The Course

There is a course in some semester in our life called the Knowledge Course. This covers what we are made of, the principles of our existence, the composition of the cosmos, our relationship to it, and how it all came into being.

The course has theory credits and lab credits. The theory covers the principles while the lab encourages experimentation and practices that establish the theory. The theory is available in books and talks. The lab happens to be our own body and mind.

There are some people who study only the theory. They do not test the theory in practice. They are Philosophers.

The are some people who only do the practices, just for the credits,  without wondering what are the theorems that they are testing out. They are the Religious people.

There are some who address both - learn the theory, ask questions and try to validate the same through practical living. They are Spiritual Seekers.

Styles of teaching

I was listening to a talk recently where the speaker was elaborating on the distinction between spiritualism and religion. He said that spiritualism is about seeking. The practitioner realises that he does not know the answers to many questions and he seeks those answers, expanding knowledge through direct experience. Religion is about believing. The practitioner does not know, but accepts a set of answers and believes in them without direct experience of them.

While the definitions can be debated, it struck me that these apply to the styles of education as well. There is one type of teaching style that inculcates seeking in students, giving them the questions and encouraging them to find out the answers on their own, with a little guidance. There is another type of teaching style that gives the answers along with the questions, in tutorial style, making them practice the steps over and over with limited focus on the reasoning and core logic, thus making believers out of students.

In that context, spiritual style will possibly produce more enlightened students. Unfortunately, that is a style not so common in India, the land of spiritualism.