Except the language, everything that the
British left in the education has to go The very education in our country was
crafted for that – to produce clerks. Sport, art, music, theater – every dimension
of life is a wealth for this nation, It is not just clerks, managers, teachers
and scientists who make the nation. The most significant thing about the
generation that is next, is the teachers. It's not a business transaction that you're planting seeds,
which will blossom well after your time but that is the greatest thing about being a teacher. Superscript: Unfolding Children’s Genius
Sadhguru @ Kendriya Vidyalaya Principals Meet Sadhguru: Namaskaram, good morning to everyone. Well,.. I wouldn't dare lecture to the Principals of schools
(Few Laugh) but we are at a time that when it comes to education, we are in a cusp where our fundamental thinking
about what is education needs to go through not a change, but a complete transformation. A time is coming where acquiring knowledge will be of no value. A time is coming where scholarship will be laughed at. A time is coming where projecting data accumulation
as intelligence is going to be a thing of the past. Projecting good memory as intelligence
is going to go away; which is the very foundations of the
education systems of the day – whoever has good memory is rated as
the most intelligent person. Well today you know, your cell phone
has better memory than you. That's why we call the phone smartphone. You wouldn't call somebody smart
unless they were smarter than you. Hello? if you call the phone as smart,
obviously it is smarter than you. Because our idea of being smart is about
how much GB do you carry? Some of our phones are six hundred GB, believe me,
you don't have that kind of memory (Laughs). This whole process of accumulating information, assimilating it, processing it, and throwing out bits and pieces out as knowledge, whether it is scientific knowledge or religious stuff, that by reading a book projecting yourself
as intelligent is going to go away because machines will do it far better than you and me. Machine learning, or artificial intelligence
as it is being built today is essentially about how much data
can you gather, process, and express. Unfortunately, for last few centuries, I would say for nearly two-hundred-and-fifty years across the world, education meant just this – accumulating data, vomiting it somewhere
usually in the examination paper I mean, and you're rated as brilliant. I must tell you...well, he was telling you
that I was also in a regional school, Demonstration Multipurpose School. When I was thirteen years of age for the first time,
I saw a calculator, a flatbed calculator. It's not like today, a two-year-old is handling
a smartphone or iPad or something. I saw a calculator for the first time when I was thirteen
years of age, it was a flatbed... flatbed calculator. Those days, there were only two companies
making this, Panasonic and Sony. Sony was very expensive
one-hundred-and-twenty-five rupees. Panasonic you could go to one of those Burma
bazaars or Hong Kong market or whatever you called it. With little bargaining power, you bought it
for ninety rupees. Tch, so everybody bought Panasonic,
a ninety rupee flatbed calculator. Somebody brought this to school and it was a miracle tuk, tuk, tuk, tuk into tuk, tuk, tuk, tuk, tuk (Few Laugh). I looked at this, immediately my first thought was, “If this is this simple, why are they torturing me
in the mathematics classes (Laughter)?” “Why(Laughs) are they trying to teach me
this into that, that into this, a cos....” it could even do all the sin and cos and all that stuff. I said, “Everything is here.
Why are they torturing me?” I sat there and imagined a day when these
kind of machines will come which will know all the chemistry formulas, all the physics stuff,
and mathematics and everything, so that I don't have to come to school.
Well I really went but... even that little bit of force that I had to be there.
This dream of mine fifty years ago, is slowly coming true now,
in the next ten years, it's going to be real that everything that you can learn from a book and
remember, a machine can do it better than you and me. Tch, these are great times for human beings. Lot of people (Laughs) you know (Laughs) it's crazy they're inviting me to artificial intelligence
conferences in various places. I was in St. Petersburg and I was supposed
to speak on artificial intelligence. I said, “Why of all the people you chose me?
I'm not artificial intelligence. I thought I was a little natural” (Laughs). They said, “No, no. The problem is we will all lose
our jobs. What are we supposed to do?” I said, “You always been cursing Monday
morning when you have to go to work. If you lose your job, isn't it fantastic?
You're on a vacation”(Few Laugh). If machines do all the work, isn't it really fantastic? See, this is like the coolie in the port at one time, in probably 60s and 70s, he complained heavily because the cranes and gantries came and they started
lifting the load off the ship and putting it effortlessly. These guys... there was a time I'm telling you,
in Mumbai dock in the Mazagaon dock, if a ship came, those... those vessels were
not of the size that they are today. Usually they were hundred, hundred-and-fifty
thousand ton vessels, if they came, they would unload it for over three to four months. Today a quarter million ton vessel comes in the
major ports, within twenty-four hours it is unloaded. Of course all the labor who had built their
muscle just to carry sacks, they all complained, “If these machines come they will destroy our life.”
Did they or not? All the trade unions complained or not at that time? Hello?
Participants: Yes. Sadhguru: So similarly teachers should not
complain and make the same mistake that the coolies did at that time. So what will we do if all machine learning comes? It’ll be great time because how much memory
you carry on your head will not be of value. What kind of a human being you are will be the highest value, isn't it fantastic time for human beings? Participants: Yes. (Applause) Sadhguru: The keenness of your perception,
the sharpness of your intelligence will be more important than the volume of
memory you carry in your head. These are good times, real good times
for human beings to unfold because this cargo of so-called
knowledge is killing human beings – just ramping up information into a child's head in many ways killing the fundamental genius that every human being carries within themselves. I see if machine learning becomes...
comes very quickly, in our generation we can see children
blossoming into highest levels of intelligence, unfolding of genius will happen because right now this heap that you have
to carry on your head, try to remember all those things – cos theta, sin theta is driving you crazy,
when a simple machine can do it. Human intelligence is of a different nature. We should never misunderstand
memory as intelligence. Memory makes a few things simple, but it doesn't find
access. Memory is always of the past, isn't it? Hello?
Participants: Yes. Sadhguru: Can memory unfold the future? If you invest in memory, you will only repeat
the past, a modified past as future. This is what is happening to human societies. If past should not be repeated, if we have to live a fresh life
in the next moment, in tomorrow, if our tomorrow has to be different from yesterday, it is very important that human beings
learn not to invest in memory. We use memory – if the machine carries it,
we can use it and leave it, what we want we can take it,
what we don't want, we can leave it. But carrying it with you all the time, people
are becoming recycling of the past all the time. Because once you have invested in memory, everything that you have is just recycling
of the data that you have already gathered. This is in many ways really stifling the human genius. Every human being has a certain
element of genius in them. It is only a question of will we be able to provide the right kind of ambience for that particular
genius to unfold? This is the challenge. This should be the challenge
of the teachers of tomorrow. How do we provide that atmosphere to each
unique human being so that they can unfold? That should be the only challenge
we must be handling as teachers and people who are in charge of schools, but right now our ninety percent of the focus is
how to ram memory into their heads. This is a time that all of you as educationists, you are at a point where the sooner
we transform our education system, the better edge our children
will have for the future in the world, how quickly we shift to machine learning will determine
where India will be in another thirty to forty years’ time. So you have a tremendous responsibility, but
as already introduced, you're supposed to grill me. I leave to you.
Please if you have questions, whatever kind (Applause). Please. Questioner 1: Hello. Pranam Guruji.
