Philosophy and Yoga of Sri Aurobindo and other Essays - Yoga And Education

YOGA AND EDUCATION

 I

The Meaning of Education and Yoga

There is at present a need to clarify the meaning and aim of Education, just as it is necessary to clarify the meaning and aim of Yoga. Yoga is often identified exclusively with Hatha Yoga and thus its true psychological nature remains quite veiled. Similarly, Education is often identified with vocational training or with some kind of mental culture, but its fundamental nature of integral psychological process remains quite veiled.

"Yoga", as Swami Vivekananda has said, "may be regarded as a means of compressing one's evolution into a single life or a few months or even a few hours of bodily existence." And, Education too, when rightly understood, would mean a rapid psychological process towards perfection. Education is a search for knowledge, and it is a search for values. It is also an uncovering of the layers of faculties, cultivation of them and perfection of them. It is a process of the discovery of the self, and it aims at a true self-knowledge, which gives liberation from ego and imperfections. Sa vidya ya vimuktaye. Education is a search for that knowledge which would fulfil oneself individually and as a harmonious member of the universe. But this is also the meaning of Yoga. By Yoga, says Sri Aurobindo, "We mean ... a methodised effort towards self-perfection by the expression of the potentialities latent in the being and a union of the human individual with the universal and transcendent existence we see partially expressed in man and in the cosmos."

In the right view of Yoga and of Education, we find, Education and Yoga are one and identical process.

II

The need for Research in Yoga for Purposes of New Education

In our own times, there is a crisis in the field of knowledge. With the advancement of Science, there has come about an accelerated process of accumulation of knowledge of Facts and also the manipulation of Facts. But it has also come to be realised that Science cannot give the knowledge of Values. And yet, it is increasingly felt that the knowledge of Values is even more important than the knowledge of Facts. How then to attain the knowledge of Values?

Moreover, mere knowledge of Values is not sufficient. In Education, we would like to develop those methods by which values would spontaneously grow and manifest among those who are being educated. What are then the best methods by which students can be so trained as to enable them to embody the highest Values?

Yoga is the answer to these questions. Yoga gives the knowledge of Values and the methods of embodying Values. But it should be stressed that Yoga is neither religion, nor morality, nor philosophy. Its attitude and method are entirely scientific. Yoga aims at a direct contact, verifiable experience and union with the Supreme Value.

It is noteworthy that the logic of modern experiments in educational methodology seems to point to the need of a yogic orientation in education. The ideas of individual differentiation, the stress on multiple methods of teaching for different categories of students, recognition of the phenomena of genius, insistence on the development of the latent faculties of the child, emphasis on creativity and on an integral development of personality, and an ardent attempt at implementing the idea of freedom, and that of consulting the child in his own development - these have created a new atmosphere perfectly ready for a plunge in the direction where the truths of Yoga will be found increasingly relevant.

But in the past, -Yoga has largely been and more particularly so in the middle past, life-negating. On the other hand, modern education is science-based; and in science and technology, there is the affirmation of Life and of Life in Matter. Science-based education is thus life-affirming education. If, therefore, Yoga is to be relevant to modern education, it will have to cease to be life-negating. A life-affirming Yoga is a necessity, and a research in this Yoga is centrally relevant to the solution of the modern problems of education.

It is also important to note that Education Commission Report have directed that education in India should be science-based and yet in coherence with the spiritual values. Indeed, if this recommendation is to be implemented, the research in Yoga which reconciles Spirit and Matter is indispensable.

Indeed, there has been a good deal of research in Yoga since a number of decades in the wake of the Renaissance in India, and a good deal of experimentation has been attempted to relate this research to the problems of

education. It is in the light of this research and experimentation that we can make a few suggestions that would be useful in arriving at a new yogic basis of education and the way in which Yoga can permeate the entire spirit of education and even in the actual processes of education.

III

New Education in the Light of Recent Research in Yoga

Yoga and yogic research affirm that there are principles and means by which there can be achieved a greater perfection of the body, life and mind than can ordinarily be conceived or imagined. It is also affirmed that there are great hidden faculties and powers which can be awakened by a methodised effort. Finally, there is a supreme affirmation that there are great psychological superconscient states and powers which are central to the creative and integral perfection of personality.

