Amalgamating Spirituality with Education for Harmonious Exchange and Deepened Wisdom

Article history Received 10 September 2019 Revised 20 October 2020 Accepted 30 October 2020 This article examines the balance between education and spirituality for harmonious exchange and deepened wisdom. Literature studies with the spiritual approach are used in this study. By reconnecting spirituality and education, we can develop an integrated education system that allows students to connect mentally between the intellectual, emotional and spiritual dimensions. Truth, meaning, and the real power of life are within us, and we must release the soul to unleash the real potential. When spirituality is fully embraced in the education system, it will foster a dynamic balance within the students themselves.


"By spiritual training, I mean education of the heart" -Mahatma Gandhi
Spirituality has several undertones and influences both hermit and socializer alike. Rightly said Spirituality commences where science terminates. Spirituality demonstrates what scientists have no ways of measuring or explaining. When science cannot explain a phenomenon, they often label it as an anomaly. Others call it a miracle.
Our knowledge limits us, whereas the universe has no limitations. Spiritual understanding has no bounds. Just as in the spiritual world, every possible combination exists in this universe. The universe is too large to be confined to the smallness of human discoveries, or to be comprehended by the human mind.
There should be a deeper connection with one's mind and spirit leading to a spiritual harmony between thoughts, emotions, and actions. Having the ability to extend this harmony to the community seems to be the only rational way to handle the arduous task of addressing mammoth problems of social injustice, ecological devastation, extreme economic disparities, destructive conflicts, and terrorism plaguing the planet at the moment. This spiritual harmony is also a potential source of happiness and peace.
To achieve real success, we must find unity and alignment between Spirituality and Materialism. It is vital to have the right mix of spiritualism and materialism. This article explores how spirituality can enrich students' ability and wisdom through several ways of learning, especially in India, the country that is rich with ancient spirituality. In the article 'What does Spirituality in Education Mean?' Laura Jones rightly stated that: "Spirituality in education refers to no more-and no less-than a deep connection between student, teacher, and subject-a connection so honest, vital, and vibrant that it cannot help but be intensely relevant. Nourishment of this spark in the classroom allows it to flourish in the world, in the arenas of politics, medicine, and engineering-wherever our students go after graduation." [1] A mind that is trained to fit in a particular framework and stuffed with factual knowledge may acquire degrees, prizes, and medals, but fail to meet life with all its subtleties, complexities, varieties, challenges and its profundities. J. Krishnamurti, a renowned philosopher and prolific speaker on spirituality and education, asserted: "The vital thing is to educate the educator, and that is one of the most difficult undertakings. The system of thought or a pattern of action already crystallizes the educator…One cannot bring up a child to be an integrated individual if one does not understand integration in oneself." [2] For him, the thing that is of primary importance is the intelligence of the educator himself. Katha Upanishad also emphasizes the continuous harmonious learning process between the student and the teacher in its 'Shanti Mantra' (see Appendix 1). This mantra highlights the coordinated exchange of mental, spiritual, emotional, and intellectual energies between the teacher and the student. This healthy mutual relationship enables one to produce ideal results and learning for both student and teacher, which is the real purpose of education [3].
There is a dire need to turn the teachings towards dimensions of values, cultural, ethical, divine, and spiritual potentialities. In the present scenario, with the growing technological advancement use of social media, materialism, depression, conflicts, it is becoming inevitable to look into the things with a holistic approach and to take the vital energy from our roots. By reconnecting spirituality and education, we can develop an integrated education system the enables the students to maintain mental equilibrium between the intellectual, emotional, and spiritual dimensions. The real truth, meaning, and strength of life lie within us, and one has to delve into the soul to bring out real potential. This can never be done successfully with a greedy mind addicted to desires, greed, lust, jealousy, and comforts.

Spiritual Intelligence
Spiritual intelligence is the ability to draw on one's spiritual abilities and resources in order to better identify, find meaning in, and resolve existential, spiritual, and practical issues [4]. Such resources and abilities can be prayer, intuition, or even transcendence, need to be relevant in facilitating an individual's capabilty for finding meaning in experiences, for facilitating problemsolving, and for enhancing an individual's capacity for adaptive decision making." Spiritual intelligence is "the adaptive use of spiritual information to facilitate everyday problem solving and goal attainment." There are five components of spiritual intelligence, (1) ability to utilize spiritual inputs to solve problems, (2) ability to enter heightened states of consciousness, (3) ability to invest everyday experiences, (4) capacity for transcendence of physical and material, and (5) capacity to exhibit virtuous behavior (to show forgiveness, to express gratitude, to be humble to display compassion [5]. Education and curriculum should be designed to cultivate the necessary foundation of spirituality. Satisfactory answers to the tough question of life are the end goal of education. The essence of life lies in the happiness that one feels from within and is not dependent on any material possessions in the outer world. When spirituality is embraced entirely to our education system, it would surely enable the posterity to develop an art of dynamic equilibrium. They never tend to extremes and mend their ways in which they connect to others, to themselves, and nature, enabling them to step ahead in life in a more beautiful world. To build a better world for future generations, One should he endeavor towards holistic education based on spirituality. We should educate students in a way that enables them to explore deeper and higher dimensions of human resources so that they may understand the subtleties of life and answer the complex questions related to the very human existence [6][7][8] Our ancestors must surely have this in mind when they wrote in Isavasya Upanishad: "The truth is covered with a golden layer, and truth can only be realized after this golden layer of illusion is removed". All our ancient text Upanishads end with Om Shanti Shanti Shanti. The threefold Shanti means freedom from tritap (ordeals): Adidaivik, Adibhautik, Aadhyatmik. We pray for the peace at three levels, i.e., the order in the entirety of one's being. That is the real end goal of education.

Conclusion
Thus to achieve real success, we must find unity and alignment between Spirituality and Materialism. It is vital to have the right balance of spiritualism and materialism. This combination is not merely confined to gaining knowledge, collection of information, or facilitating our enhancement of skill learning.
Equally, the crucial issue is to prepare the future generation to promisingly and confidently respond to the mounting challenges of the present-day life and make the younger generation feel more favorable for their growth potential. The deepening roots of materialistic society foster negative feeling like jealousy, greed, lust, luxury, desires, fear, the helplessness that utterly ignores the importance of spiritual values and creates innumerable problems that the society is facing today at one level or the other. That (pure consciousness) is full (perfect); this (the manifest universe of matter; of names and forms being maya) is full. This fullness has been projected from that fullness. When this fullness merges in that fullness, all that remains is fullness.
Om peace, peace, peace! Thy herbs and trees are full of peace. All Thy forces of nature are full of peace and harmony. There is peace and perfection in Thy eternal knowledge; everything in the universe is peaceful, and peace pervades everywhere. O Lord, may that peace come to me!

Meaning according to Swami Abhedananda Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, India
May peace radiate there in the whole sky as well as in the vast ethereal space everywhere.
May peace reign all over this earth, in water and in all herbs, trees and creepers.
May peace flow over the whole universe. May peace be in the Supreme Being Brahman. And may there always exist in all peace and peace alone.
Om peace, peace and peace to us and all beings!