Abstract
Western scholarship usually ignores the contributions from other civilizations, India for instance. At the same time, contemporary India seems to have forgotten to some extent the deepest achievements of its own tradition. Moreover, modern culture has often produced some kind of despise against ancient traditions as opposed to the freedom and emancipation of the modern world. This paper tries to unveil all the depth and beauty of Indian philosophy of education, especially through major traditions such as Vedas, Upanishads and Vedanta. It also tries to show that the pedagogic message of the sages of modern India revives all the depth of the ancient tradition. This long history of holistic education in India through 35 centuries may enrich the Western insights with figures such as Steiner, Montessori or Dewey, aware that intercultural dialogue will be one of the major challenges of the XXIst century. It becomes crystal clear through this paper that the vision of integral education in Indian culture was inseparable from the spiritual/ mystical dimension, or to put in reverse terms, the spiritual domain constituted the very foundation of the educational process in Indian philosophy of education, a fundamental point that would be again emphasized by Indian modern philosophers such as Vivekananda, Aurobindo and even Krishnamurti.
Highlights
Indian educational philosophy through history It is well known that an integral philosophy of education was already developed in India by the Gurukulas –communities of masters and pupils- of the Vedas –the most ancient holy books, which constituted originally an oral tradition from teacher to student, as it happened in other spiritual contexts
The Vedic tradition was continued by the enlightening contribution of the Upanishads and Vedanta
“Shiksh” is a verb that we find in the Vedic hymns meaning “to learn”
Summary
Indian educational philosophy through history It is well known that an integral philosophy of education was already developed in India by the Gurukulas –communities of masters and pupils- of the Vedas –the most ancient holy books, which constituted originally an oral tradition from teacher to student, as it happened in other spiritual contexts-. This kind of Buddhist university –like the Hindu- would be in modern terms both higher secondary school and college All, it developed an integral and interdisciplinary curriculum and a spirit of inquiry and freedom of thought that could inspire many in Asian countries like India today in order to transform the present scenario dominated by rote memorizing and robotic education.[8]. The Upanishads are basically dialogues between master and disciple –like Plato’s Dialogues-; this dialogal character already points at the very nature of the cosmos –which seems to be basically relational-, as quantum physics and relational theory have comprehended in the XXth century.[11] Through these fascinating and beautiful dialogues, trough this genuine Socratic pedagogy, the Upanishads unveil the most important things of life: the depth of our consciousness and the breath of our life, through a passionate exploration of reality and ourselves, finding the Light of the Pure Consciousness inside. Krishnamurti’s vision totally fulfilled –in the Upanishads of India; a lighthouse for mankind, if only mankind wants to look towards the light-.13
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