UNIT-1

INTRODUCTION TO VALUE EDUCATION

Topic 1
Right Understanding, Relationship and Physical Facility (Holistic development and the
role of Education)
Human being wants to live with continuous happiness and prosperity and this is possible by
ensuring right understanding, fulfilment in relationship and physical facility in the correct
priority. This is living with “Human Consciousness”
Human being wants to live with continuous happiness and prosperity and this is possible by
ensuring right understanding, fulfilment in relationship and physical facility in the correct
priority. This is living with ‘human consciousness’.
On the other hand, if one is living for physical facility alone, and not ensuring right
understanding and right feeling in relationship, s(he) feels unhappy and makes others
unhappy too. This is one outcome. The other outcome is that if the right understanding is
missing, one is not able to identify the need for physical facility. Now, if we are not able to
identify our need for physical facility then regardless of how much physical facility we
accumulate, we never feel that we have enough. We keep wanting more. This feeling of not
having enough is the feeling of deprivation. As a result, one is deprived, exploiting and
depriving others. While physical facility alone may suffice for animals, it is not adequate for
human being to be fulfilled.
Under this condition, one is living with ‘animal consciousness’.
There are generally two kinds of people today:
1. Those lacking physical facility, unhappy and deprived
2. Those having physical facility, and yet unhappy and deprived
Whereas we really want to be is in the following state, i.e.
3. Having physical facility, happy and prosperous.
It is easy to see that we naturally want to be in the state 3, of having more than
required physical facility, happy and prosperous. However, today we seem to be at 1 or 2 and
our effort is generally for 2. You can see that what is called development today largely takes
us from ‘1’ to ‘2’.
Now, if we are able to ensure all three, i.e. right understanding, relationship and
physical facility, in that order of priority, let us see the outcome
• Through right feeling in relationship, based on right understanding, we can ensure mutual
happiness – happiness for ourselves as well as happiness for others.
• With right understanding, we can identify the need for physical facility. We can also learn
how to produce using a mutually enriching production process. Once we are able to ensure
the availability of more than required physical facility, we have a feeling of prosperity; isn’t
it?

Priority: Right understanding, Relationship & Physical facility

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Development of Human Consciousness:
Now you can find out if development would basically mean development of human
consciousness in the human being or just the development of physical facility is sufficient. A
word of caution here. By using the word “Animal Consciousness” we are not trying to
demean animals.
Animals living with animal They are in harmony This is fine
consciousness
Human being living with They are in harmony This is fine
human consciousness
Human being living with They are in disharmony This is the problem
animal consciousness
We can clearly envisage holistic development as the transformation of consciousness –to
human consciousness. Of course, it will necessitate working on all three – right
understanding, fulfilment in relationship as well as physical facility; and in that order of
priority

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Our basic aspirations are happiness (mutual fulfilment) and prosperity (mutual prosperity). Happiness
is ensured by the relationships with other human beings and prosperity is ensured by working on
physical facilities. Relationship refers to the interpersonal relationships that a person builds in his/her
life - at home, at the workplace and in society. Physical Facilities includes the physiological needs of
individuals and indicates the necessities as well as the comforts of life. It means the feeling of having
or being able to have more physical facilities than is needed.

Today we are unable to have fulfilling relationships all the time: in family, outside family, and as a
society - in the world at large. If there is a problem in relationship, we feel uneasy, it bothers us. Even
if we are interacting with someone, and something we said or did offends them, it makes us uneasy;
i.e. we want mutual fulfilment in relationship. Similarly, we want to feel prosperous, but end up
working only for accumulation of wealth. We want to enrich nature, but are exploiting it, destroying
it. But our natural acceptance is that we want to live in harmony with nature.

The reason behind these problems is that we have to focus on one more aspect, i.e. right
understanding. Right Understanding refers to higher order human skills - the need to learn and utilize
our intelligence most effectively.

In order to resolve the issues in human relationships, we need to understand them first, and this would
come from 'right understanding of relationship'. Similarly in order to be prosperous and to enrich
nature, we need to have the 'right understanding'. The 'right understanding' will enable us to work out
our requirements for physical facilities and hence correctly distinguish the difference between wealth
and prosperity. With nature as well, we need to understand the harmony in nature, and how we can
complement this harmony.

Thus we can say that when we use right understanding with relationships it gives us mutual fulfilment
because if we have right understanding, then we can be happy in ourselves and work to have fulfilling
relationships with humans and mutual prosperity with nature. If we do not have the right
understanding, then we have problems. Thus, our happiness depends on the fulfilment of these three
basic requirements.

Right understanding + Relationship = Mutual fulfilment.

Right understanding + Physical facilities = Mutual prosperity

Topic 2:
Understanding Value Education
The subject that enables us to understand 'what is valuable' for human happiness is called
value education. Value education is important to help everyone in improving the value system
that he/she holds and puts it to use. Once, one has understood his/ her values in life he/she
can examine and control the various choices he/she makes in his/ her life. Value education
enables us to understand our needs and visualize our goals correctly and also helps to remove
our confusions and contradictions and bring harmony at all levels. It also helps remove our
confusions and contradictions and enables us to rightly utilize the technological innovations.
Values form the basis for all our thoughts, behaviours and actions. Once we know what is
valuable to us, these values becomes the basis, the anchor for our actions. We also need to
understand the universality of various human values. Then only we can have a definite and
common program for value education and can be assured of a happy and harmonious human
society.
Basic guidelines for value education:
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Universal: It has to be universally applicable to all human beings for all time and all places.
This implies that value should not change according to, caste, creed, race, nationality, gender
etc.
Rational: It has to appeal to reasoning; and not be based on dogmas or blind beliefs. It has
to be open to address the related questions.
Natural and verifiable: It has to be naturally acceptable to the human being who goes through
the course and when we live on the basis of such values it leads to our happiness. It needs to
be experientially verifiable, and not based on dogmas, beliefs or assumptions.
All encompassing: It needs to cover all dimensions (thought, behaviour, work and
understanding) and all levels (individual, family, society and nature / existence) of human
life and profession.
Leading to harmony: It ultimately needs to promote harmony within the individual, among
human beings and with the entire nature.
Need for value education:

• Correct identification of our aspirations: The subject which enables us to understand

'what is valuable' for human happiness is called 'value education' (VE). Thus, VE enables us
to understand our needs and visualize our goals correctly and also indicate the direction for
their fulfilment. It also helps to remove our confusions and contradictions and bring harmony
at all levels.
• Understanding universal human values to fulfil our aspirations in continuity: Values
form the basis for all our thoughts, behaviours and actions. Once we know what is valuable to
us, these values becomes the basis, the anchor for our actions. We also need to understand the
universality of various human values, because only then we can have a definite and common
program for value education. Then only we can be assured of a happy and harmonious human
society.
• Complimentarity of values and skills: To fulfil our aspirations both values and skills are
necessary. When we identify and set the right goals and produced in right direction. This is
known as value domain, the domain of wisdom, and when we learn and practices to actualize
this goal to develop 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 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.
• Evaluation of our beliefs: Each one of us believe in certain things and we base our values
on these beliefs, which may or may not be true in reality. These beliefs come to us from what
we read, see, hear what our parents tells us, our friends talk about, what the magazines talk
of, what we see from TV etc. Value Education helps us to evaluate our beliefs and assumed
values.
• Technology and human values: The present education system has become largely skill-
based. The prime emphasis is on science and technology. However, science and technology
can only help to provide the means to achieve what is considered valuable. It is not within the
scope of science and technology to provide the competence of deciding what really is
valuable. Value Education is a crucial missing link in the present education system. Because

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of this deficiency, most of our efforts may prove to be counterproductive and serious crises at
the individual, societal and environmental level are manifesting.
Topic:3
Self-exploration as the process for value education
Self-exploration: It is a process of seeing the truth about a reality on our own right, by our
own investigation, observation and analysis. Through this process, we are trying to
understand the reality that exists and our participation with it, which we are calling values. It
is for you to decide what is valuable for you and what is not.
For example: If you ask yourself, what is naturally acceptable to you – ‘ to be in relationship
with your family members? Or to be in opposition with them?’ the answer may be obvious
and quite spontaneous.
It is a dialogue between “ What Iam” and “What is a naturally acceptable to me”

What is naturally acceptable to

What I am Dialogue
me

Example: Let us take an example to find out. Let us say that you are thinking of taking revenge from
someone. After two hours of thinking how to take revenge, you drop the idea. Now, during these
two hours, were you comfortable within or uncomfortable within?

What is naturally acceptable to

What I am my desire, me my natural acceptance my
Dialogue
thought, expectation intention - what I really want to
be

Sometimes Sometimes Always

opposition relationship relationship

These are in
harmony

Happiness

These are in
contradiction

Unhappiness

What ( ' I am ' ) and ( ' what i really want to be' )

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  Happiness is to be in a state of harmony.
 Unhappiness is to be forced to be in a state of contradiction.
Process of Self-exploration:
The content for self - exploration has two sub - parts:
a) Desire: What is our basic aspiration?
b) Program: What is the way to fulfill this basic aspiration?
If we are able to get the answer to these two things, practically all our questions are answered
Whatever is stated here is a proposal; do not assume it to be true or false, right or wrong.
Verify it –
verify it on your own right, on the basis of your natural acceptance. This is the first part of the
process.

The second part of self- exploration is experiential validation. It means trying to live
according to the proposal. In living, there are two parts – one is the behavior with other
human beings and the second is work with rest of nature. When we are behaving with human
being on the basis of this proposal, we want to verify whether it leads to mutual happiness or
not. If it leads to mutual happiness, it is a right proposal; if it does not lead to mutual
happiness, it is not a right proposal. Similarly, when we are working with rest of nature on
the basis of this proposal, we want to verify whether it leads to mutual prosperity or not. If it
leads to mutual prosperity, it is a right proposal; if it does not lead to mutual prosperity, it is
not a right proposal.
For all these questions, we get a definite answer when we refer to our natural acceptance
On the other hand, we have an acceptance for our likes and dislikes, assumptions, pre-
conditionings, beliefs, world-view, perspective, etc. but these may or may not be naturally
acceptable to us. Of course, all acceptances are not wrong. Passing them through our natural
acceptance will validate them and contribute to our self-confidence
Some of the characteristics of natural acceptance are:
• It does not change with time.
• It does not change with place.
• It does not change with the individual.

