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RETURN TO SELF
- a series of discourses –
ACHARYA SHIV MUNI

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Title of the Book : Reutrn to Self: a series of discourses
Author : Acharya Dr Shiv Muni Ji Maharaj
Assistance Mantri Shri Shirish Muni Ji Maharaj
and
Sadhak Shri Shailesh Kumar
Translation: : Dr Dharam Singh
Edition : 2005
Copies :
Typesetting :
Printers: :
Publisher: :
Price :

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DEDICATED
To
The greatest personality of the Sraman Sangh,
Acharya Samrat Shri Atma Ram Ji Maharaj,
Whose footsteps provided inspitation
For
Return to the Self;
To his
Lotus-feet is dedicated
This booklet
With
Deep faith and hope.
- Acharya Shiv Muni

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PUBLISHER‟S NOTE
The book in hand, Return to Self, is a collection of discourses delivered on
differerent occasions by Acharya Dr Shiv Muni Ji Maharaj. In this series of seven
discourses, Acharya Shiv Muni has successfully brought before modern man several
issues for him to reflect upon. A point that needs to be stressed here is that all the seven
issues discussed in these discourses are intimately related to human life and its
development. The Acharya who has been able to fully comprehend and fathom the
depths of human mind has in these discourses made a subtle analysis of human psyche.
Apart from this, he has also suggested some remedies for easing off tension and stress
and for removing various other maladies that man is suffering from in modern-day
world. How can man make right and balanced development? How can he overcome the
hindrances on this way and keep on moving farther ahead? The enlightened Acharya has
discussed all such issues in a simple and easily comprehensible idiom.
The revered Acharya‟s able disciple, Shri Shirish Muni Ji Maharaj, and his
follower Shri Shailesh Kumar Ji first put these discourses to pen and then soon gave the
manuscript book form for the benefit of the common reader. We are rather happy to
publish these discourses in the present book form and we hope that the blessings of the
benevolent Acharya will ever be bestowed on us.
Pragya Prakashan
Mumbai

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SPONSORS FOR THE HINDI EDITION
Shri Ramesh Bhai Shah has been a very devoted and religious-minded person. His
life has been an embodiment of justice, benevolence, simplicity and devotion. A soft-
spoken person as Shri Ramesh Bhai Shah is, decency and affection are the other
characteristics of his nature.
He has been ever ready to participate and cooperate in any constructive ventures
that the society might wish to take up. He willingly and smilingly donates money for any
philanthropic work being taken up: he always cooperates in this ventures. In fact,
service unto others and cooperation in altruistic works is what he considers his true
property.
Shri Ramesh Bhai Shah has been a native resident of Dhorji in Saurashtra.
However, he has been engaged in business in the capital town of India, New Delhi. He
has been the son of respected Shri Prabhulal Bhai and Dhankunwar Ben.
He got married to Malati Ben, the daugher of Shri Prabhudas Bhai of Mumbai.
Mrs Malati Ben was a very devoted and religious-minded person. She had deep faith in
religion, in the spiritual preceptors (Gurus) and the gods. She was ever willing to serve
the saintly and the faithfuls. She was a very simple and affectionate lady. Unfortunately,
she met with a untimely death.
The couple had three children - two sons (Shri Ketan Kumar Jain and Shri
Nimesh Kumar Jain) and one daughter (Kavita Jain). Mrs Sonal Jain and Mrs Namita
Jain are their daughters-in-law. Among their grandchildren are Purvit, Darsit and Stuti.
The entire family follows the foot-steps of their father, Shri Ramesh Bhai Shah, and
imbibes all the Jain values and teachings.
The entire family has deep faith in the revered Acharya, Dr Shiv Muni Ji Maharaj.
They fully sponsored the Hindi edition of the book. The publishers express their sense
of gratitude to the family for all that they have done.

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AUTHOR‟S NOTE
Man today has been living in utter restlessness. Man was tense and restless even
in the past, but in comparison with the modern man he was less so. In the days gone by,
man had very little material comforts. Most of his life was dependent on nature. Since
man then lived his life in close proximity to nature, he was less tense and restless.
Whatever he got from nature, whether good or bad, sufficient or insufficient, he received
that as nature‟s blessing or curse.
It has been only a few centuries back that man began challenging the world of
nature. The development of science is the result of this human tendency. With the
strength he acquired as a result of scientific advancement, he earned a lot of money,
acquired innumerable material comforts and realized in concrete what once seemed only
a dream. He did everything but even after doing all this he could not acquire for the
acquisition of which he had done that. The object to realize which he did all this is still a
subject of sweet dream for him.
What is the object of human life that man wants to achieve? The object is peace,
ecstasy, inner equipoise. Man today flies in the skies but he is still dissatisfied and
discontented. He lies down to sleep on the cushions soft like flowers, but he is still
restless. Obviously, peace and ecstasy cannot be found in the soft cushions. Flights in
the sky cannot provide man stisfaction. Then where can man find peace and satisfaction?
There can be thousands of answers to this question in the material context. However,
there is only one resolution to this in the domain of spirituality. The resolution is: peace
and satisfaction is hidden within man. In the material world, man may build up the
highest of mansions, but he will still feel unsafe and dissatisfied. He will realize peace
and satisfaction and security only after he enters the domain of inner satisfaction and
pleasure.
Man must enjoy peace, comfort and constant joy, but to achieve all this he must
free himself from the material delusions and go back to his inner self. He should return
to the inner solace, he should walk within his own self and he must develop his inner self.
He will find the shadow of peace and solace even at the first step in this direction: he will
taste the presence of solution right there.
In the following pages of the book, we have discoursed on the different ways and
means of going back to one‟s inner self. I have tried to put into words what I had myself
experienced. The writing and publication of the book will be successful if it is able to
awaken in you the desire to return to self. This is myconviction.
I delivered these discourses and my devoted disciple, Shri Shirish Muni Ji, and
the devout, Shri Shailesh Kumar, put these ideas on the paper and edited them to give
them the shape of a book. Their presentation has ever been constructive. I bless them
and wish that both of them may continue their sojourn on the path to spirituality.

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Shri Vinod Sharma also helped in the editing and making press-coopy of the
Hindi version of the book. He is a business and was gracious enough to see through its
publication. I appreciate his devotion and commitment.
The printing and publishing of the book in Hindi was sponsored by Shri Ramesh
Bhai Shah. Shri Ramesh Bhai is a person especially blessed by the goddess of wealth.
But he is ever ready to extend his help and cooperation towards any altruistic venture.
He willingly helps any cause for the common weal. My blessing to him.
Shri Subhash Jain also deserves our blessings as he very kindly made
arrangements for providing paper for the publication of the Hindi edition of the book.
My good wishes and blessing to all those persons who directly or indirectly
helped in helping us see through the publication of the book. I hope the book, in its
present form, will help you realize your real home. And, therein also lies the success of
the book.
I bestow my blessings on Dr Dharam Singh of Punjabi University, Patiala, who
kindly made time to render the Hindi version into English.
Acharya Shiv Kumar

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CONTENTS
I Principles of Child Development 9
II Beginning of the Right Education 23
III Dreaming of a Golden Old Age 40
IV Return to Self 52
V Meditation for Freedom from Tension 66
VI Balanced Planning of Time 81
VII Soothing Shadow of Solution 93
VIII Appendices 104

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Chapter I
PRINCIPLES OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Our theme in this chapter is the development of the child. Just imagine a little
kid, beautiful eyes, innocent and flawless face, smile playing on his lips, and a simple
heart. If you have such a lovely kid sitting before you, what would you like to teach him?
Think a little over this. What can you possibly teach to a such a lovely kid whose eyes
reflect innocence and whose heart is saturated with love and simplicity.
If you reflect on this, you will find that it is not necessary to teach anything to
such a child. In fact, we all should become what he is. Do you not think we lack the kind
of face he has? We do not have the innocence that he possesses. Then what could be the
meaning of this training for the development of the child? What would it mean if we say
that we should teach the samskaras to the child. The innocence and simplicity that the
child has is inherent to his nature. Every human being is equally innocent and simple
when he is born. However, as he gradually grows up, he loses his simplicity and
innocence. As he grows up in years and as he undergoes intellectual development, his
heart does not remain as simple and innocent as it was. It is at this stage that the
responsibility, role and the samskaras of the parents and teachers and spiritual gurus
come into picture.
There was once a lady. She went to a psychiatrist. That psychiatrist was a very
experienced and wise practitioner. He lived his life like a saint. The lady told him that
she wanted to give her child some teaching, to sow in him the seeds of a great person of a
beautiful life. She wanted to know from him as to what she should do for this.
The psychiatrist asked for the age of the child, and the lady told that he was five
years old. The psychiatrist told her that it was too late. He further told her that by this
time about eighty per cent of his life has already been moulded. The lady again requested
wanting to know the point of time from where she should make lkthe beginning.
In this chapter also we shall also try to understand as to from what point of time
we should make the beginning. It is obvious that when you need to go to a doctor for
check up or medicine, you always make sure before going whether that doctor is good or
not. You want to know whether he is an M.B.B.S. or and M.D. You make all these
enquiries first and only thereafter you go to that doctor for consultation and checkup. In
the same way, when you have to engage an arthitect to draw a plan for the house you
want to build, you always try and make sure how qualified and how proficient in job a
particular architect is. Similarly, when you have to engage a lawyer, you always try to
assess his experience and efficiency. How long does it take for one to become a doctor?
Of course, several years. Then how many years does it take for one to become an
architect? The answer again obviously is several years. And, if you are asked as to how
long does it take for one to become a lawyer, you always know that one has to study a lot
and it always takes many years to become an experienced and proficient lawyer.

