Correspondence (b)
The teacher should not be a book that is read aloud, the same for
everyone, no matter what his nature and character. The first duty of the
teacher is to help the student to know himself and to discover what he is
capable of doing.
For that one must observe his games, the activities to which he is
drawn naturally and spontaneously and also what he likes to learn, whether his
intelligence is awake, the stories he enjoys, the activities which interest
him, the human achievements which attract him.
The teacher must find out the category to which each of the
children in his care belongs. And if after careful observation he discovers two
or three exceptional children who are eager to learn and who love progress, he
should help them to make use of their energies for this purpose by giving them
the freedom of choice that encourages individual growth.
The old method of the seated class to which the teacher gives the
same lesson for all, is certainly economical and easy, but also very ineffective,
and so time is wasted for everybody.
15 January
1972
Sweet
Mother,
You have written: “If after careful observation, he (the teacher)
discovers two or three
exceptional children who are eager to learn and who love progress,
he should help them to make use of their energies for this purpose by giving
them the freedom of choice that encourages individual growth.”
Do you mean that freedom of
choice should be given only to exceptional children? What about the others?
I said we should give freedom of choice to exceptional children
because for them it is absolutely indispensable if we truly want to help them
to develop fully.
Of course this freedom of choice can be given to all the
Page – 369
children, and after all it is a good way to find their true
nature; but most of them will prove to be lazy and not very interested in
studies. But, on the other hand, they may be skilful with their hands and be
willing to learn to make things. This too should be encouraged. In this way the
children will find their true place in society, and will be prepared to fulfil
it when they grow up.
Everyone should be taught the joy of doing well whatever he does,
whether it is intellectual, artistic or manual work, and above all, the dignity
of all work, whatever it may be, when it is done with care and skill.
16
January 1972
Sweet
Mother,
For the exceptional children, do you think
that we should turn their energies towards their special talent or is it better
to direct them towards a total development?
It depends entirely on the child and his capacities.
18 January
1972
Sweet Mother,
Once I asked You whether, in our programme
of education, we should teach the children to do some disinterested work for
the Ashram, at least once a week. And You answered:
“It is always good to do disinterested
work. But this becomes much better if the work becomes an enjoyment and not a
boring task.”
Could You suggest how we could introduce this into our programme?
If the children could see the different kinds of work they can do,
the inclination to do one thing or another would awaken
Page – 370
and it would become as interesting as a game for them – if they
are really intelligent.
18 January
1972
Sweet
Mother,
When You said that we should observe the games of the children,1
what age did You have in mind?
It depends entirely on the child. Some are already awake at the
age of seven, some take longer.
What is important is to give the children
the chance to see and judge for themselves.
Mother, from seven to what age2
One could say about eighteen. It depends on the case. Some
children are fully developed at the age of fourteen or fifteen. It is different
for each one. It depends on the case…
.18 January
1972
Sweet Mother,
You have written: “The teacher must find out the category to which
each of the children in his
care belongs.”
How can we distinguish the categories of children?
By watching them live.
To be able to classify the children one must find out about their
nature by observing their habits and reactions.
The teacher must not be a machine for reciting lessons, he must be
a psychologist and an observer.
19 January
1972
1Letter of
15 January
1972.
2Oral question and reply1
Page– 371
Sweet Mother,
Should we put the children of each category together?
That has both advantages and disadvantages. The grouping of
students should be made according to the resources at our disposal and the
facilities we have. The arrangement should be flexible so that it can be
improved upon if necessary.
To be a good teacher one must have the insight and knowledge of a
Guru with an unfailing patience.
19 January
1972
Sweet Mother,
You have said: “The first duty of the teacher is to help the
student to know himself.”
How
can we help a student to know himself? For that, isn't it necessary for us to
have attained a higher
level of consciousness ourselves ?
Oh, yes indeed!1
The attitude of the teacher must be one of a constant will
to progress, not only in order to know always better what he wants to teach the
students, but above all in order to be a living example to show them what they
can become.
(After five minutes' meditation) The teacher should be the living example of what he asks the
students to become.
19 January
1972
Sweet Mother,
Is that the only way of teaching the students to know themselves?²
It is the only right way. You see, a teacher who tells them, “You
1Oral reply (this sentence only).
²Oral
question and reply.
Page – 372
must not lie” and yet lies
himself; “You must not lose your temper” and loses it himself – what would the
result be? The children will not only lose confidence in the teacher but also
in what he teaches…
Mother, every day I type out what You write, and P takes
it to the School to show it to the other teachers, and they like it very much.
And now some teachers are giving me questions to ask You.2
(Laughing) Good! It is very good!