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• It is uncorrupted by likes and dislikes or assumptions or beliefs • It is innate, a part and parcel of
our being; we don’t need to create it.
• It is definite.
Right understanding obtained through self-exploration can be recognized as follows:
a. It is assuring
b. It is satisfying
c. It is universal
i. Time: It holds good for all time – past, present and future
ii. Space: It is the same at all places or locations
iii. Individual: It is the same for every human being
In case the outcome of self-exploration does not fulfill any of the above three criteria, it
means that it is not the right understanding. It could be a pre-conditioning or we have made a
mistake in looking into our natural acceptance and so, we need to continue exploring. Self-
exploration ultimately results in right understanding of the entire existence, i.e. “realization of
co-existence”, “understanding of harmony” and “contemplation of relationship". Self
exploration is the process to find out what is valuable to me by investigating within myself, what
is right for me, true for me, has to be judged within myself. Through self exploration we get the
value of ours elf. For self exploration we need two expects:

A. Natural acceptance: Natural acceptance implies unconditional and total acceptance of the
self, people and environment. It also refers to the absence of any exception from others. Once
we fully and truly commit our self on the basis of natural acceptance, we feel a holistic sense
of inner harmony, a state of peace and fulfillment

B. Experiential validation: Experiential validation is a process that infuses direct experience

with the learning environment and content. It may be regarded as a philosophy and
methodology in which the direct experience and focused reflection of the individual helps to
increase knowledge, develop skills and clarifies values. Self exploration takes place in the
self and not the body.

1. It is a process of dialogue between "what you are" and "what you really want to be":
It is a process of focusing attention on ourself, our present beliefs and aspirations vis-à-vis
what we really want to be (that is to say, what is naturally acceptable to us). If these two are
the same, then there is no problem. If on investigation we find that these two are not the
same, then it means we are living with this contradiction (of not being what we really want to
be) and hence, we need to resolve this conflict within us. It is a process of discovering that
there is something innate, invariant and universal in all human beings. This enables us to look
at our confusions and contradictions within and resolve them by becoming aware of our
natural acceptance.

2. It is a process of self evolution through self investigation: It successively enables us to

evolve by bridging the gap between 'what we are' and 'what to be'. Hence, the self exploration
leads to our own improvement, our self evolution - we will become qualitatively better.

3. It is a process of knowing oneself and through that, knowing the entire existence: The
exploration starts by asking simple questions about ourself, which gives our clarity about our
being, and then clarity about everything around us.

4. It is a process of recognizing one's relationship with every unit in existence and

fulfilling it: It is a process of becoming aware about our right relationship with other entities

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in existence and through that discovering the interconnectedness, co-existence and other in
the entire existence, and living accordingly.

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

is a process of discovering the definitiveness of human conduct and human character and
enabling one to be definite in thought, behavior and work.

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

This process of self exploration helps us to be in harmony with ourself and with everything
around.

Topic 4:
Continuous Happiness and Prosperity - the basic human aspirations
Happiness may be defined as being in harmony/synergy in the state/ situation that I live in.
"A state or situation in which I live, if there is harmony in it then I like to be in that state /
situation. The state of liking is happiness." Happiness is a state of mind or feeling
characterized by contentment, love, satisfaction, pleasure or joy. Happiness may be described
as consisting of positive emotions and positive activities. There may be three kinds of
happiness: pleasure, engagement, and meaning. In other words, freedom from want and
distress, consciousness of the good order of things, assurance of one's place in the universe or
society, inner peace and so forth. Happiness is the state of mind, where we feel good in most
of the walk of life.
Happiness from physical facility:
Physical thing Contact with body Sensation (from body) Tasted by self
 If taste is favorable Happiness (Temporary)
 If taste is unfavorable Unhappiness (Temporary)
(Tasty - Necessary) (Tasty - Unnecessary) (Tasteless - Unnecessary) (Intolerable)
Happiness from favorable feeling from others:
Other human being Expression of feeling Feeling received and evaluated by self
 If felling is favorable Happiness (Temporary)
 If felling is unfavorable Unhappiness (Temporary)
There are many other assumption, questions and confusions about happiness. Let us see a few
of them here. "Happiness and unhappiness are two sides of the same coin"

To be in a state of harmony is happiness:

Happiness is a state of mind or feeling characterized by contentment, love, satisfaction,
pleasure or joy. Happiness may be described as consisting of positive emotions and positive
activities. In other words, freedom from want and distress, consciousness of the good order
of things, assurance of one's place in the universe or society, inner peace and so forth.
Happiness is the state of mind, where we feel good in most of the walk of life. One important
characteristic of this is feeling is that we like to continue this feeling. Or in other words.
"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." If we explore our life we
will find that respect is a state of harmony between two human beings. When I respect the
other and the other respects me, I like to be in that situation. It gives me happiness. Take
other example, when there is harmony in my thoughts and feelings, I feel relaxed and I want
to be in that situation. This feeling is happiness.

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Topic 5: Happiness and Prosperity - current scenario
The Programme for Happiness:
We have seen that happiness is to be in a state of harmony. The expanse of our living
encompasses for levels - Individual, family, society and nature / existence.

Happiness (Harmony) within

Having the right understanding within:

That is understanding of the harmony at all levels of being (human
being in family, society, nature / existence)
Having the right feeling within: That is right feeling like trust,
respect ....etc.,
----------------------------------------------- --------------------------------Transformation / Development
Excitement, escape (Temporary happiness) from outside (Temporary excitement)

Consumption of physical facility, enjoyment of favourable sensations

(Sound, touch, taste, smell.. etc.,)
(Tasty - Necessary) (Tasty - Unnecessary)
(Tasteless - Unnecessary) (Intolerable)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Animal Consciousness

Escape (Running away from unhappiness) (Temporary escape from unhappiness)

over eating
over sleeping
over talking
tobacco
alcohol

-- Happiness, excitement and escape from unhappiness --

As stated earlier, the proposal for happiness is:

“The state or situation, in which I live, if there is harmony / synergy in it, it is Naturally
Acceptable to
me to be in that state / situation”.
“To be in a state / situation which is Naturally Acceptable is Happiness”.
i.e. “To be in a state of Harmony / Synergy is Happiness”.
i.e. Happiness = Harmony.
Some exploration will show that when we are in a state of harmony within, we feel happy
because that state is naturally acceptable to us. When we are in a situation with the outside
world in which there is harmony, we feel happy as the feeling of being in that situation is
naturally acceptable to us. This state or situation of being in line with natural acceptance is
happiness. Similarly,“The state or situation, in which I live, if there is disharmony /
contradiction in it, it is not Naturally Acceptable to me to be in that state / situation”.
“To be forced to be in a state / situation which is not Naturally Acceptable is Unhappiness”.
i.e. “To be forced to be in a state of Disharmony / Contradiction is Unhappiness”.
i.e. Unhappiness = Disharmony.

