Sri Sathya Sai Educare

SOME SUGGESTED Q & A

1. What is Educare? OR Define Educare

   ANS: The word Educare literally means “to bring out that which is within”.
   Human values – Sathya (Truth), Dharma (Righteousness), Shanti (Peace), Prema (Love) and Ahimsa (Non Violence) are latent in every human being. One cannot acquire them from outside, they have to be elicited from within. But as man has forgotten his innate human values, he is unable to manifest them. “Educare” means to bring out human values. “To bring out”means to translate them into action.

2. What is meant by Educare? OR Explain the concept of Educare

   ANS: “Educare” means to bring out human values. “To bring out”means to translate them into action.

   Our beloved Bhagawan explains the concept of Educare – the Veda of the 21st century in the following manner. He says that:

   1) Divinity is inherent in every atom of the universe
   2) The cosmic energy of love manifested itself by creating the 5 elements – Space, Air, Fire, Water and Earth in succession, with their attributes of Sound, Touch, Form, Taste and Smell respectively
   3) At their pristine level, these 5 elements are in perfect balance and harmony
   4) From this creation, emerges Man – a product of these 5 elements
   5) However, man alone has been endowed with the power of the mind
   6) This mind, under the influence of the shadripus, becomes a slave of the senses, and creates desires in man
   7) This leads man to deluded actions, upsetting the balance of 5 elements within him and outside him
   8) Thus, although man is innately Divine, he has forgotten the human values, latent within him (Satya, Dharma, Shanti, Prema and Ahimsa)
   9) True learning for man lies in mastering the relationship between the senses and the mind through “Constant Integrated Awareness” [CIA]
   10) In order that the Divinity can reflect itself, Purification of mind through constant training of mind leading to unity of thought word and deed is required.
   11) Re-routing the thoughts from the mind (Head) through the conscience (Heart) before they are put into action (Hands) results in integration of Head, Heart & Hand – the 3 HV
   12) Such a transformation process is possible by the following the 5Ds namely Devotion, Discrimination, Discipline, Determination and Duty
   13) This transformation leads us towards:
   a) Being aware that Love is the energy which binds all five elements together in creation ( PREMA )
   b) Understanding this Truth of Creation ( SATYA )
   c) Adhering to the perfect discipline in nature resulting in right action( DHARMA )
   d) All the above resulting in inherent peace within and outside man( SHANTI )
   e) Such a harmony and balance in nature within and outside leads to Non violence (AHIMSA)
   THIS LEARNING IS TRUE EDUCARE – THE VEDA OF THE 21st CENTURY

3. How will you practise Educare? [ 5 marks question ]

   ANS: To practise Educare, we must first understand the concept of Educare.
   Repeat the Answer to question 2 here.
   To put into practice, these concepts, our Swami has given us practical tips to follow in our daily lives such as :
   (1) Prayer is key of the morning and bolt for the evening (Devotion through Namasmarana & Bhajans)
   (2) ABC of life is always be careful (Discrimination in choice of and consumption of food, money, energy, knowledge etc)
   (3) Bend the body, mend the senses, end the mind – this is the way to immortality (Discipline through daily sadhanas – silent sitting/ jyothi dhyana etc)
   (4) Full effort is full victory (Determination through practice of patience, persistence etc )
   (5) Duty without love is deplorable; duty with love is desirable; love without duty is divine (Duty & practice of 3 HV)
   (6) Less Luggage makes travel more comfortable (Ceiling on Desires)
   (7) Watch your words, actions, thoughts, character and heart (Purity and Unity of Thought word and Deed leading to Divinity)
   (8) Start the day with love, Fill the day with love, Spend the day with love and End the day with love (Constant Integrated Awareness of the cosmic energy of Love)

   And we can go on…. If we take every effort to put into practice these sayings of Swami, we can “Be good, see good, Do good” and we can be certain of putting into practice all the 5 Human values (Satya, Dharma, Shanti, Prema and Ahimsa) in our daily lives and bring about a perfect balance in the 5 elements within and outside us leading to a state of global peace in the material world and bliss in the spiritual world, thus adhering to the dictum of Sri Satya Sai Educare

