REFLECTIONS ON THE IEP 2004-2005 BY PARTICIPANTS

Part 3: Facilitators... Continued

Last year, many of us got an invitation from the Mother to join Her on a "great adventure". "This adventure", She assured us, would be "different and entirely new - a real adventure, whose goal is certain victory, but the road to which is unknown and must be traced out step by step in the unexplored. Something that never has been in this present universe and that will never be again in the same way". With these words, eight adults and fourteen children embarked upon this journey of the Integral Education Programme.

By joining this programme we were introduced to a new aspect of education which comprised the Physical, Vital, Mental, Psychic, and Spiritual. This education - with its emphasis on "learning by discovery" helped all of us to discover something about ourselves.

I was asked to facilitate the vital education part of the programme. After a lot of searching and studying, I finally found out what ‘vital education’ meant.

The mother says, "Of all education, vital education is perhaps the most important, the most indispensable. Yet it is rarely taken up and pursued with discernment and method. There are several reasons for this: first, the human mind is in a state of great confusion about this particular subject; secondly, the undertaking is very difficult and to be successful in it one must have endless endurance and persistence and a will that no failure can weaken.

To become conscious of the various movements in oneself and be aware of what one does and why one does it, is the indispensable starting-point. The child must be taught to observe, to note his reactions and impulses and their causes, to become a discerning witness of his desires, his movements of violence and passion, his instincts of possession and appropriation and domination and the background of vanity which supports them, together with their counterparts of weakness, discouragement, depression and despair.

To sum up: one must gain full knowledge of one’s character and then acquire control over one’s movements in order to achieve perfect mastery and the transformation of all the elements that have to be transformed...

After reading this, I felt "Oh! To preach this to the children, one must have a strong control over the Vital oneself! I asked myself, "Am I the right person to do this? I have never had a perfect control over my desires and habits!" After a lot of thought, I decided that after all this journey is not a ready- made track, but a learning path for all of us.

Over the year, together with the children, we learnt the importance of patience, sincerity, courage, truth, beauty, and goodness. The importance of concentration was emphasized and a powerful dictum of "be here now" was introduced.

The sessions on the Psychic education taught us how to get in touch with our inner star; how to open the various hidden doors inside one’s heart and finally reach the light that one has been looking for.

I was amazed to see the children come up with wonderful skits and stories in a matter of a few minutes. The most interesting part of the whole session was the smooth interaction between the children and the facilitators. The children never made us feel like adults, always considering us as one of their team members for all activities.

These sessions were indeed very enlightening - but in order to get maximum benefit from these sessions, one must put a conscious effort in one’s day to day life.

The participants of the IEP 2004-2005 have definitely made a wonderful beginning and I hope all of us continue to practice what we have learnt.

A report on the Integral Education Conference specified four requirements in order to make the shift from teaching to facilitation.
1. to be a visionary
2. to be a reflective practitioner
3. to awaken the interest of the child
4. to be a living example.
I am sure these are the objectives that all the facilitators are striving for in the future programmes.

- Swati

And so our first year with IEP progressed and reached a sort of fruition. We have embarked on our second year, with the aspiration of remaining open to the influence of the Divine in moving this big ship called IEP forward. On board we have 17 children and their parents and 7 facilitators. The flag we have hoisted, flies at the head of the ship, our aspiration. There are no floats on the ship, no anchor even. We have plenty of goodwill from participants, be they the little children we have with us, their parents or facilitators. We have plenty of faith in the Mother’s way. We try, as a group, to make the offering more and more complete. And we wait, armed with faith, hope and patience. What are we waiting for? Only the voice in each one of us will tell us about the secret of this journey or even its destination and all that these would mean to each one of us. But we move on, together. We must, because that seems to be the only way forward.

Offered, the ship and its journey, at the feet of The Mother!

OM NAMO BHAGAVATE SRI ARAVINDAYA SHARANAM MAMA