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Is Happiness the same as Excitement?
The question is whether the feeling that we get is happiness or something else.
• What we get from the favorable sensation = happiness?
• Is the favorable feeling we get from the other = happiness?
What we get in both cases is a sort of momentary happiness. This is what is called as
excitement. There is confusion between excitement and happiness (a harmonious state
within). Excitement is short lived, not sustainable, while a harmonious state within is
something which can be continuous and sustainable.

Prosperity:

The feeling of having or making available more than required physical facilities is
prosperity. Almost all of us feel that wealth alone means prosperity and try to explain this
phenomenon on this nonexistent or half fact. We are trying to achieve happiness and
prosperity by maximizing accumulation and consumption of physical facilities. It is
becoming anti-ecological and anti-people, and threatening the human survival itself. For
prosperity, two things are required-
1. Identification of the required quantity of physical facilities
2. Ensuring availability / production of more than required physical facilities.
We can be prosperous only if there is a limit to the need for physical facilities. If there is no
limit what so ever be the availability the feeling of prosperity cannot be assured. Secondly,
just assessing the need is not enough. We need to be able to produce or make available more
than the perceived need.

Prosperity is a feeling of having more than required physical facilities, it is not just physical
facilities. Almost all of us feel that wealth alone means prosperity and try to explain this

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phenomenon on this nonexistent or half fact. Wealth is a physical thing. It means having
money, or having a lot of physical facilities or both. This is a very important distinction. We
mostly fail to make this distinction today. We keep working for wealth, without realizing that
the basic desire is for the feeling of prosperity, to have a feeling of having enough. Prosperity
is more acceptable to us because wealth is just a part of prosperity. We are trying to achieve
happiness and prosperity by maximizing accumulation and consumption of physical facilities.
It is becoming anti-ecological and anti-people, and threatening the human survival itself. A
person has lot of money, but does not want to share even a bit of it. The person 'has wealth'
but feels 'deprived'. If one felt prosperous he/she would have shared what one has, since there
is lot more than enough wealth anyway.

TOPIC 6:
Method to fulfill the basic human aspirations
All human beings aspire for a happy, fulfilling life. For a human being, there are two important
questions pertaining to this:
• What is my aspiration? (What to do?)
• How to fulfill my aspiration? (How to do?)
The purpose of education is to facilitate the development of clarity on the aspiration and adequate
competence to actualize it.
For this, it is essential to understand what a happy, fulfilling and successful life is – what is
really valuable for human being; what is our purpose as a human being? Understanding
human aspiration, or what is really valuable for human being, is the value domain. The
subject which enables us to understand this domain is called ‘Value Education’ (VE). It
enables us to understand our aspirations and visualize our goals for a fulfilling life and
indicates the direction for their fulfillment. In relation to these issues, it also helps to remove
our confusions and contradictions. In that sense, VE addresses the issues related to ‘what to
do?’.The present education system has largely become skill-biased. For developing skills, the
prime emphasis is on science and technology, without a base of values. Skills can only help
to provide the means to achieve what is considered valuable. It is not within the scope of
science and technology to provide a way to decide what really is valuable. The consequence
of skill-biased education is clearly visible in the form of serious crises at the individual,
societal and environmental level. Thus, there is a strong need to rectify this situation. Value
education is a crucial missing link in the present education system. But more importantly, the
prime need of value education is to understand human aspirations, to discover what is truly
valuable in life; and work out the program for its fulfillment.

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Our basic aspirations are happiness (mutual fulfillment) and prosperity (mutual prosperity), happiness
is ensured by the relationships with other human beings and prosperity is ensure by working on
physical facilities. Relationship refers to the interpersonal relationships that a person build in his/her
life at home, at the workplace and in society.

Right understanding + Relationship = Mutual fulfillment (happiness)

Right understanding + Physical facilities = Mutual prosperity

Right
Education : Understanding
Understanding (in the self)
harmony

Relationship Physical
Sanskar: (with facility (with
Living in human rest of
harmony being) nature)

living in living in
harmony harmony
with human with rest of
being nature

Mutual Happiness Mutual Prosperity

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 UNIT - II
HARMONY IN THE HUMAN BEING
Topic 1: Understanding human being as the co-existence of the self and the body
Now we will start exploring the four levels of living of a human being, starting from the level
of individual.
Understanding the Human Being (As Co-existence of Self and Body)
We are human beings; and we need to first understand ourselves. So, what is a human being?
The proposal is that human being is co-existence of the Self and the Body. Self is what we
term as ‘I’ and Body is what we see with our eyes. To understand the two realities, we can
start by looking at the needs, activities and response of the Self and the Body.

