Guidelines to Teachers

Excerpts from divine discourses of

Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Compiled by:Dr. M. Thirumaleshwar

Swami says:

• What is the end of Education?

• End of culture is Perfection,

• End of knowledge is Love,

• End of wisdom is Freedom,

• End of education is Character

2July 2016

Swami says:

• Remember: service to students is not only for their sake, but for your sake too.

• Don’t be proud imagining that • Don’t be proud imagining that students need you; you need them too.

• Students rely on you; so, sacrifice what you have for them.

3July 2016

Swami says:

• If a student has a vice, he only suffers; but, if a teacher has a vice, thousands are polluted.

• Only a ‘great’ teacher can mould • Only a ‘great’ teacher can mould a great student.

• Those who seek to impart ‘values’ to students must set an example by first practising themselves.

4July 2016

Swami says:

• Duty of a teacher involves intensive preparation, most effective communication and inspiring the students.inspiring the students.

• Duty is best discharged with discipline.

• Discipline should be enforced with love and understanding.

5July 2016

Swami says:

• Teach the students three P’s: Purity, Patience and Perseverance.

• Teachers should not lose their • Teachers should not lose their temper; keep emotions under control.

• Teacher should interact with his colleagues in cordial, loving terms.

6July 2016

Swami says:

• Let there be harmony in the office, class rooms, dormitories, dining room and play grounds

• Never curse your students; • Never curse your students; always bless them.

• A teacher must excel in humility, simplicity, morality and integrity,so that education results in excellence.

7July 2016

Swami says:

• Cultivate love for students; but, love should be tempered with discipline.

• Teachers should not trot out excuses, based on material considerations, to shirk or by-pass their essentially spiritual shirk or by-pass their essentially spiritual task of ‘education.’

• Do your job well as a puja (worship), an offering at the Lotus Feet, and you will be amply rewarded with joy, peace, restfulness and rapture.

8July 2016

Swami says:

• The teacher must work in an atmosphere of Love and Truth, not Hate and Falsehood. He must move Falsehood. He must move among the children, happy and content, not angry and sullen. Then only can he radiate Love.

9July 2016

Swami says:

• Your character is the best tool for the profession you have entered upon; your learning is of course learning is of course valuable, but, one can excuse a little less of it; character, on the other hand, must be cent per cent, perfect.

10July 2016

Swami says:

• The Universe is a University for those who care to watch and learn.

• Education has to tend the body, mind and spirit, in addition to the and spirit, in addition to the intelligence.

• Secular and spiritual education are like the two halves in the seeds of pulses; the germ that sprouts is in between; it is fed by both.

11July 2016

Swami says:

• Expansion is the keynote of education.Your love too must fill your home and your society, and finally, burst even those bonds and become world-wide.

• Cultivate Love; sow the seeds of love • Cultivate Love; sow the seeds of love in all hearts.

• When you earn a degree and go out of this college, do not ask, “What is the country giving me?” ask rather, “Now, what can I give to my country?”

12July 2016

Swami says:

• Teachers must be exemplars of sincerity, simplicity and mutual co-operation and love; they too must evince interest in prayers, and other items of spiritual importance. other items of spiritual importance.

• Let the children realise that prayer is universal and that prayer in any language, addressed to any Name, reaches the same God.

13July 2016

Swami says:

• The Bible teaches that man should pray for peace and practise charity. The Quaran would have man show mercy to the suffering and to surrender his will to the All-High. The Buddhist texts teach the lesson of detachment and sense-the lesson of detachment and sense-control. The Zendavesta exhorts man to get rid of evil propensities and shine in his own innate glory.

• The guru has to imbibe all these qualities and then teach them to his pupils by precept and example.

14July 2016

Swami says:

• Education must endow man with compassion and spirit of service –intelligent, timely and full. intelligent, timely and full. That is to say, education must not only inform, it must also transform.

15July 2016

Swami says:

• Unless knowledge is transformed into wisdom, and wisdom is expressed in character, education is a in character, education is a wasteful process.

16July 2016

Swami says:

• Practise the constant presence of God and learn to offer all your activities at the feet of the Lord as an act of worship.Lord as an act of worship.

• The moral strength and virtues of the teachers will be reflected in the students under their care.

17July 2016

Swami says:

• Education must teach a person what is life, and what are its goals. It must purify the heart and clarify the vision.

• Never pollute your speech with falsehood; never poison your thoughts with hatred and greed; never degrade your body with violence in any form.

