Unit 1
Course Introduction
Human values are the building blocks for any viable life within society. They are the principles, ideals, fundamental Convictions and standard of behaviour that help in one's judgement of what may or may not be considered important in life.
Value means importance and education means knowledge, hence, value education imparts qualities such as humanity, honesty, responsibility, and empathy in a person. Value Education can be defined as a medium which enables in understanding ‘what is valuable’ for human happiness. Value education is about enabling a transformation in human beings to help them move from animal consciousness to human consciousness. The main purpose of value education is to properly facilitate character development of students for the wellbeing of individuals and society at large.
Need for Human Values
There is a necessity for imparting proper values among students and people in general to encourage them for developing their own moral codes which help them in becoming a better human being. Moral awareness should be endorsed for the advancement and welfare of the society. Let us understand the varied aspects of appreciating the requirement for value education:
- Correct identification for our aspiration.
- Understanding universal human values to fulfil our aspirations
- Complementarity Of values and skills.
- Evaluation of our beliefs.
- Technology and human values.
- Correct identification of our aspirations: Value Education helps in the realization of what is valuable. Thus, it enables us to grasp our needs and visualize our goals correctly and also indicate the direction of one's fulfilment. It also helps to get rid of our confusions and contradictions and facilitates harmony at all levels.
2. Understanding universal human values to fulfil our aspirations in continuity: Values form the premise for all our thoughts, behaviours and actions. Once we know the things that are valuable to us, these values become the foundation, the anchor for our actions. We also ought to understand the universality of different human values, because only then we will have a precise and comprehensive program for value education. Then only we will be assured of a contented and harmonious human society.
3. Complementarity of values and skills: To meet our aspirations both values and skills are necessary. When we identify and set the correct goals and identify the right direction. This is referred to as value domain, the domain of wisdom. We must also learn and practice how to actualize these goalsand develops the techniques to make this happen in real life, in various dimensions of human endeavour (struggle). This is known as domain of skills.
Hence, there's a vital complementarity between values and skills for the success of any human endeavour. For example, I would like to lead a healthy life. Only wishing for good health won't help me keep my body fit and healthy and without having understood the meaning of health, I will not be able to choose things correctly to keep my body fit and healthy.
4. Evaluation of our beliefs: All individuals believe in certain things and we base our values on these beliefs, be they false or true which may or may not be actualized in reality. These beliefs come to us from what we read, see, hear, what our parents tells us, our friends remark, what the magazines verbalize, what we see from TV etc. Value Education helps us to evaluate, judge and formulate our beliefs and assumed values.
5. Technology and human values: The current education system has become largely skill-based. The prime emphasis is on science and technology. However, science and technology can only help to supply the means to attain what's considered valuable. It is not within the scope of science and technology to produce the competence of deciding what really is needed. Value Education could be a crucial missing link within the present education system. Because of this deficiency, most of our efforts may prove to be counterproductive and serious crises may manifest at the individual, societal and environmental levels.
Content of Value Education
The content of Value Education includes the following points:
- To understand myself, my aspirations, my happiness
- To understand the goal of human life
- To understand the other entities in nature, their inter- connectedness and coexistence and role of human being in nature
- To understand harmony at the four levels of human living
Value Education includes five core human values:
- Love – As complicated as the concept of love is, typically, it includes caring for human beings, animals and nature. Being compassionate towards all living things and the environment is an important aspect of Value Education.
2. Peace – Peace includes both internal and external tranquillity. Internal peace refers to the peace of mind which can be achieved through mindfulness and meditation. External peace refers to creating a peaceful environment around oneself which facilitates harmonious living. Typically, external peace is a by-product of external peace. If one is peaceful and content they tend to keep their surrounding peaceful as well.
3. Truth – Truth refers to being truthful not only with one’s words but also with one’s actions. Being truthful includes indispensable ethical discipline which is necessary for leading a fulfilling life.
4. Right Conduct – Right conduct includes being morally responsible and truthful with one’s actions. It is imperative that one chooses the ethical and moral direction when an opportunity containing such a choice presents itself.