The Self as the Consciousness Entity, the Body as the Material Entity

The Self and the Body are two different types of reality. The Self is the domain of
consciousness, which is characterized by the activity of knowing, assuming, recognizing and
fulfilling. The Body is the domain of material and it only has the activity of recognizing and
fulfilling. Happiness is the need of the consciousness and it is fulfilled by right understanding
and right feeling, which are activities of the consciousness itself. The Body is a material unit,
its needs are material in nature and they are fulfilled by physio-chemical things.
To understand the human being, both the domain of consciousness as well as the domain of
material needs to be understood. For human being to be fulfilled, both domains need to be
fulfilled separately.
Human being is co-existence of the Self (Consciousness) and the Body (Material). This can
be seen on the basis of exploring into the need, fulfillment of need, activity and response of
the Self and the Body. In particular, the response of the body is definite while the response of
the self depends on assuming. With assuming based on knowing, the conduct of a human
being gets definite, otherwise it is indefinite.
The human being is the co-existence of 'I' and the body, and there is exchange of information
between the two, i.e. 'I' and body exist together and are related. There is a flow of information
from 'I' to the body and from body to the 'I'. We can make this distinction between the self
and the body in three ways in terms of the needs, activities and the types of these two entities.

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All the needs of I, say respect, trust, etc., can be called as Happiness, while the needs of body
are physical facilities like food. The two things are qualitatively different. There is no relevance
of quantity for the needs of I as it is qualitative, while the needs of body are quantitative, and they
are limited in quantity.
The activities of 'I' are activities like, desire, thinking, selection, while the activities of body
are activities like eating, breathing etc. The mode of interaction of 'I' includes knowing,
assuming, recognizing and fulfillment. The fulfillment depends on recognition depends on
assumptions and assumptions depends on knowing or not knowing (beliefs). If assuming is
based on knowledge, then recognition will be correct and fulfillment will be correct. If
assuming is not based on knowledge, then things may go wrong. The mode of interaction of
body is only recognizing and fulfilling. Self is a conscious entity and the body is a material
entity.
To conclude we can say that the human being can be understood in terms of a co-existence of two
entirely distinct entities, namely sentient 'I' and material body. Their needs and activities are quite
different and have to be understood accordingly. But these two constituents of human being are to
act in close synergy with each other.

Topic 2: Distinguishing between the needs of the self and the body.

The Needs of the Self and the Body

The need of the Self is happiness (e.g. feeling of respect leading to happiness) while the need
of the Body is physical facility (e.g. food). All the needs related to the Self are continuous in
time while all the needs related to the Body are required for a limited time. This is one way
we can differentiate between the need of the Self and the need of the Body.

The other way to see the difference between the two is in terms of quantity and quality. The
need for food is quantitative in nature. We can identify the quantity of the food needed to
nurture our body. Same is the case with the need of clothes, shelter, etc. On the other hand,
the feeling of respect, trust, etc. is not quantitative. We don’t say, ‘today I got half kg of
respect’ or ‘two meters of trust’. These feelings are qualitative in nature.

Now, let us see how these two different types of needs are fulfilled. The need for food is
fulfilled by something physical. But when it comes to the need for respect, it is fulfilled by
the feeling of respect.
All the needs related to the Body are fulfilled by some physio-chemical things. All the needs
related to the Self are in terms of feeling, and they are fulfilled by right understanding and
right feeling. self are qualitative and body are quantitative

The Activities of the Self and the Body

The Self has the activity of desire, thought and expectation which are continuous. On the
other hand, any activity of the Body, like eating, walking, etc. is temporary in time.

The Response of the Self and the Body

The response of the Body is based on recognizing and fulfilling whereas the response of the
Self is based on knowing, assuming, recognizing and fulfilling. The recognition and
fulfillment of the Body is definite, while that of Self is determined by the activity of
assuming. As assumption changes, the recognition and fulfillment by the Self also changes.
The conduct of the human being basically depends upon the response of the Self, as all
decisions are made by the Self. Only with the assumptions set right, i.e. assuming based on
knowing (which is definite), can recognizing and fulfilling be set right; and only then, the
conduct can become definite

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All the problems of a human being are due to assumptions without knowing, and the solution
lies in ensuring the activity of knowing. And this is possible only through education-sanskar.

If we look at the variety of activities that we are engaged in commonly - we see that we can
put them in three categories:
1. Activities that are going on in the self
2. Activities that are going on in the body
3. Activities involving both the self and the body

Knowing, assuming, recognizing and fulfilling are the activities involving both the self and
the body.
1. Activities of recognizing and fulfilling in the body: Apart from the activities of
Breathing, Heartbeat, Digestion etc., the activities of the body can also be understood as
recognition and fulfillment. In fact, the mutual interaction between any two material entities
can be understood as recognition and fulfillment of their relationship. For example when we
are thirsty and drink water, the body absorbs the water to the extent needed and uses for the
nourishment of the various organs. Here, body recognizes its relation with water and fulfils it.
Recognizing Fulfilling
2. Activities of knowing, assuming, recognizing and fulfilling in the self ('I'): When it
comes to self (jivan or 'I'), which is a conscious entity; in addition to 'recognizing and
fulfilling', there is also the activity of assuming and that of knowing. In fact, recognizing and
fulfilling in case of human beings will depend upon knowing and/or assuming.

a. We assume - We all make assumptions and our response (recognition and fulfillment) is
dependent on the assumption. For ex.: If I see a snake and assumed it to be a rope, I shall
respond differently to it, than if I take it to be a snake itself. We call this activity 'assuming or
mannana'.
b. We recognize - We all recognize things today, we recognize a variety of things. Like, we
recognize water, our parents, friends, etc. We call this activity 'recognizing or pahachaanana'.
The recognizing in 'I' depends on assuming.
c. We fulfill -The response that follows recognition is called the activity of 'fulfilling or
nirvaha karna'. The fulfillment depends on the recognition. For ex.: Once we recognize water,
we take it. Taken together we can write it as (in I):
Assuming Recognizing Fulfilling
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There is another activity that exists in us (in 'I'). This activity is called 'knowing'. Knowing
means we have the right understanding - the understanding of harmony at all levels of our
living. When we have the right understanding, when we have the knowledge of reality, it is
definite, and then assuming becomes according to the knowing, and hence recognizing and
fulfilling becomes definite, or according to knowing. Until then, it is subject to beliefs and
assumptions, and these keep changing.

