Abhyasa Goals
Confidence
Janthunaam Nara Janma Durlabham – amidst all forms of life, human birth is most gifted and rare!..... for Man alone has the unique privilege of enacting the divine role as a co-creator in the constantly unfolding cosmic play !
From a tiny cell to the titanic Sun, the entire universe is dynamic energy, ever expanding and again contracting, in which billions of various forms of life come alive everyday, while several others die!
Human life involves a similar journey – of an ascent that picks up habits, values and successes – one after the other, only to drop them all, one by one through the descent that follows to return to where it had originally come from!
The ascent of acquisition and the descent of discarding – appear to contradict each other, but provide appropriate joy along the journey – as both are a conscious set of actions made by a conscious choice – on the agenda of the soul !
Life is full of choices. When we want something, the whole Universe collaborates in helping us to achieve it. So, choices have to be made consciously and cautiously! Life lived by choice is
Creative! Life lived by chance is only reaCtive. It is all about 'C' ing correctly.
Any soul, before assuming a new life, chooses its parents for that life and also its mission. We can 'See' this grand plan only when we connect ourselves to our source and are constantly aware of whom we really are! Then we are liberated from ignorance.
Liberation from ignorance ends misery, doubt and failure. Such liberation provides Confidence to achieve anything in life! The Upanishads therefore declared: "Saa Vidyaa… Yaa Vimukhthayae!" "That alone is true education… which liberates the Learner…"
Abhyasa Residential Public School is one of the very few schools existing today, striving to deliver such a system of education to this generation – which not only nurtures but also liberates…this is the lasting source of self confidence and the first step to success in life !
Creativity
Liberation from doubt and awareness of self confer self-confidence that makes a child 'C' things in the right perspective. Such a child grows from being Reactive to being Creative and reaches greater new heights of 'Tomorrow', which we, in the present, cannot visualize.
Up to the age of seven, any two children are intellectually very similar. Only after reaching the age of 7, the child's environment begins to shape its critical thinking and creative imagination. In Roosevelt’s words: "The future belongs to only those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
The most successful people in history were those who could think originally and differently. Right from the inventors of the wheel to the creators of the World Wide Web, visionaries have indeed attained the role of co-creators of this magnificent creation !
Everyone dreams about success, rewards, and recognition. But most of us prefer to play safe by following the achievers – who take risks and become the go-getters, while we are still wondering where to go. Therefore, Success = Confidence + Creativity.
Centuries ago, the great inventor Archimedes said, "Give me a lever, long enough and single handedly – I can move the whole world !" to match the pace of today's change, the world demands more proactive people who can think smart and perform at their best !
Small ideas can make a world of difference.
Creativity is the ability to change an existing perspective and have a better, unique idea that works. The fable of the thirsty crow dropping pebbles is passe' and the new age crow needs to be faster. So, it either breaks the pot or uses a straw!
Therefore, in the new Knowledge Age that has just dawned, power is gradually shifting from institutions such as Government and Religion to individuals such as innovators and inventors. The popularity of Bill Gates or Abdul Kalam is just one example and our children could be the next!
New light on psychology reveals that every individual is endowed with a different type of intelligence and therefore all people are capable – differently. The Multiple Intelligence theory empowers every child to a rightful place on Earth if provided with an effective environment for growth – the way Abhyasa is doing!
Character
Creativity is the crown of mankind, but if a creative, confident person is not reigned in by character, even a scientist can become a terrorist! Character has the power to change the destiny of nations – as demonstrated by Gandhiji who said, "When wealth is lost, nothing is lost, when character is lost, everything is lost!"
Although Nature has provided plentifully and equally to all – land, air, water and more, we believe that unlimited wants and limited resources are the root cause of all economic activity. In a plentiful society, as might turned out to be right, wants also changed into greed! Greed led to hoarding and hoarding to scarcity!
After greed, insecurity and scarcity prevailed, competition came in. 'Maximization of wealth' became the measurement of success, although, it is not so important to be rich than it is to be good! For the simple reason that: if we enjoy while our neighbors starve, they will not allow us to live in peace!
Martin Luther King said, "We are all caught in a network of mutuality. What affects one directly, affects all indirectly!" if we don’t provide livelihood for the underprivileged, they will chop away all the forests and endanger our very future! So our happiness is definitely bound with others happiness!
What we need today is not an enforcement of Law, but expansion of Love! We need to care and begin to share. Our children need to be taught that, 'The more we give, the more we get!' because the Universe responds to us exactly the same way – as we respond to others. It actually pays to Be Good!
Today soft skills and emotional quotient add weight age to a person's credentials rather than academic achievements. When we hire people at our workplace, we cannot hire just their hands or heads to work for us! Their total personality has a bearing on the work and organization.
Even the legendary Hare and Tortoise no longer compete. They identify their core competencies and cooperate to arrive at win-win situations! Aristotle's dream: 'The World is not a peak that can accommodate one or two, but a plateau on which plenty can co-exist is materializing today.
Throughout the history of mankind, values had no other substitutes. At the same time, they cannot be acquired in a day or a year. Character is cultivated through the foundational years of childhood, just as a sapling is nurtured to become a strong, unshakable tree. Abhyasa is doing just that!