~ Atmosphere
A radiant scientist named Sraddhalu Ranade outlines an alternative to conventional education which is based on an industrial mindset. I think his ideas can help us in our meditative education: to be free from habit energies and other limitations.
He asks us to consider the importance of the atmosphere we live in. I ask you to consider what makes up that atmosphere. We are most influenced by those people we are near to--physically or emotionally near, or near by seeing and hearing and reading; or through love and remembrance.
Even one person near us can make a difference: someone who meditates, speaks kindly, takes care of things or people. Or someone who does the opposite. Who are the people of influence in your life? And whom do you influence?
In his book Introduction to Integral Education, Ranade says:
"The environment…moulds us more powerfully than any conscious effort. How? When we try to learn something consciously, the mind’s effort itself becomes a kind of filter, a limiting layer. If I ask you to sit down and learn new words to enrich your vocabulary, you will struggle to try to learn by heart. By your very effort, the new words remain stuck in the surface conscious mind. But the subconscious mind learns differently. It has no filter--it just soaks up like a sponge. If I leave you in front of a TV with a movie channel for just a few minutes, you will find that you can easily repeat all the swear-words that you have just heard. How did that happen? When you watch TV, the conscious mind becomes passive, and the subconscious mind is exposed. All that you watch is just…soaked into the subconscious, and later comes up spontaneously."
Love,
Jaya