19 January
1972
Sweet
Mother,
When we attempt to organise the children
into categories based on their capacity for initiative,
we see that there is a mixture of levels of achievement in various
subjects. That makes the work very difficult for certain teachers who are in
the habit of taking ordinary classes in the old classical way.
We are here to do difficult things. If we repeat what others do,
it is not worth the trouble; there are already many schools in the world.
Men have tried to cure the ignorance of the masses by adopting the
easiest methods. But now we have passed that stage and humanity is ready to
learn better and more fully. It is up to those who are in the lead to show the
way so that others can follow.
21 January
1972
Sweet
Mother,
How do you conceive the organisation of our education, to enable
the children to discover their
2Oral comment
and reply.
Page – 373
capacities and then follow the path of their individual
development?
That is what we are trying to do here. It depends on the teacher.
I do not have a theory one could put down on paper…1
This is what we are trying to do here. But doing it well depends
on the teacher, on the trouble he takes, and on his power of psychological
understanding. He must be capable of recognising the character and
possibilities of the student, so that he can adapt his teaching to the needs of
each individual.
22 January
1972
Sweet
Mother,
Should the teachers be classified by subject? Is that the best
way?
Classification by subject is important when one wants to study one
or several subjects in depth, once an overall grounding that is useful for
everyone has already been provided equally to all: for example, reading and
writing, speaking at least one language correctly, a little general geography,
a general outline of modern science and a few indispensable rules of conduct for
group or communal living.
For a detailed and thorough study of one subject the appropriate
age depends on the child and his capacity to learn.
The precocious ones can start at the age of twelve. For most it
will be more like fifteen and even seventeen or eighteen.
And when one wants to master a particular subject, especially a
scientific or philosophical subject, one must be prepared to spend one's whole
life learning; one must never stop studying.
22 January
1972
Sweet Mother,
I come back to the same question. What do you
1Oral reply (this paragraph only.
Page – 374
mean exactly by “categories of children”?
Do these categories correspond only to
their character or also to their interests?
The categories of character.
In assessing the possibilities of a child, ordinary moral notions
are not of much use. Natures that are rebellious, undisciplined, obstinate,
often conceal qualities that no one has known how to use. Indolent natures may
also have a great potential for calm and patience.
It is a whole world to discover and easy solutions are not much
use. The teacher must be even more hard-working than the student in order to
learn how to discern and make the best possible use of different characters.
23
January 1972
Sweet
Mother,
Yesterday You mentioned rules of conduct.
What are the rules of conduct You consider indispensable in our
community?
Patience, perseverance, generosity, broad-mindedness, insight,
calm and understanding firmness, and control over the ego until it is
completely mastered or even abolished.
Mother, this is not exactly what I wanted to ask. What I
understand by “rules of conduct” was “manners”.
Manners belong to the moral rules of ordinary life and have no
value from our point of view.
23 January
1972
Sweet
Mother,
You have spoken of arranging students
according
Page – 375
to categories of character.
In our present state of ignorance, if we try to impose a classification, would
it not be something very arbitrary and even a dangerous game for the growing
child?
Naturally, it is better not to take arbitrary and ignorant
decisions. It would be disastrous for the children.
What I have said is for those who are capable of recognising
characters and assessing them rightly, otherwise the result would be awful and
more harmful than the usual mechanical teaching.
24 January
1972
Sweet
Mother,
To be able to do what You have asked of us, isn't it the teacher's
first duty to do an intense and
sincere yoga instead of acting in a hasty and arbitrary manner?
Certainly!1
What I have written is an ideal to be realised; you must prepare
yourselves to be able to do it.
To be able to adopt this method, the teacher must be a discerning
psychologist and that requires time and experience.
24 January
1972
Sweet
Mother,
You have said that the teacher must be a discerning psychologist,
a Guru. You know very well
that we are far from being all that. The teachers being what they
are, how should the system of education be organised in order to improve our
way of teaching?
By doing what they can, knowing that they have everything to
learn. In this way they will gain experience and do things better and better.
1Oral reply
(this sentence only).
Page – 376
That is the best way to
learn, and if they do it in all sincerity, in two or three years they will
become experts and will be truly useful.
Naturally, work done in this way becomes really interesting and
makes the teachers as well as the students progress.
25 January
1972
Sweet
Mother,
Should we also have categories for the
teachers as we do for the children – according to their way of teaching, of
seeing things, and their affinity for certain subjects?
For that, the teacher who organises the studies must be a
discerning psychologist, observant and full of goodwill, knowing that he too
has to learn and progress.
The true attitude is to take life as a field of perpetual study,
where one must never stop learning and think that one knows everything there is
to know. One can always know more and understand better.