But a mere learning about Yoga is not Yoga, and even the most catholic book on Yoga cannot be a substitute for the direct yogic practice. Nor can Yoga be practised in a casual way or only as a part-time preoccupation. Yoga to be properly practised must be taken up as a sovereign and central occupation and it must govern and permeate every aspect of life and its activity. Yogic research affirms that there is no aspect of life or knowledge which cannot be dealt with by Yoga and that therefore there is no need to make a gulf between Yoga and Life, between yogic knowledge and mundane knowledge.

All disciplines of knowledge can in this view be made the vehicles of yogic knowledge. In the words of Sri Aurobindo:

The Yogin's aim in the sciences that make for knowledge should be to discover and understand the workings of the Divine Consciousness- Puissance in man and creatures and things and forces, her creative significances, her execution of mysteries, the symbols in which she arranges the manifestation. The Yogin's aim in the practical sciences, whether mental and physical or occult and psychic, should be to enter into the ways of the Divine and his processes, to know the materials and means for the work given to us so that we may use that knowledge for a conscious and faultless expression of the spirit's mastery, joy and self-fulfilment. The Yogin's aim in the Arts should not be a mere aesthetic, mental or vital gratification, but, seeing the Divine everywhere, worshipping it with a revelation of the meaning of its works, to express that One Divine in gods and men and creatures and objects. The theory that sees an intimate connection between religious aspiration and the truest Art is in essence right; but we must substitute for the mixed and doubtful religious motive a spiritual aspiration, vision, interpreting experience. For the wider and more comprehensive the seeing, the more it contains in itself the sense of the hidden Divine in humanity and in all things and rises beyond a superficial religiosity into the spiritual life, the more luminous, flexible, deep and powerful will the Art be that springs from the high motive.

In the light of life-affirming Yoga, life is meaningful, and life itself could be so organised as to serve as a natural

means of education. Also, a complete yogic education is a life-long process, and yet, in so far as it truly gives a meaning to the life-development, it must determine the entire process of the education of the child and the youth. The secret of this life-long education is a constant aspiration for progress and perfection, a thirst for progress, and a zeal, utsaha, for self-perfection should govern the rhythm and law of self-development. To progress constantly is to remain young perpetually, and constant progress comes by perpetual education.

To limit the hours of education during the day and during the year, to organise education on the idea of finishing it one day, to bifurcate education in curricular and extra- curricular courses, to regard studies as work and games as a mere play and pastime, to give exclusive value to reading, writing, reasoning and eloquence and to regard all else as secondary or a mere decoration, -- these tendencies are inimical to the conception of all life as education, and all education as Yoga.

Yoga is essentially a creative process of the flowering of personality, and yogic research gives us the secret of the perfection and integration of personality. In recent times, a stress is being laid on education for an all-round personality. There has come about a recognition that there are in us various personalities, conflicting personalities, and thus conflicting potentialities of our profession. It has been pointed out that this entire domain of the secrets of the growth of personality has remained ignored, and the consequences are that most of us possess smothered personalities, and most often we are engaged in the work that has no correspondence with our real genius, with our inner delight of existence. Most of us live in deep suffering, alienated from ourselves. It is this inner suffering that causes ageing, and even in our youth we feel so often old

and worn out. These are indeed excellent ideas and they will have a valuable place in the New Education. But yogic research takes us to a still deeper perception. It fathoms into the secret of the true person behind all personalities and discovers there the real power of healing our conflicts and integrating the fullness of all personalities. This is a deep and precious Wisdom, the true self-knowledge of self-perfection, which reveals that the secret of perpetual youth is not a mere progression, but a deeper art of progression, namely, the constant harmonisation of our outer work and circumstances with the inner needs of the  manifestation of the powers of the real Person seated deep within us.

It is this secret of eternal youth that will be the inner soul of the New-Education.

The deepest yogic research affirms that:

There is a Supreme Reality that is constantly at work; it does not impose itself upon us, but manifests more and more effectively as we aspire to know it and to work for its manifestation.

It is this aspiration that must be lit in the temple of our hearts; and if it is lit and continues to burn, then, we are assured, we shall arrive.

