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Chapter 13
Distinction between The Self And The Not-Self
68. The Basic Foundation Of Betterment
5. It is extremely important to have the habit of looking at the essence of things. How nice would it be if this habit could be acquired in childhood itself! This is an outlook which is worth imbibing. Many feel that the science of spirituality has nothing to do with life. Some others feel that even if it has, it should have nothing to do with it. But it would indeed be a happy situation if the distinction between the body and the soul could be ingrained through education right since childhood. Nowadays, bad education is imparting extremely evil samskaras. This education does not lift us out of our total identification with the body. We are doing everything to pamper the body. Yet the quality that the body should attain, the form that should be given to it, is found nowhere. The body is thus being vainly worshipped; there is no awareness of the bliss that lies in the experience of the Self. This condition has resulted from the present system of education. Day and night, indulgence of the body is being continually and insistently taught. Education of cherishing the body begins right from childhood. When a child stumbles while playing and gets a little hurt, he hardly pays any heed to it. He takes ordinary bruises and abrasions in his stride. But it is not so with his parents. They draw the child near and fuss over it, saying, “Oh dear! Have you hurt yourself badly? How did it happen? Oh, it is bleeding!” Even if the child is not crying, all this fuss makes him cry. What can one say about it? A child is told not to jump, not to play lest he should get bruised or hurt. He is thus trained solely to think of the body. |
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