Indian Thinkers: SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

INTRODUCTION

Philosophy is the basis of education. Philosophy is indispensable for every aspect of education. There is need for Philosophy in every aspect of education. In the absence of Philosophical Foundations, education becomes irrelevant, meaningless, lifeless and colourless. These philosophical foundation on education are given by great thinkers. Education is the dynamic side of Philosophy. 

The art of education would never attain complete clearness in itself without Philosophy. Education without Philosophy is blind and Philosophy without education is invalid. There is a great need to understand the educational philosophy of Indian Thinkers. 

Some of the Indian Thinkers are Swami Vivekananda, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Annie Besant, Swami Dayanand, Sri Aurobindo, Jawaharlal Nehru, Manabendra Nath Roy, Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, Jiddu Krishnamurti, Dr. Zakir Hussain, Dr. Muhammad Iqbal. 

These thinkers have given different valuable and significant ideas on the aims of education, methods of education, curriculum for students, academic discipline, teacher etc. These thinkers have discovered different correct methods of education according to the different educational environments. Frequent references to their own experience can be found in their life sketch and writings. In this connection, these thinkers can be seen as educational angels.

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA (1863-1902)

Swami Vivekananda, the great inspirer of the men of the East and West was born as the son of Viswanath Datta, in Calcutta on 12th January 1863. Narendranath was the name his parents gave him. After early education he joined a college in Calcutta which was at that time centre of Western influence. 

The Christian missionaries criticized Hinduism for its evil practices. A group of young men formed Brahma samaj to defend Hinduism and to purify it. They fought against Sati, child marriage, Priest craft etc. Narendranath also joined this movement but soon he discovered that it was not good enough to satisfy his spiritual needs. So he left it. 

He was an agnostic in those days. It was during those days that he happened to meet Ramakrishna Paramahamsa whose influence on him was tremendous. The magnetic personality of Ramakrishna brought about a thorough change in him. He became a faithful devotee of the great Guru. He denounced the world and took the monastic vow. He got first hand knowledge of India's poverty, misery, nobility and spiritual wisdom. 

It was at this stage of life that he went to Chicago to attend the Parliament of Religions. He was a total stranger there. But his majestic performance in the Parliament of Religions was beyond comparison. He made the people of the West understand the rich wealth of India's ancient culture and tradition. He exhorted them to forsake their materialism and learn from the ancient spirituality of the Hindus. According to him God is within each one of us, and each one of us is born to rediscover his own God-nature. Men are pure, infinite, and perfect souls.

Philosophical Ideas of Vivekananda

1. His mission was spiritual in the last analysis. The essence of his spiritual life is in the Vedas. All the problems of humanity can be solved by the teaching of the Upanishads. The God of the Vedanta is in the universe. He is the universe himself.

2. According to him man is essentially divine. He used to tell his listeners the story of a lion who imagined himself to be a sheep, until another lion showed him his reflection in a pool. We are the lions. We are the perfect souls.

3. The essence of all religions is the same. He stood for the ancient Indian Universality of spiritual truth. To be good and to do good is the whole of religion.

4. He was a prophet of self reliance, of individual search and effort.

5. Karmayoga is needed for self realisation. Karmayoga is a system of ethics and religions intended to attain freedom through unselfishness and by works.

6. Services to mankind is the highest goal of religion.

7. The best image of worship God is man. God is in every man.

Aims of Education

1.To achieve the fullness of perfection already present in the learner.

2.To ensure self-development of the learner.

3.To facilitate character formation.

4.To promote universal brotherhood.

5.To optimize physical, mental, moral and spiritual development

                      

According to Swami Vivekananda, "education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man" (Teaching of Swami Vivekananda, p.50). The aim of education is to help man to manifest the perfection in him. He maintained that the training by which the current and expression of will are brought under control and become fruitful is education. 

Real education is that which enables man to stand on his own legs. The aim of education is not to put information into one's mind, but to help one to have life building, man-making character making assimilation of ideas. Swami Vivekananda in " India and Her Problems" says, " What is education? Is it book learning? No. Is it diverse knowledge? Not even that. That training by which the current and expression of will are brought under control and become fruitful, is called education.........The ideal of all education, all training should be man making". According to him true education is "life-building, man-making, character-making assimilation of ideas". A good teacher teaches out of love, out of pure love for mankind at large.

Curriculum

The curriculum should consist of physical education, Vedanta and Western science. Vivekananda welcomed the study of Western science, but he cautioned his men against Western materialistic attitude to life. He wanted Western science to be coupled with Vedanta.

Method of Instruction

A child teaches itself. What a teacher can do is of the negative way. He can take away the obstacles, loosen the soil a little, put a hedge round it so that the natural power of the child develops without being hindered by outside elements.

 

No one can teach anybody. The Vedanta says that within man is all knowledge. This is so even in a boy. The work of the teacher is to awaken this hidden knowledge. Vivekananda does not favour the idea of compelling children to learn anything. Harsh words are not tolerated. "If you speak kind words to boys and encourage them, they are bound to improve in time". Pointing out mistakes, wounds a man's feeling. Knowledge is inherent in man. No knowledge comes from outside. It is all inside. What a man "learns" is really what he "discovers". He takes the cover off his soul. We say that Newton discovered gravitation. It was in his own mind. The falling of the apple gave him suggestion to discover it. "Like fire in a piece of flint, knowledge exists in the mind; suggestion is the friction which brings it out". 

The duty of the teacher is only to offer the suggestion which makes one to teach oneself. Each of us has to teach himself. The teacher helps him in this process. The mind first moves from the concrete to the abstract. Individual differences will have to be taken into consideration. The teacher must come down to the level of the students and share experience with them.

According to Vivekananda concentration is the best method to teach. "To one the very essence of education is concentration of mind, not the collecting of facts." The learner must be a Brahmachari, because Brahmacharya is necessary for concentration.

Teacher Student Relationship

The teacher is a person thorough with the scriptures. Vivekananda maintained that a teacher should know Bible, Vedas and Koran in their real spirit. He must be pious and the source of spiritual force. Only such a teacher can be the guide and guru of his disciples. The teacher is an ideal model for the students. The students and the teachers are united by love and mutual respect.

                           

Vivekananda stood for education of the mass, women's education and social education. He felt that it is a national sin to neglect the education of the mass. Similarly if the poor boys cannot come to school, the educated must go to them and teach. He also gave stress to health education and national integration in any programme of education.

CONCLUSION

                            

According to Vivekananda education is the discovery of the inner self. Education is not information giving in an artificial manner. It is a development from within.Thus we may conclude that Vivekananda’s concept of education is comprehensive. There is not even one point which has been escaped from Vivekananda’s notice so far as his concept of education is concerned. We in India need such a type of education through which one can stand on one’s own legs; one becomes physically, mentally and spiritually strong. Such a citizen is really very beneficial for any society.