Sadhguru: Yes sir please. Questioner 1: (Speaks in Hindi) Sadhguru: See we must understand this. Though India is one nation, there are at least
four to five nations within India. Not everybody is in the same level of needs.
There is a most affluent class in the country, there is a segment which is upper middle class
whose aspirations are very different, there is middle class where it’s always about
how will our children get jobs and stuff, and there is rural and other dimensions
which you are referring to where it’s only about somehow getting out of that
social and economic pit in which they are. We cannot address all these categories as one.
It is wrong to do that. In the name of uniform education,
we are trying to do this. I understand the thought behind it, but
it's not practical. It's because of this, over twenty-four billion dollars’ worth of education in
India is going out to outside universities because those who can afford, they don’t want their children to study
here because it is common class education. It’s very important that we're able to
provide for every segment of society. This is not to discriminate, this is not to segregate. But anywhere in the world it's like that –
according to one’s economic capabilities, different levels whether you go to a restaurant, or you take a bus, or you take a train,
there is first class, second class, third class, isn't it? Well, third class people won't be taken only halfway
journey. They also travel full journey, yes or no? (Laughs) Just because somebody gets into a
third class compartment, it's only a question of comfort and ambience and stuff, but the distance and the destination is same
for first class and third class, isn't it(Applause)? If you say we will make everything third class, a whole segment of people will not travel
by train anymore, that's for sure. So similarly in education, this is not about classes, I would not like to use
the word class when it comes to education, but the needs are different. If we do not provide this, we will not create variety of
human beings that we need for this nation's well-being. We need leaders, we need scientists, we need
teachers, we need engineers, we need farmers, we need craftsmen – we need variety of people
to make a nation happen. Right now our entire education is actually
oriented towards elite. Everybody is supposed to go to the university,
that's how our education is constructed. Everybody need not go to the university.
University is not a place to live like some people in Delhi, I hear till they’re forty
they're living in the university (Few Laugh) (Applause). You must live in this universe
not in the university (Laughter). So the whole population aiming towards the
university is not the right kind of education. This is (Laughs) this is the education designed
by Her Majesty’s service. We have made some changes,
but we need more drastic changes. I'm saying this may sound extreme to you,
but what I'm saying is except the language, everything that the British left in the education has to go (Applause). Language is a passport to the world.
We must keep the language, everything else need to go because that
was designed for a specific purpose - where obedience is higher than intelligence –
that's not the way to bring up our children. That is the way to bring up occupied population. When we occupy a nation, we want obedience. When we're raising our children, obedience is
not what we want, we want them to flourish. We want them to be more intelligent than us. Our
children must be two steps ahead of us, isn't it? (Applause) So if that has to happen, we have to craft
this. Just to give you some sense of this, we're running three different types of schools, more as model schools, so that these systems
can be incorporated by everybody. We have one level of schools in rural India, in remote places where there is usually no proper
education facility, these are called Isha Vidhya schools. Here the focus is mainly to get them out of
their economic and social conditions. They will never get out of those
social conditions in which they are unless you move them away in some way.
They must have a passport to go anywhere they want,
not stuck in the same place. Almost forty-six to forty-seven percent of
the children who are in our schools are first generation going to school.
Their parents have never been to school. This education – at the age of six, we start English language and computer usage because
these two are passports for them to step out. We have another school called Isha Homeschool.
This is for the affluent, where it is run this way, twenty children will stay in
a large household with two committed parents and all education happens within the house except
for libraries, laboratories and playgrounds. Everything else is largely within the
home kind of atmosphere. In a very caring, committed way this process happens.
The education is in a thematic way in the sense, we always start the school when
the monsoons are pouring. So the first, second, third standard
always starts off with monsoon. We get them soaked in the rain which
parents never allow them to do, they really get through and through soaked to the bone
and then we talk about the chemistry of monsoon, the... you know the (Laughs) other metrological aspects
of the monsoon, the economy of the monsoon, the psychological impact of the monsoon,
everything is from the monsoon because you cannot ignore monsoon in
southern India next to the Western Ghats. And when monsoon is happening, you are telling them
(E=mc2), it's not going to work (Few Laugh). The children are interested in the rain,
they think the sky is falling apart. This is the time to get them engaged in that. So this school is run in a certain way, this costs money. This kind of arrangement costs money because
for every four-and-a-half children, we have one adult taking care of them.
So, on an average I am saying. This takes a very intense approach and our
maximum limit is only three-hundred-and-forty children. Obviously, we cannot educate
the whole country like this, it's just more like a model as to how it works,
and it works in a brilliant way. You must come and see the children
how they shape up in these twelve years. Actually, I made twelve year education
into thirteen years because we have invested so much
in art, music, theater, sport, leadership, that when they… when the children come to
eleventh standard, parents go marks mad. “What about my child? Where will he go?
Where will he go?” So we said, I said, “One year extra.” So people told me, “Sadhguru, who will leave
their children for one year extra? They're eager, their children go to IIT, medical college,
this one, that one.” I said, “This is the way it is. Those who want to withdraw their children
can withdraw.” This happened three years ago. Not a single child was withdrawn, all the
parents wanted their children to go through this because most of these children are think…
most of these parents are thinking of sending their children to,you know, foreign universities
outside, overseas universities and things like this. One more year they settle, they have a huge exposure to leadership qualities
and variety of other things. In this school, we are beginning to do this
– we wanted to start separate schools for this but because we didn't have the economic
strength to do it, within the school, we are doing it. We identify about twelve children,
a group of twelve children, when they're in their seventh standard
and we establish a mentor. Like let's say mathematics, we have a very
high quality mathematics mentor. He takes this twelve children from
the age of ten-eleven to seventeen. Eighty percent of the education is only mathematics, only twenty percent in the other
curriculum they play around a bit. But these are only focused on mathematics. If we don't do this now that our focus is
not specialized, we are only thinking of…see, there was a time in 60s and 70s, we were thinking
of literacy in this country, because when the British left, our literacy was somewhere around seven percent of the population. Rest were illiterate. So our whole focus was how somebody can put his
name on the paper. This was our focus. So mass… to educate millions of
people to one level is different, to come out with specialized focus towards children
who are capable of that is different. If we don't do that we will not have great scientists,
we will not have great mathematicians, we will not have anything significant in the country. We’ll have a just a mass of people with the attitude of
being educated without much education in them. So, this is one dimension of education. We have another education system
called Isha Samskriti, where the only six subjects they study are yoga,
Kalari Payatu, you heard of Kalari Payatu? It's the mother of all martial arts. Classical dance, classical music, Sanskrit
language and English language – these are the only six things they study, no academics. If you want to see really, truly fantastic children
anywhere, you must come and see these children, because the focus is just on growing human body and
human brain to its full potential without any intention. What will you become? We never asked them. Will you become a doctor?