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However, we have never thought that we must have some sort of training before
becoming parents. As it is, neither a father gives any training to his son before the latter
himself becomes the father nor a mother gives any such training to her daughter.
We must always remember one thing that it is very, very important for a woman
to become mother. Becomes a mother is even greater than becoming guru. In the Indian
culture, mother is the first who is paid homage. Then, the homage is paid to the father.
Thereafter comes the guru. Obviously, the holy men – the rishis and munis - in India
have given the highest place to mother. Whenever we remember Lord Mahavira, we
always remember him as the son of Trishla, Trishlanandan. Thus, the name of
Mahavira‟s mother, Trishla, comes before his name.
We must also keep this in mind that one does not become a mother just by giving
birth to children. A woman does not become mother by just giving birth to a child. That
is perhaps why in the Indian cultural ethos we have two words - janani or who gives
birth and ma or mother. The former only gives birth but the latter gives life. Lord
Krishna was born to Devaki, but Yashodha was his mother. Becoming mother is a great
penance. It is a sadhna or meditation. It is a special kind of institution. Mother is the
one who is great like earth. Mother possesses an emotionally warm personality and our
eyes go downcast looking at her and we pay our reverence to her. However, today we
find the mother daily visiting hotels and clubs. Then how can a son develop the feelings
of respect for her?
About the training of the child, the foremost thing is that a mother should become
mother in the real sense of the word; similarly, a father should become father in the real
sense of the word. Only then can the parents become capable of teaching something to
the children. As it is, you can teach the child only what you yourself are. You cannot
teach what you yourself are not. For example, I can teach you how to meditate only if I
know how to meditate and only if I practise it. Otherwise, I cannot teach you this. And
even if I try to teach you without myself knowing the art of meditation, it will lead to
nothing.
Mother is a beautiful personality, an affectionate personality. It is essential to
undergo a training to become mother. Is this training really essential? What sort of
training is it? What is it which she must learn?
Mother and father are two fundamental bases of Indian civilization. They together
constitute the cradle of civilization. Society is a combination of some families put
together, and a family begins with mother and father. In fact, even father comes later.
Mother comes the first of all.
Once a mother took his son to Prophet Mohammad. Her son was not well, and
the main reason for his ailment was his excessive intake of jaggery. The mother tried her
best to dissuade her son from taking jaggery, but he did not give up his habit of eating a
lot of jaggery. It was at that time that she took him to Prophet Mohammad. The mother
had thought that Prophet Mohammad was a pious and holy person and that her son would

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give up his habit of eating jaggery with the blessings of such a personage. The mother
went over to him and told him her problem.
Prophet Mohammad said to her, “Sister, you come over to me with your son after
a fortnight. She went back. After fifteen days she again came to Prophet Mohammad
with her young son. Prophet Mohammad put his hand on the child‟s head and said, „see
my child, do not each jaggery now.‟”
Listening to the words of Prophet Mohammad, the child agreed that he would not
eat any more jaggery.
The woman, his mother, was in a reflective mood and said, “O Prophet! If you
had to say only this much, you might have said so a fortnight earlier. Why did you take
this long to say only this much?”
Prophet Mohammad replied that he could have said these very words a fortnight
back. But at that time these words would have no effect on the child because at that time
he himself was fond of jaggery and used to eat it. He further told her, “During this past
fortnight I have not taken jaggery at all and I am fully convinced that it is quite easy to
give up the habit of eating jaggery. Now whatever I have said to the child will be
effective and it will produce result. Your son will not eat jaggery now.”
And, the child really gave up eating jaggery thereafter.
This is essential for a mother as well as a father. They must practice themselves
whatever they want to teach to their children. In case, they themelves do not practice,
their words will have no positive effect on the children.
You might have experienced it daily that the children would wish to do the things
you generally stop them from doing in your daily lecturess to them. Why? Because you
commit the same mistake. You yourself smoke, and still you wish that your children
should not smoke. It will not be. Even if you smoke in secret, your children are sure to
learn of this. They would also do the same in hiding, just as you have been doing.
Whatever you dop is sure to get reflected in your as well as your children‟s life. This is
bound to happen. This is in a way law of nature.
You tell lies before your children and still hope that they should speak the truth.
When you find your son telling a lie, you prefer to give him a slap, put him to fear and
otherwise overawe him. But this attitude of yours is negative, and this is bound to fail to
change the habit of your child. The fact is that the children spontaneously follow the
truth. They follow you, they follow your traits which are part of your personality and
which are reflected in your behaviour. If you tell a lie, they learn it from you; in case you
speak the truth, they follow the habit of speaking the truth from you. Whatever you do is
instantly taken over by the child. He listens to your words later on, but the meaning of
your actions and gestures reaches him quick.

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In one of the Jain sutras, we have word for son - angaj. The word angaj is
synonymous with son. It implies that the son is your own ang or part of the body. It is
just like a hand is an ang or part of my body, a foot is a part of my body, an ear is part of
my body. Similarly, the son is also part of your body, a part of your being. That is why,
he has been called angaj.
Take the example of a person who smokes tobacoo. This habit of his is bound to
have effect on his entire body. It is not that it will have effect on the tongue only. It will
sure effect the whole body. Similarly, whatsoever you do in your life is sure to have deep
effect on the life of your child because the latter is only a part of your body.
The foremost principle of child-training is that your must first of all learn yourself
whatever you want to teach your child. You begin the practice at least two months prior
to that. Then you will find that whatever you will say to your child will have sure effect
on your inner being, on his whole personality. This is a hard fact. You can test it by
putting it to practice. You might not believe what is being said and you might not get
convinced with what is lectured, but you can certainly get convinced by the results when
you test this by putting it to practice.
Of course, there are certain things which you cannot do. Still there is a way of
putting them across. There is a manner, there is an idiom of saying when you can bare
your heart to the listener. Things conveyed through such a way can also be inculcated by
your child. Let me explain how.
I narrate what happened in my own life. When I got initiated in the Jain monastic
order, one day I said to my Guru, “Guru Ji! Vivekanand had asked Ramakrishna
Paramhans that in case he knew of God, he might let him also gave a glimpse of that
God, and in case he did not know of God, then he might tell me so. Guru Ji, I also ask
you an almost similar question: „if you know about self-realization, then show me path to
and state of self-realization.‟
At that time Guru Ji had replied, “See, my son, neither you are Vivekanand nor
am I Paramhans.”
This honesty, this truthfulness of the Guru touched my inner being, my heart. The
mother as well as the father should also have the same kind of truthfulness and honesy
vis-à-vis their children. They must be honest with their children. They must never cheat
them. Do you think the children are small beings and they do not understand many
things? It is not so. They understand everything. So much so that a child of just one
year of age can also understand when his parents tell a lie to him. However, if you find
yourself a victim of some habit and you wish that your child should not become a victim
of that habit like you, you must tell him with all honest that you are in the habit of doing
this or that but doing so is rather painful for you. You must make it clear to him that
since you love the child a lot, you wish that he does not follow that habit. In case you try
to teach your child in this way, you will find that the effect of your saying will be deep,
will be on his inner being.

