Living the dream
Integrating spirituality with education would result in helping create a younger generation that is socially aware, conscious, and spiritual, with a passion for treading the unbeaten path.
Revolutionising education
“Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself,” said John Dewey. Education is what makes us ‘decent’ human beings. It arms us with information and life-skills important to live a good life. Education also promotes peace, tolerance, and compassion for others. Around the world, universities have introduced meditation on campuses teaching students how to de-stress.
Top universities like Columbia and Georgetown today have dedicated sessions that introduce students to the practice. In India, the Sri Sri University, founded by Art of Living’s Sri Sri Ravi Shankar naturally aims to integrate spirituality with education, and wants to shape a set of individuals who will lay the foundations for a society where humanity has been restored.
Meditating on campus
“It’s an upcoming university. It’s just seven years since we started. There are a lot of new programmes and new plans that we have. We have close to 1,700 students now. One of the foundational principles that we are embracing at Sri Sri University is holistic education. Today if you see students around the world and in India… look at the pressures they have to deal with. There is social pressure, there is pressure from social and digital media, there is environmental pressure. I really empathise with the kids. It is not easy to be students in this time. Times will get even more complex. That environment, whether it changes or how it changes, is not so much in our control. What is in our control is the way we respond to it. All our children on campus learn the Art of Living programme — the Sudarshan Kriya. They meditate every day. They have a deep interest in the wisdom of life. Sometimes you get excellent breakthroughs, sometimes you can beat your head but nothing works. But how you deal with those moments of success as well as failure really defines how you eventually live a successful life. That’s what we are preparing our students for,” says Rajita Kulkarni, president of the university.
Schooling farmers
The university, a vegetarian campus, which is drug, alcohol and smoke-free, has been designed by architects who specialise in educational architecture, and offers both undergraduate and post graduate programmes in a wide variety of subjects ranging from osteopathy (one of the few of its kind in the country) to entrepreneurship to yoga and naturopathy to good governance and public policy, to an upcoming bachelor’s in agribusiness.
“We are an agrarian economy predominantly in India. Strengthening our farmers is really the foundation of our economic prosperity. The course will aim to help farmers understand and become experts in the enterprise of agriculture,” adds Kulkarni. The campus also grows around 15 – 18 types of vegetables and fruits organically for its mess on campus, such as cabbage, cauliflower, pumpkin, coriander, okra, chillies, parsley and exotic fruits like persimmons.
Actively aspiring to motivate students to launch their own businesses, the university offers an MBA in Entrepreneurship. “We are one of the few universities in India which offers this programme. Recently, we were looking for a placement officer and the popular conversation among the students was that in a couple of days we should not need a placement officer because everyone should be able to start their own enterprise. We have in the last three years had close to 18 start-ups that have successfully been started.”
Kulkarni goes on to add that across fields she wants her students to have an enterprising spirit, including in fields such as yoga, where it’s important for students to have a vision that’s viable and sustainable apart from being service-oriented, “We don’t want for our students to land up being freelance yoga tutors. We would like for them to set up their own studios, so they can train more people. These are exhaustive programmes of two and three years. If you see our yoga students, they really are yogis. They live that knowledge of yoga on a day-to-day basis.”
Srinovating
Another unconventional university initiative is an initiative called ‘Srinovation’ – a union of innovation and entrepreneurship the Sri Sri way. Equipped with state-of-theart facilities like computers, office rooms, LCD displays, multimedia equipment and discussion tables, the centre is an “incubation” centre which aims to continually vet the appetite for entrepreneurship among students by organising lectures with successful businesspersons and offering courses in corporate social responsibility and social entrepreneurship.
“Srinovation is a space for students to really express their innovative ideas, their start-up ideas. We counsel and coach students. At the Start-up India Odisha Yatra this year in February, Sri Sri University contributed close to 500 start-up ideas. The government selected totally 75 ideas out of which seven are from our university. All the start-ups that our students have launched (in the past) — of course they have to be financially sustainable — each of them has had a social impact angle to it. Service is ingrained in our students. On the campus they have experienced the joy of serving. For me, it’s a foregone conclusion that whatever they do they will find a way to suitably, positively impact the community. It is my expectation of them that they should succeed, prosper, progress, and at the same time not forget the community.”
Life is like a runway, unless you get the signal you can’t take-off. But that does not mean you should stop your engine and merely wait for the signal. Instead, you need to keep going till that moment arrives for you to fly high on your dreams and aspirations. Before that you are expected to pay attention to few thigs that will make your voyage a memorable one.
Life is never an easy ride. One does experience turbulence at regular intervals. And hence, we all need to fasten our seat belts in form of strong determination and will power. Never let your weakness, overpower your strength. There is every reason to stay firm on your beliefs and goals, sooner than later you will realise that sky is the limit. With sheer determination one can overcome any number of hurdles charting a new and better route every time you surpass one.
Do not get tempted or distracted in your life so as to lose focus on what you have set out to achieve. Just like mobile phone signals can interrupt the air traffic signals, several distractions in life can divert your attention from the right path. Keep your mind on ‘Flying Mode’, come what may, I shall not let my focus deviate should be your rightful mantra during such an eventuality.
All days are never alike. Sometimes strongest of the strongest mind can experience a bit of low just as the weakest one goes into depression. And when that happens there is certainly no need to panic. Put on the oxygen mask of faith and trust yourself more than anyone else to create a brighter tomorrow. You must learn to help yourself by bringing in positive thoughts whereby depression turns into celebration.
It is of primary importance that you do not trouble or cause any harm to your fellow passengers during the course of journey. There will be some whom you may find little irritating or less human. Do not do what they do just to ensure that they are troubled equally. You are not they and they are not you. Instead try helping those in genuine need of your attention and concern. It will not only make your voyage a happy one but also a peaceful one.
In life never shut your mind with know-it-all attitude. We all somewhere are imperfect in our so called perfections. So let us be always open to new ideas and suggestions coming from any corners. Because when we finally land at our chosen destination what would matter is how resourceful the journey was in terms of inculcating as well as imparting the knowledge we all have gathered.