Summer 1980

I am very glad to see all of you. Most of the dear ones I know personally, because they have come around the ashram and are initiates and I have seen them many times, and I have met their children also. But some of the dear ones whom I have never met before, I’ve got this opportunity to see them. So I’m very grateful and I’m very pleased to see all the dear ones. I welcome all of you, and I appreciate that all of you have come here to listen to me.

All those who are learned, they already know how important it is to study to get an education, and what the benefits of education are. And you know what we have to sacrifice and what we have to do in order to get a better education.

We know that the most important thing for every child in the building of his educated life is school. It is the stepping-stone of the life of the children, so if the school is good and if the teachers are good, only then can the children get good education from the very beginning. When they grow older and go to college they will be able to understand things much better.

Saints are also like teachers. As the teachers teach the children in the school what is good and what is bad, in the same way, when the Master Saints come in this world they also start their school, which we ordinarily call “Satsang.” You can call it “Satsang” or “school,” and in that satsang or school, Masters lovingly tell us what is good for us and what is bad for us. They tell us what things we should do to improve our life and what things we should not do, so that we may make our life much better. And those who obey the commandments of the Master, those who mold their life according to the instructions of the Master, realize in the end that they have learned a lot.

If those who come to the Masters do not obey their commandments and do not mold their lives according to the teachings of the Master, and go on the wrong path, the Masters will not lose anything. The person who is not obeying the commandments of the Master, he will lose. If we obey the teachings of the Masters we improve our life. And moreover, we can help in the mission of the Masters. Anyone who comes to the Satsang, the school of the Masters, in the beginning he is ignorant. He doesn’t know what is good for him and what is bad for him.

Even though some people come to the Masters when they are fifty years old, some when they are forty years old, when they first come they are all like children. They don’t know anything. In the same way, the children who have joined the school don’t know anything. They don’t even know how to sit, how to stand, how to talk. They don’t even know how much respect and appreciation they should have for the teacher. Whereas those who come to the Path don’t know anything about the glory of the Master, but at least they know how to deal with people. But children don’t even know that. Children don’t even know that the education which they are getting will be helpful for them in the future and that because of a good education they will make a good life. Children are innocent and they don’t know that this thing is good for them.

In such a situation the parents are the first teachers of the children. So if the parents tell the children, “Dear children, it is good for you to go to school, and after going to school it is good for you to study wholeheartedly, and respect the teachers and remain in the discipline,” only then can the children have a better understanding about the importance of going to school. Because school is a totally new thing for them, they don’t know how to utilize their time in the best way. So that is why it becomes so very important for the parents to teach the children about the importance of the school and how to behave there. If they tell all these things to the children in will be helpful for them.

Children are the wealth of nations. The leaders, emperors, kings and great people of the future will come up from these children only, so it is very important for us to give them a good education. If they do not study in a correct way, then how can they progress in life? More than that – how can they help in the progress of the country? If we will teach the children to be in discipline, we will help the teachers of the school. If the children will remain in discipline, the teachers will be able to put all their attention on the children and love them. And when the children remain in discipline and receive so much love and respect from the teachers, they will appreciate that, and they will be able to learn more.

So that is why it is very important for us to remember these things: First of all, we should have respect for the school to which our children are going, and the children also should have respect for their school. After that comes respect and appreciation for the teachers. If the children respect and appreciate the teachers, they will gain a lot. And if the parents teach the children about discipline and teach discipline to them, it will be helpful in their studies also.

In Rajasthan there was one Swami Keshvanand, and he established one school. He encouraged people to give donations, he raised a lot of funds, and he worked very hard to establish that school. And when it was established many children got educated, and it was very well respected in the area. That school produced many good leaders, and many became well known, because they had been given a very good education. Many even became Members of Parliament, which is not a small thing in India. But later on those who had gotten an education there didn’t remember the school, nor have any respect for it. That affected the new generation, who also started not respecting the school, and in that way the name of the school went down and down.

So once Swami Keshvanand invited all the old students. Among those who came were many Members of Parliament, ministers, etc. The Swami told them “Don’t you remember the education you got from this school? You have become Members of Parliament only because of that education. Should you not take care of the school?” Education is the first thing which makes our life. If we are illiterate we cannot deal with people, we cannot earn anything; we cannot do anything if we don’t have a good education. He meant to say that, to whichever school our children are going, we should have respect for that school, and we should always help it in whatever way we can.