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However, what you usually do? You are accustomed to rebuke or chide your
child. All right, he will not do before your eyes what you have asked him not to do, but
he will sure do it behind your back.
The second principle of child-development is: be honest with your children.
Parents must be honest towards their children. A single word of falsehood coming from
your lips is sure to create a strong conviction in the mind of the child. Today you might
think that it is a small thing, a little falsehood, but with the passage of time the little
falsehood takes a monster shape.
Let us try to understand it with the help of an example. There is a small event in
the family and the child does not want to go to school. You tell him that it is all right if
he does not go to school and that you would write an application for his teacher saying
that he has not been feeling well. And you do this.
This happens quite often. You think that this is a small, insignificant thing. But
you have taught your child that a statement of falsehood can get favourable results and
that true statement might have earned rebuke or some other punishment. What he has
been today doing with the teacher, he might behave the same way with you tomorrow. In
fact, he will do the same with everybody. And, then you say that the child tells a lie and
that you do not know who taught him that.You have been responsible for teaching him
that a false statement can work for him. You taught him, and now you bear the
consequences.
Second, be forthright and clear with the child. He is sure to listen to you and then
follow what you say. This will inculcate a feeling of reverence for you in his heart. If
you do something and hide it from you, he will somehow come to know of it, but this will
lessen the respect he has for you in his heart.
When the infant begins to grow up, we find that many things he says or does are
quite natural and spontaneous. For example, a child learns a song quite soon. There is
another child who learns to speak soon. And, there might be another child who learns to
study sooner than others. How and why does this happen differently with with different
childlren. For this kind of learning of the child, India has developed a science which in
Hindi language is called garbh samskar or the learning the child acquires while still in
mother‟s womb. This training begins when the child is still in his mother‟s womb. You
might have heard that Mother Trishla had had fourteen dreams when Lord Mahavira was
conceived.
You must remember that every woman cannot possibly conceive who might be
destined to become a great man. A special kind of preparation is required to create a
personage. In India, we have another science for that. In Indian civilization, there are
said to have been sixty-four arts which a woman must imbibe to become perfect. One of
these sixty-four arts is the art of learning how to become a mother and how to invite a

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great soul. Obviously, becoming mother implies bringing a new person into this world.
In case, this new arrival today becomes noble personality, he will ameliorate the
sufferings of the world tomorrow. On the other hand, if this new arrival is of satanic
inclinations, he might cause death and destruction in the world. A woman might give
birth to a Hitler or to a Vivekananda. But whom do you invite? This depends on you.
How could you invite a noble, divine soul?
There has been an ancient, classic work entitled Panchtantra. It has within its
pages a sloka or couplet which means that if a woman gets pragnant when she is in heat,
she will sure give birth to a devilish child. On the contrary, when the woman is pure at
the time she conceives, she will give birth to a child who might become a great person.
Persons like Vivekananda are not born by pure accident. Personages like Mahatma
Buddha are also not born accidentally. The character of the parents and their prayers are
of vital significance.
Once a precept of a scientist became quite popular, and it said that there are
certain characteristics in humankind which are common to all humans. For example, one
such characteristic is anger. Everybody falls victim to anger some time or the other.
And second such characteristic is lust. Everybody falls victim to lust and indulges in
lustful activity some time or the other.
Research in the field of sex has led the scientists and psychologists to the
conclusion that man indulges in sex because he has been the product of sex. However,
Indian civilization does not accept this research. It holds that prayer is of great
importance if you want thant the new born might become a great person. Thus, the child
should be the product of prayer. And, it is possible. When the parents are saturated with
the prayerful feelings for God, the child conceived at that moment will sure become a
noble and great person.
Thereafter begins the journey ahead. This is the journey of the infant within the
womb of his mother. The infant in that state will do only what his mother does. He
cannot even breathe of his own. When the mother breathes in, the same breath is taken in
by the infant. When the mother exales out the breath, the infant also breathes out.
Whatever the mother thinks, the same thoughts go to the mind of the infant. Whatever
the mother eats, the same food goes to the infant also. What the mother sees, the infant
also sees the same. Whatever little activities the mother indulges herself in, the infant
also happens to indulge in all those activities.
At that time how should a mother make her life perfect and pious so that the
infant to be born should also become a noble and pious person. For this she will have to
undergo a specific kind of routine. You might have heard of the Kalapsutra. Therein
occurs a reference to Mother Trishla. In case you have studied that text carefully, you
might have found that when Lord Mahavira entered his mother‟s womb, she had had
fourteen dreams. Then her sleep was disturbed. Both her mind and body were full of
joy. She got up from her bed, went out of her bed-room, reached the room of her
husband, Siddharath, and narrated to him the dreams she had had.

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This narration makes it clear that at that point of time Mother Trishala was
following celibacy. This is also a principle of our Indian civilization that when a woman
gets pragnant, she must remain celibate thereafter. In case this rule is violated, then you
cannot expect that the child to be born in your family will be a noble, great being.
That is why I had said in the very beginning of my discourse that becoming a
mother is a meditation, a penance. It is no ordinary happening. It is a great happening. If
you expect a noble, great offspring, you yourself must bear all this. The growth of a tree
depends on the kind of soil it has been sown. The fruit will always be in keeping with the
kind of seed sown earlier.
We must remember a common principle of Indian civilization. The parents of the
child must follow the principle of celibacy from the day the child is conceived through
the period when it is in the womb of his mother till the mother continues to breast-feed
the child.
During the period of her pragnancy, the woman must concentrate her mind at least
for fifteen minutes daily on a great, pious personage. If she does so, the greatness and
piety of that person will enter, in the form of a samskar, the infant still placed in the
womb. During the period of pragnancy, the feelings, ideas and persons who influence the
mother are sure to influence the infant also in the same proportion.
In this context, I would wish to give two examples.
A woman was once pragnant. During that period she had in her room a
photograph of an African child. She would look at that photograph daily. As it was, she
liked that photograph a lot. The consequence of that acting and liking of the mother was
that when she gave birth to a child, the complexion and features of the child resembled
the child in the photograph.
The second example. It is a memoir. Once a woman participated in a ten-day
meditation camp. She was pragrant during that period. During the camp, her seat
happened to be by the side of a Britisher (white) woman. The latter remained before her
eyes continuously for ten days. The result was that the baby girl born to her resembled
that Britisher woman quite a lot.
The reason why I have narrated these examples to you is that the scene which the
pragnant woman looks at with feelings of depth, that scene gets reflected on the infant
growing in her womb. That is why I have said that the mother must concentrate herself
on a great person if she wants to give birth to a really great soul. That is the only way the
greatness of the person reflected upon enters the infant growing in his mother‟s womb.
Apart from this, the pragnant woman must recite daily any stotra or other mantra
or any such hymn.

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Some people come to me saying that the meaning of the stotras or mantra they
read or recite is not known to them. Even if you do not understand the meaning, the
waves of the words will sure affect the body and mind. The modern-day science also
says that the development of our personality depends on the kind of genes we have, and
that these genes can never be altered. However, the great rishis of India say that the
genes can possibly be altered. And the way to alter them is through mantras and stotras.
In case you recite these mantras/stotras with complete concentration and in a truly
prescribed manner, their waves can certain reach the genes within and through them
these genes continue changing. Therefore, the second very important principle which a
pragnant woman must follow is that she must recite, at least for fifteen minutes daily
with a mind at complete ease, a stotra/mantra: that is the only way she can give birth to a
great, noble person.
The third principle in this behalf is that a pragnant woman must practise to make
her body inert for a while everyday. This posture is called yognidra or shavasan. Why is
it recommended? Just give a look at our social and family life about twenty years back.
The children were then delivered in a normal way, but today normal delivery is quite
rare. Today about seventy to seventy-five per cent of the children are born in hospitals.
Why so? What could be reason behind this? The simple reason is that the human beings
today are not as peaceful as they were just fifteen years ago. Our minds and bodies are
full of tension. When the time comes to deliver the child, the mother is full of tension,
restlessness. When the body contracts and the infant wants to come out, it causes a lot of
pain, the labour pain as we call it. The operation becomes a must. The scientists have
made experiments in America. We Indians do not understand it today, but the same
Indian method has been taken out by the foreigners. They made experiments on pragnant
women. They made them practise yognidra and shavasan daily in the proper prescribed
method. They taught them daily for an hour ow to relax their bodies. The result after
nine months was the natural, painless delivery of the infant. The newly born infant also
wept very little. The child remained ever happy and at peace. Therefore, it is very
necessary for the woman who has to deliver a child to take out at least one hour for
herself and practise the yognidra and shavasana.
Many of my brothers and sisters will think that their children are now quite grown
up and that they need no such instruction now. However, I tell all this to you because we
never think on these issues.
When the children are fifteen or twenty years old, you come to me and ask that I
should teach them something. But what can be taught at that late stage? We must remain
conscious from the very beginning in regard to the development of the child. If we make
a good beginning, the final outcome will also be equally good. Everybody must try and
understand this. Only then can we give birth to a new civilization. Otherwise, we shall
remain stuck where we are.
These are the golden rules for the mother - meditation daily for fifteen minutes,
recitation of the stotra and practice of shavasan.