Will you become an engineer? See, these are all social things, these are not real things. From my own experience (Laughs), like he was saying, that my vision is because
my father is an ophthalmologist (Laughs). Well, he only examined the two eyes, he had no instruments to examine the third one
(Laughter/Applause). So this education is focused with…
towards education without intent. Developing human brain and body to the highest
possible level without fixing what you should do. Because what should a human being do? What is most needed in the world,
that's what he should do. It is not for me or you to do
something fanciful that I desire. What is it that is most needed right now? That's what human intelligence should do, isn't it? If one is… if one is a fool, he will do what he does not like to do, suffer every day and go on complaining
through their life and live like that. If you are intelligent you will do what you love to do. But really if your geniuses flowered, you will do
what is most needed right now, joyfully. That's what needs to happen (Applause). Questioner 2: Namaskaram, Sadhguru Our education
system is not helping to handle our intelligence, and most intelligents are suffering. We don't know
how to handle our own intelligence, we suffer a lot, and how to prevent our own intelligence from
turning enemy (Sadhguru Laughs). Thank you. Sadhguru: Isn't that the only problem
that human beings have (Laughs)? They call it by many names.
People say... use many words - stress, anxiety, depression,
madness, misery - these are all different names. Essentially, your intelligence
has turned against you. See,.. if you are with me and you are miserable, you can say
“I am miserable because of you.” Maybe. But you must try this, you sit alone for three days without any contact,
I mean even the phone… without the phone, no television, no phone, no book,
simply sit by yourself, alert not sleeping. If you're miserable by yourself,
you are obviously in bad company, isn’t it? Hello? Because your own intelligence is turning against you. Once your intelligence turns against you, no power
in the universe can save you, there's no way out of it. It's very important, this body, this mind,
these emotions, these energies work for you, isn't it? Even if the whole world turns against you, this one
(Referring to oneself) must always work for you. But right now, you can call this ill health,
you can call this misery, you can call this whatever – essentially your body, your mind
turning against you, isn’t it? Because right from early childhood, you’ve
been taught about everything in the universe, things that you have not seen – everybody
is talking about an atom, nobody has seen one! I am not saying it doesn't exist.
What I am saying is, if you do not even understand the one that you live in, how is it that you understand all these fantastic things? Things that you have not seen. So, unfortunately at the school level, I would say
further even at college and PhD level, science is running like religion –
what is written in the book is ultimate. This is the way of the religion,
this is not the way of science, isn't it so? Hello? Science should be exploration.
Whatever is written in the textbook is true, is a religious affair. “Whatever is written in my book is
hundred percent truth and nothing else but that!” This rubbish we have suffered for a long time. We don't have to take that into our future. What is written in the book is fine,
somebody’s knowledge. But the essence of this culture has always
been to question everything. Even (Laughs)… you must understand this, this is a nation where nobody could
give us a commandment. Tch. Even when the so-called divine entities came (Laughs),
they could not give us a commandment, we only asked them questions. Shiva came, hmm, Adiyogi came,
he opened his mouth to speak to his beloved wife, she freaks him with a million questions (Few Laugh). Krishna tries to speak to his closest friend Arjuna,
that too at the edge of the battlefield, that guy asked hundreds of questions (Few Laugh). He can't shut up and listen,
because that's not Indian (Few Laugh). Anywhere else if anybody who claimed to be god,
or god’s agent, or god’s son, or whatever, they would say “This is god's will, shut up and listen!”
And everybody listened. Not in this country, because we have a very
ingrained scientific temperament in us. Not the kind of scientific temperament of
disregarding everything, as it's become today. We have a different kind of scientific temperament
– we question everything, but with reverence. We bow down to him and say,
“You are my god, but we have questions.” Hello? Hasn't this been our way (Laughs)? Participants: Yes. Sadhguru: This is scientific temperament.
“I don't care a damn who you are!” This is not science. Without knowing who you are, if I don't care a damn for
you, obviously I am some kind of a negative religion, isn't it? So we are not religious people. We have a very scientific temperament –
always asking questions and questions and questions. You should not kill that in the schools,
they must ask questions. What is written in the textbook is not absolute.
Hello? Participants: Yes. Sadhguru: This happened... (Pointing to someone)
Raogaru, can I tell a joke, is it okay? Okay. Because usually principals are considered
very serious (Laughter), at least children think so (Laughs). This was in London. This was one of those socialite dinners
where all kinds of people were there. A very... a profound scientist also was invited.
He was a quiet man sitting there. Nobody noticed him because he's not dressed like that,
he's not acting like this, nor is he drunk or anything. To be noticed in a party you must be
either dressed in a bizarre way, or you must be talking in a bizarre way,
or you must be at least drunk (Few Laugh). He was not any of those things,
so nobody noticed him, he just sat. And a very high society lady came and settled down
next to him, she ignored him and she was busy. Then just out of simple courtesy she looked at him
and asked him, “What do you do?” The scientist said, he said “I am studying science.” She said “Oh, you are studying science?
I was done with it in my high school (Laughter)!” What to do (Laughs)? We think we can be done with science,
there's no such thing. It is not done with a textbook, it's not done with a PhD,
it's not done with anything, it's a constant inquiry. This sense of inquiry is deeply,
deeply ingrained within this culture, because we've always been a land of seekers. We sought maybe an inner nature,
but we have the temperament to seek. We are not a land of believers, you can't make us believe
what's written in the textbook, we will question. This is the nature of who we are because
we've always been a land of seekers – we have never been a land of believers. This must continue in a more aggressive way.
People are trying to subdue this. No. More questioning should happen than ever before because if you don't raise questions,
then human intelligence will slowly sleep. Maybe putting it to sleep is better than turning
it against yourself – that may be the logic. As you have heard, this word is being used everywhere. Suppose somebody is doing yoga,
we say he is doing sadhana. Tch. The word sadhana has been misunderstood as practice.
Sadhana means a tool. That means we are turning this body, this mind, this intelligence, this memory,
this emotion, this energy, into a tool. These are my tools. To live this life these are my tools, isn't it?
What are the… what else do you have? This is all you got. If the tools that you have don't work for you,
they will become a nuisance. And tools are of immense value.
Human beings… we as human beings, we are who we are on this planet, compared to other creatures,
only because of our ability to use tools. Is that so? I'm seeking a higher opinion (Laughter). Those… those up there.... (Laughter) Hello? Is that so?
Participants: Yes. Sadhguru: We are who we are only
because of our ability to use tools, isn't it? So for example, they were showing
the image of Dhyanalinga on the video. People come and when I'm speaking if I say…
if I refer to Dhyanalinga as a tool, some people get offended, “Sadhguru, how can you
call Dhyanalinga a tool? It’s more than our life!” I said “Then you do one thing, you come to
the yoga center, I'll give you some work, maybe plumbing maintenance work, no tools, you can do it with your hands,
use your nails, use your teeth if you wish. At the end of three days most of your nails
will be gone, some teeth will be gone. After three days, I will give you just one spanner,
will you worship the spanner or no?” Hello?
Participants: Yes. Sadhguru: Yes.
So you don't understand the power of a tool. So if this body, this intelligence, this bank of memory
that I have, these emotions, and these energies don't become effective tools in my life,
I am a disaster (Applause). Doesn't need any outside help. Why most people get married is, because they at least want to see I am miserable
because of somebody else (Laughter/Applause). They don't want to see they are
miserable by themselves. Because if you see them and they're not married,
they were anyway miserable, when they get married they have a good excuse.
“It's because tch…” (Laughter). There is a way to turn this into our tools.