A thousand-rayed sun of solid mass of knowledge illuminating, by an incessant downpour of its sheer lustre, the universal skies and the hidden and distant secrets of Matter, a most potent drive of energy and action, and an irresistible bursting forth of love, joy and marvellous forms of beauty - these are the new ideals which result from the recent yogic research, and which, if accepted, would infuse a new spirit in education.

IV

A Syllabus of Yoga

If all life is education, and if all education is Yoga, how shall we make and propose a programme of the study and practice of Yoga?

In a sense, there cannot be a formal syllabus of Yoga, which is a highly creative process, and which is to be the central and all-permeating thread of all processesof  education right from the earliest stages.

And yet, Yoga is a Shastra, a Science, and it is possible to study it and practise it with all the rigour and discipline of a scientist.

The recent research in yogic education promises to give us some help in formulating, not a rigid or flexible programme of Yoga, but certain broad hints so as to guide the entire educational process on yogic lines as well as to provide for a specialised study of Yoga.

What is attempted below is only in the form of a tentative formulation - a very brief one.

The following practical hints that result from the application of yogic methods of psychological development are suggested:

• It may first be noted that a good many children are under the influence of the inner psychic presence which shows itself very distinctly at times in their spontaneous reactions and even in their words. All spontaneous turning to love, truth, beauty, knowledge, nobility, heroism is a sure sign of the psychic influence.

• To recognise these reactions and to encourage them wisely and with a psychic feeling would be the first indispensable step.

• The best qualities to develop in children are:          
  Sincerity         
  Honesty          
  Straightforwardness         
  Cheerfulness         
  Courage          
  Disinterestedness         
  Patience         
  Endurance         
  Perseverance         
  Peace         
  Calm          
  Self-control          
  Self-mastery          
  Truth          
  Harmony          
  Liberty

• These qualities are taught infinitely better by example than by speeches.

• The undesirable impulses and habits should not be treated harshly. The child should not be scolded. Particularly, care should be taken not to rebuke a child for a fault which one commits oneself. Children are very keen and clear-sighted observers;  they soon find out the educator's weaknesses and note them without pity.

• When a child makes a mistake, one must see that he confesses it to the teacher or the guardian spontaneously and frankly; and when he has

• confessed it he should be made to understand with kindness and affection what was wrong in the movement and that he should not repeat it. A fault confessed must be forgiven.

• The child should be encouraged to think of wrong impulses not as sins or offences but as symptoms of a curable disease alterable by a steady and a sustained effort of the will - falsehood being rejected and replaced by truth, fear by courage, selfishness by sacrifice and renunciation, malice by love.

• A great care should be taken to see that unformed virtues are not rejected as faults. The wildness and recklessness of many young natures are only the overflowing of an excessive strength, greatness and nobility. They should be purified, not discouraged.

• An affection that is firm yet gentle sees clearly, and a sufficiently practical knowledge will create bonds of trust that are indispensable for the educator to make the education of a child effective.

• When a child asks a question, he should not be answered by saying that it is stupid or foolish, or that the answer will not be understood by him. Curiosity cannot be postponed, and an effort must be made to answer questions truthfully and in such a way as to make the answer comprehensible to his mental capacity.

• The teacher should ensure that the child gradually begins to be aware of the psychological centre of his being, the psychic being, the seat within of the highest truth of our existence.

• With this growing awareness, the child should be taught to concentrate on this presence and make it more and more a living fact.

• The child should be taught that whenever there is an inner uneasiness, he should not pass it off and try to forget it, but should attend to it, and try to find out by an inner observation the cause of the uneasiness, so that it can be removed by inner or other methods.

• It should be emphasised that if one has a sincere and steady aspiration, a persistent and dynamic will, one is sure to meet in one way or another, externally by study and instruction, internally by concentration, revelation or experience, the help one needs to reach the goal. Only one thing is absolutely indispensable; the will to discover and realise. This discovery and this realisation should be the primary occupation of the being, the pearl of great price which one should acquire at any cost. Whatever one does, whatever one's occupation and activity, the will to find the truth of one's being and to unite with it must always be living, always present behind all one does, all that one thinks, all that one experiences.

All the above suggestions are to be implemented from day to day under various circumstances and in the context of living problems of the growth of children.

