India used to be an abode of Spiritual
Education in ancient times. All Indians
were so spiritual at that time. Truth, Non-Violence, Obedience, Tolerance, such virtues were at the helm of everybody's behavior
“Jahan
Satya, Ahimsa Aur Dharma Ka
Pag
Pag Lagata Dera,
Voh
Bharat Desh Hai Mera,
Voh
Bharat Desh Hai Mera,
Jay
Bharati, Jay Bharati”
“No wonder that at a
certain phase in Indian history, the greatest emphasis the educational system
laid was on making the student conscious of his soul. The process of learning,
from this point of view, began from within.
What the teacher—who
was often a Rishi or a seer—wished to see was, all the faculties, all the parts
of the pupil’s personality, must be governed by his soul, instead of by his
crude physical desires, mental preferences or impulses. A great doctrine to
which they subscribed was the doctrine of Swadharma.
In the phenomenal world marked by multiplicity, each human being had a specific
inner nature, apart from his share of the common stock of desires, emotions and
passions, constituting his superficial personality, his ego-self. To transcend
the ego-self and to illumine the consciousness in the splendor of the soul was
looked upon as the true goal of education.”[1]
As we see how the Society is diminishing in case of values
day by day. It is necessary to develop the programs for inculcating
spirituality in the society.
Today’s Indian youths are little bit confused because of the
bombarding of the new technological devices, information explosion and violent
news by the press & media. To inculcate the value system in their confused
minds and make them value-oriented-powerful leaders, educational institutions
should take the initiative to impart Value Based Spiritual Knowledge to this
new generation.
“Imbibing the qualities of good conduct, self-confidence and
high values would help students earn a significant place in society. Education without spiritual values is like a
flower without fragrance. Students
should realize that character building is equally important as career
building. A good character in life is
ultimate thing that stretches person’s self-realization”.
An attempt is made in this paper to discuss the role of the spiritual
education in society, it elaborately discusses about the implications to
develop the spiritual education. Rena, R. rightly points out that “There is a
popular misconception that values are “better
caught than taught”. In reality however, values are both caught and
taught.” Today’s generation is not going to catch the spiritual values without
teaching. We have to teach the spiritual values to this generation before they
are caught by the bombarding of the new technological devices, information
explosion and also by the media.
According to the author Value Based education cannot be
taught without Spiritual Knowledge or Spiritual Consciousness.
In conclusion, mere desire or aspiration to progress in life
is not enough; success should be based on values. And for that value-based
education must be imparted in today’s institutions. So that the students may
emerge as good leaders in their chosen fields.