17. 17
Another still very important principle is healthy, vegetarian food. If the food is
healthy and vegetarian, the mother will remain healthy and in due course will deliver a
healthy baby. In case these mothers daily eat spicy things, we can well understand what
will be the future of the coming generation.
These have been the issues relating to the state of the infant still in his mother‟s
womb. Now we shall reflect on the issues relating to the life thereafter. The child is
delivered after remaining in the mother‟s womb for full nine months. There is a well
established tradition amongst us Indians that the child must weep immediately after he is
delivered. In case, the child does not weep as soon as it is delivered, the members of the
family begin to weep. The doctor makes an effort to make the child weep, and when the
child begins to weep, all others become happy and laugh.
People in France began to think why should a child begin his life by weeping?
Can he not get born while still laughing? They discovered as to why does the child weep.
What for does he weep? The first reason they discovered was that the child weeps
because he is ill-treated immediately after he is delivered. He is instantly separated from
his mother. His umblical cord is cut off, and he is biologically cut off from his mother.
The child had remained within the womb of his mother for nine months and during these
nine months he had begun to think that he is the mother and mother is he. He never
thought himself separate from his mother. He has been considering himself one with his
mother, but suddenly he is separated. This will certainly hurt him. He feels shocked, and
he wonders as to where he has come. What is that place where he now finds himself?
Whose are the hands which now hold him?
The research of the French doctors resulted in a new process of delivering the
child. They put the child on the mother‟s belly as soon the child is delivered. This makes
both the child and his mother feel good.
Why does the child weep? He weeps because of the cough that had gathered in
the lungs of the child. This cough clears out as he weeps, and thus he begins his own
process of breathing. The French doctors put the child on mother‟s belly and gave lhim
some time. The child then began breathing slowly. When he began to breathe with ease,
he was quietly separated from his mother and was kept in a tub of warm water. This was
done because so long as the child was in the mother‟s womb, he was there in a swimming
posture. There he keeps floating in a fluid. That is why he is put in warm water. The
water was heated up only to the extent of human body‟s temperature. The child likes all
this a lot. In this situation, the child began his life laughing.
Cannot every child be delivered in this fashion? This is a possibility. But to
make this possibility a reality, we need a bit of understanding.
Several research works have come out in French with regard to the delivery of the
child. I shall also share with you the results of their another research. About fifteen or
twenty years back the need for numbered spectacles for the children was very rare, but
we know that this need has multiplied in recent years. Why? We often say that this is

18. 18
because the children watch a lot of television. No doubt, this is one of the reasons, but
there is still one more reason.
Earlier, when a child was delivered, the delivery took place in a dark room where
a lamp of ghee used to provide the only light. But these days the delivery usually takes
place in hospitals, and in the hospital delivery rooms we find high voltage electric lights
burning. Just think of someone who might have spent full nine months in darkness and
then suddenly make him stand up before the flash lights. What will be his plight? It is
natural that his eyes will
You might imagine the situation if you are kept for a week in a fully dark room
and thereafter made to stand before the sun in hot noon. Your eyes will not feel
comfortable. Your eyes will not be able to bear that strong light for quite for some time.
This will certainly leave bad effect on lyour eyes.
This bad effect can be seen today on the eyes of the small child. He opens his eyes
for the first time in a very sharp light. He has to bear throughout his life the ill effect of
this light.
In India it was customary to keep the child in that dark room lit only by a ghee-
lamp for full one month. Thereafter he was gradually taken out in the light. It was done
to avoid dazzling the child in the bright sun light.
This is the science of birth.
After the birth, there begins a process of growth of the child. All the parents wish
that their child learns to speak soon, he should speak sweetly, his pronunciation should be
clear and so on. For all this, we in India followed a simple procedure. As soon as a child
was born and before he was given anything to drink, the word oankar was written on his
tongue either with a thin rod of silver or a soft twig of a tree. Today you might think
what difference does it make? But it did make the difference. By doing so, speech or
knowledge began to grow quickly in the child. We have seen that the children on whose
tongue was written oankar would learn to speak sooner than the children who did not
pass through this ceremony.
The child grows gradually. He learns to walk gradually. As he learns to walk, the
distance between him and his mother begins to increase. Uptil now he was always in the
lap of his mother, but now he makes an effort to go away from the lap. He begins to
establish relationships with a new world. What is this new world? This new world is the
world of toys. He starts playing with these toys.
How should the child play with the toys? This is a question of vital importance.
The child has inherent inclination for playing. He grows as he plays. The first thing that
the parents should keep in mind is that we should encourage the child to play. If we stop
him from playing or discourage him to do so, his growth will not be normal. His body
and personality will not reach its potentials. They will remain incomplete and imperfect.

19. 19
Now the question arises as to which or what kind of toys a child should play with.
I was also a child, say forty or fifty years from today. Those days the children did not
have much choice with the toys. The children would then consider the earth as their toy
and play with it. Modern era is the era of toys. Every child has a lot many toys as his
possession. What kind of toys we should provide to the child to let him play with? This
is a good test of our thinking and rationality. The kind of toys a child will play with, this
will affect his later mental make-up, and this mental make-up will get reflected in his
overall character.
One day I was on my evening walk. I was close by a park. There I saw two
children playing. These two kids were brother and sister. The brother stood on the wall
of the park. He loudly called his sister asking her to come to him. The sister replied that
she would not come. The kid boy repeated his call to his sister twice or thrice. But every
time the sister refused to go to him. This made the brother angry. He threatened that if
she did not come, he will shoot her dead. So saying, he signalled the pistol-toy in his
hand towards his sister.
We often see children behaving this way or speaking such words in such a tone.
We easily ignore this as a minor thing. But if you reflect on it a little deeply, you will find
that this is not a minor thing to be so easily ignored. The culture of pistol is becoming his
culture. Today he holds a plastic pistol-toy in his hand, but tomorrow a real gun can
reach his hands. The possession of a mere pastic pisol-toy has given him the thought to
kill someone. Tomorrow as he grows up, there is every possibility of his taking to
violence or murder.
The toys which you give to the child leave a deep impact on the child‟s mind.
Therefore, the parents should be very conscious while buying toys for their children. We
must never provide child the kind of toys which are likely to create in him feelings of
violence, hatred and discrimination.
The toys should be the kind to which a child takes naturally. Earlier, our children
used to play with earth. I still believe that earth is the best toy for the child. The kind of
life-force that can be found in earth is not found in any other thing or any other toy. If a
child plays with the earth, it adds to his life-force.
This is also a fact of life today that not sufficient earth is available where the
children can play and thus develop their life force. The urbanization of society has
swallowed the pure earth and open environment. Today pure earth has simply
disappeared. The kuccha paths have been replaced by pucca, metalled roads, and this
latter provides no life force. On the contrary, it takes away some life force.
The child should be allowed play with earth if that is available. The child should
be kept away from the kind of toys with inculcate in him bad feelings. The toys are toys
for the grown ups, and for the children they are alive objects. They consider the toys as

20. 20
their own part. Therefore, never give to the child a toy which can create a feeling of
violence in him.
When the child is four or five years old, the parents send him to a school. At what
age should the child be sent to school? This question deserves our special consideration.
The issue for us to understand is that ever since the day the child was born in this world,
the power of acquisition in the child has been decreasing by the day. With each passing
day, he comes in contact with newer and newer object of this world.What could be taught
to the child when he is young is much more difficult to be taught as he grows up.
How should be child be taught? The educationists and psychologiest have made a
minute study of the subject. According to them, for example, we want to tell the child
that it is a tree. For the child to understand this, they will place before him for a second a
painting of the tree and then the word „tree‟. The painting will be before him for a
moment only and then it will be taken away to be replaced by some other such painting.
Then there will be word for the next painting. In this way, they keep before him not more
than ten words. And, daily they take away one of the paintings. For instance, if they had
shown ten paintings today, they will take away one of them and add a new one to them.
They continue doing so for one year. The results achieved through this method of
teaching are wonderful, and the child becomes capable of reading a newspaper at the age
of just three.
What I narrate here are not imaginary stories. This has happened and has been
happening. For this we need a training centre. Such training centres have been set up
and have flourished in Florida. In India we lack such centres, but we can certainly set up
such centres here as well. Whatever you teach a child when he is quite young, he
acquires/learns quite easily and quickly. They have realized that if you place before the
child a hundred dots on one paper and ninty-nine dots on the other, he will find out the
difference that these are the hundred and these ninty-nine. The child has such a sharp
brain.
We must keep in mind that the job of teaching can not be left to the teacher alone.
A mother can do better. A father father can also do equally well. No one else can do
that. When a teacher teaches the child, he teaches the child mere words. But it is
necessary that the teacher should become one with the taught if he wants to teach
something to the latter. Both of them should become one. So long as the teacher does
not become one with the child, so long as the child does not realize that the person
teaching him is just like him, the child will not be prepared to learn.
When a teacher teaches the child, he remains a teacher and the child remains a
student. They fail to establish between themselves the kind of relationship that is
required. They fail to establish the relationship of oneness. Thus, the child does not put
his mind in learning. For this, it is essential that the teacher must establish with the child
a relationship of equality, of oneness.