The role of the teacher is to put the child upon the right road to his own perfection and encourage him to follow it, watching, suggesting, helping, but not imposing or interfering. The best method of suggestion is by personal example, daily conversation and books read from day to day.

These books should contain, for the younger student, the lofty examples of the past, given not as moral lessons but as things of supreme human interest, and for the older student, great thoughts of great souls, passage of literature, which set fire to the highest emotions and prompt the highest ideals and aspirations, records of history and biography which exemplify the living of those great thoughts, noble emotions and inspiring ideals.

Opportunities should be given to the students of embodying in actions the deeper and nobler impulses which rise within them.

An informal but profound study of the following questions would prove to be of immense value:

1. What is Action? How does it operate normally? Can Action be controlled and guided? How can one achieve the maximum effectivity and largest scope of action?

2. To whom should I belong? What does it mean to belong to the Divine? How can one belong to the Divine?

3. What is the purpose of the human body? What are the means by which the perfection of the body can be achieved?

4. What are the highest means of Knowledge? The Upanishads declare that there is Something, which being known, everything is known. What is that Something? And how can that be known?

5. What is the nature of the Mind? How does it operate in (a) Scientific thinking, (b) Mathematical thinking, and (c) Philosophical thinking? How to transcend Thought?

6. What is the nature of Yoga? What is the relation of Yoga with Psychology, Science, Philosophy, Religion, Occultism, Art, Music, Literature, Technology and Life?

7. How can we arrive at an artistic and creative  experience?  What is the essence of Music?  What is the essence of Art?  What is the essence of Literature?

8. What is the indispensable utility of Technology in the human life and its perfection?

9. What is the meaning of "Story"?  Is history an interesting and meaningful story?  Is there an aim in history?

10. What is my own specific role in the world- progress? How can I train myself to fulfil this role?

The above question can be studied in the context of the following and allied topics:

• The Human Aspiration

• The Methods of Knowledge

• Evolution

• What is Time?

• The Destiny of the Individual

• Infinity and Eternity

• Mind, Life and Matter

• In Search of the Soul

• Death and Conquest of Death

• Personal Effort

• The Meaning of Prayer

• The Supreme Teacher

• Varieties of Mystical Experience

• The Law of Sacrifice

• The Concept of Lokasangraha.

• What is Concentration? How to practise it?

• The Difference between Religion and Yoga

• Occultism - the Science of the Subliminal.

• What is Philosophy?

• Scientific Method

• Limitations of Science and Philosophy

• Is Mathematics Knowledge?

• Beauty of Nature

• Beauty of Poetry, Art, Music

• Six Limbs of Indian Art

• Yoga and Art

• The Secret Meaning of the Legends of the Veda

• Stories of the Upanishads and their Yogic Import

• Evolution and the idea of the Avatar

• The Great Greeks and Romans

• Augustus and World-Unity

• Puranas and Tantras

• The Bhakti Age of India

• Renaissance and Leonardo da Vinci

• Ideal of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: A Call to Yoga in World-Action

• Ideal of Nationalism and Internationalism

• The Place of Yoga in India's Role for the New Future

• Has Man made Progress?

• What is the Meaning of Evolutionary Crisis of Man?

• The Role of Yoga for the Evolution of the Divine Superman.

Care should be taken to see that the above mentioned questions and topics do not get compressed within a rigid framework of a formal study and examination. These are all living questions and the only thing that can be done is to see that they arise spontaneously during the educational process, and the courses of study regarding them develop in an evolutionary way, developing with the inner growth of the students. It is best when these questions arise in the context of the living experiences of the students.