5. Non-violence – Being non-violent implies having a reverence toward life. It means giving respect and recognizing the rights of others. Non-violence includes being compassionate towards human beings and animals.
Basic Guidelines for Human Values and Value Education
The content of value education can be described with the help of the following guidelines:
- Universal: Value Education must be universally applicable to any and all human beings regardless of religion, nationalism, caste, creed etc. Universality also includes temporality, meaning, Value Education must be applicable irrespective of a time period or era.
- Rational: Value education should be based on reason or logic and not on blind beliefs. It has to appeal to human reasoning. It has to be amenable to reasoning and not pre-defined dogmas.
- Natural and Verifiable: Value Education must not be founded on dogmas, beliefs or assumptions. It should be naturally acceptable, valid, implementable and experientially verifiable by all individuals alike. It has to be naturally acceptable to all human beings and must lead to contentment when such values are followed and adhered to.
- All Encompassing: Value Education is not just an academic subject but rather it is aimed at transforming our consciousness and lifestyle. Therefore, it should cover all the dimensions (thought, behaviour and work) and levels (individuals, family, society) of human life and profession.
- Leading to Harmony: Value Education should promote harmony and ultimately lead to it within the individual, among human beings and with nature.
Exploration refers to the observations made in the external world whereas self-exploration implies observing inside oneself. Self-exploration is the process to find out what is valuable to an individual by investigating within oneself, what is right for them, true for them, has to be judged within themselves. Self-exploration allows one to find out the value of ideas and concepts and thus acts as a process of inculcating value education.
This process of self-exploration needs to be in the form of dialogues and not in the form of sermon of do's and don'ts. During the process of self-exploration, various aspects of human values are presented as proposals in the process of value education that need to be verified through experiential validation.
Self-exploration is a process of discovering that there is something innate, invariant and universal in all human beings. This enables us to look at the confusions and contradictions within us and resolve them by becoming aware of our natural acceptance.
The following points are to be kept in mind regarding the process of Self-Exploration:
- Whatever is stated is a proposal
- The proposal should not be labelled as true or false/ wrong or right
- The proposal must be verified on its on right
- The proposal must not be evaluated on the basis of scriptures, instruments or on the basis of others.
Content of Self-exploration
The content of self-exploration relates to finding out the answers to the most basic human questions within oneself :
1. The Desire/Goal/Aspiration:
- What is my (human) Desire/ Goal?
- What do I really want in life, or what is the goal of humanity in general?
2. The Program:
- What is my (human) program for fulfilling my aspirations?
- How to fulfil it? What is the program to actualize the above?
The above two questions cover the whole domain of human aspirations and human endeavour. Therefore, they form the primary content of self- exploration.
Process of Self-exploration
The following two steps are involved in the process of Self-Exploration: Firstly, verify the proposal on the basis of your natural acceptance and secondly, live according to the proposal to validate it experientially.
1. Natural acceptance: Natural acceptance refers to the unconditional and total acceptance of the self, people and environment. It also refers to the absence of any exception for others and accepting them in the same way we accept ourselves. Once we fully and truly commit ourselves on the premise of natural acceptance, we feel a holistic sense of inner harmony, tranquillity and fulfilment. It is the method of seeing and observing attentively and later using your inner conscience to induce the solution from within. It is a way to bring out the goodness in everything naturally.
- Natural acceptance doesn't change with time. It remains invariant with time. For example, our natural acceptance for trust and respect does not change with age.
- It does not depend on the place. Whatever we've accepted, in our life, at any time of our age, does not change, even if we move from one place to a different one.
- It doesn't rely on our beliefs or past conditionings. No matter how deep our belief or past conditioning, as long as we ask ourselves the question sincerely, as long as we refer deep within ourselves, the solution will always be constant.
- This natural acceptance is ‘constantly there’, something we are able to consult with. Natural acceptance is always there. Whatever we do, this natural acceptance is within us, it's telling us what's right.