21. 21
What sort of behaviour should be adopted towards the children? This is also a
question of vital importance. We should ever keep in mind that our attitude towards
children should be respectful. We must never use harsh or humiliating words for the
child. The children use the kind of language we use in conversation with them. What
happens in real life is that you teach the child to be respectful, but you behave with him
in a way that is not respectful. Since the child very quickly follows the behaviour, he
learns easily from your behaviour but does not learn the lesson that you have been trying
to teach him. Whatever he learns from your lessons remains a mere formality in his mind,
but the reflection of your behaviour gets permanently stuck in his mind. You must treat
the child with respect so that he could learn that this is not a mere lesson to be learnt but a
feeling to be part of his being.
We should also keep in mind that the child learns from whatever you do. Your
language becomes the language of the child. Your conduct becomes the conduct of the
child. Whatever you are will sure get echoed in your child. That is why he is said to be
your angaj, part of your body. Therefore, it is necessary that the parents themselves must
learn whatever they want to teach the child. If you try just to teach them with words, the
message will remain mere words with them. This learning will never become part of
their conduct and behaviour.
Parents should adopt a friendly attitude towards their children. They must listen
to attentively whatever the child says. This helps in the right growth of the child‟s
personality. In case you do not listen to the child with care, he feels hurt and this hinders
the proper growth of his personality.
One day a small child-girl came to me. She was quite sad. I asked her the reason
for her sadness. She replied, “Guru Ji! Today I am verysad.” I asked her again as to
what made her so sad. She replied that she had got her examination result that day. I
asked her if she had not got good marks. She told me that she had got very good marks:
she had got 85 per cent marks. I asked her why she was sad even after getting so good a
result. She told me that she went to her father to show her result card to him and he
rebuked her saying that he did not then have the time.
I could well understand the sadness of the child. You might think it to be an
insignificant issue. But it is a very significant issue to me. When you rebuke your child
without any reason, you are doing injustice to him, you are closing the doors for the
growth of his personality. Your words hurt him. The result of such an attitude on the
part of parents is always negative. If you do not listen to the child today, he will not
listen to you tomorrow.
At the end, I would wish to say that you must share your meals with your
children. I know life is quite busy these days. If you cannot do this everyday, you must
do so at least once or twice a week. This will add to the feeling of affection, of proximity
between you all.

22. 22
I have placed before you these little issues. These are not the things to be merely
said or just listened to. You must put them into practice. It is only the practice on which
depends the result. I hope you will certainly put these small precepts into practice. In
case you start doing so, you will sure find your house transformed into a heaven.

23. 23
Chapter II
BEGINNING OF THE RIGHT EDUCATION
The issue of discussion with us today is the beginning of right education. To
understand this, let us first understand a statement by J. Krishnamurthy, a very well
known thinker and philosopher. He has said that life is like a game of cards. In the game
of cards, you cannot decide who will be your partner in the game. Even the number of
players is also not in your hands. You never know the kind of cards you will get as you
begin the game. Then what is in your hands? The only thing in your hands is the way
you want to play the game. If the player is proficient, he can win the game even if the
card in his share are not that good. On the other hand, if the player is not proficient, he
will lose the game even if he has got to his share very good cards.
Similar is our life. What kind of situations you will have to face in life, what kind
of family one might take birth, who will be one‟s parents and simblings, in which society
and social circumstances one will be born, where one will grow up is beyond man: none
of this is in his hands. All these things are determined by your birth. The child is born
and he gets his parents. He is born and he gets the society where he has to grow and live.
The child is born and he gets the country. The child is born and he gets his family. But
how will one live his life in such circumstances, whether with joy or grudge or with smile
or tears in eyes, is in one‟s own hands And here begins the right educaion.
I have entitled this chapter of the book „Right Education‟: is this title correct? If
we look into the words closely, we shall see that the meaning „right‟ is inherent in the
word „education‟. How can we call it education if it is not the right one? Yes, if it is not
right, it cannot be called education.
Once a son asked his mother if she had true love for him.
It is a universal question which is generally asked. You might have also put the
same question to many people in your own life. You might have got different responses.
But, to my mind, this question has only one answer. And that answer is: love is only
what is true. Love is ever true. There is no place for falsehood in it. Falsehood has no
place in the sphere of love. When falsehood enter, love disappears. There can be
attachment, but not love becaue attachment is always false: it is always momentary. On
the other hand, love is true and everlasting.
Similarly, whatever is right is education: whatever is not right, that cannot be
called education. The right education teaches us the art to live life meaningfully. What is
right education? What should be called the right education?
We know that in Hindu language a word has more than one meaning. In Hindi,
the word „siksha‟, generally translated into English as education, also has two meanings.
One, it implies reading, writing, teaching, etc. Two, it also means punishment.
Generally, the word siksha in Hindi is also used for conveying the meaning of

24. 24
punishment: for example, the children sometimes say that they have not done their home-
work, and consequently they might receive siksha or punishment from the teacher.
Now we have to consider the question whether the siksha that we give to the
children is education (reading, writing, etc.) or punishment. What do we actually provide
to the children? The correct answer to this question can only be given by the children
themselves. You may ask your children which months of the year they like the most.
Their answer invariably will be the two months of summer vacation.
Holidays from the school is the most the children love. Why? Why do they do
so? Its only clear-cut answer could be that children consider education a burden on them.
They dislike the studies. But why do they dislike their studies? The answer is: because
our education system is such that the children get the tension. For education, we have
prescribed some ideals, but these ideals are so materialistic that they cannot be the
subject-matter of pleasure. The child is generally unfamiliar with such ideals but we
prescribe education keeping mind only these ideals.
What is the objective of modern-day education?
Once I am in Ahmadnagar. A child came to me. I said to him, “What do you do,
my son?” He replied that he studied in the eighth standard. I again asked him what he
would do in the coming years. He again replied in the same tone, “I shall work quite hard
and get a very good score in the matriculation examination.”
“What will you do, then?” I again asked him.
“Then I shall seek and get admission in a reputed college,” was his reply.
“What will you do thereafter?”
“I shall become and engineer.”
“Then?”
“Then I shall earn a lot of money.”
“What thereafter?”
“Then I shall build for myself a beautiful mansion.”
“Then?”
“Then I shall relax and rest.”

25. 25
Then I asked him if it was at all necessary to do all this to get some rest and
relaxation. Is the sole object of this long-drawn laborious life only rest and relaxlation?
If so, then one need not put oneself to all this trouble of working hard.
I told the child, “Look my son! Look at that dog sitting on the farther corner of the
street. It is an perfect peace and rest. You are doing such hard work in search of that rest
but the dog has got it without doing anything. The only difference is that after such a
hard labour you will put on some good quality robes whereas the dog does not need any
dress. You will get some delicious dishes for your food whereas the dog will have
simple, coarse food. You will have cushioned bed to sleep in whereas it will sleep on the
bare ground. This different is not too much. Then why put yourself to such hard work?
Just think for a while if the objective of education in modern-day world has not
been confined to just earning more and more money? Surely, we have lost the real
objective of education. We should become capable of earning handsomely, getting good
food to eat, getting a fine house to live in and acquiring costly robes to wear on have been
taken as the only objective of our education. The education could also be related to and
also used for the spiritual uplift of man. But we have simply forgotten this.
The sole aim of modern-day education is to get good food, dress and house.
Today all parents hold the view that if they are able to make their children stand on their
feet, they have taught them all, and nothing else remains for them to learn. Does this
much fulfils the objective of education?
I do not say that money has no worth in human life. Of course, money has its
own worth and utility. Without it the material needs of man can never be got fulfilled.
But does this much complete our education? If we have a look at the modern-day
education, we shall find that this is the be-all and end-all of our education today.
Obviously, today all kthe students have only one object in their mind - to get through
the examination with a maximum number of marks. Therefore, the first eight months of
the academic year a student may or may not study his books, the last about two months
are fully devoted to studies because of the approaching examinations. As the
examinations approach, all the students begin burning midnight‟s oil. The phobia of
examination forces them to study and study harder. Although the heart is not in the
study, but the fear of examination makes everyone work hard.
These days studies have become a burden for the students. It has become a cause
of stress and tension. Each of the students is under stress and tension. That is why
students feel relaxed as the examinations come to an end. They feel a sort of peace
descending over them. During the examination period the studens live is dire stress.
Some of them even cannot eat or sleep properly. They often mumble during their sleep.
So much of stress and tension overtakes them that some of the students have to resort to
taking pills before going to take the examination. The parents often accompany their
wards up to the examination centre so that their wards do not feel further stressed and
tense at the moment of the examination. This is just like a patient being taken to the
hospital for surgical operation when the guardians taking him along are not sure whether