The handling of these questions and topics should be informal and the following methods can be suggested:

1. Each student should be free to choose the topics of the above study in accordance with his need of a deep inquiry;

2. Students should study these questions individually with a possibility of consultation with their teachers when needed;

3. To enable individual study, special worksheets on these questions should be prepared; these worksheets should be so designed that each student can study them individually at his own pace of progress;

4. Informal talks on these questions can be arranged, but they should not take the form of any moral or religious preaching; the temper of these studies should be scientific and profound;

5. There should be a room of Silence in every school and college, and students should be free to go to the Silence Room whenever they wish to have an inner reflection, meditation or quiet study;

6. Seminars on the above questions and topics should be held periodically in the schools and colleges and the students and teachers should be encouraged to participate in them;

7. Debates too can be organised relating to these questions and topics, but an attempt should be made at the end of every debate to synthesise various points of view; an idea must develop that behind every point of view there is some truth, and we should grow into a comprehensive vision in which all truths can be reconciled and synthesised, and in which all conflicts of views can be transcended;

8. Artistic pictures and sculptural pieces relating to these questions and topics should be displayed prominently not only in schools and colleges, but everywhere in towns, villages, etc.;

9. Other media of communication should also be widely used for this purpose. In particular, films on these subjects should be produced and made easily available to students and teachers;

10. Informality in instruction, joy in learning, utter dedication and strictness in training, and widest comprehension in student-teacher relationship - these will, in brief govern the methods of learning.

There are aspects of the mental, vital and physical education which contribute to the yogic education.

They can be briefly mentioned:

(i) In its natural state the human mind is always limited in its vision, narrow in its understanding, rigid in its conceptions, and a certain effort is needed to enlarge it, make it supple and deep. Hence, it is very necessary to develop in the child the inclination and capacity to consider everything from as many points of view as possible. There is an exercise in this connection which gives greater

suppleness and elevation to thought. It is as follows. A clearly formulated thesis is set; against it is opposed the antithesis, formulated with the same precision. Then by careful reflection the problem must be widened or transcended so that a synthesis is found which unites the two contraries in a larger, higher and more comprehensive idea.

Another exercise is to control the mind form judging things and people. For true knowledge belongs to a region much higher than that of the human mind, even beyond that of pure ideas. The mind has got to be made silent and attentive in order to receive knowledge from above and manifest it.

Still another exercise: whenever there is a disagreement on any matter, as a decision to take, or an action to accomplish, one must not stick to one's own conception or point of view. On the contrary, one must try to understand the other person's point of view, put oneself in his place and, instead of quarrelling or even fighting, find out a solution which can reasonably satisfy both parties; there is always one for men of goodwill.

A wide, subtle, rich, complex, attentive and quiet and silent mind is an asset not only for the discovery of the psychic and spiritual realities, but also for manifesting the psychic and spiritual truths and powers.

(ii) The vital being in us is the seat of impulses and desires, of enthusiasm and violence, of dynamic energy and desperate depression, of passions and revolt. The vital is a good worker, but most often it seeks its own satisfaction. If that is refused totally or even partially, it gets vexed, sulky and goes on strike.

An exercise at these moments is to remain quiet and refuse to act. For it is important to realise that at such times one does stupid things and in a few minutes can destroy or spoil what one has gained in months of regular effort, losing thus all the progress made.

Another exercise is to deal with the vital as one deals with a child in revolt, with patience and perseverance showing it the truth and light, endeavouring to convince it and awaken in it the goodwill which for a moment was veiled.

A wide, strong, calm but dynamic vital capable of right emotion, right decision, and right execution by force and energy, is an invaluable aid to the psychic and spiritual realisation.

(iii) The body by its nature is a docile and faithful instrument. But it is very often misused by the mind with its dogmas, its rigid and arbitrary principles, and by the vital with its passions, its excesses and dissipations. It is these which are the cause of bodily fatigue, exhaustion and disease. The body must therefore be free from the tyranny of the mind and of the vital; and this can be done by training the body to feel and sense the psychic presence within and to learn to obey its governance. The emphasis on the development of strength, suppleness, calm, quiet, poise, grace and beauty in physical education, whether done by Yogic Asanas or by other methods of physical culture, such as games and sports, or Japanese Judo and similar exercises, will ensure the contact of the body with the psychic centre and the body will learn to put forth at every minute the effort that is demanded of it, for it will have learnt to find rest in action, to replace through contact with universal forces the energies it spends consciously and usefully. By this sound and balanced life a new harmony will manifest in the body,

reflecting the harmony of the regions which will give it the perfect proportions and the ideal beauty of form. It will then be in a constant process of transformation, and it will be possible for it to escape the necessity of disintegration and destruction.

At a certain stage of development, when the seeking of the student is found to be maturing, he can be directed more and more centrally to the inner heart of Yoga and yogic discoveries and experiences.