18July 2016

Swami says:

• Real education must be judged by the concern for others which it promotes.

• Education must broaden the heart; it must expand one’s love.

19July 2016

Swami says:

• Virtues, purity of the mind, adherence to truth, dedication to the Supreme, discipline, devotion to duty –discipline, devotion to duty –these qualities have to be fostered and promoted in the University.

20July 2016

Swami says:

• Real education should enable one to realise that mankind is one family. It should help one to It should help one to experience the unifying forces in society.

21July 2016

Swami says:

• Bharatiya culture is not meant only for Bharat, but is meant for all mankind to is meant for all mankind to reveal to the world the path to the Divine.

22July 2016

Swami says:

• Culture seeks to integrate the various aspects of daily life and develop a unified outlook. It should enable one to It should enable one to transcend the divisions of caste, creed and community and realise the divine unity that underlies the apparent diversity.

23July 2016

Swami says:

• Broaden your vision. Cultivate the spirit of love. Being endowed with the human form, you must strive to form, you must strive to develop human values and not stray away from the path of righteousness.

24July 2016

Swami says:

• It is most essential to practise unity in thought, word and deed – which is the mark of all great the mark of all great people.

25July 2016

Swami says:

• Where there is faith there is love.

• Where there is love there is peace.

• Where there is peace there is • Where there is peace there is truth.

• Where there is truth there is God.

• Where there is God there is bliss.

26July 2016

Swami says:

• God is Hridayavasi (Indweller). So, all that originates from the heart is essentially divine. Therefore, let all your thoughts, Therefore, let all your thoughts, words and deeds originate from your heart.

• Do good, be good and see good. This is the way to God.

27July 2016

Swami says:

• The heart is the lock, the mind is the key.

• You get attachment, when your mind is turned your mind is turned towards the world.

• When it is turned towards God, you attain liberation.

28July 2016

Human Values:

• Human values are:

• Sathya (Truth)

• Dharma (Righteous conduct)

• Shanti (Peace)• Shanti (Peace)

• Prema (Love)

• Ahimsa (Non-violence)

29July 2016

‘Love’ – the central value

• Love as thought is Truth

• Love as action is Right Conduct

• Love as feeling is Peace• Love as feeling is Peace

• Love as understanding is Non-violence

• There is only one royal road for the spiritual journey...LOVE

30July 2016

‘WATCH’– the sacred Mantra on the wrist

• W…Watch your Words--- let them be Truthful

• A… Watch your Actions--- let them be Righteous

• T… Watch your Thoughts--- let them be • T… Watch your Thoughts--- let them be peaceful

• C… Watch your Character--- let it be saturated with Love

• H… Watch your Heart--- let it be full of Non-violence

31July 2016

Human Values…Swami says:

• Sathya, Dharma, Shanti, Prema, and Ahimsa…these five Ahimsa…these five human values are nothing but manifestation of five vital life breaths.

32July 2016

Swami says:

• Wealth has been apotheosized

• Arrogance has become a creed

• Peace has become remote from man

• Egoistic boast is fashionable • Egoistic boast is fashionable

• Property has become an adornment

• Selfishness is installed in the heart

• Sense of self-respect has declined…

33July 2016

Swami says:

• Hypocrisy has become the hall-mark

• Love and affection have become sickly

• The heart is divorced from righteousness

• Life has become a burden• Life has become a burden

• People have lost their moorings.

• What does the future hold?

• Make education value-based

• And, ensure a future for Bharat!

34July 2016

Sayings of great people from history…

35July 2016

* A good teacher is likea candle - it consumesitself to light the way

Words of Wisdom…

itself to light the wayfor others……………..… Author Unknown

36July 2016

• A child is not a vessel to be filled, but a lamp to be lit…

Words of Wisdom…

to be lit……Hebrew proverb

37July 2016

* We want that education bywhich character is formed,strength of mind is increased,the intellect is expanded, and by

Words of Wisdom…

the intellect is expanded, and bywhich one can stand on one'sown feet… Swami Vivekananda

38July 2016

Words of Wisdom…

• Education is an ornament in prosperity and a refuge in adversity…

• The roots of education are bitter, but • The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet … Aristotle

39July 2016

Words of Wisdom…

• The only true wisdom is in knowing that you know nothing… know nothing… Socrates

40July 2016

Words of Wisdom…

• It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education.

• The whole of life, from the • The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning.