26. 26
the patient will or will not survive the operation. When the students have to appear for
the tenth standard examinations, the parents themselves are under a lot of stress and
tension. They are heard advising their wards to “be patient and careful. We are with you.
We wait for you just outside the examination centre. Take your examination with all your
attention and care….”
In a way, the parents are under more stress and tension than their wards.
Once a mother came to me and said, “Maharaj! I cannot come to attend to the
discourse.” I asked her the reason for it. She replied, “My child has to take his
examinations.” I asked her if the examinations of her child are being conducted by the
board or by the school itself.” She again replied that her child was to appear in the fifth
standard examinations, but examinations are after all examinations, you know.
The parents are under as much stress because of the examinations as their ward.
In case the examinations only add to the stress and tension, then what is the use of such
an education? What is the use of education if it fails to produce a person who is at peace
with himself and who is happy at heart.
The fact of the matter is that the education being given in India today, the studies
the students go through is not our own. We have imported it from the Britishers. The
English are gone, but they did leave behind their books as well as their dresses. These
days our robes are not our own. The kind of trousers we wear today is surely not ours.
This has been left behind by the Britishers. The Indian native dress was shirt and dhoti or
loose piece of cloth tied around the waist. This shirt is not Indian. This is also something
left behind by the English. We Indian never tied a neck-tie. This is also a gift left behind
by the English. Similarly, the syllabus that we study today has also been left behind by
the same Britishers. Not to speak of the education and syllabus, the constitution which
governs the Indian democratic system is also not India. We have adopted this also from
the British. We have got independence, but only in name. We are still living in the same
conditions.
How should we make the beginning today? It is not possible for us to change the
entire education system in a single day. Education will remain the same. It will change
only when the entire society, the entire country changes. At the moment, we have no
alternative other than sending our children to the existing educational institutions.
However, we can certainly do one thing. The children remain in their schools/colleges
for about six hours, and they are at home for the remaining hours. We can certainly do
something during those hours. But what can we do? What can we teach them during that
period?
A very old story comes to my mind. Our country India is a beautiful land.
Whatever message has been given to the people here has been given through the medium
of stories. A story is, as we all know, fiction which is close to and which resembles truth.
It is fiction because we are never sure whether such a thing as narrated in the story really

27. 27
happened or not. It is true or it resembles truth because it contains the element of
probability.
So let me narrate the story for your benefit. What does the story say? It goes on
to say that there was once a king. He had three sons. When the king grew old, he began
to think as to which of his sons should be declared his heir. As it happens in most of such
stories, the king thought of putting his sons to a test. The king gave a rupee to each of his
three sons and asked them that they have to fill their respective rooms with the rupee
given to each one of them.
After listening to the directions of their father, all the three sons went to their
rooms. All the three had equal amount of money with them and each one was expected
to perform the same job. But each one of them had his own brains, his own
understanding. The elder prince thought that his father had gone crazy with old age.
How can a wise man think of filling such a big room with just one rupee? Many thoughts
came to his mind, but he remained indecisive. However, it was the father‟s order and it
had to be obeyed. But he did not seem to reach a decision. At that moment, his sight fell
on the sweeper who was pulling his cart filled with the rubbish of the town to throw it
outside the city limits. The prince thought of a plan. He summoned the sweeper to his
presence and asked him to throw into his room all the rubbish that he might collect from
the town. He promised to pay the sweeper a rupee in lieu of this job done. The sweeper
carried out the order of the prince and filled his room with the rubbish.
The middle prince also did not think of any better means. After a lot of thinking,
he reached the conclusion that a rupee can buy only dry grass in enough quantity to fill
the room. He took the decision and giving the rupee to one of his servants had the dry
grass bought and filled his room with it.
The youngest prince was also thinking of means to fill his room with the rupee
given to him. He began wondering that if his father has ordered him to fill his room with
something worth only a rupee, there must be some such thing which can fill the room and
lwhich can be brought with just one rupee. He thought and thought deeply on this. At
last, he thought of one thing. He went to the bazar with that rupee in his pocket. He
bought with that rupee a lamp, an incense and a lute. With these things he came to his
room. He lighted the lamp in his room and it was filled with he light of the lamp. Then
he lighted the incense and the fragrance fill the enire room. He sat in the room and began
playing the lute, and his room was filled with music.
In the evening the king arrived at the appointed hour. First of all he went to the
room of the eldest prince. He felt the foul smell from quite a distance. It did not take
long for the king to realize the truth. He felt pained and he rebuked the prince.
Thereafter he moved towards the room of the middle prince. He saw what he had done
with the rupee given to him. He felt rather anguished at what both of his elder sons done.
At last he went towards the room of his youngest son. No sooner did he enter the room
than his eyes were filled with light. He could smell the sweet fragrance because the son
had already burnt the incense there. He could now listen to the sweet music coming from

28. 28
the lute being played by the prince. The king felt overjoyed at all this. He hugged the
son and appointed him the heir-apparent.
You must keep in mind that the right education is that which fills us with the light
of love, which fills us with the smell of truth and which fills us with the music of joy.
The education which fills us with unnecessary competition, falsehood and prejudice that
cannot be called the right education. In fact, we should not call it education at all.
The education is which makes us poised, transforms us into joyous persons. It
teaches us to live each circumstance with joy.
What is joy? What would you call joy? You sit beneat the electric fan and relax.
You have already taken a delicious food to your fill. You have all the comforts of life.
In such a situation, you just smile. Cannot we possibly call it joy? Do you not consider
all this joy? But, to my mind, this is not joy. This joy did not come from within you: it
did not come out of your inner self. Joy is something different. It comes out of your
inner self. It is not at all affected by the external elements.
What, then, is joy? …the electric fan has stopped working. The mosquitoes is
buzzing around you as if they were deeply in love with you and adored you. They drink
your blood as if their life depended on it. It is the summer weather. You perspire so
badly. You can feel smoke and dust all around you. But still you smile. That is real joy.
This is the first education. But how can we give this sort of education to the
child? Should we go to the life of Lord Rama or to that of Lord Krishna to understand
this? Rama did not become Lord Rama all of a sudden, and Krishna did not become Lord
Krishna all of a sudden. Rama could become Lord Rama and Krishna could become
Lord Krishna because of the samskaras that they possessed in them. They were born in
royal families. When they reached an age which made them eligible for education, they
were sent to their gurus or teachers. The Gurus gave them the samskaras. The Gurus
kept them in their ashrams or monastries, not as princes but as ordinary students; they
made them do even the most humble menial jobs. The idea behind this was that a prince
should not just learn how to rule, but he should also know what kind of life a poor wood-
cutter lives. That is why the Gurus sent them to the forest to collect wood. The Gurus
wanted that the princes should not just know how to issue orders, but they must also learn
how to abide by the orders. The Gurus would give them the harshest of lessons, but the
Guru-mother, i.e. the wife of the Guru, would provide them the motherly affection.
During the education of the princes, both harshness and affection went side by side.
That is how Rama could become Lord Rama. That is why neither the royal throne
could attract him nor the fourteen year-long exile in the forests could cause him any pain.
He had learnt how to face each circumstance calmly. How can one live each moment
joyfully - the mystery of this principle had become part of his personality from his very
childhood.

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You can also transform your own children into Ramas and Krishnas: yes, this is
possible. You can teach your children from their very childhood the way how to live life
in a joyous manner. However, this education cannot be provided orally. This can be
given only by yourself living those precepts, by yourself becoming an example. It is
necessary that the child should be given education in a way so that they can lead life
calmly whether life is harsh or comfortable.
But our thinking is absolutely different. We are ever making efforts to provide
our children with the best of comforts in life. While so doing we forget that the child
might face hardships in life tomorrow, and how he will face life if and when such a
situation arises. By providing him with the maximum of comforts, we make our child
handicapped. What I mean to say does not imply that the child be thrust into hardships
and discomforts. While providing him comforts, we should also see that occasionally
comes face to face with hardships and difficulties. This will help in the balanced
development of his personality. This will also add to the resistance power within him.
Perhaps you might be aware of the fact that the children in India do not fall ill as
easily and as often as do the children in America because the latter have much less
resistance power than the former. Put an American child in the situation in which an
average/ordinary Indian child is living, and you will find that he instantly falls ill and we
will have to get him hospitalized. The reason simply is that he has been born and brought
up with so many facilities and comforts that he is not capable of bearing even the least of
discomfort and difficulty.
A study has revealed that as we in India have our family doctors, similarly in
American they have their family psychiatrists. A large number of families there are
victims of one or the other psychological ailment, and they need the constant consultation
and help of a psychiatrist. Can you ever think of such a scenario in India? It is not so
even today in India. The reason why we Indians are still safe from such psychiatric
problems is that in Indian life we daily face both the positive and negative situation.
You must keep in mind what I say here. When you teach your child, you must
say „yes‟ when you feel that saying „yes‟ is the best thing, and that you must say „no‟
when you are sure that the situation demands saying so. You must say „yes‟ or „no‟ with
determination and firmness. But look within yourself and see how do you say „yes‟ or
„no‟ to your child.
Take the instance of a young girl. She goes to her mother and says, “Mother, I
want a chocklate to eat.” The mother will sure say no and further advise her child that
eating chocklates will cause problems to her teach. The child will naturally insist on
taking the chocklate. The mother will again say no discouraging her from this. Then
again the child insists, cries, taps her feet heavily and tries to create a scene. At last the
mother gives in and allows her to take chocklate.
Do you know what will be the result of all this? That small child has come to
understand that if he needed a chocklate, she must weep and cry like that. Only then

