Unit 1

1. Explain the need for value education.

Ans: Need for Value Education
• Correct identification of our aspirations: All human beings have aspirations. You may aspire
to become a doctor or engineer or a lawyer, or a film star or something else. You must have
made various plans for your future, be it immediate or long term.
But before you invest your energies to actualize your plans, find out what you basically aspire
for. Thus you need to identify your basic aspiration. Based on the correct identification of this
basic aspiration, frame your goals and sub-goals appropriately and working for these, you fulfil
basic aspiration.
• Understanding universal human values to fulfil our aspirations in continuity:
Just identifying one’s aspiration is not enough. We need to know how to fulfil our aspirations,
how to go about actualizing our goals. Generally, we tend to pursue our goals in variety of ways
as per our appraisal and beliefs. We keep on making experiments, learning from these and
accordingly improving our understanding.

Basically all of us are aspiring to be happy and whatever appears conducive to our happiness
becomes valuable to us. Values form the basis for all our thoughts, behaviour and actions.
Values become the source for our happiness, our success, our fulfilment.
Value Education is the input necessary to fulfil this need. When we live with the correct
understanding of values, we are happy in continuity, otherwise we feel deprived, frustrated and
unhappy.

• Complementarity of values and skills: In the endeavour to fulfil our aspirations, two things are
essential:
(a) First and foremost, one has to know what really is conducive to human happiness - i.e.
happiness for one and for all, and happiness at all times. This is what becomes universally
valuable to human beings. This is the ‘value’ domain, the domain of wisdom. This helps us to
identify and set the right goals and to proceed in the right direction.
(b) Secondly, it becomes essential to learn methods and practices to actualize this goal, to
develop the techniques to make this happen in real life, in various dimensions of human
endeavour. This is the domain of ‘skills’.
Thus values and skills have to go hand in hand. There is an essential complementarity between
values and skills for the success of any human endeavour. For example, I want to lead a healthy
life.
Only wishing for good health will not 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. Both (values and skills) are important and these are complementary

• Evaluation of our beliefs: In absence of a correct understanding of universal human values, we

are driven by our ‘ad-hoc’ values and beliefs. If we look deep into ourselves, we find that each
one of us believes in certain things and we base our ‘values’ on these beliefs, be they false or
true which may or may not be true in reality.
o For example, someone may believe that “A corporate job is the best kind of job”, “IIT is
the best college to go to”, “Metro cities are the best places to live in” and so on. etc. All of us
live with such beliefs.
o Beliefs change with time.We might have thought we get into a good job, doing well in
that job and earning a lot of money may be important. Once we have the money, getting into a
good position may become important – i.e. what we believe is to be important, may keep
changing with time. Many times, we may even find ourselves trapped in conflicting beliefs.

o Another thing about beliefs is that they are usually not the same for everybody. You
may think being environmentally - friendly is important, your friend may think that it is okay to
pollute the environment. The beliefs keep changing from person to person.

• Technology and Human Values: With the understanding of values we can decide on the
appropriateness of technology and its application. Both the structure and use of technology are
decided by values. For example: if we value the relationship with the environment, we will work
to create environment-friendly technologies (the structure of technology) and also put it to right
use (use of technology), say, for the enrichment of environment, replenishment of natural
resources etc. Conversely, if the relationship with the environment is something we do not value,
things could be the other way round.

It is essential that we understand how technology relates to us as individuals and to human

society and nature.

2. List out the basic guidelines of value education and content of it.
Ans:

Basic Guidelines for Value Education

Now that we have identified the need for value education, let us also visualize certain effective
and widely acceptable guidelines which will enable the introduction of value education in the
present system. Given below are broad guidelines to decide on what would qualify as an
appropriate input in value education:
Universal
Whatever we study as value education has to be universally applicable to all human beings and
be true at all times and all places. In addition, it need not restrict itself to a certain sect, creed,
gender or nationality etc. So it has to deal with universal human values.
Rational
It has to be amenable to reasoning and not based on dogmas or blind beliefs. It cannot be a set of
sermons or Do’s and Don’ts.
Natural and Verifiable
We want to study something that is natural to us. Being natural means, it is acceptable in a
natural manner to all human beings. When we live on the basis of such values that are natural to
us, it leads to fulfilment, leads to our happiness and also is conducive to other people we interact
with, as well as with nature. We also would like to verify these values ourselves, i.e. we don’t
want to assume something just because it is being stated here or written in a book, rather, each
one of us will want to verify these to find out whether they are true for us. This has to be done by
both checking for validity within ourselves, as being naturally acceptable as well as something
which we can implement in our living and observe its outcome to be fulfilling.
All Encompassing
Value education is not merely an academic exercise. It is aimed at transforming our
consciousness and living. Hence, it has to permeate into all dimensions of our living, namely,
thought, behaviour, work and understanding/realization; as well as all levels, namely, individual,
family, society and nature.
Leading to Harmony
Finally, value education has to enable us to be in harmony within and in harmony with others.
Hence, when we live on the basis of these values, we start understanding that it will lead to
harmony in us, and harmony in our interactions with other humans and the rest of nature.

3. Justify the purpose or role of self exploration as in the process of Value Education.

Ans:

What is Self-exploration? What is its Purpose?

Let us ponder over the following points to appreciate self-exploration and its purpose.

1. It is a process of dialogue between “what you are” and “what you really want to be”.
2. It is a process of self-evolution through self-investigation.
3. It is a process of knowing oneself and through that, knowing the entire existence.
4. It is a process of recognizing one’s relationship with every unit in existence and fulfilling
it.
5. It is a process of knowing human conduct, human character and living accordingly.
6. It is a process of being in harmony in oneself and in harmony with entire existence.
7. It is a process of identifying our Innateness (Swatva) and moving towards
Selforganization
(Swatantratã) and Self-expression (Swarãjya).

