Character
 (This
is an excerpt from the original article, “The Balanced Life,
Curing Mental Abnormalities”, which appeared in East-West
Magazine, November 1925, by Paramhansa Yogananda. Yogananda inspired
the Education for Life Philosophy.)
Educational authorities deem it impossible to teach
spiritual principles in public schools because they confuse them
with the variety of conflicting forms of religious faith. But
if they concentrate on the universal principles of peace, love,
service, tolerance, and faith that govern the spiritual life,
and devise methods of practically growing such seeds in the fertile
soil of the child's mind, then the imaginary difficulty is dissolved.
I sincerely praise the modern school system of America
and its constantly improving methods of intellectual and, to a
certain extent, physical training. But I cannot fail to point
out its main shortcoming. It lacks spiritual background, and very
badly needs to be supplemented by moral and spiritual training.
The boy who belongs intellectually to Class "A", or
is a great baseball or football player, often attracts notice
and is encouraged by the professors and students; but very few
observe or warn him rightly if he is leading a dark Class "D"
moral or spiritual life.
After a thorough training, the students of such
a School will undergo ceaseless examination throughout life, and
the various diplomas won will be health, fame, efficiency, wealth,
and happiness. (read
more)
"I think that we have a way of
being that involves understanding the world beyond ourselves .
For example, I notice that when others talk of God, they tend
to be more rigid, whereas we don't feel the need to impose our
sense of God on others."
(Graduate of Living Wisdom School, Nevada City, CA, now in her
twenties)
"Both of my children, now in their late twenties , went through
a Living Wisdom School Program. I notice that, as young adults
in professional settings, they have an acute sense of how to work
with others. Each in her own way, brings to her work a sense of
how to get along with people, how to create community, and how
to cope with challenges."
(Parent of Living Wisdom School graduates)
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