make efforts to honor the teachers' community, there is no harm.

Education should be free from ambition. Ambition is the politics only. It is owing to high ambition only that politics has been sitting on the loftiest place. Where there is high profile there is honor and, where there is power there is dignity, where there is state there is might. This race creates violence in life. An ambitious mind is a mind full of violence. Non-violence is preached and side by side, lessons in nurturing lofty ambitions are also given. What can be more foolish than this? Non-violence is love, ambition is rivalry. Love always wants to remain behind where as the rivalry always wants to remain ahead. Christ has said: "Blessed are those who are capable of remaining behind". I would like to see him ahead whom I love and if I love all. I shall be happy in keeping myself in the last. But rivalry is entirely opposed to love. It is akin to jealousy. It is hatred; it is violence. And, it wants to be in the forefront in every way. This race starts in the educational institutions and ends in the graveyard. Man is running this race: nations are running this race and war is the climax of such race .Why this race? What is there at the root of this race? At the root is the ego - Ego is taught. Ego is nourished. It is en- kindled in small children. Their innocent and simple minds are poisoned with ego. They are encouraged to keep themselves at the top. For this, they are awarded with gold medals and other rewards. And, ultimately this ego follows them throughout their lives like a ghost and does not allow them to have peace or rest even for a moment till death. Lessons of humility are imparted but actually, ego is encouraged. Will not the day when we stop instilling ego in children, be a great day in the history of mankind? Love, not ego, is to be taught. And, love resides only where there is no ego. For this the entire system of education will have to undergo a sea-change. We will have to abolish gradations like first and last. We will have to abolish examinations. They will have to be replaced by those values of life, which are born out of an egoless and loving life, which depicts the high philosophy of human life.

When love replaces rivalry, naturally 'Truth' becomes more significant than success. And in life, where success alone is the value, truth cannot exist. So much importance to success has annihilated its real meaning. No, to be successful is not all. Only being successful is no value at all. Even being unsuccessful in a noble task is far more valuable and glorious than getting success in an evil deed. Even being unsuccessful in love is far nobler than being successful in rivalry Even to be unsuccessful in religion is more valuable than being successful in wealth.

I do not judge the values of life only through success. I find it in Truth, in Nobleness and in Beauty. However, as long as success alone is the criterion of every thing, man's spirit cannot get fascinated towards Truth, Nobleness and Beauty. The failure should also be learnt for Truth, Nobleness and Beauty. In that direction, even failure is glory; such in sight should be developed. Even defeat in the pursuit of truth is victory because the soul gains strength only in the courage that pursues truth and touches the peaks of glory that are illumined by the grace of God.

Victory and defeat are meaningless. Only the front matters.

On what front, the victory or defeat? Truth or falsehood? Love or hatred? Humanity or devilism? Moreover, I say that blessed are those who forsake victory in falsehood and choose pursuit of truth even if they have to embrace defeat. Because in this way, they become victorious even in their defeat and by annihilating themselves they achieve that, which is immortal. Nevertheless, all this is possible only when there is a revolution in the field of education and the values for success and victory are rejected ' which has been tormenting humanity for centuries.

The greatest crime is committed in the direction of truth when we insist to impose the age-old traditions on children. This insistence is very damaging. Belief or disbelief is forced on children about God and soul. Geeta, Quran; Krishna and Mahavira are forced on innocent children. Thus, even their curiosity regarding truth does not arise. As such, they are not aware even of their questions, so question of finding their answers does not arise. Then they keep on repeating their ready-made solutions all their lives. They become like pet-parrots. Repetition is not thinking. It is stupidity. Truth cannot be achieved from anyone else. It has to be sought and found within. Is it not desirable to awaken the inquisitiveness in the children but not to entangle them with solutions? Question should be awakened in them but they should not be fed with borrowed answers. If the education can create a natural thirst in them to find the truth of life, its purpose is fulfilled.

In my opinion, a real teacher is one who awakens the dormant problems, enkindles inquisitiveness, and fills children with courage and fearlessness to search on their own. Nevertheless, this is possible only when he is free from prejudices and pre­conceived notions. Being a teacher, there fore, is a great penance.

It requires a good deal of patience, awareness and a fire of rebellion to be a teacher. One who is devoid of such fire of rebellion is bound to be, knowingly or unknowingly, an agent of some selfishness or some dogmatism or some religion or politics. Because then he will try to force his biased thoughts and percepts on children in which he himself is chained. A teacher can be a true messenger of freedom to his pupils only when he himself is free from whims and prejudices. It is because of this that I said, it is a penance to be a teacher. It is a great revolt. There should be a fire in a teacher - the fire of thoughts, contemplation and rebellion. For achieving something, he has to destroy many things. In order to create, he has to destruct many things. A teacher's responsibility is enormous as he has to burn the rubbish collected through orthodox customs and traditions that have been handed down to us for generations. He has to weed out the waste from the field of man's mind to give room to fresh flowers of love and beauty. It is a huge responsibility. If the teacher succeeds in this, then alone a new man can be born and humankind will take a new birth.

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