One of the great aids in the practice of Yoga is a knowledge of the Shastra of Yoga, the knowledge of the truths, principles, powers and processes that govern the yogic realisation and perfection.

An outline idea of the broad principles and stages of Yoga, which can be useful for any student who is generally interested in Yoga is suggested below:

Psychology and Yoga as Applied Psychology

Psychology of Nature, Psychology of Life

Life and Yoga

Systems of Yoga: Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga, Jnana

Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Tantra Yoga, the

Synthesis of Yoga

Analysis of Personality;

Parts of the Being; Inconscient, sub-conscient, physical, vital, mental, subliminal, psychic, superconscient

• Ego, Memory, Self-consciousness, Concept of dynamic nature of Prakriti and static Purusha

• The Jivatman and Psychic Entity, Psychic Being and its character, growth, development, fulfilment

• Psychic and Spiritual personality

• Soul-Powers and Fourfold personality of Knowledge, Power, Love and Skill

• Integral Personality

• Fundamental Experiences of the Yogi

• Experiences of the Witness Self, Cosmic Consciousness, Silent Self, Nirvana, Personal Divine, Supramental Consciousness and Power

• Yoga in the Veda, Upanishads, the Bhagavadgita, the Yoga Sutra, Yoga and Yogic Research; New Paths of Yoga

• Yoga and Knowledge of Sciences and Arts,

• Yoga and Medical Sciences, Yoga and Technology

• Yoga, Religion and Morality, Yoga and Collective Life, Yoga and change in the world-conditions: the idea of Cosmic Yoga, Yoga and the New World of Truth, Harmony and Liberty

Books recommended:

The Principal Upanishads

Yoga Sutra

Collected Works of Swami Vivekananda

The Bhagavadgita

The Synthesis of Yoga by Sri Aurobindo

Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta

In addition to the above, the following may be suggested for those who are more deeply interested in the study of Yoga, leading up to a specialisation in this study:

1. Schools of Psychology: 
   Funtionalism, Structural-ism, Gestalt Psychology, Behaviourism, Psycho-analysis, Analytical Psychology, Hormic Psychology, Personalism, Social Psychology.

• Psychology and Yoga: Indian Schools of Psychology and Yoga. Higher Reaches of Yoga and Psychological knowledge.

  Detailed Study of the Systems of Yoga: Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Yoga of Tantra, Kundalini Yoga, Synthesis of Yoga.  

  Knowledge, Understanding, Concentration, Meditation, Contemplation, Purification, Renunciation, Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, Samadhi: Savikalpa and Nirvikalpa, Release from the identification with the Body, Heart, Mind and Ego, Realisation of Sachchidananda, Supermind  

  Self-consecration in Works, Gita's way of Self-surrender, The yogic meaning of Sacrifice, The ascending stages of Sacrifice, Standards of Moral Conduct and Spiritual Freedom, The Divine Work, Supermind and the Yoga of Divine Works  

  Emotions and Devotion, Aspiration and Prayer, The Divine Love and Grace, The Divine Personality. The Delight of the Divine Love, Ecstasy and Union with the Divine  

  Self-Perfection, Instruments of the Spirit and their purification, Psychology of Self-Perfection, Perfection of Personality by Yoga, Supermind, its descent and its action upon the earth, Supermind and Collective life, Divine life on the earth

2. Yoga and Health:  
   Psychology, Yoga and Health 
   Esoteric Causes of Illness and Yogic Remedies

• Role of Hypnotism and allied Processes of Cure:  Uses and Misuses  
  Dangers of Psychoanalysis, Radical Difference between Psychoanalysis and Yoga 
  Integral Education for Integral Health 
  Yogic Care of the Body  
  Higher States of Consciousness and their power over the body's functions

