"Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures and enable mankind to benefit therefrom." -Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 260
This quote beautifully expresses the importance of education, that is, true education.
Questions for the reader: What is meant by true education? What are the aims of this kind of education? In what spirit should such education be conducted? (both by the teacher and the learner)
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I know education is such a passion of yours and mine! Here are a few thoughts that come to mind on the spirit of education and learning-
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is: his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2
We’re not just filling our minds with knowledge- we’re being transformed, becoming the people we were created to be, growing in discernment and maturity.
Paul and Silas were teachers in the time just after Christ’s death and resurrection. In one place they taught, Berea, this was said of the people there: “…they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” Acts 17:11
It’s important to do both: learn from teachers (and fellow learners) and examine the writings personally.
My graduate advisor once told us that we in the lab are each other’s “home team”. We should get the most support from our home team, and we should ask each other the hardest questions in carrying out and presenting our research. I think the same should be true in our closest spiritual learning communities—our friends with whom we study the writings and try to live out our faith. We should receive our hardest questions and our greatest support within this community.
When I think of 'true education', the harmony of science and religion comes to mind: an education that puts emphasis both on acquiring knowledge of the natural world (the arts, sciences, etc) as well as knowledge of the spiritual world (praiseworthy qualities, perfection of our character, etc).
Here are a couple of quotes by Abdu'l-Baha that talk about education:
"Divine education is that of the Kingdom of God: it consists in acquiring divine perfections, and this is true education; for in this state man becomes the focus of divine blessings, the manifestation of the words, “Let Us make man in Our image, and after Our likeness.”1 This is the goal of the world of humanity."
1—Cf. Gen. 1:26
"As to thy question regarding the education of children: It behoveth thee to nurture them at the breast of the love of God, and urge them onward to the things of the spirit -- that they may turn their faces unto God; that their ways may conform to the rules of good conduct and their character be second to none; that they make their own all the graces and praiseworthy qualities of humankind; that they acquire a sound knowledge of the various branches of learning -- so that from the very beginning of life they may become spiritual beings, dwellers in the Kingdom, enamoured of the sweet breaths of holiness, and may receive an education religious, spiritual, and of the Heavenly Realm. Verily will I call upon God to grant them a happy outcome in this."
I love the quote you started with...something that seems to a subtle yet profound shift in the Baha'i Faith as compared to some other belief systems is the idea that human beings are not inherently sinful and in need of redemption but rather ignorant and in need of education.
"The first Taraz and the first effulgence which hath dawned from the horizon of the Mother Book is that man should know his own self and recognize that which leadeth unto loftiness or lowliness, glory or abasement, wealth or poverty."
(Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 34)
"The root cause of wrongdoing is ignorance, and we must therefore hold fast to the tools of perception and knowledge. Good character must be taught. Light must be spread afar, so that, in the school of humanity, all may acquire the heavenly characteristics of the spirit, and see for themselves beyond any doubt that there is no fiercer hell, no more fiery abyss, than to possess a character that is evil and unsound; no more darksome pit nor loathsome torment than to show forth qualities which deserve to be condemned.
The individual must be educated to such a high degree that he would rather have his throat cut than tell a lie, and would think it easier to be slashed with a sword or pierced with a spear than to utter calumny or be carried away by wrath.
Thus will be kindled the sense of human dignity and pride, to burn away the reapings of lustful appetites. Then will each one of God's beloved shine out as a bright moon with qualities of the spirit, and the relationship of each to the Sacred Threshold of his Lord will be not illusory but sound and real, will be as the very foundation of the building, not some embellishment on its facade.
It followeth that the children's school must be a place of utmost discipline and order, that instruction must be thorough, and provision must be made for the rectification and refinement of character; so that, in his earliest years, within the very essence of the child, the divine foundation will be laid and the structure of holiness raised up.
Know that this matter of instruction, of character rectification and refinement, of heartening and encouraging the child, is of the utmost importance, for such are basic principles of God."
(Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 136)
I like this notion of education being likened to the mining of gems from an ore already possessing those riches, as opposed to the mechanical filling of empty vessels. The teacher, and the student, then need to approach education with two very essential qualities - thankfulness and humility. From the perspective of the student, he needs to be thankful for all these qualities that God has put within him (albeit in a latent form), and for being given the opportunity to learn and unleash his potential. This ties in closely with humility, for the student understands that even though these qualities lie latent within him, without guidance from a higher source, he would not be able to access them to the fullest degree.
From the perspective of the teacher, he needs to be thankful for being given the opportunity to mine these gems, to be of service, and to be an enabler for someone to realize their potential. And he needs to be humble, for he realizes that it is not HE who is putting knowledge into the student - rather, all he is doing is facilitating the process of self-discovery in the student. Also, the teacher is not the originator of the knowledge - he too gets it from a higher source, and is just a medium.
The need for humility might seem a little less obvious when it comes to normal schoolbook education (as opposed to spiritual education) - after all, doesn't the teacher who knows Newton's laws, or integral calculus, or the statement of the Magna Carta actually KNOW more than his student? Isn't he actually teaching the student something he doesn't know? So is he not superior to the student?
In a sense, I'd say that the teacher does know more than the student - but humility comes into the picture because the teacher needs to grant every student the ability to learn that which he does not know. In other words, even if the student currently does not know many things the teacher does, the teacher is still humble before him, for he recognizes that the student has the innate capacity to know all of that. And so there is no cause for superiority, for it is just a matter of time before the student too can know as much as the teacher.
