Sathya Sai Spiritual Education

The sacred role of parenting and teaching

Dr Pal Dhall, Director of the Institute of Sathya Sai Education Canberra spoke with parents and staff at the Sathya Sai Primary School in Murwillumbah NSW on the 21st September, 2006. This is a record of that experience by the school Principal.

1. Why a school for the Sathya Sai Organisation?

The Sathya Sai Organisation is a world-wide spiritual service organization that combines spirituality and education to bring out sacredness, virtuous living, God, transcendence that is found in every human being.

Dr Dhall elicited parents' thoughts asking why did they choose this school? Responses included values-based learning that focused on character, the model of education that attracted them, the 5 human values, spirituality and pedagogy, the teaching techniques.

He asked who are the most important and first educators of children? Parents and then teachers and society are the primary educators responsible for constructing their child's inner world.

Dr Dhall then went on to give the big picture of Sathya Sai Education, stating that education is provided in Australia by two models, both of which provide very good education. The Sathya Sai Education in Human Values model is a third model.

The public system that focuses on values like equality, strong literacy and numeracy for a democratic society provided by government, and,
He stated that the economic agenda has skewed education making 'what we do' more important than 'who we are'.

2. What is Sathya Sai Education?

The big picture of SSE is about life, a life relating to your own conscience. Around the planet there are approximately 150 Sathya Sai schools. There are formal, informal and non-formal aspects of Sathya Sai education (SSE).

The formal include primary and secondary school, Universities and Institutes of Sathya Sai Education.
Informal SSE involves SS awareness, SS Vision, SS philosophy and importantly parenting, in particular parent training provided by ISSE Canberra, Robert and Rita Bruce, Dr Judo in Thailand.
Non-formal SSE includes videos, multi-media works, radio Sai harmony website amongst many other areas of activity.

3. Sathya Sai Schools?

Dr Dhall outlined more explicitly, the three models of education- state, private and EHV or core strength education.

State schools focus on development and economics, social justice, equality, the common good for the benefit of society and self.
Private schools employ a state curriculum, often religious values, faith leading to identity, are commercial ventures, often elitist with significant fees and focused on the common good also.
EHV model schools focus on Positive Youth Development psychology assuming core strength in every child, have no school fees due to their focus on bringing out the spirituality in each child and so, are not about money. Every child, teacher and parent encounters his or her own self through the EHV process.

School is a sacred space where the child encounters his/ her spirituality and teachers see their job as a calling, not a job. The relationship is about service and spirituality; engagement of the heart. Teachers and parents will always go that extra mile to elevate; it is about our own elevation of consciousness. A Sai school is about engagement with the spirituality of the child. We are spiritual beings having a human experience not the other way around. Empowering people is spiritual. It brings out Love, a higher form of spirituality, a level of consciousness where you are engaged in giving your very best; where you are all divine and we create an environment in which your divinity unfolds. The Five human values are aspects of our spirituality and flow through the 5 domains of our personality. In the behaviour of the parent and teacher, we construct the inner world, imagination, thinking, potentialities of the child. There cannot be a higher calling than this!

The role of the Sai School

The school's WATCH program, Water Management, involvement in community; these are all responsible for and to, the next generation.

Deconstructive childhood has been woven into the culture of our society. Mass communications and television, have promoted this deconstruction. Parents must create an environment in which they put up impermeable boundaries for this to happen. The parents are the primary teachers and must take on responsibility for this truly sacred role. Developing programs like Parent Link with parents working with and supporting the school's values for the fortnight, will make a real difference.

Dr Pal Dhall is Director of the Australian Institute of Sathya Sai Education, Canberra, ACT. You may visit the Institute website here: http://www.isseaustralia.com

School Office Hours: Monday-Friday 8.30 am-4:15 pm
Address: 9 Nullum St Murwillumbah NSW 2484
Postal Address: P.O. Box 705 Murwillumbah NSW 2484
Phone: 02 6672 8972 Fax: 02 6672 8922