These are our tools to be used for our well-being. And if when we are well… tell me when you
are feeling really wonderful within yourself, let's say you’re feeling blissed out right now, are you not wonderful to everything
and everybody around you? Hello? If you're feeling absolutely blissed out,
I'm sure if I come and meet you, you're an absolutely wonderful human being. But if I meet you when you're angry, frustrated,
miserable, you could be nasty, isn't it? Hello? This is true with every human being. So the fundamental insurance on this planet
to create a wonderful humanity is, first and foremost thing is, you must
be loyal to your wonderfulness (Applause). Everybody is wonderful here and there, but is it not important every moment of your life
you are loyal to your wonderfulness? If you are not loyal to anything else it doesn't matter, you are loyal to your wonderfulness – you are always
feeling wonderful within you, now we can trust you, that you are going to be wonderful to everybody. When you are feeling nasty, how to expect you
to be wonderful to everybody else? Please, somebody. Questioner 3: Myself, Seeman Sriwastav,
Gurugram Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan Sir, being the school leaders, we are often confronted
with the dilemma of being effective or popular. Sadhguruji, how do you manage both,
an unconventional yet popular? Thank you sir. Sadhguru: If you are not popular,
you will not be effective (Laughter/Applause). You may think you are effective, but
please know this, if you are not popular, when everybody works against you,
you're not going to be effective. You are not a one man army in a school, all right? Everybody has to cooperate willingly,
not forced forcefully. Only when everybody cooperates willingly,
then you are very effective – you can take it where you want, isn't it? Nobody wants to cooperate with you,
no way you are going to be effective. So popularity is important if you are
understanding popularity as compromise – no, I am not talking about populism, but popularity is
important. How will you become popular? Just yesterday somebody was asking me
in some meeting that I was in, “Sadhguru, I have a fourteen year old boy…” “Fourteen year old boy is trouble, I know.” Because I was a fourteen year old boy
at one time (Laughs), I was. I know he’s trouble. The lady was in tears, “I have a fourteen year old boy...” “I understand...” I said, “Don’t say anything more,
I understand. Fourteen year old boy” (Laughs). So the thing is, when you had a child when it was… when it was a little infant, mu, mu, mu, mu, mu, mu, mu, you loved it because you could twist it and turn it and
play with it whichever way you want. Yes? Then it became a three year old, it was crawling all
over the place. You also crawled with the baby, you played with the baby, you tried to speak like them,
cuckoopoobo, peekaboo, all that – everything was nice. Then he stood up, now he's become
a fourteen year old boy. What that means is he's trying to be his own. He wants to be a man, he’s in a hurry (Laughs)! But you still want to do mu, mu, mu, to him (Laughter). When you (Laughs)… when you crawled with
him when he was two, three years old, he also enjoyed it, but now he wants to swing.
You should also swing with him. But you still want to crawl, you still
want to do mu, mu, mu, it doesn't work. The best thing, if you want to be of some
value to your children, whether they are your own biological children
or they're studying with you, the most important thing is that when they see you, they must say,
“Wow, I want to be like this!” Yes? The other principal used the word ‘Aadharsh’.
How do you translate the Aadharsh into English? Participants: Ideal...
Sadhguru: Ideal, is it? Oh. Okay, let's use that. Ideal does not mean perfect, ideal means
something that everybody aspires to be. Participant: (Inaudible) Sadhguru: I'm sorry? Participant: (Inaudible) role model. Sadhguru: No, no, no, don't roll with the models,
that's not good (Laughter). Role model is a very Western thing. Ideal means something that everybody
aspires to be, one way or the other. So instead of being popular, you must be… become that kind of a person,
you don't have to say a thing, you become that kind of a person,
everybody wants to be like you. Do you know how easy to run a school then? Hello? All the kids want to be like you. So, that's a lot of exercise for you. You must learn to dance like them, you must like to
sing like them, you learn to speak like them, then they say “Wow, this is how I want to be.” Once they want to be like you,
there is no issue making it happen. Yes? Very simple.
I was doing a program for one of the top aware… you know, really one of the
largest multinational company in the world. Top twenty-five executives, it’s a two day event. I had nine volunteers with me - Isha Foundation
is a completely volunteer-run organization - and these nine volunteers were managing
everything for the program and on the second day, one of these executives asked me,
“Sadhguru, where do you get such people?” Because they are always looking for attrition, you know?
“Where do you get such people?” I said “You don't get them, you got to make them.”
“How do you make them?” I said “You have to make them fall in love with you.” So you must make them fall in love with you,not demand
something, you must make them fall in love with you. If they fall in love with you, oh, with your
little finger you can run the school. Rest of the nine fingers can do something
else, because they're all in love with you (Applause). This is what you need to do. If somebody has to fall in love with you,
what you… what you should do? You must shine a bit. Hello? Yes or no? You must shine a little bit. How to shine I won't tell you, because in
different atmospheres you have to shine differently (Laughs). If you shine the same way everywhere
it'll become ridiculous. In different places with different people
you have to shine differently. That means you must be absolutely flexible
– right now principal means (Gestures). I am not saying all of you are like that,
that’s the kind I saw (Applause). So that's why I rarely went to the school,
unless it was a must. I never went there. What is that? I don't want to be near that kind of person,
so I didn't go there. So, not all children may be as enterprising
as me, who found various ways not to go there (Laughs). Poor children they end up there and they're constantly
with somebody that they don't like to be with, no wonder they'll create trouble.
Hello? They are always looking how to
put the teacher into trouble. I will tell you, this... you must come and see because
you’re educators when it's possible for you, please come and see this, don't go by my word. When we were creating the Isha Home School,
first day I called a group of people, none of them are teachers, even now, almost ninety
percent of them are not trained teachers. They are just doctors, engineers, accountants
well-educated intelligent people, but not trained to be teachers, because I don't
want them to come with the baggage of how to teach. I just told them, “You learn physics with them. You are a grown adult, can't you learn tenth
standard physics with them, along with them?” And they have become fantastic teachers now (Laughs),
by themselves, because it's the students who take it up. So they asked me “Sadhguru…” After I spoke for about six hours, they said
“How do we know that we are fulfilling your vision?” I said “This is all…” It's a residential school, so I said “See, at the end of the term, if
children are in tears to go back home that means you are doing well,
but if children are in tears when they come to school, that means you are not fulfilling
my vision (Laughs) (Applause).” Today you must come and see, at least thirty
to forty percent of the children when they are going for vacation, they are all in tears. At least fifteen percent of the children come
ten to fifteen days early to the school because they want to be part of setting up the school,
along with the teachers. That’s wonderful, they want to be there. When I said one year extra, all the children celebrated,
“Wow, one more year we are going to be in school!” When I was in school if they had told me
“One more year,” I said, “I quit!”(Laughter) So we must create a space where they want to be there. Well, you are running government-run schools,
not everything is in your hands. But your persona and how you do
things is in your hands. You may not be able to change the whole school. We have made the school almost like an art museum. I decided if we ever create an educational
institution, first of all children should le… learn to walk and move gently.
So we created very delicate art in the school. Believe me, in the last thirteen years’ time, not
one thing is broken – children maintain everything. We let them run the school sometimes. The finance of the school, the cooking,the
works that happens, one week in a year, they run the school, completely.