30. 30
mother will let her have the chocklate. Then this habit will not come to an end with the
childhood and it will sure remain with her later in life as well. Today she weeps and
cries before her mother, and tomorrow she will weep and cry before someone else.
Today she cries just to have a chocklate, but tomorrow she might create the same kind of
scene demanding a scooter or something like that. And when you refused to buy her a
scooter, she will again weep and cry and create a scene. Then, she might behave the
same way with her husband also.
I would wish to share with you here an example. This is not something confined
only to girls, and this can happen with boys also. Who has been responsible for this habit
of the child? Obviously, the mother who acquisced to the request for that chocklate. Had
her mother at that time told her firmly that it means „no‟ when she says as such, and when
she says „yes‟, it means yes, then the result would have been a balanced development of
the personality of the child.
Actually, what happens? When we say „yes‟ to our child, we are well aware that
there is „no‟ hidden behind our „yes‟. And similarly when we say „no‟ to our child, there
is always „yes‟ hidden somewhere behind our „no‟. If it is sixty to eighty per cent „no‟,
then it is also twenty per cent „yes‟. Our own mind is not working as a whole: it is in
parts. And that is why the children fail to understand as to what do their parents expect
of them. The children always know that the parents‟ „yes‟ can always change into a „no‟,
and vice versa.
The first and foremost thing is that when you say „yes‟ you should mean it and
should be firm on it. Similarly, when you say „no‟, you should mean it and should be
firm on it. If the child feels sad because of this, let him feel so. It is not necessary that he
should go out playing daily with his shoes on. He should sometimes also play without
the shoes. Suppose he is one day in a situation when he has to play without shoes on. In
that situation also, he should be able to play. It is necessary to give him this kind of
education. You must not teach him to wear only the beautiful and costly clothes. He
must also be taught to wear simple and coarse clothes.
There was once a very good professor in Pune. He used to teach engineering
students in a college. He would tell his students that they had the time from this morning
till evening and during this day they have to earn at least a hundred rupees without
divulging their identity. He put it as a pre-condition for them to clear the examination.
His students did make endeavours. They would make different kinds of efforts to
earn the required sum of money. Some of them would, of course, succeed in this venture.
Some would even say that they would not be able to earn this. To such students, the
professor would say that then there was use of their becoming engineers. It is better to
fail you in the examination.
You must teach you child to accept your „no‟ if he has learnt to accept your „yes‟.
The child must be taught to bear a bit of pain.

31. 31
An incident of past comes to my mind. A small kid was weeping bitterly.
Perhaps he was hungry. I asked the child‟s grandmother that the child was weeping
because he was hungry and that she should feed her milk. The grandmother replied in the
negative saying that he should weep; he must learn that there can be delay in getting milk
even if he weeps this way. In case he becomes habitual of getting anything as soon as he
wept, this will not be good for him in later life.
In Norway and America people get depressed quite easily. As compared to them,
people in India do not get depressed so easily. What is the reason behind this? The
reason is obvious. A person born in India is used to face in his life much more hardship
and difficulties than the one born in America or Norway. In India, a person can smile
even if he has spend the nights on road pavements. Why so? Because he has learn to
sleep on the pavement from his very childhood. He can make the stone lying near by his
pillow. He can enjoy as sound a sleep with his head resting on that stone as you might be
able enjoy on a cushioned bed in the air-conditioned room. The things which can cause
much pain and suffering to an affluent person, the same things and situations are a matter
of routine for him.
The first and foremost education in life is to teach the child to live through pain
with a smile on the face, to learn to smile when the circumstances compell you to weep.
Try and start giving this education first of all to the child. In the childhood every child
has this kind of art. However, gradually, we supress his smile. We teach him to be, to
look serious. On the other hand, we should have taught him something else. As it is, we
should teach the child to be sincere and not to be serious. It is very essential to be sincere
whereas it is not necessary at all to be serious.
We should teach the children to smile. We should teach them how to smile in all
the circumstances of life. And this smile should not just be a show off, it should reflect
your inner self, your inner happiness. When will the child begin to reflect his inner joy
on this face?
According to old education system in India, a child was sent to the gurukul, the
old nomenclature for school, when he became six years of age. Here the teachers gave
him education which was those days known by the name of Brahman-Updesh, or
teaching about Brahman. The first education given to the child was about Brahman.
This implied the purity of heart and soul, the purity of one‟s inner self. The child was
first of all taught how to make his mind peaceful, how to make his inner self pure and
pious. It was later on and after this that he was given education in languages,
mathematics and science. The reason behind this was that it was believed in India that
whatever knowledge one might gain in the field of mathematics, science and languages, it
would be of no use until one learns how to keep his mind at peace and how make his
inner self pure and pious.
Just reflect over the lives of some people who otherwise enjoy affluence in life
and some directors and big companies. They work hard throughout the day for their
respective companies. They feel dead tired by the evening, and then they go to club to

32. 32
refresh themselves. There they have a few drinks, play cardss and indulge in some
entetainment. Thereafter the return home and fall down on the bed to sleep. What is
their life? If you are a director of a big company and if that makes you lead this kind of
life, what is the utility of all this?
Today in India, Kerala is the only state enjoying hundred per cent literacy. At the
same time, it is also a fact that Kerala has dubvious distinction of the maximum number
of suicides being committed in India. If a man has to commit suicide even after he gets
all the education, then what is the meaning, what is the utility of this education?
However, the fault does not lie with education. The fault lies with our system which has
made education one-sided. As it is, our education develops only one part of our brain,
and the other part remains completely undeveloped.
I hope you probably know that the human brain has two parts. One of it is on the
left side and the other on the right side. The one on the left is contains logic,
mathematics and science. And the right side part contains intuition, metaphysics, art,
language and others. The education being given to the child today develops only the left
side of our brain - logic, intellect, rationality, discrimination, ethics, etc. We seem to
have forgotten to develop the right side of the brain. When we were children, both parts
of our brains functioned equally well. Our education system lays stress only on the
development of the left side of the brain and the right side remains undeveloped. That
results in our restlessness.
The right side of the brain can be developed through meditation, through peace
and poise, through the art of realizing your inner self. This is what was called in earlier
times the Brahman-Updesh.
You are always thinking and making efforts to send your child to the best of
schools. You do not mind paying fees, whether it is a thousand rupees or two thousand
rupees per month. The thing you give all of your attention is that the school should be
the best one. But you entirely miss one point. You do not bother that the school provides
for only one-sided education. What will happen to the other side of the brain? You may
send your child to any school you deem is best. But at the same time it is also necessary
that you send the child to a pious, holy saint also. Your child spends five to six hours in
the school daily. Your must persuade him that he spends at least half an hour daily with a
pious saint. Encourage him to learn about meditation and reflection. Have you ever
encouraged your child in this direction?
People often complain that their children refuse to go to any saint. But I would
like to ask the parents if they have ever seriously encouraged or persuaded their children
to do so. The children can spend five to six hours in the school with their teachers. I do
not think there can be any problem with them if they spend just half an hour with any
holy saint.
To my mind, you yourself have not given any importance to meditation,
concentration or company of the holy. You have developed a belief that meditation or

33. 33
concentration is for old age, for the people who have nothing more useful to do in life.
But this is not true: it is far from truth. Meditation and concentrartion constitute the
beginning of life. They constitute the basis of life. Whenever the child begins his
education, you must teach him how to make the slate of mind clean and blank.
Once Vivekananda was asked by someone what he thought was the meaning of
education. To this question, Vivekananda replied that , according to him, education
means enabling the student to write on the slate of his mind whatever is necessary to be
written there; and when it is necessary to clean the slate, he should be able to make it
clean. In other words, education means enabling one to write on mind‟s state whatever
one wants, to wipe the slate clean whenever one wants.
Today we do not have this in our hands to write or clean the mind‟s slate as per
our own wish. On the other hand, what happens is that we forget what we want to
remember and whatever we want to forget that keeps coming to our time and again. You
want to remember a lesson, and you repeat it time and again, but still you cannot
remember it and forget it. In general also, the things we do not want to remember and
want to forget about, these things would crop up repeated in our mind. The reason
behind this is that we lack the art which enables us to control our mind. We do no know
the art of either writing something on the mind‟ slate or wiping something off this slate
that was imprinted there earlier. To realize this is kthe first art. And you can sure teach
this art to your children. If you send your children to a good school, then you must send
also to a holy saint. Even if the child does not feel like going there, you should persuade
him to go there. But you must take him to a saint at least for half an hour daily. Make it
a habit with the child from his childhood. In the presence of the saint, you yourself
observe silence and peace of mind, and ask your ward also to do the same. If you say
that you do not have the time for all this, then it is sure that the child will also say the
same. First of all, you will have to sit in the holy presence yourself. This is the first
lesson. This is the basis of our education.
The second lesson is the smell of love. In our modern-day life, we do lack
something, it is love. There was a time when we used to live in joint families. All
members of the joint, extended family would sit together and have dialogue on various
issues amongst themselves. They shared with one another all the happenings of the day,
all the progress made on various ventures. They would also share some light moments
and laugh with one another. At the end of the day, they would all sleep together in the
same compound.
However, this system has come to an end today. The son comes home, has his
food and goes direct to his own room. The father comes, takes his food and heads direct
to his own room. The daughter comes, has her food and moves straight to her room.
Each member in the family has a room to himself or herself. Even though the family
lives together, but all members of the family live separately. They seem to have to no
time to meet one another. Early in the morning, the fathes leavess home for work. The
follows him soon to go to his work or to join his father at work. The father is busy in his
work and the son is busy in his own work. The mother is busy in her own household

