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  Volume 3 - Issue 8
AUG 2005

 
 

DEVELOP MORALITY QUOTIENT IN CHILDREN - THE ONLY WAY TO WORLD PEACE


The Talk of Dr. Jum Sai in the Spanish newspaper -
"El Heraldo de Chihuahua"

Dr. Jhum Sai, a NASA Scientist and founder of the Institute of Sathya Sai Education, Thailand, gave a very illumining talk in the largest state of Mexico, Chihuahua, on the 18 th of June 2005, which was very well received and newspapers carried stories about it. Here we have the English version of a report of this talk which appeared in ‘El Heraldo de Chihuahua’, a Spanish city newspaper of Chihuahua on the next day.

The only way to eliminate violence in the world

NECESSARY DEVELOPMENT OF MORALITY QUOTIENT IN CHILDREN

Thai doctor Art-ong Jumsai Na Ayudhya, philosopher and NASA scientist, promotes the Sri Sathya Sai philosophy at an international level

The only way to eliminate the violence that permeates the world, is by modifying the traditional system of educating children in the schools, as well as at home because beyond forming individuals that are outstanding in mathematics, science, technology and the other usual subjects. What we need is to cultivate honest, upright, peace-loving and, above all, loving people.


The Thai doctor Art-ong Jumsai Na Ayudhya, philosopher, Nasa scientist, advocator of the Sri Sathya Sai philosophy at an international level, said that in his Education in Human Values conference and provides concrete techniques for the teachers and parents in providing an integral education to children.

Give Priority to Values

The specialist does not say that teachers should stop teaching math and other sciences, but at the same time, while they are teaching adding, subtraction, division and multiplication tables, to give priority to the values.

For example: to show how to subtract, a textbook from a primary school in Thailand has a picture of a farmer with ten cows and seven were stolen, then the question is, how many cows are left.

In this case, if the teacher does not explain that stealing is a dishonest act, that it is not right to do this, the children will think that it is a perfectly normal action.

On the other hand, if instead of that construction, the teacher tells them that the farmer has a son to whom he gives seven cows because he loves him very much, in addition to helping subtract, it will develop the value of love in the students.

In spite of the fact that the Thai doctor spoke in English, hundreds of people in the Ramiro Valles auditorium in the Accounting and Administration School at the new university campus, remained attentive during the three hours the speech lasted, from eleven in the morning until two in the afternoon.

"The Person Who Loves Cannot Be Violent"

Beyond developing intelligence, goodness should be cultivated in children, love for themselves and for others, because when they grow up they will do everything with an attitude of serving others.


What is the use of only developing a child's intelligence, if when he grows up he will be selfish and do bad things because he doesn't care about others?

Love is the basis of all human values because someone who loves himself and others, will have inner peace that leads to rectitude and to peace. Dr. Jumsai emphasized: "The person who loves cannot be violent."

In his opinion, education should form and strengthen the following values in the child: illumination, duty, devotion, understanding, character, action, gratitude, integrity, unity and nobility.

Constant Interaction With The Community - A Must For Every School

He recommends that teachers should be more interested in developing the child's MG (Morality Quotient) and the EQ (Emotional Quotient) than the IQ (Intelligence Quotient).

For the expert, who acts as consultant in education in values for the Thai Government, the school should be in constant interaction with the community.

Parents and society should be attentive to what happens in schools. They should know the teachers and know how they are teaching the classes, what and how they teach.

All the information the children receive is stored in their memory and remains in the subconscious, so if they are treated badly, when they are grown that information will come to the surface and they will want to take revenge or treat others badly, he explains.

To the contrary, if the child receives love, respect, gratitude and other values, as an adult they will treat others in the same way.

According to the doctor, the best technique for strengthening values is to control the five senses. "We do not always see and hear reality, everything is in our mind, if our mind is dirty, everything we see and hear will be dirty, we interpret everything and give it meaning," he said.

They key to good development is in giving love and understanding to the child so that he learns to think positively.

Impact of Media

How can children be so violent, he asks, recalling the cases of students that have murdered their classmates in different U.S. schools.

There are studies that prove that those children saw during their lives at least 15,000 murders on their television screens. Surveys show that world-wide, children are in front of their televisions more than four hours daily.

"Children see a lot of violence on TV programmes, they store it in their subconscious and then act it out," he indicated, emphasizing that, "This explains then why there are so many wars and so much terrorism in the world."

For this expert, man's enemies are within him and are very well identified: anger, lust, envy, greed, pride, hate, attachment, fear and anxiety.

"We should deal with these enemies, but not point them out to others, because this is useless. We should identify them in ourselves and change them for values," he explains.

Preach By Example - The Best Rule

Children have a very developed sixth sense. They feel when they are loved and this inspires them, makes them feel good, and for this reason, in addition to the direct message, we need to be careful in giving the meta message. This refers to the attitude the adults take with children.

To illustrate this he mentioned the case of teachers that speak kindly to their students but act like policemen. The specialist is convinced that the rule teachers should follow, as well as parents, to educate children is to preach by example.

The mission of the Sri Sathya Sai philosophy is to educate to transform, under a system that advocates the development of all human potential, strengthening character and the personality of the student and to renew their individual and social commitment.

Education - An Inner Journey

He sees education as a process where the body, mind and spirit should be developed, affirming that the essential function of education is to contribute to letting children and young people develop all their talents, a process that begins with self-knowledge and then expanding to their relations with those around them.


Jumsai Speaking in the Divine Presence

Therefore, he sees education as an inner journey that sharpens one's self-knowledge to be able to acquire abilities in a life committed to society. The focus is integral because it cultivates knowledge, the flourishing of abilities and skills, along with practicing values.

Graduates of the schools that promote this philosophy are outstanding because they become men and women with unity of thought, word and action: living lives guided by human values. They are sensitive, loving, truthful and happy; respecting the environment and able to develop their own potential. They are also committed to their personal, family and social development.

The doctor from Thailand recommends meditating. If this is done for a year, a fifty percent increase in memory and concentration can be achieved, and if done for two years this will increase to seventy percent, he affirms.

For example, he told of how when NASA needed a prototype developed for ships to land on Mars, he was about to give up because he had had no success. He then climbed a mountain in California where he meditated for five days, increasing his creativity so that he could build the special ship needed.

This philosophy presented here yesterday by Dr. Art-ong Jumsai comes from India where it was established in 1970 by the philosopher, humanitarian and spiritual guide, Sathya Sai Baba. It arrived in Mexico in 1982 and in Chihuahua, specifically in Cuauhtemoc, in 1992. It was brought to the state capital in 1997 and currently the Educare Reyenari (Sun in the Indian dialect of Raramuri) Center where this is taught.

Others participating in the conference were, John Behner, coordinator for this movement in Latin America, who stated that truth, rectitude, peace, love and non-violence were the most important human values.


 
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