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Thursday, Apr 25 2024
SAI SPIRITUAL EDUCATION (SSE)
"Spiritual education
is not a separate and distinct discipline. It is part
and parcel of all types and levels of education."
- Sri Sathya Sai Baba
WHAT IS SSE?
Sai Spiritual Education ("SSE")
takes its name from Sathya Sai Baba, the great contemporary
world educator. Sathya Sai Baba says that education
has two aspects: the first is related to external and
worldly education, sometimes referred to as book knowledge.
The second aspect, known as Educare, is related to human
values. The word "Educare" means to bring
out that which is within. Sathya Sai Baba teaches that
human values are innate in every human being and that
true education develops the full human potential of
every individual. It is because human values are absent
in "educated" persons that they are steeped
in anxiety and worry.
The program of Sai Spiritual Education
elicits the human values from within the hearts and
minds of each individual and promotes the daily application
of the values in each life. To promote the awakening
of these values, Sathya Sai Baba has established an
educational system in India consisting of primary and
secondary schools, colleges and an accredited university.
The educational system emphasizes character development
along with the acquisition of skills and knowledge.
The universal nature of Sai Spiritual Education is poignantly demonstrated by its enthusiastic
reception in over 170 countries and diverse cultures
throughout the world. The program is adaptable to all
countries and diverse cultures, yet its essence remains
the same.
The Sai Spiritual Education program rests
on the five pillars of Truth, Right Action, Peace, Love
and Nonviolence. The spiritual principles embedded within
these values are the foundations of true humanness.
The values are interrelated. Love is the source and
sustenance of all the values. Love associated with thought
is Truth. The same Love expressed as action is Right
Action. When one contemplates Love, the heart and mind
are filled with a state of supreme Peace. When Love
becomes the guiding principle of understanding and reason,
the intelligence becomes permeated with Nonviolence.
Love expressed as thought
is Truth
Love expressed as action is Right Action
Love expressed as feeling is Peace
Love as understanding is Nonviolence
Practicing these values with a loving heart fulfills
the quest of the intellect for Truth and channels the
will into Right Action. Properly applied and harmonized
within the human being, the values help resolve conflicts
of human emotions, and foster the positive emotions
and interactions that bring inner and outer Peace. An
attitude of Nonviolence leads to expansion outward with
a sense of responsibility to others and a respect for
all creation.
The Sai Spiritual Education Program lays
the foundation for eliciting the human values from within
the children, helping them to lead happy and fulfilling
lives. It is the cornerstone upon which children can
develop into caring and responsible adults who meet
life's challenges with resourcefulness and inner strength,
and thus positively impacting their families, communities,
and the world.
In essence, this character development program builds
on three levels. It makes children aware of the values.
It promotes the process of moral reasoning by developing
the ability to distinguish right from wrong. Most importantly,
the program emphasizes and supports the practicing of
the values. It is not enough merely to make children
aware of the values. It is not enough to develop their
moral reasoning. The power of the program lies in its
strong emphasis on the practice of that which the children
have come to feel, think, and know, as truth, right
action, peace, love, and nonviolence. Ultimately, the
daily practice of the values will enable them to live
the values through the ability to unify their actions
with their highest moral thoughts, feelings, and promptings
from the conscience or inner voice.
Sathya Sai Baba says that the true end of education
is Character. Character is the most crucial and enduring
quality one can possess. Its power far exceeds the acquisition
of other types of knowledge. Cultivating the innate
human values that form the foundation of character will
provide children with the self-confidence, love, and
moral strength needed to build good, meaningful lives.
Children are the world's most precious treasure. They
must be provided the means and guidance to discover
their innate goodness and spiritual nature. Through
the development of individual character, all humanity
will be elevated to live in unity, harmony, and universal
understanding.
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OBJECTIVES
The objective of the Sai Spiritual Education Program is to aid
in the blossoming of each child's noble character, or
human excellence.
The overall objective of Sai Spiritual Education is to elicit the human values of Truth, Right
Action, Peace, Love and Nonviolence from within each
child, and to nurture the development of each child's
noble character, or human excellence. Through the cultivation
of these values, children learn how to transcend their
negative qualities. A person can claim to be truly human
when these values are practiced in everyday life.
The primary objectives of Sai Spiritual Education are:
- Transformation through the experience
of Truth, Right Action, Peace, Love, and Nonviolence
within the individual.
- Fostering life-long commitments
to act in accordance with the promptings of the conscience.
- Fostering 3HV, or the unity
of head, heart and hand.
- The building of self-confidence,
self-reliance, and self-discipline, enabling children
to effectively solve problems and make decisions.
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