3. Physical Transformation by the Methods of Integral Yoga:

   1. What is Death?

   2. The Structure of the Body and the Problems of the inevitability of Death

   3. Causes of the Resistance of Matter

   4. Possibilities of the Radical Change in the Structure of the Body and the elimination of the necessity of Death

   5. The concept of Ichchhamrityu

   6. The possibility of a new stuff of Matter for a Transformed Body

   7. Perfection of the Body

   8. The Functions of the Chakras and their Mastery for the perfection of the Body

   9. The Powers of the Supermind and their operation on the Physical for its transformation

   10. The Divine Body

   11. Intermediary Bodies as a preparation for the Divine Body

   12. Projection of the Divine Body (without the intervention of animal means)

4. Yoga and Evolution:

   1. The Modern Theory of Evolution, Indian Theory of Evolution: Samkhya, Vedanta,  Integral Theory, Psychological basis of Evolution

• 1. The Origin of species from the standpoint of Yoga

  2. Yoga as a means of Mutation of the Human Species

  3. Evolution by means of Yogic Transformation:  Psychic Transformation, Spiritual Transformation, Supramental Transformation

  4. Conditions of the advent of the Supramental Being

5. Yoga and Collective Life: 
   Collective Aspiration: Its Necessity for General Health and Perfection;  Formation of the Collective Aspiration at various Psychological levels;  The formation of the Group soul by yogic aspiration and methods: Its necessity and purpose;  Problems of Collective Life and Yogic Solutions Transformation by Yoga and its rationale as a collective achievement for the earth-life.

6. Yoga and Education:  
   Education and Life;  Life and Yoga;  Yoga and its distinction from Morality and Religion;  Yoga and the methods of learning: Learning by doing, learning by concentration, learning by purification, learning by creativity;  Yoga and the search for meaning and unity of  Knowledge  Yoga and life-long education and perpetual youth;  Yoga and the mental education, vital education, physical education;

1. Yoga and development of latent faculties and powers;  Yoga and development of spiritual experiences;  Yoga and education for values;  Methods of education, content of education and structure of educational organisation in the light of Yoga;  Yoga and education for self-perfection.

A Special Note on Yoga and Physical Education

Although Yoga is not identical with physical culture or the system of Asanas and Pranayama, a perfection of physical culture is a part of the total perfection that is achieved by the Integral Yoga.

The perfection of the body is primarily a question of the application of consciousness and powers of consciousness on the functions of the body. Given this basic assumption, the different systems of physical culture, eastern or western, can be found to be useful aids. Kundalini's awakening which is supposed to be the result of the Indian system of Asanas, can also be achieved by the systems of western physical culture, including games and sports.

In India, physical education has been neglected almost completely and this neglect is one of the causes of the low morale of the people. It is, therefore, necessary to bring forth the value of physical education not only for the fitness of the body but also for the great contribution it makes for the intellectual, moral and yogic development of personality.

It has been found necessary by recent research in yogic education that students should develop a high sense of

physical culture and a bodily need of daily physical exercise. Our programmes in schools and colleges should be so organised that everyday a student is able to devote at least one hour for physical education, either in the form of Yogic Asanas and allied exercises or in the form of gymnastics, athletics, aquatics or games.

There are many sports which help to form and necessitate the qualities of courage, hardihood, energetic action and initiative for skill, steadiness of will or rapid decision and action, the perception of what is to be done in an emergency and dexterity in doing it. Another invaluable result of these activities is the growth of the sporting spirit. That includes good humour and tolerance and consideration for all, a right attitude and friendliness to competitors and rivals, self-control and scrupulous observance of the laws of the games, fair play and avoidance of the use of foul means, an equal acceptance of victory or defeat without bad humour, resentment or ill-will towards successful competitors, loyal acceptance of the decisions of the appointed judge, umpire or referee. More important still is the custom of discipline, obedience, order, and habit of teamwork, which certain games necessitate.

In the words of Sri Aurobindo:

If they (the above qualities) could be made more common not only in the life of the individual but in the national life and in the international where at the present day the opposite tendencies have become too rampant, existence in this troubled world of ours would be smoother and might open to a greater chance of concord and amity of which it stands very much in need. ... The nation

which possesses them in the highest degree is likely to be strongest for victory, success and greatness, but also for the contribution it can make towards the bringing about of unity and more harmonious world order towards which we look as our hope for humanity's future.

Physical culture is a matter of great yogic educational value. The physical body is the instrument for the final victory of the highest values on the earth. We need therefore to develop health, strength, plasticity, grace and numerous physical perfections so as to make the body fit for the service and manifestation of the highest ideals.