- Natural acceptance is the same for al of us: it's part and parcel of each individual, it's part of humanness. Though each individual, may have different likes and dislikes and means to live and to react etc. but if we go deep in our mind the aim of our work, behaviour, efforts etc. are founded on common goals like need to be happy, need to be respected, need to get prosperity. So, our basic acceptance remains the same.
2. Experiential validation: Experiential validation can be defined as a process that infuses direct experience with the experimental environment and content. It may be considered a philosophy and methodology within which the direct experience and focused reflection of the individual helps to extend knowledge, develop skill and clarify values the process of Self-Exploration leads to ‘Realization’ and ‘Understanding’ in us. This realization and understanding leads to the following answers –
- Assuring
- Satisfying
- Universal with respect to Time, Space and Individual.
Purpose of Self-exploration
The purpose of self-exploration can be understood from the following points:
1. It's a process of dialogue between “what you are” and “what you actually want to be”: it's a process of focusing
Attention on ourselves, our present beliefs and aspirations vis-à-vis what we actually want to be. If these two are identical, then there's no problem. If on investigation we discover that these two don't seem to be constant, then it means we reside with this contradiction (of not being what we really want to be) and hence, we need to resolve this contradiction this conflict within us.
2. It's a process of evolution through self-investigation: It successively enables us to evolve by bridging the gapbetween ‘what we are’ and ‘what to be’. Hence, the self-exploration results in our own improvement, our evolution – we will become qualitatively better.
3. It's a process of knowing oneself and by that, knowing the whole existence: The exploration starts by askingsimple questions regarding ourselves, which provides us clarity about our being, and so clarity about everything around us.
4. It's a process of recognizing one’s relationship with every unit existing and fulfilling it: it's a process of becomingaware about our right relationship with other entities in existence and by that discovering the interconnectedness, coexistence and other within the entire existence, and living accordingly.
5. Self-exploration helps in discovering the definitiveness of human conduct and human character and enabling one to be definite in thought, behaviour and work.
6. It's a process of being harmonious in oneself and in harmony with entire existence: This process of self-explorationhelps us to be in harmony with ourselves and with everything around.
7. Self-exploration helps in identifying one’s innateness and moving towards self-organization and self-expression.
Human Aspirations
All human beings basically aspire for/ want the subsequent in their life:
1. Continuous Happiness
2. Prosperity
If all people happen to organize an inventory of our aspirations, we'll find that all our aspirations have an underlying basic desire – the fundamental aspiration to be happy. Through his life, every individual is continuously trying to do things that make him/her happy. In other words, we always search for continuous happiness in our life.
We also aspire for adequate fulfilment of our bodily needs i.e. the need for physical facilities in addition to happiness. These Physical Facilities are the material things we use so as to satisfy the requirements of our body. Having enough physical facilities gives us a sense of prosperity. Hence prosperity is another basic aspiration of each individual.
Happiness: Happiness, as difficult a concept it is to define, can be defined as being in harmony or synergy in the states/situations that we live in. Happiness is being in a state of one's personal liking. Unhappiness could refer to a lack of this synergy or harmony. Therefore, being in a state which is disliked by an individual is unhappiness for them. Happy situations comprise of feelings like trust, respect, confidence etc. All these feelings carry a component of harmony in them. Hence, they make us feel relaxed and happy. Feelings like failure, disrespect, lack of confidence, doubt etc. on the other hand, lack the element of harmony and hence make us unhappy.
Continuous happiness is a State / Situation in which we live or expanse of our Being:
- As an Individual
- As a member of a Family
- As a member of Society
- As a unit in Nature/Existence
Continuous Happiness =Harmony at all levels of our being
Prosperity: Prosperity, in simple terms, is the feeling of having more physical facilities than required. Prosperity also refers to the desire to share what one possesses when one has plenty. However, since the necessity for physical facilities is limitless, the sensation of prosperity may not be assured.
Prosperity is comprised of two main points:
- Identification of required physical facility (including the required quantity) – with right understanding
- Ensuring availability/ production of more than required physical facility – with right skills
A prosperous person thinks of right utilization, nurturing the other. On the other hand, a deprived person thinks of accumulation and exploiting the other.
