Education Life and Yoga- A Concise Encyclopedia of the Mother's Teachings

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Dr. Sitaram Jayaswal, Former professor of education and Dean of the Faculty of Education, Lucknow University, was initiated by the Mother on August 18, 1972. Since that first moment of divine contact, the Mother has been guiding Dr. Jayaswal's life, both directly while she was alive and now through her pervasive presence in his consciousness. He is also a humble devotee of H.H. Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji's.

Dr. Jayaswal is the well respected author of several books on education, western psychology and Indian psychology. He has also been editor of the research journal Bharatiya Shiksha Shodh Patrika since its inception in 1982. Overall, Dr. Jayaswal's life is dedicated to using his knowledge, experience and abilities for the benefit of others.

At 86 years old, his spirit is still young and he is full of vigor for all noble causes.

Mahatma Gandhiji said, "I would develop in the child his hands, his brain and his soul. The hands have almost atrophied. The soul has altogether been ignored...All training without the culture of the spirit is of no use, and might even be harmful." The Mother shows how to educate the soul and the spirit in not only our children, but in ourselves.

I am so proud of Dr. Sitaram Jayaswal for bringing together the wisdom of the Mother. In today's education we are taught how to read, how to write, how to compute. Later, we are taught how to earn a living and acquire a plethora of material possessions. However, we are rarely taught how to be good people, how to live moral and spiritual lives, how to come closer and closer to God each day. It is exactly these invaluable truths and this timeless wisdom that the mother offers us.

The Mother teaches love. Her words encourage us to live together harmoniously. She inspires us to walk an unswerving path toward God. Her wisdom picks us up when we fall; it gently guides us back onto the right path, should we ever go astray. Her compassion embraces us and gives us the courage to transform ourselves.

Dr. Jayaswal has done a beautiful job of completing a difficult task. He has brought many years of her teaching and thousands of pages of her text into one concise volume. Yet, he has lost neither the essence of her message, nor the joy that pervades her anecdotal details.

In her oral instructions and writings, the mother has said many things which shed great light on many principles and practices of the integral yoga. At the same time, she also reveals many things about Sri Aurobindo which we do not find mentioned anywhere else. For example, in Volume 10. page 161", she says Sri Aurobindo himself told her that at times he had complete control of the supramental power. And when he did so, adds the mother, it always produced the effect intended without fail. In the same volume on page 115, the mother explains the nature of the supramental consciousness. The exposition is simple, direct and does not take resort to philosophical terms. And yet the meaning is crystal clear and anyone who reads it with rapt attention and an open mind will certainly understand the Mother's contention.

The Mother's observations on sacrifice, surrender and their mutual differences are wonderfully eloquent and bring into bold relief her theme. She makes an acute analysis of the various meanings of "sacrifice" and also its true nature. This will be found in volume 4. pages 315 and 316. Sri Aurobindo dealt with the same subject fairly elaborately in The Synthesis of Yoga in three chapters entitled "Sacrifice" and "The Ascent of the Sacrifice 1 and 2. The Mother's treatment of the subject makes it easy for the reader to understand Sri Aurobindo's views on the subject.

What is the place of personal effort in the yoga and why is it necessary? The Mother's answer is at the same time deep and simple and brings home to the reader the truth of the matter. Those who are beginning the yoga should do well to read the Mother's answer on page 366 of volume 4.