So they know this is important. They are not just there as recipients of something. They are part of making the school and
the school anthem says this, “I am the school – I'm not in the school,
I am the school.” Because without the children, where is the school? It’s the children are the school, isn't it? We must bring this in their emotion and thought that
“You are the school, not me. I am a principal, but I'm not the school,
you are the school, isn't it? I'm only facilitating but you are the real school.
Without you, where is the school?” If this comes into them, I'm sure you can
create to whatever extent possible. The ideal may not happen, but we can aspire towards it. Please. Mic Runner: Hello.
Please Sir, one question from this row, Sir… Sadhguru: Where…Where are you?
Oh…Upper regions. Questioner 4(Jyoti): Sir, I’m Mrs.Jyoti from Bhopal.
Sadhguru: Namaskaram. Questioner 4(Jyoti): I have a question.
Rather, I need your guidance. With the influence of the modern culture,
there's a tremendous amount of change in the society where the media is playing a very big role and
that we find a change in the values system in our new generation. Please guide us how do we cope up with this
change in the values among our children. Thank you. Sadhguru: Mhmm (Indicates agreement).
See, this is not a…a new problem. This has been an age-old problem.
Every generation thinks the next generation is loose. Did you… Did you not face such things with your parents,
I'm asking? They thought you were not okay (Laughter).
You are thinking the next generation is not okay. We are making the same mistake with every generation.
Well, for me, personally, I wish it becomes
like this for everybody. For me personally, my integrity is not because of my morality. My integrity is because of my humanity (Applause). This is the only value we must have –
that we are human. Rest of the values are all made up by us,
isn’t it? Your values may not agree with me,
my values may not agree with you. But I don't have any so
you don't have to agree with me (Laughter). The important thing is our humanity is
not compromised at any time. Because many, many times our morality, our
values, our ethics are against our own humanity. So-called moral people are doing inhuman things
to each other, isn't it? Hello?
Participants: Yes. Sadhguru: In the name of religion, in the
name of morality, in the name of ethics and values, people have done terrible things to
each other, isn't it so? So what does humanity mean? See, every other creature on this planet goes
by its instinct. It has no ethic, it has no value, it has no
philosophy, it has no religion. Whether it's a grasshopper or a tiger, both
of them have no values or ethics or anything. They go by their instincts –they instinctively
react to everything. This is why we call tiger, a tiger.
A grasshopper, a grasshopper. An elephant, an elephant. Only you…Only you we call you a human being. This means you are supposed to
know how to be, tch. How far away from that are we (Laughs)? If you knew how to be, would you be wonderful
or nasty, I'm asking? Participants: Wonderful. Sadhguru: If you had a choice and you know how to be,
would you be wonderful every moment of your life? Or would you be nasty?
Wonderful! If you are wonderful, as we have already gone through this, you would naturally be wonderful to everything else. You don't need values.
You do…See I always… I wonder (Laughs) what kind of
teaching is this, really? Somebody tried to tell me this when I was in United
States and I said, “This is not even a teaching for me.” Somebody says, “Thou shall not kill, thou
shall not rob your neighbor.” It never occurred to me either
to rob my neighbor or to kill him. Why do you even telling me such a thing? Because it never occurred to me that I have
to rob my neighbor or to kill my neighbor. It is not even a teaching for me. If your humanity is on, this is not
a teaching at all, isn't it? If your humanity is switched off, then maybe
you need these things, “Thou shall not kill, thou shall not rob,
thou shall not do this or that.” But if your humanity is on, why? So what being human means is, see you see
all the animals? It's happening everywhere... You might not have seen the wild animals doing it. But at least you see the dogs on the street
peeing all over the place. You think he has a urinary tract problem?
No, he is building a pee kingdom. He is setting his boundaries all the time. So the fundamental thing about being human is, we can
live here without any sense of boundary within myself. A human being means you are capable of erasing the
boundaries, physical boundaries that we naturally have. Beyond that we can operate, beyond that
we can reach out, beyond that we can function, beyond that we can think and feel – you can
go beyond what is mine and what is not mine. All other creatures go by what is mine and what is not
mine –this is my territory, that is your territory. But human being has the capacity to go beyond that. If you do not exercise that, well, we will have to say
you are a human creature, not a human being. Human being means you are able to wipe out
the boundaries. As you know, in the human brain, there is
a reptilian brain about the size of a fist. That part of your brain is always trying to
establish boundaries. But the cerebral cortex is always seeing
how to expand your boundaries. If you empower that dimension which we call
as human being, there is also human creature within us. We are a product of evolution,
so all these animals are still in us. This is why a… in yoga, all the asanas are
named after animals because we are working how we can transcend this animal nature and
we can genuinely become a human being. That means how I am is decided by me – not
by any nature, not by any other force other than me, how I am within myself. If this one thing if we do, if this we inculcate in our
children, we don't have to worry about their morality as long as they are wonderful human beings,
especially if they are not like you. Is it not great, they are not like you? It's very important, next generation does something that
we could not imagine possible. Isn’t it so? Hello?
Participants: Yes. Sadhguru: Should next generation do only
what we think is right? No, they must do something that
you could not even imagine possible. But if we do not inculcate in them what it
means to be human, if we do not stir up their humanity
in a big way at an early age, then they will become human animals – dangerous. Other animals don't have the needed intelligence
so we can easily control them. Human animal is very dangerous.
So we should not breed human animals. We must stir up the humanity in such a way
that our humanity is the first… is the face of who we are.
Everything else is behind it. My likes and dislikes, my moral, my values,
my belief systems, my gods, my angels, my heavens all should follow our humanity.
Humanity should be the face of who you are. This is what you need to bring in our children
(Applause). Questioner 5: Namaskar Sadhguru ji, to the right,
you'll have to look to the higher opinion balcony. Sadhguru: Yes Sir. Where are you? Questioner 5: Iam Ajay Panth from Lucknow and
my humble salutations to you. Sadhguru: Oh. Questioner 5: My question is,what is your message to
those who believe in running down the power of faith, values and the basic ethos of India… Sadhguru: I thought I just ran them down myself.
Questioner 5: Yes (Sadhguru Laughs). No, no, there is a basic ethos of faith and value.
So, is it right to run them down? And what do you have to say to such people?
And the second question, if you choose to answer is what makes you happy and what makes you sad?
Thank you. Sadhguru: (Laughs) Let me answer your
second question first. I've kept certain privileges to myself – that is
being happy, unhappy, being loving or hateful, being this way or that way or what happens within me,
whatever, I have not given those privileges to anybody, I kept it to myself (Applause).
I decide whether I am happy or unhappy. If you decided whether you're happy or unhappy,
would you keep yourself happy or unhappy? If you let something or somebody decide, then
you being happy is a remote case. So coming to values of faith, and what?
Faith and values, I want you to understand sir, this is not a land of faith.
Faith is an imported idea for us. This is a land of seekers. Seeking means you have realized that
you do not know. See, suppose you're walking on the street
and you do not know which way to go, do you see suddenly you're so humble and nice.