Right Understanding and Relationships and Physical Facilities
The three basic requirements to ensure happiness and prosperity for human beings are:Right Understanding, Relationships, Physical Facilities.
Hence for a continuous happy living, we need to work for all the three in the given order:
- Right Understanding
- Relationships
- Physical Facilities
Right Understanding + Relationship = Mutual Fulfilment
(gives a feeling of satisfaction and happiness)
Right Understanding + Physical Facilities = Mutual Prosperity
(leads to enrichment of our lives as well as enrichment of Nature)
Right Understanding helps us to keep up proper relationships with other individuals and also helps us to form a correct choice of physical facilities. Hence the requirements of all human beings contains the necessity for – Right Understanding, Relationships and Physical Facilities in the right order.
Importance/ Need for Right Understanding:
Right Understanding helps to create harmony at all four levels of human living. Right Understanding enables us to:
- Resolve the issues in human relationships
- Be prosperous
- Enrich Nature
- Work out our requirements for physical facilities
- Correctly distinguish between wealth and prosperity
- Understand the harmony in Nature
Right Understanding forms the premise on which we are able to work for relationships and also acquire Physical Facilities.
Living in harmony at all levels of living with the assistance of Right Understanding
- At the Individual level: Self-Exploration accompanied with Natural Acceptance and Experiential Validation helps in developing a sense of Right Understanding. This right understanding helps one to know themselves clearly, and helps them in developing a sense of satisfaction, prosperity and happiness(Harmony) in their own being.
2. At the family level: Right understanding helps one to understand the expectations and feeling of others in a better way. This in turn ensures harmony in family.
3. At the level of Society: Just like the family, relationships could be a a part of a larger subset or group of individuals called the Society. As we understand our relationships with others in our family, we also start understanding others within the society and can maintain fulfilling relationships with everyone.
4. At the level of Nature/ Existence: We live in a vast eco-system called Nature. Existence refers to all the things that exist in Nature. Once we learn to maintain harmony with the society, we also develop a sense of concern towards the plants, trees, animals etc. in Nature. Hence right understanding results in mutual fulfilment with Nature.
Following is a set of three Proposals based on the requirement for Physical Facilities:
1. Physical Facilities are necessary for human beings
2. Physical Facilities are necessary for human beings and they are necessary for animals
For e.g.: Individuals need food, water, TV, bike, MBA degree, Relationships with family and society etc.
For e.g.: Animals need food, water, shelter from extreme weather conditions etc.
3. Physical Facilities are necessary and complete for animals, while they're necessary but not complete for human beings
For e.g.: Animals need food to survive. Once an animal receives the required grass or fodder, its needs are complete. But for human beings, the needs are rather incomplete with only food. If they're hungry they require food, but they look for something tasty. Once their hunger is satisfied, they need some recreation/ physical facilities, followed by the necessity for relationships etc. This list of human needs is nearly endless and mostly incomplete.
We can observe three categories of human beings in terms of Happiness and Prosperity in today's scenario:
1.SVDD- Sadhan Viheen Dukhi Daridra - Lacking physical facility, unhappy and deprived.
2.SSDD- Sadhan Sampann Dukhi Daridra - Having physical facility, unhappy and deprived.
These two states are unwanted by all human beings. With the help of Right Understanding, human beings can move to a third category:
3.SSSS- Sadhan Sampann Sukhi Samriddha - Having physical facility, happy and prosperous.
Prevailing notions of Happiness and Prosperity
In the modern world, the desire for material things has become unlimited. The physical facilities are no longer seen as objects fulfilling bodily needs but as a way of maximizing happiness. This unlimited desire for physical facilities has become anti-ecological endangering human survival itself.
The false notions of happiness and Prosperity have affected human living at these four levels:
- Individual: Stress, insecurity, psycho-somatic diseases, loneliness, problems of depression, psychological disorders, suicides etc.
2. Family: Family feuds, wasteful expenditures in family functions, Breaking of Joint families, mistrust, conflict between older and younger generations, insecurity in relationships, divorce, dowry tortures etc.