Knowing, Desiring, thinking etc. Breathing, heart- beat, etc.

Activities are : Knowing, assuming, Recognizing, fulfilling

Topic 3: The body as an instrument of the self (self as the seer - doer - enjoyer)
Now that we have seen the human being as co-existence of self and the body, we can go
into the details of the co-existence between the two. The self is a unit of consciousness and it
is in co-existence with the material body. It is the self that makes all the decisions and uses
the body to execute them.
There is a relation between the self and body that body act as an instrument of self. Whatever
self thinks body performs it physically. Body does not decide itself. We can verify this by the
following discussion
Role of the self and the body (Instrument)
Co-existence
Self (I) Body (material)
1. I am 1. My body is
2. I want to live 2. My body is used as an instrument
3. I want to live with continuous happiness 3. Physical facility is required for nurturing,
protection and right utilization of the body
4. To understand and to live in harmony at all 4. Production, protection and right utilization
levels of being (from self to entire existence) of physical facility is a part of my program
is my program of action for continuous
happiness
5. I am the seer, doer and enjoyer 5. I use the body as an instrument for
(experience) fulfilment my program

I am the seer: When we are reading a book or listening, when someone is explaining
something to us, when we are watching a scenery or when we are thinking - we are engaged
in the activities of 'seeing' or understanding. Now when we see some nice scenery we say 'I
am seeing' that means our self 'I' see via the eyes, the eyes don't see, they are just instruments,
that unable me to see something outside. Different images are formed in the eyes every time,
but it is I who is able to relate it to the meaning of that image every time. Similarly, I can see
inside 'in me' also - without the eyes.
For example I can see that I am getting angry. In this case I understand or know or am aware
that I am getting angry. When I see outside the body works as an instrument.
I am the doer: once I have seen/ understood something, I am the one who decides what to do
or not to do. I am the doer. For example, when I see the scenery I am the one who decide to
take a picture of the scenery. I use my hands to pick camera and click a picture. The hands in
the body are thus used as an instrument. In this way I work with my hands and legs.
. I am the enjoyer: I saw the scenery and I took the picture. I am the seer and doer so far.
When I see the picture I like it. I am the one that enjoys it. Thus there is a continuity of being
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the seer, doer and enjoyer. Similarly when I eat, I am the one that gets the taste - from the
tongue
Topic 4: Understanding Harmony in the self
Now we will explore into the activities of the Self and see how harmony can be ensured
among all the
activities of the Self, resulting into a state of continuous happiness.
Activities of the Self:
The activities of the Self can be seen in terms of desire, thought and expectation. Desire is the
name given to the activity of imaging. You are making an image in the Self. Desire is in the
form of an image which you have created within. Thought is the power for the activity of
analyzing based on comparing various possibilities to fulfill your desire. Expectation is the
power for the activity of selecting based on tasting.
Activities of the Self are Continuous
These powers of desire, thought and expectation are inexhaustible, and the activities are
continuous. The activities of imaging, analyzing-comparing and selecting-tasting are always
going on, whether we are aware of them or not.

These Activities Together Constitute Imagination

These activities are together called imagination. We may not immediately be able to observe
our desire, thought and expectation distinctly, but it may be easier to see that something is
going on within. One imagination or the other is going on in us all the time.

Happiness and unhappiness depend on the state of imagination. If your imagination is in

harmony with your natural acceptance, you are in a state of happiness. When it is in
contradiction with your natural acceptance, you are in a state of unhappiness. Imagination is
expressed to the world outside, in terms of behavior with human being and work with the rest
of nature. We have also referred to imagination as “what I am” and the natural acceptance as
“what I really want to be”.

State of Imagination
Once you start looking at your imagination, you will be able to find out the state of your
imagination.
Your imagination could be well organized, in harmony or it could be a random mixture of
harmony and contradiction.
Possible Sources of Imagination
There are
three possible sources of motivation for imagination:
1. Preconditioning,
2. Sensation and
3. Natural Acceptance
1. Preconditioning : A dominant source of imagination is preconditioning. Preconditioning
means the beliefs, notions, norms, ideas, views, dictums, goals, etc. prevailing in the family,
in the society which we have assumed without knowing. They may influence our
imagination.
2. Sensation: Another major source of our desire, our imagination is the sensation. Sensation
is the information we get from the Body through the five sense organs – of sound, touch,
sight, taste and smell.

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3. Natural Acceptance: The third source of imagination is our natural acceptance. It can also
be referred to as the inner voice or conscience. Self-verification on the basis of our natural
acceptance can be the third possible source. It may or may not be the predominant source of
motivation currently, but it can be the real source for deciding our desire, our imagination.
If your imagination is guided by your natural acceptance, you are sure to be in harmony and
happiness
within. You are self-organized.
To achieve this harmony in the Self, we need to start
self-exploration. In the process, we need to:
• Know our natural acceptance
• Be aware of our imagination
• Find out the source of imagination
• Work out a way to sort out our imagination till it is fully in line with our natural acceptance
When the imagination is in harmony with the natural acceptance, there is harmony in the
Self. This harmony is happiness.The activities of desire, thought and expectation are together
called imagination. Imagination is continuously going on in the Self. The sources of
imagination can be sensation, pre-conditioning or natural acceptance. There is harmony in the
Self when the imagination is in line with one’s natural acceptance. Harmony in the Self is in
continuity when all the activities of the Self are awakened .