“Sir, which way?” You think you know where to go (Gestures),
yes or no? So you must walk like this, sir, in your school also like
you do not know, because you actually do not know. Yes or no?
Participants: Yes. Sadhguru: What we know of this existence,
of this creation just a minuscule, isn't it? Our knowledge about this cosmos is a speck,
isn't it so? So if you identify with your knowledge, religious
or otherwise, you will become a speck. This is why in the yogic culture we always identify with
our ignorance because our ignorance is boundless. Yes. And if you see... to know that
‘I do not know’ is a wonderful thing because the possibility of knowing arises in your life. Only if you see “I do not know,” the longing
to know, the seeking to know and the possibility of knowing becomes a reality in your life. Everything you do not know you believe and
you call that faith. “Whatever I do not know, I just believe.
I just believe there is a big man sitting up there. He does everything. And that's it, if you don't believe
we’ll have you dead.” This is faith. This doesn't belong to our country.
Here, everybody does their... The beautiful thing about our nation is we
are an eternally confused nation. Yes, it's wonderful because we have realized
we don't know a damn thing about this life. In the middle of nowhere... I'm saying this cosmos where it begins
where it ends, nobody knows. In the middle of nowhere, this tiny circle of
fourteen planets spinning around one little star and you and me sitting here and talking like this
as if we know everything, is it not fantastic? Hello? (Laughter) Yes or no?
Participants: Yes. Sadhguru: We don't know damn thing! And here we are
running schools, telling everybody that we know. No, we must tell them we don't know, you don't
know, maybe we can push our knowing one step forward in this generation. It'll be fantastic.
Hmm? One step forward from where we are.
But faith means you just believe. Everything you do not know you believe. What belief does to you is, it gives you
confidence without clarity. This’s a disaster. Confidence without clarity is a disastrous process. Because if your vision is not clear, at least
you must be hesitant, isn't it? You cannot see and you're confident,
we know where you're going. Yes or no? You're very serious lot.
Can I tell you a joke at least (Laughter)? Hello? Participants: Yes. Sadhguru: Iam... I want to tell a joke sir,
because (Laughter) children will like it. There were two young boys...there were two
young boys, brothers, very energetic. When young boys are very energetic, they're
constantly in trouble, you know? These boys are in some kind of
trouble all the time. The parents are very embarrassed because the
whole neighborhood is discussing their boys. They want to fix them.
But (Laughs) you are all school teachers, probably you’ve forgotten,
but I'm sure most of you have your own children. You know that it's easy to reproduce, but
you can't really fix your children. If you have the necessary love and commitment,
you can wait their problems out. But you can't really fix it, isn't it so?
Hello? Participants: Yes. Sadhguru: With love and commitment if you
waited, many problems go away. But if you try to fix it fix it,
child will go away (Laughter). That's all that’ll happen. So the parents don't know how to fix it, so they decided
to take these children to their local parish..parish priest. Because together they are very strong, they
decided to take them separately. They took the younger boy first to the priest’s
office, made him sit there and the parents left. The priest walked in with his
long brown color robes. You know, these things need a little bit of
drama otherwise they don't work. Faith needs drama always,
otherwise it doesn't work. So he walked up and down, and up and down
with a grave face. The little boy sat there looking at the priest
doing the ping pong act, then the priest is thinking of a strategy. Then he thought “If I remind this little fellow God is
within him, God is within him, all his mischief will go.” This is the best thing about life, those who have never
raised children have fantastic ideas (Few Laugh). Those who have raised children know none of your
goddamn fantastic ideas ever work (Laughter). So, mid-stride he stopped and with a booming
voice, he said, “Where is God?” The little boy look bewildered, he looked all over, because the God must be somewhere
in the priest’s office (Few Laugh). Then the priest saw, he's not getting the point,
so he wants to give him a clue. So he leaned on the table pointing at the
little boy’s chest – he is indicating, God is inside, “Where is God?”
He asked. The boy looked even more bewildered and
looked under the table. Then the priests saw,
“Oh, he's not getting it.” He walked around came closer, tapping on the little boy’s
chest, “Where is God?” It's here he is indicating, but the boy got up and bolted out of the room, ran to the place where his elder brother was,
“...(panting) You know we are in real trouble!” The older boy asked “Why, what happened?” He said “They have lost their god and they
think we did it (Laughter/Applause)!” So, we are always trying to propagate things
which doesn't make an iota of sense, and we expect the children to listen to that. See, this simple idea – that there is a God sitting up
there, uperwala (Referring to Hindi language-God). I'm asking you a simple question
because many of you are... all of your teachers, science, geography, everything. You definitely teaching the children planet is round, yes?
Hello? Participants: Yes. Sadhguru: Do you believe that also?
Hello? You believe that.
Participants: Yes. Sadhguru: And it is also spinning, it’s
a round planet and it's also spinning – if you look up, invariably you looking up
in the wrong direction. Hello? I'm asking in this cosmos, do you know which
side is up, which side is down? Is it somewhere marked sir, if I missed because
I didn't do much schooling, I might have missed it. Is it somewhere marked “this side up?”
Hello? Then how come you don't know which side is up,
but you know who is up? How come? How is this?
And you expect children to swallow this? These things only worked when
the technology was different. When I say technology, see there are
two ways to handle a question. If you ask a question, you make an attempt
to answer if you know something about it. If you don't know, you say I don't know. Another way of handling the question is –
kill the questioner. This is a very effective way of handling the question. For last couple of thousand years this is how
we’ve handled it, you ask a question, you're dead. Question is gone. So let's not bring that back again. Let it be so that human mind is fertile – not with
answers, not with stupid beliefs, but with questions. But when you ask a question, you must understand
the fundamental basis of a question is, I do not know. You already assumed it does not exist and
ask a question. You already assumed that it does exist and
ask a question. That's not a question. That is trickery, isn't it? The purpose of a question is to dig deeper,
the purpose of a question is not to prove something. Yes or no? You don't ask a question to prove this or that, you ask
a question because you genuinely want to know. If you inculcate this in the children, faith
will go but humanity will rise (Applause). Questioner 6: Pranam Sir.
I am Sanjay Kumar from Prayagraj. Sir, it is said about education that education
is for life and not for seeking a merely livelihood. How do we teach children to strike a balance? Sadhguru: As I said earlier,
India is not one nation. There are many layers of India, in different
levels of comfort, different levels of existence actually. If you ask me, let's say...let's take this
as an example. How many or what percentage of people in this
country can even sit in a space like this? Not even two percent, yes or no? This is not some fantastic heavenly place,
this is a reasonably comfortable place. But how many people or what percentage of
people can even sit in a space like this? It’s two percent or less, isn’t it so? So when this is the case, we cannot answer
this question as one standard. As I said earlier, there are different levels of education
which we need to do. Unfortunately, it is so. It is unfortunate that this is the reality,
but that is the reality. If we don't work with reality then that will
be even more unfortunate. We have to address different people at
different stages. Children who... I'm... I’m just you know, I was at the under twenty-five
conference in Bangalore two days ago, they were asking me, “Sadhguru, what is the difference
you find between youth of your times?” I said, “This is also my time” (Laughs). They said “No, no, no, when you were a youth, what…
how they were and today how we are, what do you see?” I said, “See, when we were growing up, our parents,
even though they were reasonably well-to-do, largely they were concerned about
our livelihood. Always the question is, ‘How will you survive?