Master Sawan Singh never forgot His teacher, even though Master Sawan Singh became a Param Sant. Still He always remembered His teacher and whenever He met him He gave him much respect.

Swami Keshvanand had been a Member of Parliament when India became independent. At that time most of the Members of Parliament and leaders were illiterate. He felt very bad about that and that’s why he was inspired to start such a school. He went from one village to another, from door to door, collecting money for the school, and he worked hard for many years; eventually he was successful. Swami Keshvanand used to say that those who don’t help the schools, but who always criticize the schools where their children are going, are doing no good for their children. He used to say such people should be drowned in a river with a garland of stones around their neck. He used to say that such people are the enemies of society, because they don’t appreciate the place from where the leaders of the future are going to come.

Swami Keshvanand was a very simple man who ate simple food. But he used to work very hard for the benefit of other people. And you know that when someone is working selflessly for other people, the worldly people think that he is not in his senses, that he is a madman. So people used to taunt him, saying, “We will see if this hard work that you are doing will bear any fruit.” Swami Keshvanand said, “Don’t worry about me. Whatever work I am doing, definitely will prove worthwhile. It will benefit the people. I don’t want to die while lying on my bed – I want to die while I am still active.” It so happened that when he left his body, he was still very much in action, even though he was very old. He left the body in Delhi while he was walking.

If somebody donates money to a school, and if the children study wholeheartedly, and become worthwhile people, then you can see whose donation has made that possible.

In India there are six deeds which are considered most holy. One is to give donations in the name of God; another is to receive donations in the name of God for God’s work; the third is to give education; the fourth is to receive the education of God; the fifth is to perform the devotion of the Lord, and the sixth is to make other people do the devotion of God.

In India in the old days people used to teach children with the understanding that they were giving the donation of knowledge to the children, and the children used to have so much respect and appreciation for their teachers that they used to call them “gurus,” or “masters.” Those who studied in those early schools, even if they went up to the fourth grade only, still had much more discipline and knowledge than the masters and graduates of this time, because nowadays, if the teachers are strict – and sometimes they have to be strict – the children rebel and don’t like it. And when the teachers are not appreciated and respected by the children, they also think, “Why should we bother so much for the children? We will get paid anyway!” But this is not good for the children or for the teachers.

It is the duty of the parents to teach discipline to the children. If we teach them discipline, it will be good and helpful for the teachers in the schools. Moreover, by doing that we are having mercy on our children. If we teach them discipline, and how to remain in discipline, it will help them here in this school and when they go to other schools, and when they do their work when they go into the world. Everywhere they will find it very helpful.

In childhood everybody’s mind is very swift – like a monkey. Little children always have very fast thoughts, and they love to think about how to fool the teacher and play mischief. You know that children love to get many days off from school so they can play and do whatever they want. Once it so happened that there were some children who wanted to have a day off to play, so all of them decided to play a trick on the teacher. When the teacher came into the classroom one boy got up and said, “Sir, why do you look so sad and weak today?” But the teacher said, “No, I don’t have any problem, I am okay. You go and sit down.” But another child got up and said, “No, sir, you should believe us – your face is very pale. Something is wrong with you. Are you sick?” He answered, “No, no, no, no. I’m all right, you go and sit down. Let us start the work.” But the other one got up and said, “No, sir. You should rest today. You definitely need to rest, because if you don’t rest you will get sicker.” And in that way, since all the children told him, he was convinced somehow that he was sick and that he should go and rest.

But he was also very smart. So he said, “Okay. You all come with me to my home, and I will lie down in bed, and you come with me and read there. If you want me to rest, I will rest.” So he took them home and, because he was convinced that he was sick, he started arguing with his wife. He said to her, “You are supposed to take good care of my health. You didn’t tell me that I was weak and pale; the children told me. You are not giving me good food and care!” She said, “No, you are all right. You are normal.” But he said, “No, you are lying.”

Anyway, he lay down on the bed and he had all the children sitting near him. Now the children thought, “We played this trick because we wanted a day off, but the teacher is very smart. He told us to come here and still we don’t have the day off.” So they thought of playing one more trick. They said to each other, “Let us read very loudly, and when we read aloud then maybe he will get a headache and tell us to go.” So they started reading loudly. After some time the teacher got upset and he said, “Don’t make me have a headache. You go. Today is a day off.”

So children are very much like this. They always want many days off because they like to play. But if we tell them how important it is for them to go to school regularly, attend their classes, and study wholeheartedly – if we teach them discipline – that will be helpful for them.