3. Society: Wars between nations, genocide, nuclear genetic warfare, terrorism, communism, casteism, racial, ethnic struggles.
4. Nature: Depletion of mineral resources, deforestation, loss of soil fertility, Global Warming, pollution.
Under the situations discussed until now, where basic human aspirations (continuous Happiness, Prosperity) tend to become unachievable, contradictions, tensions and insecurity at various levels are bound to increase, hence peace and harmony among human beings are increasingly at peril. Further, the global environmental imbalance is a serious threat to Human survival at this planet. Hence, there is an urgent need to rectify this situation and the prime most step is to acquire the right understanding and learn to live in accordance with it.
Marriam Webster defines harmony as, "a pleasing arrangement of parts". In other words, harmony means the co-existence and interdependence of different parts of a system that facilitate smooth functioning of the entity as a whole. The concept of harmony in life may be compared to living life as a forest does, where every element has a purpose in this giant organism. Each part has a specific purpose, and all the parts are connected to each other, and are dependent on each other for their survival.
The concept of harmony in life can be understood by the following principles:
1. Celebrate life - live life with passion.
It is important to celebrate your life every day. Live with passion and excitement. A harmonious life always begins with waking up in the morning and smiling: One should take a deep breath and say “It’s another great day to be alive!” to rejuvenate the often-forgotten sense of being alive. It is necessary to boost up your engines, caress your soul, honour your body, give peace and tranquillity to your mind! Be content in being yourself without trying to imitate someone else.
2. Show gratitude and appreciation.
Showing gratitude and appreciation to your loved ones nourishes your relationships. It is important to let your loved ones know how important and dear they are to you; how much better your life is for having them close.
It is often seen that many times one might be silent and only think about the words they’d like to say - but have no courage to say them out of fear. However, practicing gratitude and appreciation will help in getting rid of that fear.
Gratitude and appreciation must be used as return gifts to give in return for all the things you get.
3. Learn how to communicate.
It is often seen that people complain of failing relationships dude to a lack of communication. It is important to realize that even though you may not realize it, but you are sending a message every moment when you are in the presence of someone; perhaps there is no direct communication because you are busy doing something else. One of the best examples of indirect communication is with a pet. If you have a dog or cat you know that communication takes place all the time. Your dog, for instance, cannot say anything to you and yet, they can understand you and you can understand them.
If communication is not with words, it is carried out with body language. While speaking, the tone of your voice says more than your words. Therefore, it is imperative to be aware of all these elements for proper communication to lead a harmonious life.
4. Know what you want.
Define your goals in life. It is crucial to know where you are going and formulate a well-designed plan how to get there. To realize what your goal is you may ask yourself what will give purpose and meaning to your existence?
It is important to know the things you can achieve and how much more you can accomplish. Remind yourself that, at the end of your life, its not important how much money or fame one has amassed but how many lives one has touched.
5. Have compassion.
Having compassion is one of the most fundamental requirements for leading a harmonious life.
Having compassion includes, accepting people as they are and listening with the intention of finding out new things, to understand, to really see the person in front of you.
It is also essential that one must be compassionate oneself as well. One should accept their limitations and learn to forgive themselves for making mistakes.
6. Teach others how to treat you.
The way you treat yourself sets the standards of what you expect from others. One should always treat oneself with respect. When referring to yourself in a conversation, do not berate yourself. Being respectful towards yourself is necessary to protect your well-being, self-image, and future.
7. Stay positive.
Almost everything that happens in life has a positive aspect which is often overlooked. Therefore, one should always look for the positive side of things and be confident that whatever life puts in front of them, they’ll find your way. Be conscious of the fact that there is no problem without a solution. Be aware of how many possibilities and opportunities are opened up for you. Clean up your surroundings of negativity including negative people and things and pay attention, notice and acknowledge the bright side of life.
8. Harmony with Nature
Nature is the primary provider for all human needs. Therefore, you should consider yourself as an intrinsic part of nature and work as a single organism along with it. This includes, maintaining cleanliness, having respect for all living things, trying to be in the company of nature as much as possible etc.