1. It is a process of dialogue between “what you are” and “what you really want to be”: We
will look into ourselves and find out what we are today, and how this contrasts from what we
really want to be. If these two are the same, then there is no problem. If these two are not the
same, then this is contradiction (of not being what we really want to be) and hence, we need to
resolve this contradiction, this conflict within us.
Ask yourself this question: “Am I what I really want to be?”
What we really want to be- comes from deep within us that is naturally acceptable to us. This is
something intact in us. It needs to be explored and found out.
“What I am” « “What I really want to be”.
Ask the question of whether this is the way in which I really want to live?
All our unhappiness, discomfort, unease is because of this contradiction within – between what
we are and what we really want to be.
Many times, you will find, we want something, we think something else, we say something else,
we do something else, and the results of our actions do not match with the expected outcomes!
This kind of dichotomy continues to exist in us, resulting in a state of unhappiness and as of
today we don’t seem to be doing anything at all in order to address these contradictions, whereas
it is the basic issue that needs to be resolved.

2. It is a process of self-evolution through self-investigation: By self-investigation, we shall

work towards being what we really want to be. Hence, the self-exploration leads to our own
improvement, our own self-evolution – we will become qualitatively better. We can be more in
harmony within ourselves.
It becomes necessary that we investigate into ourselves to find this out! Hence, it is necessary
that we do self-exploration. We must explore inside us, in us, not outside from which we can
achieve self-evolution. The very process of being in this dialogue starts facilitating this self-
improvement.

3. It is a process of knowing oneself and through that, knowing the entire existence: Thus,
self-exploration leads to us knowing ourselves better. Today, we are largely unaware of our own
characteristics, our own assumptions, beliefs and pre-conditionings. We will go beyond these
beliefs to know ourselves.
Ask yourself: Do I want to know myself? Do I want this self-investigation? Am I satisfied in
living my life without having known myself? If I don’t know myself, am not sure of myself, how
can I be sure of what I want and what I do? Each individual would like to know himself/herself
and can carry out this self-exploration and self-evolution.

Ask yourself this question: Are you satisfied with just knowing the immediate things around you,
or do you also get curious about the larger reality around you ie., the entire existence. This
process starts with the self and also knows the entire existence.

4. It is a process of recognizing one’s relationship with every unit in existence and fulfilling it:
Once we start knowing ourselves and everything beside us, we shall understand our relationship
with them i.e. we shall understand our relationship with other humans, animals, plants and matter
etc. We shall then know how we have to live in harmony with all these things.

We live in our families – parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters.

We live in society – we interact with our teachers, with various people in the society.
We live with nature – with animals, birds, plants, insects, materials, etc, and
We live in the larger existence – all that space, and all those planets, stars and other entities that
are suspended in it.

What happens when we do not understand this relationship with the above order? This leads to
problems.
If we want to be in harmony with nature, our interactions with nature lead to mutual prosperity.
If not we shall continue to have problems in multiple ways.
Thus, we understand ourselves, and the rest of existence, and also our relationship with all
entities in existence and then fulfil this relationship.

5. It is a process of knowing human conduct, human character and living accordingly:

We all desire for certainty and stability.
Once we know our own true nature, we will also understand what is our participation with the
other things we live with – this is the ethical human conduct or the humane conduct. This is what
characterizes a human being. When we know this true human character, we start moving towards
it in a natural manner.
All the entities in the existence are characterised by their innateness, by their specific
characteristics which are invariant.
Example: We can’t be sure of how we are going to be this very evening! We are not sure what
our mood will be tomorrow morning. Or do we want definitiveness in our conduct? Explore.
There is a need to understand this definite conduct in a human being and how it can be ensured.
Once we know, through self-exploration, then we understand ethical human conduct or the
humane conduct. Thus, the process of Self-exploration will enable us to identify the
definitiveness of human conduct and to live accordingly.

6. It is a process of being in harmony in oneself and in harmony with entire existence:

Through the process of Self-exploration, I establish a dialogue with my natural acceptance. This
enables me to be in harmony within myself. Through the same process, I am able to explore into
the harmony in the entire existence. We slowly come to realize that there is an innate harmony in
the existence. After I discover this, I live in harmony with the entire existence. Thus the process
of Self-exploration helps me live in harmony within myself and in all my interactions with the
world around. Would you desire to be in such a state? Well, we need to work for it.

7. It is a process of identifying our Innateness (Swatva) and moving towards Self-organization

(Swatantratã) and Self-expression (Swarãjya):
When I identify my innateness, I attain harmony in myself. This is Swatantratã.
When I start living with this harmony, participation towards harmony in the surroundings and
whole existence. This is working towards Swarãjya.
Swatantratã : Being self-organised : Being in harmony in oneself
Swarãjya : Self-expression, Self-extension : Living in harmony with others, and thus
participation towards harmony in the whole existence
Ask yourself this question: Are you self-organized right now? Are you able to be in
harmony with others?
If you are living in contradiction, then it means you are not self-organized. If you are living with
pre-conditionings, wherein you have assumed certain things, have accumulated desires wi thout
having first evaluated them, then it means you are partantra (enslaved).
Through Self-exploration I identiy my innateness (Swatva), what I really want to be. Then, living
accordingly enables me to being in harmony within myself (Swatantratã) and finally being in
harmony with the whole existence (Swarãjya)

4. Discuss the process of self exploration.

Ans: Following points are to be kept in mind regarding this process of Self-exploration.
“Whatever is stated is a proposal”.
Don’t start by assuming it to be true or false.
It is a proposal. Don’t accept it as it is, or assume it to be true.
If we don’t assume it, how will we verify it?
“Verify it on your own right”
Verifying in your own right implies the following;
“Don’t just accept or reject it.
– on the basis of scriptures
– on the basis of instruments
– on the basis of others”

Let us understand these in more detail:

1)“Don’t try to verify on the basis of scriptures/ what is written”:

let’s not compare what is being proposed here with what is written in some book, something that
you have read or are reading. verify these proposals directly within yourself.
2) “Not on the basis of instruments”:
Don’t assume these proposals as being true or false based on the conclusions somebody might
have given after conducting experiments with physical instruments. Such perceptions also need
to be subjected to self-verification.
3) “Not on the basis of others”:
You may have heard something that some great person has said. You may believe what this
person says to be true.
End up comparing what is being proposal with statement given by that personality.
This would not mean verifying in your own right; it would mean accepting on those great
personalities’ right!

