Why is education not helping the world? || Acharya Prashant, with youth (2013)
Speaker: The question asked by Nitish is, ‘In spite of having a world that is more and more educated, with every passing day the literacy levels are increasing, more and more people are enrolling for higher education as well. In spite of having all this why do we have a world like this? Why do we have a world like this?’
Education has two layers to it. The first layer is the superficial one which deals with objects. Let us see what all is included in this layer? Since your childhood you have studied Hindi, English, History, Geography, Mathematics and now Technology. But you are not the languages, you are not the glaciers and the mountains that you read about in geography. You are not the kings and their kingdoms you read of in History. You are not a quadratic equation, you are not a differential equation either that you read study in Mathematics. And none of you is an electromagnetic motor about which you are reading currently. All of these are external objects. Education about them is superficial education which takes the mind to objects, objects outside. Objects include people, places, things, moments everything. So, when education tells you about other people and their thinking, when education tells you about science and the products of science, it is all about objects; external objects. And your education has filled your mind with knowledge about external objects; which is alright, which is important to an extent. But that is just superficial. That is just the first layer of education.
Real education is something else. Real education takes the mind not outwards but inwards. Real education is about a mind that is able to understand its own processes. ‘From where does anger arise? Why am I so insecure? Why am I always restless? Why can’t I be attentive? Why am I jealous? Why am I possessive? What is the quality of my relationships? What is Love? What is Joy? What is Truth? and What is Freedom? A mind that cannot enquire into this is not an educated mind. A mind that cannot go into itself (pointing at the mind). ‘What are thoughts? How do they arise?’