How will you survive?’ When I showed no interest in education, I said,
‘I'll do my own thing.’ They said, ‘How will you survive?’ That was the only question because at that time if you
did not have educational qualification that they desire, you would lose your life,
you would be on the street. But today, for a whole lot of people, not
for everybody yet unfortunately, but for a whole lot of parents at least in urban societies,
if a child doesn’t get educated, he may at the most lose his lifestyle,
but he will not lose his life. That's a big difference.” That's a huge difference (Applause) in the
evolution of a nation, isn't it? And when we were growing up, we were always
thinking about the nation, we want to cause a revolution,
what about the world? Should we cause a global revolution –
these kind of thoughts. But today children are thinking only about
their personal aspirations because the larger situation is much better than
the way it was when we were growing up. Even though we grew up in reasonably well-to-do
families, very well-to-do families I would say, not maybe rich but well-to-do that there
is no problem for survival kind of families. But in spite of that in our parents’ minds,
the only question is, “How will you survive? How will you survive?” Today parents are
not thinking like that, parents are thinking “How will you make it?
What creative things can you do?” Sport, art, music, everything they are thinking.
This is evolution of nation. But unfortunately the evolution of this nation
is not symmetrical to all levels of population. So we cannot answer this question as one question
– there are many layers. And telling a poor family where they are very
concerned about the survival of their child, telling them to unleash the genius and do
something, something, will be cruel upon the parents and the student because the mindset
also is like that. So we need to address this more sensitively
rather than just one prescription. Please mam.
Questioner 7: (Speaks in Hindi – not transcribed). I am Kashyapi and the question that I would
be asking is that I get confronted in lot of leadership workshops that I conduct with
school principals. I'm asked that being a school principal in
government schools, I am most of the time lowest in the hierarchy of
decision makers, yet expected to lead. I am expected to be creative yet follow all the
instructions and the curriculum or things given to me. I am judged for the learning outcomes of the children yet
I’m responsible for the holistic development of the child. And many such dilemma, I'm told we are caught
up in wherein I would choose to do one thing but expected to do the other. How do I lead therefore not just the self,
the school as also the society? Sadhguru: What you read out is like the job
description (Laughter). See, most of the things that you said are
the challenges that every parent also faces, isn't it so? Yes? Almost every parent, even if they have one
or two children, still they go through the same thing. Your problem is of scale (Laughs) and your problem is
they are with you for a limited number of hours and a parent can judge a few things for themselves,
but you have rules, regulations. Well, as I said earlier, right now, we should
start relaxing this as we go. But till now, we have largely been concerned
about how to get all children into the education system, scale has been our only challenge. Quality is not something that we've been able
to address seriously. We've addressed to some extent, but not in a very big
way because scale has been largest challenge. Nearly I think three hundred million children
are in school in this country. Three hundred million children in school,
I think it's the only nation on the planet which have that many people in school. How to create even a reasonable sense of education
for three hundred million children? It's not…(Laughs) it is the population of
United States almost, if you take away the Mexicans,
that's the population of United States. So, with that kind of school population, how
to make it artistic, futuristic and this, this? No, it's too difficult, it's... it's too much
to expect from the schools. I think with whatever people think is a bit...
maybe the rest of the world or affluent countries think we are
a little archaic in our school system. But still, when it comes to education, academics,
we're at least setting up strong foundations. Because I see when Indian students go out to the rest of
the world, they do absolutely well because they find what is there is so simple and easy compared to
what they went through with you (Laughs). Yes, I met many Kendriya Vidyalaya students, they go to
American universities and they find it's a play because they were tortured sufficiently in
twelfth standard (Laughter/Applause). Now they go to undergrad and it's nothing
– three years they just play, really. So, at this stage of development for this
country, I think that's very needed. That we are doing well in the world. Maybe we are not able to focus on really unleashing
human genius. See, this is the whole thing. If you look at an Indian student and for example,
the most affluent nation is United States. If you take America as a standard,
at the age of eighteen, how grounded Indian students are in their subjects and
how grounded they are, is way apart. We are way better than that. But at the same time, the amount of genius
that they unleash, the amount of incredible things that people do by the time they are
twenty-four in that country, doesn't happen here. Simply because there is… we are still trying
to do mass education with little regimentation because without regimentation, you cannot
do mass education. So this is a… this is a situation. This is a situational challenge. This is the challenge
of the times in which we live for this nation. But we must… as somebody said the adarsh
must be there. What is the ideal? We must be slowly inching towards it. If you try to get there too fast, we will crack up the whole
system that we have established.That will be a disaster. We should not destroy the existing system
of education. No. It has served its purpose, in its own limited way.
But it served its purpose. It has taken care of a generation of people.
You cannot destroy that. I'm not speaking against it at any point,
but we must evolve it slowly – push it, push it, push it. This pushing is not possible for all the three
hundred million children at once. So we must focus on specialized schools. I would like to plead… the minister is not here.
He is in the parliament, I think today. Otherwise, I would like to plead, the private
schools, release them from all curriculum things. I’m…I'm talking like this. Please listen to me
carefully, don't misunderstand me. I'm saying, suppose I'm running a school,
I will teach rubbish. Hmm? And I will charge enormously, but the parents
like it and the children like it. Why should the government have any problem
(Few Laugh)? Yes. You think if I'm teaching rubbish, parents
and children would come? Hello? Participants: No. Sadhguru: But let's say, I'm teaching rubbish.
But the parents love it and the children love it. Do you believe that any teacher or
any government or any ministry is concerned about a child more than their own parents?
Hello? No. Parent is the highest concern value, in a
child's life, isn't it? So if the parents decide this is a good school
for my child, why should the government say this is not a good school?
It should not enter that space. Either in terms of curriculum or in terms
of fee, they should not. Only then we can breed a different level of education
because that education cannot be mass education. That will be specialized.
It's unfortunate every child will not get it. But if we want to build leaders in every arena
of life – of science, sport, mathematics and whatever and whatever, including leadership,
it's important specialized schools are established, which will cost unfortunately in today's world.