“Firstly, verify the proposal on the basis of your natural acceptance”

“Firstly, verify the proposal on the basis of your natural acceptance”
Natural acceptance is a faculty that is present in each one of us. It is intact and invariant.
We only have to start paying attention to it, to start “seeing” it. For example, ask yourself
this question:
‘Is trust naturally acceptable to me in relationship, or is mistrust naturally acceptable?’
What is the answer? It turns out that trust is naturally acceptable to you in relationship.

Question: “Do I want to live in relationship with others or do I want to live in opposition
with others?”
The answer is - live in relationship with others. we get the answers from within ourselves
and it is spontaneous.
We call this faculty the natural acceptance.

You don’t have to import this natural acceptance from outside; you don’t have to learn it from
somewhere! For example, when you asked the question “whether trust is most acceptable to me
in relationship”, did you ask anyone else for the answer? Did you read or learn the answer from
somewhere? Did you have to refer to some instrument? The answer is NO. This answer came
from within you.
Similarly, about the answer to- “Is living in relationship with others is naturally acceptable
to me”. Did you have to learn this from others? Again NO!

Thus, as first part of the self-verification, every proposal being put forth here, is passed through
our own natural acceptance.
“Secondly, live according to the proposal to validate it experientially.”
To verify the proposals, I need to live accordingly in my interactions with the world around. This
involves two things: behaviour and work. If the proposal is true,
(a) In behaviour with other humans,
(i) it will lead to mutual fulfilment
(b) In work with the rest of nature,
(ii) it will lead to mutual prosperity.
I desire mutual fulfilment in my relations with other humans and mutual prosperity with the rest
of nature. This way, I validate the truthfulness of the proposal.
The whole process of self-exploration can be represented as follows:
5. List out and describe the observations about natural acceptance and how to realise
and understand it.
Ans:
Natural Acceptance: the following are the observations of natural acceptance:
(a) Natural acceptance does not change with time: The natural acceptance does not change with
time. It remains invariant with time. This can be easily verified. For example, our acceptance for
trust or respect does not change with age. People hundred years ago also had the same natural
acceptance. We can try to verify this within our span of observation.
(b) It does not depend on the place: Whether we are in New Delhi, New York or Abu Dhabi, if
we address our natural acceptance, the answer would still be the same!
(c) It does not depend on our beliefs or past conditionings: We may be told frequently not to
trust people of other religions or castes, but is it naturally acceptable to us? 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 answer will always be the same.
(d) This natural acceptance is ‘constantly there’, something we can refer to: Try this yourself:
think of cheating or exploiting or disrespecting someone. The moment you think of this, you
sense a contradiction within and feel unhappy that very instant! It happens very quickly, and we
may not notice it, but it does happen! Take for example, one may proceed with the act of
cheating under the influence of say, an extraneous pressure but one keeps feeling unhappy about
it and may even repent over this act in the course of time. If somebody asks, ‘why do you
cheat?’, one starts offering explanations, inventing justifications. This is because it is naturally
unacceptable.
(e) Natural acceptance is the same for all of us: it is part and parcel of every human being,
it is part of human-ness: Let’s start exploring into this. We will find that no human being finds
disrespect acceptable in relationship. No matter who the person, however bad or good, one
always expects respect in relationship. For example, let us say a person ‘A’ disrespects ‘B’. This
man ‘B’ may bear a grudge against ‘A’ and set out to “teach him a lesson”. This is because ‘B’
does not find disrespect acceptable and when he does not get respect, it offends him. This may
actually end up leading to a large scale conflict!
Realization and Understanding
We saw earlier that the process of Self-exploration involves two steps:
1. Verification of the proposals on the basis of our natural acceptance
2. Experiential validation by living according to it.
The realization and understanding is denoted below:
Accordingly, the complete process of self-exploration can be depicted as below.

The answers we get on having realization & understanding are:

(a) Assuring: “I am assured of the answer or understanding in myself ”
(b) Satisfying: “I am satisfied that the answers are fulfilling for me.
(c) Universal: “I know or realize that the answers I have got are the same for everyone.
They are invariant with respect to:
(i) Time: These answers are the same at all times: past, present and future
(ii) Space: These answers are the same at all places or locations
(iii) Individual: The answers are the same for every human being

If the answers we get do not fulfil any of the criteria of being assuring, satisfying and universal;
it means the answer is most likely coming from your past beliefs/conditioning and not from your
natural acceptance. Hence, you need to re-verify the answer!
Let us not accept the proposals stated here because they are being repeated all the time! Far from
it! Each one of us needs to start asking ourselves these questions and see what is acceptable to
us! You have to start asking these questions yourself!

6. What is the true essence of happiness and prosperity?

Ans:

Exploring Happiness and Prosperity:

Happiness:
We can thus understand Happiness as “The state/situation in which I live, if there is
harmony/synergy in it, then I like to be in that state or situation.” i.e. “To be in a state of
liking is happiness.”
When we are in such a state of happiness – we experience no struggle, no contradiction or
conflict within and we enjoy such a state of being. And we wish to have its continuity.
When we experience feelings such as failure, disrespect, lack of confidence, being doubtful in
ourselves or about others, we feel unhappy as they are states of conflict.
We do not wish for a continuation of these feelings within and want to try and change them – we
can call this unhappiness. We can thus state unhappiness as:
“The state/situation in which I live, if there is conflict/contradiction in it, then I do not like
to be in that state or situation.”
i.e. “To be in a state of disliking is unhappiness”
Thus, we can define happiness and unhappiness as
“To be in a state of harmony is happiness.”
“To be in a state of disharmony or contradiction is unhappiness”
We do get an impression of happiness through our sensory interaction also such as while eating
tasty food, seeing a beautiful picture, smelling a sweet fragrance, etc.
Prosperity:
Prosperity is related to material things or what we call as ‘physical facilities’.
Egs: clothes to wear, food to eat, a pair of spectacles, a two wheeler or a four wheeler vehicle, a
radio set, a mobile phone etc. So we need physical things to take care of our body and these
needs to be catered to. When we are able to cater to the needs of the body adequately, we fe el
prosperous.
Therefore,
Prosperity: is the feeling of having or making available more than required physical facilities.
To ascertain prosperity, two things are essential:
(a) Correct assessment of need for physical facilities, and
(b) The competence of making available more than required physical facilities (through
production).
We can quantify the need for physical facilities?
Is there a limit to the need for physical facilities?
We can be prosperous only if there is a limit to the need for physical facilities. If there is no
limit, whatsoever be the availability with us, the feeling of prosperity cannot be assured.
Physical facilities are the needs of the body and their need is limited in time and quantity. Thus
we can identify a limit to these needs and evaluate whether we have enough.
Secondly, just assessing the need is not enough. We need to be able to produce or make available
more than the perceived need.
Difference between wealth and prosperity:
A person has wealth, but feels “deprived”; in other words the person does not have a feeling of
being prosperous. If one felt prosperous, he/she would have shared what one has, since there is
more than enough wealth anyway.
On the other hand someone who does not have a lot of wealth may welcome you into his/her
house and ask you to stay back for a few days and help you out. This is an indication of feeling
prosperous.
Thus, we can see that:
Wealth is a physical thing. It means having money, or having a lot of physical facilities, or both.
Prosperity is a feeling of having more than required. Prosperity is a feeling of having more than
required physical facilities; it is not just physical facilities.
We keep working for wealth, without realizing that the basic desire is for the feeling of
prosperity,
to have a feeling of having enough. Let’s ask ourselves, “What is naturally acceptable to me?”:
Accumulating more and more wealth while feeling deprived,
OR
Having requisite wealth and feeling prosperous.
We find the latter naturally acceptable. Not only do we want wealth, but we want to feel
prosperous too.
We are busy accumulating wealth, but we don’t feel prosperous! This is because, we do not
identify our needs, and hence, no matter how much we have, it is always less, and we feel
deprived!

7. Critically examine the prevailing notion of happiness and prosperity and their
consequences.

Ans: The physical facilities are not seen in terms of fulfilling bodily needs but as a means of
maximizing happiness.
This has resulted in wrong assessment of wants for physical facilities as being unlimited. But this
pursuit is self-defeating. Neither can we hope to achieve continuous happiness through sensory
interactions nor can we have prosperity, as it amounts to trying to fulfil unlimited wants through
limited resources. This effort is engendering problems at all the levels. It is becoming anti -
ecological and anti-people, and threatening the human survival itself. Some of the consequences
of such a trend are summarised below:
• At the level of the individual – rising problems of depression, psychological disorders,
suicides, stress, insecurity, psycho-somatic diseases, loneliness etc.
• At the level of the family – breaking of joint families, mistrust, conflict between older
and younger generations, insecurity in relationships, divorce, dowry tortures, family feuds,
wasteful expenditure in family functions etc.
• At the level of the Society – growing incidences of terrorism and naxalism, rising
communalism, spreading casteism, racial and ethnic struggle, wars between nations,
attempts of genocide, fear of nuclear and genetic warfare, etc.
• At the level of nature – global warming, water, air, soil, noise, etc. pollution, resource
depletion of minerals and mineral oils, sizeable deforestations, loss of fertility of soil.

Some Possible Questions/Confusions

When a discussion starts on the issue of happiness, certain kinds of questions or confusions
usually emerge, some of which are listed below:
• I will be bored of happiness if I am always happy.
• I will learn and improve only if I am unhappy. If I become happy, my learning will stop.
• I need to be unhappy to recognise that I am happy.
• We think of others only when we are unhappy. Thus it is important/useful to be unhappy so that
one can help others.
• Happiness and unhappiness go together, they cannot be separated.
• Yes, I want happiness. But my desiring does not guarantee it. So, why talk of desire?
• My happiness depends on the others. What can I do about it?
• We do not want happiness for ourselves, but we want to make others happy (while we may stay
unhappy)
• Happiness is a small thing. We have higher aspirations, such as like contentment, peace,bliss
etc.
• Do not bother me with such abstract notions as happiness. I have to live and deal with other
things in my life.

A few of them are being discussed below

1) “Happiness and sadness are the two sides of the same coin” or “Happiness and sadness
are the two banks of a river and one is doomed to travel back and forth between the two”
2) “I cannot be sure of happiness unless I am unhappy”
The simple answer to this question is: the acceptance or recognition of happiness is there in me
innately, I do not have to compare with something to identify it.
You ask yourself, do you first hate your friend to know how to like him/her; or, do you first
disrespect your parents to know what it means to respect them?

A few of us feel that it is an intellectual exercise with little relevance to our life, “Of course I
want to be happy and I will be happy once I have achieved what I have set myself out to
achieve”. “Do not bother me with all this” is another common dismissal.
8. What are the basic requirements to fulfil human aspirations? Indicate their
correct priority.
Ans:

• Underline the items that are to do with something physical.