What a beautiful series of comments here -- from four of my favorite people on this planet! Thank you to each of you for sharing this wealth of ideas and quotations! I always have so much to learn from each of you!
Melinda, this transformative power of learning that you refer to in the Romans quote seems SO essential to me: it gets to the core of what I understand to be True Education, that is, education that develops our spiritual qualities (this “Divine education is that of the Kingdom of God” Leila quotes). And it is with that same eagerness of spirit of Paul and Silas that we should independently investigate the truth and seek to hone our spiritual capacities.
Leila, what you've written about harmony between religion and science is so essential to this process -- religion without science would be merely superstition, and science without religion, without a moral backbone, could surely lead to all sorts of horrors for this earthly plane. I love this Abdu'l-Baha quote you've shared about bringing up children -- it provides us with such clear instruction about how to nurture the mining of these gems that already exist within the child, as Nikhil points out. This Freirian philosophy of education (in contrast to the traditional tabla rasa, a.k.a. blank slate, view, Paul Freire warned us NOT to see learners as empty vessels/bank accounts* to be filled by the teacher but as active learners who bring their own knowledge and experience to bear) made so much sense to me in our curriculum construction class, Leila, and I didn't even realize at the time how it aligned with Bahá'u'lláh's teachings!!! And to think that Bahá'u'lláh wrote this about a century before Freire!
This paradigm shift that Bahá'u'lláh brought us, as Lukas so adeptly points out, is that "human beings are not inherently sinful and in need of redemption but rather ignorant and in need of education." Quick question: what’s a Taraz?
Nikhil also writes about the importance of humility in teachers. This is so true, and such an attitude assuredly improves the quality of learning for all, that of teachers and students! This weekend at Bosch we talked about teaching as being about the making of ourselves -- about self-improvement. For, in order to teach, we ourselves must first investigate the truth as much as possible; those we teach will surely be able to discern whether we are sincere in what we teach.
* for Freire's description of "banking education" in his book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, see: http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/philosophy/education/freire/freire-2.html
The root of the word education is
"EDU CARE" - which essentially means to draw forth the wisdom from within. I've always thought this was a wonderful, clear way to view the most powerful education.
Lovely Lili, thanks so much for this addition about the root of the word education! Truly illuminating. It's so nice to see you commenting here on my blog. :-)
(1) “Then said a teacher, Speak to us of Teaching.
And he said:
No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge…
If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind…
And even as each one of you stands alone in God’s knowledge, so must each one of you be alone in his knowledge of God and in his understanding of the earth.”
(2) “And a man said, Speak to us of Self-Knowledge.
And he answered, saying: …
The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed. The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.
(3)
“And an old priest said, Speak to us of Religion.
And he said:
Have I spoken this day of aught else?
Is not religion all deeds and all reflection,
And that which is neither deed nor reflection, but a wonder and a surprise ever springing in the soul, even while the hands hew the stone or tend the loom?
Who can separate his faith from his actions, or his belief from his occupations?
Who can spread his hours before him, saying, “This for God and this for myself; This for my soul, and this other for my body?...
Your daily life is your temple and your religion.
Whenever you enter into it take with you your all.
Take the plough and the forge and the mallet and the lute,
The things you have fashioned in necessity or for delight.”
Kahlil Gibran in The Prophet. (thanks C!)
(1) This echoes some of the earlier postings, with the addition of the standing alone parts--that though we are connected and learn in community, you are the only person who knows what is in your mind and heart. Each of us must take ownership of our own journey of experience and understanding.
(2) Our education should unfold us and develop us in all directions, not just a single dimension. The layers of petals unfold together, so growth in diverse areas mutually stimulate.
(3) Another voice to sentiments so often shared in this group: that we must bring our entire selves to all that we do, and that all areas of life are part of our spiritual existence.
Ignorance and sin, education and redemption.
These words caught my attention. I think this is a core issue- what the nature of mankind’s disconnect from God and the spiritual qualities, and what can be done about it? How are these concepts the same and how are they different? How does each one (sin, ignorance) keep us from perfect union with God that we seek? In each case, what is required of us, and what is required of God, in order to remedy the human condition and bring about this union? In each case, what is the mechanism or practical result for changing our hearts, desires, and behavior?
In my world view both of these tensions are strongly in play (redemption over sin and education over ignorance), and the questions above frame my thinking on the similarities, differences, and relationships between these ideas.
For me, the first part of true education means learning and accepting that on my own I am unfit to meet God face to face. This is a state I could do nothing about; it required God’s action. Jesus’s death and resurrection was that action of grace- he destroyed sin so that sin would not destroy me in God’s intimate presence. That is what I think of with the words “redemption from sin.” With the acceptance of that redemption, we live in a state of grace in which we can be intimately drawn into the power of God, and we live in the freedom to pursue our true education of developing our spiritual qualities within the context of having already been forgiven for the times when we will inevitably fail.
The idea of ignorance can feel more inviting than the idea of sin because it doesn’t apply blame. If we think of sin by measuring ourselves against other people, then we feel unjustly accused; there’s always someone with worse actions or worse intentions. But if we measure ourselves against God’s perfection, certainly we all fall short.
A lot of this relates to previous discussion around the Apostle’s Creed. http://constantcuriosity.blogspot.com/2008/07/reflection-on-apostles-creed.html
Thanks Melinda -- Kahlil Gibran's writing is a mine of gems of inestimable value! Every time I read The Prophet I glean new understanding and appreciation. Thanks for sharing.
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