25 January
1972
Sweet Mother,
If the children want to do practical work
from the age of nine in the field of electronics or technology, should they be
encouraged?
Yes, of course.
25 January
1972
Sweet Mother,
In this method of work, the teacher must
devote sufficient time to each one individually. But the teachers are few in
number. How can we respect the needs of each one as fully as possible and at
the same time
Page – 377
satisfy all those who ask
for help?
One cannot make a theory. It depends on each case, the
possibilities and circumstances. It is an attitude which the teacher must have
and apply as well as he can, and better and better if possible.
26
January 1972
Sweet
Mother,
You said the other day that there were teachers who were not
capable, and that they should
stop teaching. What is the criterion for assessing the capacity of
a teacher?
First, he must understand, he must know what we want to do and
understand well how to do it.
Secondly, he must have a power of psychological discernment in
dealing with the students, he must understand his students and what they are
capable of doing.
Naturally, he must know the subject he is teaching. If he is
teaching French, he must know French. If he is teaching English, Geography,
Science, he must know what he is teaching.
But the most important thing is that he must have psychological
discernment.1
. 31 January 1972
Sweet
Mother,
Nowadays in schools elsewhere, especially in the West, much
importance is given to “sex-education”.
What is “sex-education”? What do they teach?
For myself, I don't like people to be preoccupied with these
things. In my time we were never preoccupied with these things. Now children
talk about them – all the time it is in their minds,
1Oral reply
Page – 378
in their feelings. It is
disgusting. It is difficult, very difficult.
But if they talk about it elsewhere, we have to talk about it here
too. They should be told the consequences of these things. Especially the girls
ought to be told that the consequences can be disastrous. When I was young, in
those days, people never spoke about all that, they never paid attention to
these things. In those days, people did not talk about all that. Here, I did
not want this subject to be discussed. That is why we do physical culture. In
that way the energies are used to develop strength, beauty, skill and all that;
and one is more capable of control. You will see, the ones who do a lot of
physical culture, they are much more capable of mastering their impulses.1
(After meditation) The energies that are
used in human beings for reproduction and which take such a predominant place
in their existence should on the contrary be sublimated and used for progress
and higher development, to prepare the advent of the new race. But first the
vital and the physical must be freed from all desire, otherwise there is a
great risk of disaster.
1 February
1972
Sweet Mother,
What is the essential difference between
the behaviour and responsibility of a teacher with regard to young children and
with regard to older students (over fourteen or fifteen, for instance)?
Naturally, as the consciousness and intelligence develop in the
children, it is more and more through them that we can deal with the children.
3 February
1972
Sweet
Mother,
Should one punish a child?
1Oral reply (the above paragraphs only.
Page – 379
Punish? What do you mean by punish? If a child is noisy in class
and prevents the others from working, you must tell him to behave himself; and
if he continues, you can send him out of the class. That is not a punishment,
it is a natural consequence of his actions. But to punish! To punish! You have
no right to punish. Are you the Divine? Who has given you the right to punish?
The children too can punish you for your actions. Are you perfect yourselves?
Do you know what is good or what is bad? Only the Divine knows. Only the Divine
has the right to punish.1
The vibrations that you emit bring you into contact with
corresponding vibrations. If you emit harmful and destructive vibrations, quite
naturally you draw corresponding vibrations towards yourselves and that is the
real punishment, if you want to use that word; but it does not correspond at
all to the divine organisation of the world.
Every action has its consequences, good or bad, but the idea of
reward and punishment is a purely human idea and does not at all correspond to
the way in which the Truth-Consciousness acts. If the Consciousness that rules
the world had acted according to human principles of punishment and reward,
there would have been no men left on earth for a long time.
When men become pure enough to transmit the divine vibrations
without distorting them, then suffering will be abolished from the world. That
is the only way.
3 February
1972
Some teachers have written to me that they have read what I
wrote for you and that it had done them a lot of good. So you can continue
showing them.2
This prayer, Mother
1Oral reply (the above paragraphs only).
2All the material for this date (14 February) is oral.
Page – 380
Yes, if you type this out on a piece of paper:
“We want to be true servitors of the Divine.”
And then the prayer:
“Supreme Lord, Perfect Consciousness, You alone truly know what we
are, what we can do, the progress we must make in order to become capable and
worthy of serving You as we want to do. Make us conscious of our capacities,
but also of our difficulties, so that we may be able to surmount them and serve
You faithfully.”
And then this – the conclusion:
“The supreme happiness is to be true servitors of the Divine.”
There are people whom it helps. Did you show them your notebook?