• For example: a guitar is a physical thing, while happiness is not a physical thing.
• A big house is a physical thing, while the need to do social work is not something
physical in nature.
• Some of our desires or wants are to do with physical things. We call these ‘physical
facilities’.
• For animals: We see that animals need physical things to survive, mainly to take care
of their body. Take a cow for example. A cow will look for food when it is hungry.
• Once it gets the grass or fodder, it eats it, sits around to chew at leisure.
• For humans: You would look for some food, perhaps, some tasty food. Once you have
had your fill, do you just sit around and relax?
The list is endless. Thus, it is easy to see that while physical facilities are necessary for us human
beings, they are not complete by themselves to fulfil our needs.
• For animals – “Physical facilities are necessary and complete”;
• For humans – “Physical facilities are necessary but not complete”
• Here is another proposal:
• “Besides physical facilities, we want relationship”.
• There are two categories of our needs:
• – Relationship and
• – Physical facilities.
• In Relationship
• Mutual fulfilment: We want to have mutually fulfilling relationships.
• If there is a problem in relationship, we feel uneasy, it bothers us.
• For example, you had an argument with a friend, you find an uneasy feeling with you
for a long time, even after you have stopped speaking to your friend and have physically moved
away from him/her.
From Physical Facilities: As we interact with nature for our various physical needs, we can
either exploit nature or enrich it.“What is naturally acceptable to me?
• Do I want to protect and enrich nature, or do I want to exploit it?”
• Answer - enrich nature.
What is Our State Today:
• “Am I able to have such fulfilling relationships all the time today”?
“Sometimes I have good relationships, sometimes I don’t. Or perhaps, mostly I have good
relationships, and sometimes I don’t,” or vice-versa.
• With physical facilities:
• “Do I feel prosperous? Do I find that I have a feeling to share what I have?
• Am I satisfied with my wealth today? Or do I want more? How much is this “more”?
In Relationships
• “Do I understand human relationships? Do I know what the other person’s expectations
from me are”?
• The answer is, “I mostly don’t”, OR ‘I am not sure about this” OR “It depends, It
changes from time to time,” etc.
• For example: If you had a tiff with your father or your brother, it can stay with
you and bother you for a very long time, so much so, that till the issue is resolved, you may
not be able to do anything else!
• From Physical Facilities
• Additional observations here:
• Question 1: “Is the unhappiness in my family today more due to lack of [3]Physical
facilities, or due to lack of [2] Relationship”?
If we have physical facilities but lack relationship, what will happen in the family?
And if we have relationship in the family but lack physical facilities, what would be the state of
the family?
If we have relationship, we can earn together for the family, but if the relationship is not there,
we will think of taking away the share of the other.
Think, why the families are breaking today- due to lack of physical facilities or fulfilment in
relationship?
When you explore on these issues you will get the answer as : [2] Relationship.
• Question 2: “How much time am I spending today working to ensure [2] Relationship,
and how much time do I spend working for, or preparing to get [3] Physical facilities”?
• The likely answer is: we spend more time for [3] Physical facilities than for [2]
Relationship!
What is the Solution?- The Need for Right Understanding
• Thus, the three basic requirements to ensure happiness and prosperity for human beings
are:
Hence the priority is
1) Right Understanding
2) Relationships
3) Physical Facilities

9. "Right understanding + Relationship = Mutual fulfilment;

Right understanding + Physical facilities = Mutual prosperity."
Illustrate the above with two examples for each.
Ans:

• Question 1: Does having [3] Physical facilities ensure [2] Relationship and [1] Right
understanding?
• Answer: No, (3) does not ensure (2) & (1)!
• Question 2: Are all the three: Right Understanding, Relationship and Physical
facilities required, or can we do away with one of them?
• Answer: All three are needed. We can’t do away with anyone of them. We can’t say-
• “I need only Right Understanding, and there is no need for Relationships or Physical
facilities” & neither can we say
“Relationships are enough. No need for the other two!” nor can we say something such as
“Physical facilities are sufficient. I can do without [1] & [2]”
• All three are needed for us!
• Question 3: Given that [1] Right Understanding and [2] Relationship are important to
us, are we investigating into them?
• Likely Answer: We are mostly not paying attention to [1] & [2] and seem to be focusing
largely on [3] most of the time.
• Question 4: If all three are needed, what is the priority?
• Answer: We need to work for [1] Right understanding as the basis on which we can
work for [2] Relationships, and then [3] Physical facilities!
• Today, we can see that there are two kinds of people in the world:
• 1. Those that do not have physical facilities/wealth and feel unhappy and deprived
• – Thus, such people can be said to be ‘materially deficient, unhappy and deprived’ or
‘Sãdhan Viheen Dukhi Daridra’
• – The short form for this can be written as: SVDD!
• 2. Those that have physical facilities/wealth and feel unhappy and deprived!
• – Thus, such people can be said to be ‘materially affluent, but unhappy and deprived’ or
‘Sãdhan Sampann Dukhi Daridra’
• – The short form for this can be written as: SSDD! Check, where do you stand- at (1) or
(2)
• Both these are states we don’t want to be in! We want to move from this to (verify this)
• 3) Having physical facilities and feeling happy and prosperous.
• – Such people can be said to be materially affluent, happy and prosperous or ‘Sãdhan
Sampann Sukhi Samridh’
• – The short form for this can be written as: SSSS!
• To ensure that we are of the 3rd category as described above, we need the right
understanding!
• Thus, we can conclude the following: We need to work for all three, and this is the
order in which we have to work:
• 1. Right Understanding
• 2. Relationship
• 3. Physical facilities
• Working with this order, we are able to ensure mutual fulfilment with human beings
and mutual prosperity with the rest of nature.
• Right understanding + Relationship = Mutual fulfilment
• Right understanding + Physical facilities = Mutual prosperity

Our Program: Understand and Live in Harmony at All levels of Living

10. What is the difference between 'animal consciousness' and 'human consciousness'?
Explain with the help of a diagram.

• To live solely on the basis of [3] Physical facilities can also be called as living in animal
consciousness.
• We are not satisfied merely by living at this level and hence we need to work towards
having the right understanding.
• Living with all three: [1] Right understanding, [2] Relationship and [3] Physical
facilities is called human consciousness.
• To develop from animal consciousness to human consciousness is the transformation.
• It is a qualitative improvement in consciousness. Value education is about enabling this
transformation in the human being.
•
Unit 2

1) “Human being is more than just the Body” –explain

Ans:
• As human beings, our living extends from the Self to the entire existence. The four
levels of our living are
• living in myself, living in family, living in society, living in nature/ existence
Human Being is More than Just the Body
What do we visualize when we refer to someone as a Human Being?
• In addition to the body, we are also aware of the ‘alive-ness’ of the person - the entity
that keeps the body. ‘Alive-ness’ in the activities are demonstrated by the person like their
seeing, talking, listening, walking, eating, etc.
• The subtler activities of the person – the person’s feelings, thinking, believing, etc.
• A person who is alive will have these two aspects namely the Body and the ‘alive-ness’.
• This ‘alive-ness’ is called ‘Jïvana.
• Understanding Myself as Co-existence of the Self and the Body
• The distinction between the Self and the Body is done in three ways in terms of the
needs, activities and the types of these two entities, as shown in the table below:

• Needs of body are:

➢ Food
➢ Shelter
➢ Clothes
• “Who takes care of the body?”
• The answer is: “I do” or, “I take care of the Body”.
• Needs of the “I”; ‘what do ‘I’ want’ or ‘what is my need’?
➢ respect, trust, happiness….are some of the needs of ‘I’ , or my need.
• Body needs being ‘physical’ in nature, or also called ‘physical facilities’ (suvidhã);
• The need of “I” is essentially to live in a state of continuous happiness (sukha).
• This is one primary distinction between the Self (‘I’) and the Body, in terms of their
needs: these are fundamentally different.
• In time, needs are…
• Food, clothing, shelter, or instruments, are temporary in time – it is not continuous.
• What about the needs of ‘I’? Ask yourself these questions:
• Happiness, respect, acceptance are to be fulfilled continuously in time. The needs of ‘I’
are continuous in time.
• In quantity, needs are.
• For the Body: Quantitative:
• food, clothes, books, shoes, slippers, rooms, bikes…
• The numbers may be large or small. But they are limited in quantity.
• You may need to take only four chapattis a day, while your friend may need ten
chapattis a day!