… J. Krishnamurti

41July 2016

Words of Wisdom…

• The only thing that interferes with my learning is my learning is my education…Albert Einstein

42July 2016

Words of Wisdom…

• The mediocre teacher…tells

• The good teacher…explains

• The superior teacher…demonstrates

• The GREAT teacher…INSPIRES!

• ……. William Arthur Ward

43July 2016

Words of Wisdom…

• ‘Good teaching’ is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theater. … Gail Godwin

• A teacher who is attempting to • A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron. … …Horace Mann

44July 2016

Words of Wisdom…

• I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework.… Lily Tomlin as "Edith Ann"

• Teaching is the profession that teaches all the other professions…. Author Unknown

• Good teachers are costly, but bad teachers cost more…. Bob Talbert

45July 2016

Words of Wisdom…

• A teacher's purpose is not to create students in his own image, but to develop students who can create their own who can create their own image.… Author Unknown

• What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches…. Karl Menninger

46July 2016

Words of Wisdom…

• Teachers who inspire know that teaching is like cultivating a garden, and those who would have those who would have nothing to do with thorns must never attempt to gather flowers…. Author Unknown

47July 2016

Words of Wisdom…

• One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human those who touched our human feelings…. Carl Jung

• The best teachers teach from the heart, not from the book…. Author Unknown

48July 2016

Words of Wisdom…

• The true teacher defends his pupils against his own personal influences….Amos AlcottAmos Alcott

• Where there is an open mind there will always be a frontier… …Charles F. Kettering

49July 2016

Words of Wisdom…

• Good teaching is more a giving of right questions than a giving of right answers… answers… Josef Albers

50July 2016

Words of Wisdom…

• A teacher is a compass that activates the magnets of curiosity, knowledge, and wisdom in the pupils. … …Ever Garrison…Ever Garrison

• The average teacher explains complexity; the gifted teacher reveals simplicity. ….Robert Brault

51July 2016

Words of Wisdom…

• The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the rather leads you to the threshold of your mind.... ..Khalil Gibran

• To teach is to learn twice…. ..Joseph Joubert

52July 2016

Words of Wisdom…

• Don't try to fix the students, fix ourselves first. The good teacher makes the poor student good and the good student superior. When our students fail, we, as teachers, our students fail, we, as teachers, too, have failed…. Marva Collins

• The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery….. ..Mark Van Doren

53July 2016

Words of Wisdom…

• Teachers are expected to reach unattainable goals with inadequate tools. The miracle is that at times they accomplish this impossible task…. Haim G. Ginottimpossible task…. Haim G. Ginott

• Ideals are like stars. We never reach them, but, like the mariners on the sea, we chart course by them … C. Schurz

54July 2016

Words of Wisdom…

• The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work … Harry Golden

• Lost time is never found • Lost time is never found again!.....Benjamin Franklin

• Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?...Abraham Lincoln

55July 2016

Words of Wisdom…

• Time heals almost everything. Give time time… ….. Anonymous

• Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need….Anonymous

56July 2016

Words of Wisdom…

• You will not be punished for your anger; you will be anger; you will be punished by your anger… Buddha

57July 2016

Important words to remember in Life:

• I …. Most used one-letter word, but should be given least importance in life.

• WE …Less used, important • WE …Less used, important two-letter word, but should be given more importance in life.

58July 2016

Important words to remember in Life:

• GOD … Least used, important three-letter word, but should be given most importance in life.

• LOVE/DUTY … Important four-• LOVE/DUTY … Important four-letter words to practice for a fulfilling life.

59July 2016

Important words to remember in Life..

• TRUTH/PEACE/SMILE/ SORRY …Important five-letter words to live a happy life.life.

• ‘DHARMA’ …. i.e. righteous conduct…. important six-letter word is the way for a noble life.

60July 2016

Important words to remember in Life..

• SERVICE …. to society -important seven-letter word is the best spiritual practice.

• DEVOTION … important • DEVOTION … important eight-letter word – draws in God’s grace and makes you fearless.

61July 2016

Important words to remember in Life:

• KNOWLEDGE/TOLERANCE … important nine-letter words… knowing yourself as you are will make you tolerant towards others as they are.others as they are.

• CONFIDENCE … very important ten-letter word…. is the strong foundation for the mansion of life!

62July 2016

Dedicated at the Lotus Feet of…

Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba

M. Thirumaleshwar

63July 2016