And we can always… A private school can always decide, they can
take a percentage of children who cannot afford it mainly for their intelligence. But specialized schools are needed
if we want to push it ahead. If our intent is we will take all the three
hundred million children at once at the same level. Believe me, we will be at least fifty years
behind the rest of the world. Questioner 8: Swamiji, (Speaks in Hindi – not
transcribed). Sadhguru: I think we have addressed this till
now in so many different ways that's what I'm saying. We need specialized schools for different
things. You come to a regular school, you want to
do so much of physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology, this, that, everything. And you want to become a Olympic medal winner. These things are not going to happen. Unfortun… Fortunately, a few people have done this in
spite of all these (Laughs) restrictions in our country, but it will never become big
like this. So if somebody is you know, really good at
sport, has inclination and passion towards it, he should not be troubled with these things. We have a wrong idea of education. We think only if you get graduation, these
degrees and degrees, without any purpose, we think this is education. Now nobody asks what is
Sachin Tendulkar’s education. All he did was hit the ball, hit the ball,
hit the ball – now you made him Bharat Ratna (Laughter). Isn’t it? Don't we need some more Ratnas in the country
for different aspects of life? That is because somebody devoted themselves
to just hitting the ball – no chemistry, no mathematics, no nonsense (Laughter). Yes! Because we must understand in the learning
capability of a child, one who is good at mathematics may not be good at
literature, one who is good at thearer… theater, may not be simply… not good at sport. But everybody must go through everything – that
is good till they are probably twelve years of age, so that they're exposed to everything. After twelve years of age, every child should
start moving towards a specialized segment. Otherwise you will not
produce profound competence. You will produce those kind of people who
can be only employed as clerks or something else of that category where they will fit
into any office and do simple file pushing work. We must understand the very education in our
country was crafted for that – to produce clerks. They found Indians make very
good clerks around the world because they were planning to conquer the whole world. Wherever they went, they found the British people don't
make good clerks but Indians make such good clerks. Because they are naturally… you know, any
authority means we bow down. We have touched our parents’ feet
and grown up. So when somebody elderly or somebody bigger
than us speaks, we like this (Gestures). They thought this is an ideal condition and
they crafted this education (Applause). The moment we got our independence, we should
have turned the education upside down. As it is necessary for independent India,
which we have not done. Maybe there were many difficulties,
I don’t want to do postmortem and make… take a judgment on those people. But now a time has come that we should start
turning it around. We can't flip it around tomorrow morning –
then it may break. We have to start turning it around,start working towards that adarsh or the ideal condition that we are thinking of. Sport, art, music, theater – every dimension
of life is a wealth for this nation, isn't it? It's not just… It is not just mathematicians (Laughs).
Mathematicians won't come out of this. It is not just clerks, managers, teachers
and scientists who make the nation. A nation is made by all site… sorts of talent. These talents if we don't nurture at an early
age, how will we do it? It's simply… you know that age is going
further and further down. Just a week ago I was at the Prakash Padukone
and Rahul Dravid Center of Excellence. There these children…
I asked what age do you start this badminton? Because when Prakash Padukone won his all
England championship in 1980, that was the first time a whole lot of
Indians heard the word badminton. Most people did not know what is badminton. But today we have at least half a dozen players
who are of the topmost international level. This has happened because of
that one man's dedication. And from him, few people came out and they
started academies. These children who are in these academies,
they go to school, study the regular stuff and they must get ninety-eight marks. Even if they get ninety-eight out of hundred, parents
question “Where is the other two percent” (Laughter)? But they have to become badminton champions.
I said, “This is not fair.” All the parents are assembled in the thing.
I said, “If you want… if you find the child is
physically fit and passionate about the game, willing to dedicate himself…” because it's hard work,
day in and day out. It's not a like going to school. Every day, you are up at 05:00 o'clock, running
in the morning, doing things, endlessly working out. If your child is willing to do all that, you
shouldn't trouble him with education. The kind of education you think…sport is
an education by itself. Music is an education by itself. This is how
this culture has always been nourished. We produce some of the greatest mathematicians,
greatest musicians, greatest dancers in this country, simply because those who went into those
gharanas to learn music, did only music and music. Today that's what we brought in our Isha Samskriti.
There they are doing music, they do only music. You won't believe today I have at least half
a dozen children who grew up with us who are in the age groups of twenty to twenty-two...
eighteen to twenty-two, I would say. If you don't see their faces, if they just sing,
if they sing classical music, you bring any expert. Let them just listen to their classical music. They will think they are at least forty-fifty year old
musicians with twenty-thirty years of experience. That's how they sing. Because from the age of six, they have soaked
in music into themselves. We didn't… did not trouble them with geography,
history, this, that. Only thing is, we do workshops like Bharat Darshan.
They travel around the country to see the country every year, and we do some simple workshops
for arithmetic and banking and accounting so that they know how to handle their
money in future, that's about it. And they know how to speak Sanskrit language, they
converse in and they speak English language very well. They can read and write anything.
What they read, they can understand, that's about it. Rest is only music and music and music. If we don't do this, we will not produce any
kind of excellence in any field. Everybody will know a bit of everything but
they will not be good at anything. Questioner 8: Sir, I want to ask that how education is an
art and it is being seen that we are imposing competition in present era, on the student, sir.
What do you feel about that, sir? Thank you. Sadhguru: Well, in 2017 the statistics say
over 18,000 children, that is below eighteen years of age committed suicide in this country. Out of which
7600 children were below fifteen years of age. Twelve, thirteen, fourteen year old children, when
they should be a bundle of exuberance and joy at that li… at that time of their life,
if they are taking their own life… our children. 7600 children in the age group of twelve to
fifteen committed suicide in one year. That means we must understand we are doing
something fundamentally wrong, absolutely wrong. There's simply no question about it.
This is not a statistic. I'm asking. Let's ask ourselves if our children, not as grown-ups, but
at the age of twelve or thirteen, they committed suicide, would you ever come out of it, I'm asking you? Because
you know you've done something fundamentally wrong, isn't it? Hello?
Participants: Yes. Sadhguru: If 7600 children committed suicide,
in that age group, we must know we are doing something fundamentally wrong.
All of us need to look at it. What can we do so that this doesn't happen? This means as a nation, as a society, we have taken a
wrong step when it comes to raising our children (Applause). So this person standing up here, no? Speaker: Thank you…
I'm afraid we don't have any more time for questions. Sadhguru: Okay.
I would like to just acknowledge all of you. And I want all of you to remember the significance
of the roles that you have taken. A nation is built by many people. We need engineers, we need doctors, we need
politicians – we need various kinds of people. Among all these people, the most significant
thing about the generation that is next, is the teachers (Applause). And everything that you do today, will blossom
probably after your life is over. And this is the significance of human nature
that we are not looking at, “We did this today,
this today, it has to come back to me.” It's not a business transaction that you're
planting seeds, which will blossom well after your time but that is the greatest thing about
being a teacher. My humble Pranams to all of you (Applause),
for the great work that all of you are doing. I've heard such fabulous things about the
Kendriya Vidyalayas. I have met many of your students whether they
were under you or your predecessors, and many of them who are successful in various parts
of the world always look back on their experience of Kendriya Vidyalaya as a stabilizing factor
in their lives. So thank you very much for having me here. In whichever way we can be of assistance to this whole
movement of schools, which are over 1200 I heard, we are always willing to
do that for you. If you want any kind of a simple form of yoga
or Upayoga for the children, which I feel is very very fundamental to bring a more
stable chemistry in the child, because that is a ta... that is a time
when children are going through... you are handling children whose chemistry is
changing rapidly beyond their understanding. It is very important there are systems to
stabilize that change, not to suppress that change,
but to stabilize that change. So, in whichever way we can serve you, we
are always available for you. I am deeply deeply humbled to be with so many of
you here. Thank you very much. (Applause)
This thug guru should not be allowed in govt schools.
from the video info page
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During a talk at the Kendriya Vidyalaya Principals Conference, Sadhguru looks at India’s education system, how schools need to be structured for a child’s genius to unfold, and how teachers can contribute in this.
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Questions from principals 12 mins or so
https://youtu.be/izej8-VMF88?t=754