Topic 5: Harmony of the self with the body

In this lecture, we will discuss the harmony of the Self with the Body, and try to understand
self-regulation and health.
The Body as a Self-organized System
The Body is a wonderful self-organized system. It has so many parts. Each part co-exists in
harmony with every other part. The eyes are well connected to the brain; the mouth, the
stomach and the whole digestive system is synchronized and so it is for every organ, every
cell of the Body – and you have to do nothing to make these connections or to synchronize
the various parts or to deal with every cell.

Harmony of the Self with the Body: Self-regulation and Health

The Body is an instrument of the Self. The responsibility of the Self towards the Body is in
terms of nurturing, protecting and rightly utilizing the Body. Nurturing the Body is by
providing appropriate air, water, food, sunlight, etc. Protection is to ensure the continuity of
the body which includes safeguarding from unfavorable conditions. Right utilization would
mean using the Body for the purpose of the Self. This feeling of responsibility towards the
Body is called as the feeling of self-regulation, and a natural outcome of it is health
Feeling of self-regulation = the feeling of responsibility in the self towards the Body – for
nurturing, protection and right utilization of the Body.

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Indicators of a healthy body:
The Body is healthy if it is able to perform as per the instructions of the Self. 
Different parts of the Body are in harmony amongst each other, they are in order.
The feeling of self-regulation in the Self is primary. Health in the Body is a natural
consequence, when the Self has the feeling of self-regulation and there is health in the Body,
there is harmony of the Self with the Body.
Over the last 100 years or so, there have been significant improvements in terms of longer
life-spans, in dealing with communicable diseases etc., but yet, ensuring health remains a
question mark.
The problem is in the wrong assumptions, one of which is that human being is the Body.
With this assumption, happiness is sought through favorable sensation through the Body.
Further, the assumption that we will get happiness from sensation through the consumption of
physical facility has led to a high demand for it. Most of the present-day disorders are
psycho-somatic in nature. ‘Psycho’ has to do with the Self and ‘Somatic’ has to do with the
Body. Disharmony in the Self causes disharmony in the Body causing psycho-somatic
problems. These effects are very prominent when the individual is living with the assumption
“I am the Body”.

There is a need to understand human being as it is (as co-existence of Self and Body). The
significant part is having the feeling of self-regulation in the Self. This can happen only when
the Self is in harmony, i.e. there is right understanding and right feeling in the Self. With a
feeling of self-regulation, the Self will naturally nurture, protect and rightly utilize the Body,
resulting in health of the Body.

Topic 6: Programme to ensure self-regulation and Health

Programme for Self-regulation and Health

As we discussed earlier, feeling of self-regulation is the feeling of responsibility in the Self for
nurturing, protection and right utilization of the Body. We can now detail it further

Nurturing the Body

Nurturing means providing the necessary inputs to the Body. The right inputs nurture the Body,
without disturbing its harmony.

The programme for nurturing and maintaining health of the Body includes the following:

1a. Intake 1b. Routine

2a. Physical Labour 2b. Exercise
3a. Balancing internal and external organs of body 3b. Balancing breathing of body
4a. Medicine 4b. Treatment

1a. The first part is the intake, all that the Body takes in. It includes the air it breathes, the
water it
drinks, the sunlight it absorbs, the food given to it and so on.
1b. A regular routine is required in order to keep the Body healthy, like ensuring a proper
programme
for sleeping, waking up, cleaning the Body, eating, doing physical work, etc.
2a. The Body needs adequate movement to maintain health. Labor is the work on the rest of
nature.
Few hours of labor a day provides sufficient body movements to keep the Body in good
health. It also ensures production of physical facility.

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A lifestyle which includes appropriate intake, routine and labor, would be generally sufficient
to keep the Body in good health. However, if we are unable to do that, or in spite of this
effort, there is some disharmony in the Body, there are some more aspects of the programme
for self-regulation and health.
2b. If one is not able to labor, s(he) can do exercises for proper upkeep of the Body.
3a. There is a need for keeping the internal as well as the external organs in harmony by
appropriate means like postures, movements etc.
3b. Breathing is a significant activity for the Body. Balancing the breathing of body is
necessary, through appropriate breathing exercises. For the most part, health of the Body can
be maintained by these three (1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3a and 3b).
Despite these, if there is some problem in the health of the Body then we take medicine and
ultimately, we also take treatment when all this does not work.
4a. The Body is self-organized and naturally in harmony. It is able to recover itself from
many disturbances. But if due to some reasons it runs into disharmony, medicine is helpful in
taking care of lifestyle disorders, non-communicable illnesses as well as communicable
diseases.
4b. In the event the Body is not in a state to recover itself back to a state of harmony, there is
a need for treatment.
Protecting the Body
Providing a conducive physical environment includes clothing, shelter etc. is all a part of protection of
the Body.
Right Utilization of the Body
Right utilization of the Body would mean that it is used in the process of fulfilling human
aspiration, which is basically the need of the Self. If one is using the Body in the process of
fulfilling the needs of the Self, it is right utilization of the Body. It would include work with
rest of nature to produce physical facility required for the Body.