• For the Self: Qualitative

• The needs of the Self (‘I’) are qualitative, not quantitative. We cannot talk of one kg of
respect, half a meter of love or two litres of affection!
• Our feelings are qualitative.
• Example :respect
• Feeling of disrespect is not naturally acceptable to us; respect is naturally acceptable
and we want it continuously.
• The need of the Self ('I'), for happiness (sukha), is ensured by Right Understanding and
Right Feelings, while the need of the Body, for physical facilities (suvidhã), is ensured by
appropriate physico-chemical things.
• We may be living together amidst lots of wealth but if we do not have right feelings for
each other, the happiness in living together is not ensured.
• Example: you are sitting in a nicely air-conditioned room on a big comfortable sofa
with a person for whom you have a feeling of opposition.
• We hence need to work for both-happiness (sukha) in ‘I’ and physical facilities
(suvidhã) for the Body.
• As humans, we need both – continuous happiness in the Self (‘I’) as well as limited
physical facilities for the Body.
• We need to fulfil both of these and both are important.
• With right understanding, we become responsible to ourselves - i.e., to ‘Jïvana’ as well
as to our Body.
• Due to lack of right understanding, we are mixing up Sukha and Suvidha.
2) Elucidate the self (I) as the conscious entity, the body as the material entity .
Ans:Understanding the Self (‘I’) as the Conscious Entity, the Body as the Material Entity

Ask a question now: ‘Who is talking, seeing, thinking, recognizing, assuming, etc?’ The natural
answer you will give is ‘I’. It is this ‘I’ (Jïvana) which has the characteristic of being aware or
being conscious. Thus, it is also called consciousness. It is always aware that ‘I am’.

Any entity that has the activity of recognizing and fulfilling only can be called a ‘material
entity’. From the activities of ‘I’ and body, we can say that the Self (‘I’) is a conscious entity,
the Body is a material entity, or physico-chemical in nature.

The human being is thus a co-existence of a conscious Self ('I') and the material body.

We can write:
I co-exist with the Body. ‘I’ and my Body keep exchanging information.

Distinguishing Needs of the Self (‘I’) and Body

1. Firstly, fill in the answers in the table below. Do not see the right answers until you have
completed yours!
2. Next, make your own list of needs, and find out which ones are related to the Self (‘I’) and
which ones are related to the Body.
3. One thing to be noted here is that we are making a list of our wants here, which may or may
not be a need (we have assumed it to be a need). That’s why the two columns read as ‘Related to
Body?’, and not of the body; and ‘Related to ‘I’? , and not of the ‘I’.
Exercise: Needs of ‘I’ & Body

We can make some additional observations on this table as shown below:

Based on the above exercise, the following conclusions can be made:
1. The needs of the Self (‘I’), and needs of the Body can be clearly identified by each one of us.
It is not a difficult thing to do. Once we are aware of this distinction, it becomes possible for us
to classify our needs as shown above.
2. The need of ‘I’ is happiness, trust, knowledge, respect, taste, etc. while the need of the body is
things like food, shelter, etc. – basically physical facilities.
3. We are usually made to believe that the need for physical facilities is unlimited. But when we
go about listing them, we see that their need is limited. And that we can actually list them down!
If you have not done so, you can do it right now. Make a list of all the physical facilities you
need and you will see that they are actually limited in quantity.
4. Many of our needs are related to ‘I’, and others to the body. Today, since we are unaware of
how to fulfil the needs of ‘I’, i.e. continuous happiness, we tend to think that unlimited physical
facilities will secure continuous happiness for us – and when we go to do it, we are not
successful.
5. The most you can do with physical facilities is to cater to the needs of the body and to
facilitate its right utilization.
6. Money is just a representation of physical facilities, and this representation is based on our
notions and conventions. Today, we focus on money with the notions ‘just have money, the rest
of it will come’, ‘happiness, health, everything can be bought’, ‘eat, drink and be merry!’… As a
matter of fact,
(a) When we think in terms of physical facilities, the needs turn out to be definite. When we
think in terms of money, need for money turns out to be undefined.
(b) The way to work out the need for money is to thus first identify the need for prosperity, and
in order to feel prosperous, find out what the need for physical facilities is, and then to find out
how much money is needed to acquire the required quantity of physical facilities.

Exercise on Distinguishing Activities of the Self (‘I’) and Body

Based on the above exercise, the following conclusions can be made:

1. Activities of the human being can be distinctly understood.
2. Activities involving only the Self are sentient activities, such as selecting, thinking, desiring,
etc. You can start looking at these activities and see if they are periodic or
continuous.
3. Activities involving only the Body are the ‘material’ activities, and they are completely
different from the ‘conscious’ activities in ‘I’. You can see if the activities in the body are
continuous or temporary. Look at all the activities in the body and find this out.
4. Activities involving both ‘I’ and the Body are those where a conscious effort from I and an
activity in the Body, both are involved. Such activities generally involve our sense organs; or our
work organs which are conducted by ‘I’ on the Body.
(a) Listening is an example where ‘I’ and a sense organ – the ears are involved,
(b) Walking is an example where ‘I’ and a work-organ – the legs are involved.
Understanding the Human Being as Co-existence of Self (‘I’) and Body 83
(c) Blowing your cheeks out is an example where ‘I’ is conducting some action on
the body.
5. It is possible for each one us to observe ourselves, investigate into ourselves and find out
which activities are of ‘I’, are of body, and are those involving both ‘I’ and body.
6. This exercise cannot be done by anyone else for you; you have to do it yourself! How you are,
can only be found out by yourself! This is a simple thing all of us can understand.
3) Are the activities in ‘I’ continuous or temporary? Justify your answer.
Ans: Write Answer of Question 1
4) Why are physical facilities required? What do you mean by right utilization of the
Body?
Ans: Write Answer of Question 1
5) Distinguish between the needs of the Self and the needs of the Body.
Ans: Write Answer of Question 1
6) "I am the seer, doer and enjoyer. The body is my instrument"- explain.
Ans:

1. I am. I exist. The body is. I am the one that ‘knows’ I exist. It is not the body that knows. I
am the conscious entity; the body is the material entity. The awareness of being, of being alive,
is in me, in ‘I’.
2. We all want to live. I want to live. I am the one that wants to live (that is why ‘I’ is called
Jïvana).
The Body is my instrument. Not only am I in co-existence with the Body, but the Body also
works like my instrument.
I am the one who takes decisions and the body acts accordingly.
Example: When eating, the food is picked, chewed and then swallowed. The self (‘I’) that
chooses to eat and makes a choice of what to eat and how much to eat.
The body is used as an instrument in the process of eating.
3. It’s not just that I want to live.
I want to live, and live with continuous happiness. This is my need.
Physical facilities are a need of the Body only.
(a) Listing all the needs of the Body, for the nurture of the Body, food is required.
For protection from the natural climate, clothing and shelter are required.
(b)Just food, clothing and shelter are not sufficient for body.
Projector, chairs and tables, stationery, etc. phones, TV or internet, and means of conveyance are
meant for the right utilization of the Body, which are instruments.
(c) Thus there are three requirements related to the Body, nutrition, protection and right
utilization.
The needs of the body are limited in time, and limited in quantity. My need for happiness is
continuous.
4. What my program is, and what part of my program is to do with the physical facilities?
What do I need to do?
(a) Proposal: To understand and live in harmony at all the four levels of my living.
These four levels are: myself, family, society and nature/existence.
Continuous happiness entails understanding the harmony at all these levels and living
accordingly. If I ignore any of these levels of my living, then there may be unhappiness or
contradiction at that level.
b)The basic program of ‘I’ is to have the right understanding and feeling, the understanding and
feeling of harmony at all four levels of living.
Ensuring physical facilities for the body is only a small part of the program and facilities
consists of production, protection and right utilization.
Example:
If I grow wheat, it is production.
I preserve it so that it is not consumed by insects, or destroyed by rain or wind or the scorching
sun - this is protection.
And I eat it for the nourishment of the body; I do not burn it, or simply leave it piled up in my
house - this is right utilization.
c) Today we have ignored the understanding of ‘I’, and hence we are quite unaware of the needs
of ‘I’.
Accumulating physical facilities does not ensure the need for happiness in ‘I’; physical facilities
do not ensure right understanding in ‘I’.
Physical facilities alone cannot even ensure health in the body – unless we have right
understanding in ‘I’. Hence, there is a need for us to expand our attention and our efforts to also
include the program for ‘I’. This is an urgent need.
5. Understand is that I am the seer, I am the doer and I am the enjoyer.
(a) I am the ‘seer’: When we are reading a book or listening, when someone, is explaining
something to us – we are engaged in the activities of ‘seeing’ or understanding.
Question: “Who is understanding all this?”, or, “Who believes all this?”
Answer: It is ‘I’.
It is not our eyes or ears that understand the meaning of the words. Understanding or believing
happens in the ‘I’. Every time you are the seer.
‘Seer’ also means ‘the one that understands’. It is also called ‘drastã ’
(b) I am the ‘doer’: Once I have seen/understood something, I decide what to do or not to do. I
am the doer.
Example: I am the seer of the nice scenery. I choose to take a picture of the scenery.
I take my hands into my pocket, and take out the camera and click a picture.
I use the hands - the hands in the Body are thus used as an instrument. I am the ‘doer’ every
time. Doer’ means ‘the one that does’, who takes decisions to do. It is also called ‘kartã’
(c) I am the ‘enjoyer’:
When I see the picture, I like it. I am the one that enjoys it. There is a continuity of being the
seer, doer and enjoyer. When I eat, I am the one that gets the taste – from the tongue.
All the time, I am the enjoyer, the Body is used only as an instrument.
‘Enjoyer’ means ‘the one who enjoys’. It is also called ‘bhoktã’.
7) Explain the activities of imaging, analyzing and selecting/tasting with a diagram.
With the help of an example, show how are they related.
Ans:

Power of “Expectation” or Activity of “Selecting/Tasting” in ‘I’:

We ‘select’ whether to eat a samosa or kachori. On What basis did we make this selection? Ans:
we had the ‘taste’ of both items in us from before, and on that basis made a ‘selection’.
Another example of Selecting/Tasting: you planned your career. You could have selected
engineering or medicine or accounts or management.
A Selection is always made in order to fulfil a Taste we already have in us about something
being favourable or unfavourable.
The activity here is “selecting/tasting” (Chayana / asvãdana), and the capacity for that activity,
or its power, is called “expectation” ( Ãsã ).
For example, we decide (Selecting) which motorcycle to buy based on an earlier assumption
(Taste) of which motorcycle looks better. We decide which movie to watch (Selecting) based on
our prior experience of the hero (Taste).
Selecting and Tasting are complimentary.
Selection/Taste thus has an impact on our happiness.
Selecting/Tasting happens in the Self (‘I’), or in your Self (‘I’), and not in the Body!
The activity of Selecting/Tasting is the basic level via which the Self ('I') interacts with the Body.
For example:Decide to lift your hand and you will see your hand moves.
Notice the decision in you to lift the hand and then notice the relation between the decision and
the hand moving. This is the co-existence between you (‘I’) and the body!
Power of “Thought” or Activity of “Analyzing”
We all think throughout the day.
For example, you keep thinking of how to solve a problem, or what the design for your house
should be like, how to secure a good life is called as “thought” is actually “analyzing”.
In analyzing, we split the image we have in desire into smaller details – or, detailing out is called
‘analyzing’, and the power is called thought.
If you explore into yourself, desires are in the form of images, and these are constantly ‘being
expanded’ and start observing them part by part.
This expansion, or ‘making into parts’ is nothing but thought or analysis.
This activity of analyzing (Vislesana ) takes place in us all the time.
Power of “Desire” or Activity of “Imaging”
Each one of us have desires. Desires are in the form of images. Hence, the activity is imaging,
while the power is desire.
For example, you can have the desire to “feel respectable by owning a large house”; “do well in
life”; to “become knowledgeable”, to “be successful”. These desires are in the form of images.
Each one of us has these images, these desires, and we are constantly trying to fulfil these
desires. There are two possible flows of the activities, and both keep taking place:
1)From outside (the body) to inside (in .I.)
‘I’ receives sensations from the Body and this is tasted in ‘I’ (activity #5).
Based on this taste, thoughts could be triggered (activity #4), and
Based on these thoughts, desires may be set (activity #3).
A desire may be set in me through the above process.
For example,
We may see a car (Taste in ‘I’ from information obtained via ‘eyes’ in the Body); this is
Selecting/Tasting or (activity #5),
Based on this we start Thinking about the car (activity #4), and
It slowly forms an image in us as we “leading a good life” by using a car, and in this way, “a
good life by having a car” becomes a desire in us (activity #3).
2)From inside (in .I.) to outside (the body)
Based on desires, thoughts are formed, and we select/taste to fulfil these thoughts.
Example of the car:
We now have the desire of “a good life via the car” in us (activity #3) and
To fulfill this desire, we start thinking about how to get the car, how much money it would take,
how we can have that money, etc. (activity #4), and
Based on that we make selections (activity #5), and actually choose the car, its shape, colour etc.
and then end up buying it.
This flow is from inside to outside. The Activities in ‘I’ are Continuous
8) Define Sanyama and Svãsthya. How are the two related?
Ans: Harmony of ‘I’ with the Body: Sanyama* and Svãsthya*
The harmony of ‘I’ with the Body is in the form of Sanyama on the part of ‘I’ and Svãsthya
on the part of the Body.

Sanyama (Self-regulation): The feeling of responsibility in the Self (‘I’) for nurturing,
protection and right utilization of the Body.
When I live with Sanyama, there is harmony among the different parts of the Body and the Body
acts according to me as a useful instrument. Thus, we define Svãsthya as having two elements:
Svãsthya (Health) =
1. The Body acts according to the needs of ‘I’,
2. There is harmony among the parts of the Body.
So, Svãsthya is the condition of the Body where every part of the Body is performing its
expected function. There is a strong coupling between ‘I’ and the Body which is harmony. If I
am in disharmony, anger or stress or despair, it immediately starts affecting the Body adversely.
Many diseases are caused in the Body due to disharmony in ‘I’. These are called psychosomatic
diseases, such as asthma, allergies, migraine, diabetes, hypertension etc. then body distracts ‘I’
from its normal functions.
What is Our State Today?
1) Lack of Responsibility Towards the Body:
For example, to enjoy tasty food, we ignore the fact that we are eating for the nourishment of
the Body and not to perpetuate the happiness of ‘I’. As a result, the Body is abused repeatedly
and falls sick. So many ailments (diseases) prevail primarily due to lack of Sanyama.
2) Tendency for Medication to Supress the Ailment
Whenever there is pain in any part of the Body We supress this pain by immediate medication
and then forget about it. Our focus is on “fighting germs in the body” than on helping the body
restore itself to its natural state of harmony. We end up consuming a lot of harmful substances
in the name of medicines
3) Polluted Air, Water, Food…
Our food has become impure. Due to heavy use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and a lot of
pollution. The air we breathe in, is polluted by various chemicals released from industries and
vehicles. Water is also polluted due to industrial effluents, sewage etc. which not conducive to
the health of people. Increase of hospitals or medical grants etc. is no substitute to Sanyama.
Understanding and Living with Sanyama
Nurturing of the Body (Posana)
Proper Food, Air, Water etc. (Ãhãr)
The process of taking food, digesting it and throwing out the unnecessary part are all
important. Thus the following also become a part of our program:
• Ingestion: The first thing we do after taking the food in the mouth is that we chew it.
There are certain elements in food that get digested only after it is chewed well. This also helps
to simplify the work of the organs further down in the digestive system.
• Digestion: Once swallowed, the digestion of the food starts. For this, proper rest and
the exercise of the Body is also essential. Food needs to be eaten only when we feel hungry. The
food we take is to be easily digestible and the food needs to be taken with proper posture of the
body and in the right quantity.
• Excretion: Once the food is taken and the nutrients are absorbed, the unnecessary or
undigested part needs to be thrown out which is called excretion. If not done properly, it starts to
adversely affect the body and causes multiple problems in the Body.
Protection of the Body (Sanrakshana)
To ensure the heath of the Body, we need to take care of the following- (i) Ãhãra-Vihãra*, (ii)
Shrama*- Vyãyãma*, (iii) Asana*-Pranãyãma* and (iv) Aus.
adhi-Chikitsã*.
• Proper upkeep (Vihãra) of the Body: When we work, the Body gets tired. When we take rest,
the Body becomes fit to work. But again, there is a limit to the amount of work and rest we need.
Proper time, posture and ways to work and to rest are important. These issues are included in the
upkeep of the Body.
• Physical Labour (Shrama) and Exercise (Vyãyãma): Requisite amount of physical
labour and exercise are essential to keep the body healthy. Labour means employing the body
physically for production and maintenance of physical facilities.
• Asan-Pranãyãm: Yogãsana* and Pranãyãma: To ensure the synergy between Self and the
Body. These are exercises involving specific postures and regulation of breathing.
• Treatment of the body (Ausadhi-Chikitsã): When the Body gets hurt, or is in
disorder by either misuse or because of the adversities of the environment etc., there is a natural
tendency of the Body to heal and come back to its desired state of health. We are required to
facilitate this process, and not suppress it. Thus, when unpleasant sensations come from the Body
indicating disorder, they are to be properly interpreted and attended to.
Hence, the feeling of Sanyama facilitates the correct appraisal of our physical needs.
Physical Facilities required for nurturing, protection & right utilization of Body are-

9) How does the feeling of Sanyama facilitate

the correct appraisal of our physical needs?
Ans: Write Answer of Question 8