34. 34
chores and the daughter is busy in her own things. Everybody is busy. The mutual love
has lost somewhere in this busy-ness.
Distances are increasing by the day. The father has a separate world of his own,
and the son has his own, separate from that of his father. Mother is a captive in her own
world, and the daughter is a prisoner in her own world. The family is one to show off.
But the unity of the family has been lost somewhere. The thread seems to have broken
and the beads have scattered around.
Can you possibly share all the secrets of your heart, literally bare your heart to
your own son? Can you say with any amount of certainty that your son can bare his heart
before you? Look into your heart, think awhile and then answer this question. Is it so?
Can your daughter share all her secrets, all her thoughts with her mother? Can the
mother share everything in her heart with her daughter? Perhaps, the answer to all these
questions is no. Both the mother and the daughter hide one thing or the other from the
other.
Many young boys and girls come to me. They often ask, “Look, Guru Ji, we can
tell everything, share everything with you, but we cannot do so with our mother. When I
listen to them speaking such words, I really feel pained.
The fact of the matter is that your children are afraid of speaking the truth in your
presence. They are afraid of what you might think about them thereafter. And, actually,
this is right. Here just remember the father of Mahatma Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi did
not become such a great personality for nothing. At the back of his greatness lies the
education given him by his father.
Let me share with you an incident from the life of Mahatma Gandhi. When he
was just a child, one day he was pressing the feet of his father. Suddenly, drops of tears
from the eyes of Mahatma Gandhi fell down on the feet of his father. His father asked
him, “Mohan, my son, why are you weeping?”
Gandhi told everything to his father. He told him that he has committed theft. He
has also taken non-vegetarian food and he has also smoked cigerattes in hinding. He told
everything to his father, everything which he had earlier kept hidden from him.
In such a situation, what would have a normal father done? He might have got
angry. He might have rebuked his son and would have threatened him. And, as a result
of this, the child would have felt terrified. And, then he might have tried to find out some
excuse justifying why he had had to do it and saying that he did not do so willingly. He
might have presented any excuse for what he did.
Keep this in mind that whenever you try to hide your evil for any reason, it
implies that you are strangulating the truth. But Gandhiji did not give any excuses. His
father was also a very mature and intelligent person. He did not feel annoyed at all after

35. 35
listening to these unbcoming deeds which his son had done. He listened to his son with
patience and concentration.
After listening to everything with patience, the father aked him, “Son, would you
wish to repeat the same things in future also?” Gandhiji replied in the negative and
assured his father that he would never do these things again.
His father then told him that it was all right and that he should now forget about
all these things. He further told him that he should feel as if it were just a dream and that
dream has since been over now. Let us make a new beginning. Let us begin life afresh.
Tomorrow is your birthday. You had commited a theft. Is is true? Today you should
give something in charity with the same hands with which you had committed the theft.
Today you offer sweets to the orphans with the same hands with which you had earlier
held the cigerette to smoke. Today you pray to God with the same tongue with which
you had earlier called names….
Mahatma Gandhi has written that had his father that day rebuked and slapped
him, he might have become a thief and he would never have become the Mahatma. The
reason? When he would have slapped me, an inferiority complex might have overtaken
me that I was a thief, I was a sinner, I was a non-vegetarian, and I am a bad boy. And the
psychiatry says that the thing about which you feel guilty gets repeated by you time and
again.
The father of Mahatma Gandhi first of all removed any inferiority complex from
the mind of Gandhiji. Thereafter he taught him good things. As a result of that
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born of Mohan, and he became worthy of reverence
in the world.
We often say that we all should speak the truth. But do you have the moral
strength to listen to and face the truth. First of all, think if you would be able to listen to
the truth.
Let me share with you another incident from the life of Mata Madan Kaur Parakh.
It is a true incident, and not just a fictional story. Madan Kaur got married. She went to
the house of her husband. It was her first night with her husband. Just as there are
certain questions and apprehensions in the mind of any woman, she also had several
questions in her mind. She asked her husband, “See, my lord, from today, we are going
to begin a new life. From today onwards we are life-companions of each other. You will
share with me each and everything you do now onwards. It is the wish of every wife that
her husband shares with her everything he happens to do outside. A husband also has the
same expectation from his wife.”
Madan Kaur said all this to her husband. Do you know what was the reply of her
husband. The husband replied, “I shall sure tell you the truth, but do you have the power
to digest the truth? If tomorrow as I come back home I tell you exactly what might have
happened with me outside the home, will it not affect our relations. Will our relations be

36. 36
the same as they were before I told you the truth? Or, will all this create a kind of wedge
between both of us because of my doings.
We proclaim that everybody should speak the truth. But we do not lhave the
moral strength to listen to and face the truth. We do not have the strength to realize the
truth.
So to become good father and mother, it is essential that you have the strength to
digest the truth. In case you do not have the strength to face and digest the truth, then
you should be prepared for the situation when falsehood will overtake your relations.
So the second rule is the smell of love. Love does not mean that you should love
your mother and you should love your father, you should love all members of your family
and you should love your neighbour. Love does not imply a mere relationship. It is,
rather, a state of mind. It is a state of your consciousness. If it happens, it will happen
with everybody; if it does not happen, it will happen to nobody. About love, you cannot
say that it is more with one person and less with the other. What is more or less with
different people, that is not love: that is attachment. It is attachment and not love. What
happens with one and does not happen with the other, that is also attachment, not love.
Love is which is equal with everybody, with all.
You, of course, teach your son to touch the feet of his father. But you never
advise him to pay respect, to speak with respect to the old servant in the family. He may
be a servant or a drive. But he is older than your child in age. The child should be
respectul towards him also. Have you ever taught him to do so? Did this ever happen to
occur to you?
This is the story of love in human relationships. But love cannot be confined to
this limit only. Love is limitless, immense. When love sprouts inside you, your entire
life-style undergoes a change. Then your love does not remain limited to humans alone,
it gets reflected in your feelings for inanimate things also.
When your child comes back from school, he throws his school-bag wherever he
wants to. Then he takes off his shoes and leaves them wherver they might be. At that
time you simply ignore that the child threw the bag with unnecessary force. If he throws
the bag like this today, it is just possible that tomorrow he might throw any other
household thing or even a person with the same force. The question is not of throwing
the bag, the question is of a tendency, a bad tendency growing in your child.
So the lesson of love does not imply merely love for human beings, love animate
as well as inanimate things also. Just take the example of a handkerchief. You can either
put it somewhere quietly with love or you can just throw it in anger. If you can get
annoyed at a handkerchief, why cannot you pick the handkerchief up with a feeling of
love.

37. 37
There was once a thinker. One day he went over to meet a known saint. He
covered quite a great distance to meet him. That sage lived on the top of a hill. The
thinker felt tired by the time he reached the dwelling-place of the holy man. He had
become rather fed up with the journey. As he entered the place of the saint, he threw
open the door with great force and then again shut it with equal force. Then he threw his
shoes on one said. Thereafter he went over to the saint. He bowed to the holy man and
sat down. He said to the sage, “O holy man, I have come to have a discourse with you.”
The saint replied saying that a dialogue and discourse is possible only if he was in love.
In the given situation only polemic could take place because the thinker was not in love,
rather he was in anger.
The thinker again told the saint that he had no personal grudge against him and
that he was no doubt in love. He further told him that it was the result of love and
devotion for him (the saint) in his (thinker‟s) heart that he had covered this long distance
to see him.
The holy man said, “Brother, you are making a mistake. Love should not be for
me alone. You will have to be loving towards those shoes also, you will have to be
respectful and loving towards that door also.”
Now the thinker was forced to reflect on what the saint had said. He asked the
saint what he meant by love towards the shoes and the door. The saint replied that he
should go to the shoes and seek its forgiveness and promise that in future you will not
throw them in anger. You should also go to the door and seek its forgiveness because
you opened and then shut it in anger.
The thinker said to the saint, “OK, what will happen, if I do so? Will the door and
the shoes be able to understand my feelings of love for them?”
The holy man asked him to do so and advised him that the door and the shoes
may or may not understand the feeling, but he himself will surely understand that.
Later on that thinker put his memoirs to pen. Therein he wrote that “I was keen to
have dialogue with that holy men and that is why I had to do as he had told me to. I went
to the shoes. I sought their forgiveness. I went to the door. I sought its forgiveness.
When I was doing so I felt that I was doing a crazy thing. But after I had done all this, I
felt a strange kind of peace running through my entire being. I felt saturated with poise
and peace.
This is a lesson in love We should also teach our children to live in love.
Sometimes you see that you child tears down the book. At that time you show your anger
towards him and you try to make him understand that the book had cost you a bit and that
he had put you to such a loss.
You try to tell the child about the cost of the book. After what you tell the child,
the latter comes to understand that the book should not be torn because it has cost you