Nowadays education has taken a volte-face and become a thriving money-making business. Politicians, so-called spiritualists, businessmen build huge infrastructures in the name of education as schools and professional colleges to venture into this business with a prime goal of agglomeration of money. And what do students get in such places; bad habits, uninterested teachers, and most of all a ruined character. For some, these grounds become a fertile land to vent their frustration by taking dangerous weapons in their hands. Haven’t we heard many such cases where students go on rampant killing inside the varsity premises horrifying many and killing innocent students? On introspection, we may want to question for the sake of our children – Are these places of education or an arena for self-destruction?

Why is this happening? When children are taught to enjoy their senses till the cul-de-sac and when they are unable to reach that summit, then in frustration due to unsatisfied senses, they turn into such sadists. Internet, television, and media are the catalysts for this. Why? Parents go to work early morning and return late night. They are not able to give quality time to children. As a result, children neither do get love nor do they know whom to repose their love. In such circumstances, children take shelter of television, internet and get exposed to the vices of the society. They do not get happiness in life, hence turn to such things for some juice. They are not peaceful since they watch things which disturbs them. To top all this, education provided in such institutions are primarily to enhance our techniques for pleasure pursuits. Have you ever imagined, how can the  knowledge of C++ programming help us at the time of death. Can it outsmart death? Can the field of medicine with its state of the art technology and enhanced medicines (at least they say so) out-beat death? No way, they may prolong our miserable life but they cannot put a period to death. What use is this education then? Huh. I myself am an engineer and sometimes i wonder can TRANSPORT PHENOMENA (a subject which i studied) help me to transcend miseries and agonies of life which are inevitable. Hell. No.

Is there some knowledge which can make us happy, peaceful and self-satisfied? If there is, then why is there no institution to teach that knowledge….Some school of spiritualists say that real knowledge which can make us blissful, peaceful, and satisfied is already there within us. It is now in a covered state. Just like we might have studied physics in our school and when we grow and is out of touch with that subject; we might forget it. But when someone comes and speaks about that subject once again, we may be able to remember it. And we will become an expert in physics, when we start reading more, associate with expert physicists and perform practicals pertaining to that subject matter. Similarly, we do have real knowledge. But we have forgotten it since we are not using it in practicality. So when someone gives that knowledge and when we try to practice it with experts , then we become knowledged.

But what is real education? RADHANATH SWAMI explains what actually is education? Radhanath Swami digs to the root of the word “EDUCATION”.  He informs, “Education comes from the Greek word Educary which basically implies to bring out what is within you”. Now what is actually within us which we need to withdraw? We all want to live a long life. We all are curious to know many things. All of us want unlimited happiness. Why do we seek these things perpetually. We do so because we actually have these characteristics in its pure state and form. In a covered state, we are unable to harness it but the characteristics try to come out and since we have these material bodies which in themselves are not perfect, we experience these things improperly. Modern education is to superpose from outside into our brains so much data, so many statistics, facts and figures. But addressing the real need and not want of our selves is what real education does.

It is quite amazing to me that the coined word EDUCATION means something which is not how it manifests today. What are your thoughts about today’s plight of education??