4. What do you mean by 3 HV? [ 5 marks question ]

   ANS: a) We receive information of the external world through our senses and sense organs
   b) This information gets stored in our mind (HEAD)
   c) Any new input creates a reaction from within us in the form of a thought
   d) The thought immediately stimulates an action
   e) However, Bhagawan Baba says that before putting a thought into action, the thought must be routed through our conscience (HEART)
   f) The spiritual heart is the seat of values (Satya, Dharma, Shanti, Prema and Ahimsa)
   g) If the thought is negative, the Heart will disapprove it, then it should be consciously stopped from putting into action.
   h) If the thought is good, the Heart will approve it and then it can be acted upon (HANDS)
   i) Since the resultant action is beneficial, it produces peaceful results.
   j) Thus our conscience (spiritual heart) acts as the guiding force in our life

   This re-routing of our thoughts from the Head through the Heart before they reach the Hand is 3HV – Transformation through the Head-Heart-Hand process

5. Education and Educare- Distinction [5 marks question]

   ANS: Bhagwan Baba says that “Education and Educare are both like the two wings of a bird. Both are essential for the bird to soar high in the sky”. Swami says that we need to strike a balance between the two

   Education	Educare
   Process of Acquiring information about the external world	Process of manifesting the already present values within us
   It is received through our sense and stored in the mind	It cannot be acquired from outside since values are latent within us – they have to be elicited from within
   Binds us to the material world<	Liberates us from the bondage
   Can make a person “great”	Makes a person “Good”
   May make a person a “Bhogi” or even a “Rogi”	Can make a person a Yogi
   Can confer “Shakti” and “Yukti”	Promotes “Bhakti” and “Mukti”

   Life will become ideal when both both these are harmonized in the journey of life

6. 5 Elements and their attributes?
   

   S.No	Element	Also called as	Attributes of the Element	Sense organ associated with the element
   1	Space	Akash or Ether	Sound or Shabda	EAR
   2	Air	Vayu	Sound or Shabda + Touch or Sparsha	SKIN
   3	Fire	Agni or Tejas	Sound or Shabda + Touch or Sparsha + Form or Roopa	EYES
   4	Water	Jala or Apas	Sound or Shabda + Touch or Sparsha + Form or Roopa + Taste or Rasa	TONGUE
   5	Earth	Prithvi or Bhoomi	Sound or Shabda + Touch or Sparsha + Form or Roopa + Taste or Rasa + Smell or Gandha	NOSE

7. Write a short note on how man can restore the balance in nature?

   ANS: a. The 5 elements of Nature (Pra-pancha) are the Divine aspects of God.
   b. Man is also made up of the 5 elements.
   [Eg : Blood <> Water & Digestive Fire <> Fire ]
   c. As creation is one, whatever affects man at his individual level affects the nature and vice versa – ie; whatever affects nature, affects man too.
   d. Hankering after desires stimulated by sense organs, man has started transgressing the limits of the 5 elements
   e. Therefore man must learn to use his sense organs in a sensible manner.
   f. Swami uses the word “matra” – ie Each sense organ must be used only for the purpose it is designed and only upto the measure for which it is designed.
   g. If this caution is not exercised by all human beings, man cannot be in harmony with nature
   h. In the external world, excessive depletion of natural resources results in calamities such as earthquakes, tsunamis, droughts etc
   i. At the internal level, man is afflicted with physical and mental distresses.
   j. To counter these ill effects, man must not only respect the inherent discipline in nature such as water cycle, hydrogen / carbon cycle etc and take up conservation of natural resources such as water, trees & forests etc and also avoid polluting the resources through Carbon monoxide and CFC compound emissions etc.
   k. At his individual level, he must use the transformation techniques of 5Ds, practice Ceiling on Desires, understand the Human workshop and practice 3HV
   l. All these will help man elicit the human values from within him and thereby restore the balance within and outside him and be in harmony with nature

8. Write a short note on any of the five elements

   ANS: The 5 elements of Nature (Pra-pancha), namely Space, Air, Fire, Water & Earth, are the Divine aspects of God. Each of the elements has its own attributes. Man is also made up of the five elements. All the time, man is exchanging these elements within and without to maintain a harmony with nature. For example, when we eat food, some part is assimilated and some part goes back to nature; when we breathe, we absorb some and exhale the rest. Man has to understand this symbiotic relationship between him and nature and learn to treat the 5 elements with respect

   FIRE:

   This element represents light. It is also called Agni, representing the Fire God – Agni Deva
   Fire has the attributes of sound, touch and form.
   Spiritual Lessons that Fire teaches us:
   a. Fire itself burns but gives light to others.
   b. One can light a million lamps from one flame and yet the original flame will
   not diminish even little
   c. The inner flame of love in man’s heart can be shared with millions and yet its
   brightness remains the same.
   d. Fire transmits energy also (Eg Sun–when sun rises, all of us are energetic &
   when it sets, we feel sleepy)
   e. Fire burns everything to ashes, reminding us that the body is temporary and
   will eventually turn to ashes
   f. Light is a symbol of knowledge as it dispels the darkness of ignorance
   g. Fire burns the impurities in anything and makes it pure – eg Gold and hence
   is a symbol of purity
   h. When the light of knowledge shines, all shadripus go away and make us
   virtuous
   i. Flame of fire always goes upwards– similarly we should have high and lofty
   ideals & thoughts always.
   Like every element of nature, fire too must be respected and used for the benefit of mankind. Otherwise it will result in calamities as shown through a few examples below:

   ASPECT	POSITIVE RESULTS	NEGATIVE IMPACT
   INNER FIRE
   Digestive Fire	Regular habits and good nourishing food keeps the body and mind healthy, helps positive thinking, maintains body temperature at normal levels	Bad food habits cause health problems of indigestion, acidity, fever, obesity etc and gives rise to negative thinking
   Negative Thinking		Can lead to warfare, use of destructive firearms and protests where buses etc are set on fire
   OUTER FIRE
   Uses of matchstick 1. To light a lamp 2. To light fire crackers 3. To light a cigarette 4. Wrong industrial uses	Gives soothing flame of light, removes the darkness and soothes the mind.	Causes air & noise pollution Causes harm to health of self and also others due to environment pollution Danger of environmental degradation and invitation to natural calamities

9. Write a short note on any one of the 5Ds [ 5 marks question ]

   ANS: Man is innately divine and bliss is his nature. The purpose of taking human birth is to realize that innate Divinity and experience this bliss. The main obstacle in the way of realizing the innate Divinity is our mind. This mind, under the influence of the shadripus, becomes a slave of the senses, and creates desires in man. This leads man to deluded actions, upsetting the balance of 5 elements within him and outside him. Thus, although man is innately Divine, he has forgotten the human values, latent within him (Satya, Dharma, Shanti, Prema and Ahimsa). Purification of the mind becomes the first step in the transformation process, so that the Divinity can reflect itself. This becomes possible by following the 5Ds in our lives. The 5 Ds are
   1. Devotion
   2. Discrimination
   3. Discipline
   4. Determination and
   5. Duty

   DISCIPLINE

   Simply put, Discipline is the agreed upon manner or process in which one does the work, without which there will be chaos.
   Student discipline for a student would be to listen to the teachers attentively and study well
   Road discipline would be to obey traffic regulations.

   Discipline in nature:

   The sunrise, sunset, seasons changing in exact precision, blossoming of flowers etc speak of discipline 98.4 F is the normal temperature in our human body. Any increase in the temperature is fever and conveys some imbalance.
   The usual BP is 120/80. If it is more or less, it leads to heart trouble.
   The retina of our eyeball can watch the light intensity upto a certain extent. If it is very high, the retina burns.
   Our ear drum too can bear sound to a particular limit, beyond which it breaks. This is how our body functions under certain limits or discipline.

   Discipline and Success:

   Anybody who has accomplished anything worthwhile has never done so without discipline, whether in sports, athletics, academics or business.
   Discipline takes self-control, sacrifice, avoiding distractions and temptations.
   It means staying focused and throw of laziness out of our way

   Ceiling on desires:

   There is no end for our desires and we spend all our time, money, energy in trying to fulfil our innumerable desires, the attainment of which may not give us complete satisfaction and peace.

   Swami has given us the Ceiling on Desires program to improve our physical, mental and spiritual discipline
   The ceiling of desires program sets limits on 4 aspects:
   1) Don’t waste FOOD, Food is God.
   2) Don’t waste TIME. Time is God
   3) Don’t waste MONEY. Money is God
   4) Don’t waste ENERGY. Energy is God
   Energy/money/time thus saved can be put to constructive and charitable purposes.

   Discipline has to be SELF-DISCIPLINE and has to begin early in life –whether material or spiritual. That is why Swami says: Start Early, Drive Slowly and Reach safely