Revisiting Prosperity in the Light of the Harmony between the Self and the Body
The need for the physical facility is essentially related to fulfillment of this feeling of
responsibility towards the Body, i.e. we need physical facility for nurturing the Body
(food…), for protecting the Body (clothes, shelter…) and for rightly utilizing the Body
(instruments…) and that’s it. And if we can see this clearly, we can also see that the physical
facility required to ensure each one of them is required in limited quantity. Hence, prosperity
is very much possible.

As an exercise, one can list all the physical facilities required for these three purposes, and
see whether they are limited. Next, one can assess the available facilities, and see if they are
more than required. If not, then how much more will be required can be worked out. This will
clearly give a vision for ensuring prosperity.

My Participation (Value) regarding Self and my Body

My participation (value) with my Body is:
Ensuring a feeling of self-regulation in the Self
Ensuring the nurturing, protection and right utilization of the Body
Ensuring the production / availability of more than required physical facility for the
above

By ensuring these three, the Body continues to be in harmony, it remains healthy. And one also has
the feeling of prosperity.

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 TWO MARKS QUESTIONS

1. Value education:

The subject that enables us to understand 'what is valuable' for human happiness is called
value education. Value education is important to help everyone in improving the value
system that he/she holds and puts it to use. Once, one has understood his/ her values in life
he/she can examine and control the various choices he/she makes in his/ her life. Value
education enables us to understand our needs and visualize our goals correctly and also helps
to remove our confusions and contradictions and bring harmony at all levels. It also helps
remove our confusions and contradictions and enables us to rightly utilize the technological
innovations.

Values form the basis for all our thoughts, behaviors and actions. Once we know what is
valuable to us, these values becomes the basis, the anchor for our actions. We also need to
understand the universality of various human values. Then only we can have a definite and
common program for value education and can be assured of a happy and harmonious human
society.

2. Self - exploration:

Self exploration is the process to find out what is valuable to me by investigating within
myself, what is right for me, true for me, has to be judged within myself. Through self
exploration we get the value of our self. The process of self exploration is a follows:
First of all we have to keep in mind that, Whatever is being presented is a PROPOSAL.
• Don't assume it to be true immediately, nor reject it without proper exploration.
Verify it in your own right, on the basis of it being naturally acceptable to you,
Not just on the basis of scriptures
Not on the basis of equipment/instrument data
Not on the basis of the assertion by other human beings.

3. Experiential validation:

Experiential validation is a process that infuses direct experience with the learning
environment and content. It may be regarded as a philosophy and methodology in which the
direct experience and focused reflection of the individual helps to increase knowledge,
develop skills and clarifies values. Self exploration takes place in the self and not the body.

4. Natural acceptance:

Natural acceptance implies unconditional and total acceptance of the self, people and
environment. It also refers to the absence of any exception from others. Once we fully and
truly commit our self on the basis of natural acceptance, we feel a holistic sense of inner
harmony, tranquility and fulfillment. Actually natural acceptance is way to accept the good
things naturally. Learn everything that is good from others, but bring it in, and in our own
way absorb it; do not become others.

a. Natural acceptance does not change with time. It remains invariant with time. For
example our natural acceptance for trust and respect does not change with age.
b. It does not depend on the place. Whatever we have accepted, in our life, at any time of
our age, does not change, even if we move from one place to another one.
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c. It does not depend 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 answer will always be the same.
d. This natural acceptance is 'constantly there', something we can refer to. Natural
acceptance is always there. Whatever we do, this natural acceptance is within us, it is telling
us what is right.

5. What is happiness:

Happiness may be defined as being in harmony in the state/ situation that I live in. "A state or
situation in which I live, if there is harmony in it then I like to be in that state / situation. The
state of liking is happiness." Happiness is a state of mind or feeling characterized by
contentment, love, satisfaction, pleasure or joy. Happiness may be described as consisting of
positive emotions and positive activities. There may be three kinds of happiness: pleasure,
engagement, and meaning. In other words, freedom from want and distress, consciousness of
the good order of things, assurance of one's place in the universe or society, inner peace and
so forth. Happiness is the state of mind, where we feel good in most of the walk of life.

6. Define sensations

A perception associated with stimulation of a sense organ or with a specific body condition is
known as sensation. For example, the sensation of heat. In other words, it is a term commonly
used to refer to the subjective experience resulting from stimulation of a sense organ, for
instance, a sensation of warm, sour, or green. Suppose we had seen the bike and not
associated it with 'greatness'; rather we only liked the way it 'looked' - then this is based on
the sensation.

7. What is Imagination
The activities of desire, thoughts and expectation at the level of self, are collectively called as
imagination.
Imagination = Desires + Thoughts + Expectations
We all imagine, and most of our activities (in the self) today can be mostly clubbed into
imagination. This activity of imagination in 'I' is continuous and not temporary. The power
may change but the activity is continuous. The object of the taste may change but the activity
of selecting/tasting is continuous. Also what we analyze may keep changing the activity of
analyzing is continuous. We make choices with the external world based on our imagination
today.

8. What is pre-conditioning

Preconditioning means we have assumed something about our desires on the basis of
prevailing notion about it. They comes from what we read, see hear, what our parents tell us,
our friends talk about what the magazines talk of, what we see on the TV etc. We have not
self-verified the desires in our own right. As a result, we are not clear about what we will get
out of fulfillment of that desire. The problem with that is, unless we verify our desires, we
may not even know whether they are our. We may end up spending an entire lifetime
accumulating desires that are not ours, and in running about trying to fulfill them.

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