I don't show this [meditation] notebook to everyone. I type out
the questions on education from the other notebook and give them to the school.
But I don't show this notebook to everybody.
No, that one is for you. But you can copy things like this which
are for everybody. You can show it to all those who have goodwill. I have
received several letters telling me that it had done them a lot of good. So you
can continue.
Yes, Mother, I don't show this notebook to everyone because l
thought that You wanted to use It immediately for the it Bulletin.
Not all of it. For example, I wouldn't put this in the Bulletin.
14
February 1972
Sweet Mother,
Concerning the categories You have
mentioned for the school, should there also be similar categories for
physical education?
Page – 381
For physical exercises, it all depends on the body and its
capacities. Easy exercises that are not tiring can be given to everyone.
Afterwards, it all depends on the body, on its strength, its
health, its resistance to fatigue, etc., etc.
Exercises should be given according to capacity and the children
should be grouped according to these capacities. It is a matter of experience
and observation.
To be a good teacher of physical culture one must know anatomy,
the various functions of the body, their development and their functioning.
16 February 1972
Sweet
Mother,
Could you write something on discipline for us?
Discipline is indispensable to physical life. The proper
functioning of the organs is based on a discipline. It is precisely when an
organ or a part of the body does not obey the general discipline of the body
that one falls ill.
Discipline is indispensable to progress. It is only when one
imposes a rigorous and enlightened discipline on oneself that one can be free
from the discipline of others.
The supreme discipline is integral surrender to the Divine and to
allow nothing else either in one's feelings or in one's activities. Nothing
should ever be omitted from this surrender – that is the supreme and most
rigorous discipline.
17 February
1972
Sweet
Mother,
Yesterday You wrote on discipline. But what attitude should we
take towards the imposed discipline to
which we must conform in communal life?
Communal life must necessarily have a discipline so that the
weaker are not bullied by the stronger; and this discipline must
Page – 382
be respected by all those
who want to live in that community.
But for the community to be happy, this discipline should be set
by the most broad-minded person or persons, if possible the person or persons
who are conscious of the Divine Presence and are surrendered to it.
For the world to be happy, power should only be in the hands of
those who are conscious of the Divine Will. But for the time being that is
impossible because the number of those who are truly conscious of the Divine Will is very small, and because
they necessarily have no ambition.
In fact, when the time comes for this realisation, it will take
place quite naturally.
The duty of each one is to prepare himself for it as completely as
he can.
18
February 1972
Mother,
Some people criticise the fact that we have too many rules in our
physical education and that
we impose too much discipline on the children.
There can be no physical education without discipline. The body
itself could not function without a strict discipline. Actually, the failure to
recognise this fact is the principal cause of illness.
Digestion, growth, blood-circulation, everything, everything is a
discipline. Thought, movement, gestures, everything is a discipline, and if
there is no discipline people immediately fall ill.1
18 February
1972
Sweet Mother,
The students, especially the adolescents, often complain that they
have to do even the physical
exercises that they do not like and do not find interesting. Would
you reply to this, Mother?
1Oral reply (this paragraph only.
Page – 383
We are not on earth to follow our own sweet will but to progress.
Physical exercises are not done for fun or to satisfy one's whims,
but as a methodical discipline to develop and strengthen the body.
True wisdom is to take pleasure in everything one does and that is
possible if one takes everything one does as a way to progress. Perfection is
difficult to attain and there is always a great deal of progress to be made in
order to achieve it.
to seek pleasure
is certainly the best way to make yourself
miserable.
If you truly want peace and happiness, your constant preoccupation
should be:
“What progress must I make to be able to know and serve the
Divine?”1
The comment following is oral.
Show this to C. She ought not to have listened to what the
children say. She has been here a long time. She ought to know that.
That [“To seek pleasure is certainly the best way to make yourself
miserable”] is an absolute truth. It affirms that if you want to satisfy your
little ego, you are sure to be unhappy. For sure! It is the best way to make
yourself miserable. To say: “Oh, it is boring; oh, I must do what I like; oh,
that person is unkind to me; oh, life does not bring me what I want.” Ouah!!!
“Am I what I ought to be?
“Am I doing what I ought to be doing?
“Am I progressing as much as I should?”
Then it becomes interesting.
“What should I learn in order to make my next progress? What
infirmity must I cure? What shortcoming must I overcome? What weakness must I
get rid of?”
And then, naturally, the next moment: “How can I become capable of
understanding and serving the Divine?”
1Written question and reply. The comment following is oral.
Page – 384
I have written it down specially so that you can show it to C.
Yes, Mother, she knows, but she wanted to know how to explain to
the children.
Yes, that is all there is to say.
19 February
1972
Page – 385
