CHAPTER I

Ideas of self, pre-conditioning, and natural acceptance

One characteristic that distinguishes humans from other animals is our capacity for reflexive
thought, the ability to reflect on the way in which we think. Reflexive thought allows us to think
about whom we are and how we are perceived by others. Accordingly, we are constantly
defining ourselves. Ask any person who they are, and they will provide an extensive list of
characteristics and identities that represent how they perceive themselves. For instance, one of
the authors of this textbook could describe herself as a woman, a psychologist, an academic,
young, British, and liberal (amongst other things). The self is a fundamental part of every human,
a symbolic construct which reflects our consciousness of our own identity

What is Self-Concept?

Self-concept is an overarching idea we have about who we are—physically, emotionally,

socially, spiritually, and in terms of any other aspects that make up who we are (Neill, 2005). We
form and regulate our self-concept as we grow; based on the knowledge we have about
ourselves. It is multidimensional, and can be broken down into these individual aspects.

For example, you may have a very different idea of who you are in terms of your physical body,
and who you are in terms of your spirit or soul.

The self-concept is an important term for both social and humanistic psychology. Lewis (1990)
suggests that the development of a concept of self has two aspects:

(1) The Existential Self

This is 'the most basic part of the self-scheme or self-concept; the sense of being separate and
distinct from others and the awareness of the constancy of the self' (Bee, 1992).

The child realizes that they exist as a separate entity from others and that they continue to exist
over time and space.

According to Lewis awareness of the existential self begins as young as two to three months old
and arises in part due to the relation the child has with the world. For example, the child smiles
and someone smiles back, or the child touches a mobile and sees it move.

(2) The Categorical Self

Having realized that he or she exists as a separate experiencing being, the child next becomes
aware that he or she is also an object in the world.
 Just as other objects including people have properties that can be experienced (big, small, red,
smooth and so on) so the child is becoming aware of himself or herself as an object which can be
experienced and which has properties.

The self too can be put into categories such as age, gender, size or skill. Two of the first
categories to be applied are age (―I am 3‖) and gender (―I am a girl‖).

In early childhood, the categories children apply to themselves are very concrete (e.g., hair
colour, height and favourite things). Later, self-description also begins to include reference to
internal psychological traits, comparative evaluations and to how others see them.

Carl Rogers (1959) believes that the self-concept has three different components:

• The view you have of yourself (self-image)

• How much value you place on yourself (self-esteem or self-worth)

• What you wish you were really like (ideal-self)

Self-image (how you see yourself)

• Each individual's self-image is a mixture of different attributes including our physical

characteristics, personality traits, and social roles. Self-image doesn't necessarily coincide with
reality. Some people might have an inflated self-image of themselves, while others may perceive
or exaggerate the flaws and weaknesses that others don't see.

• Kuhn (1960) investigated the self-image by using The Twenty Statements Test. He asked people
to answer the question 'Who am I?' in 20 different ways.
• He found that the responses could be divided into two major groups. These were social
roles (external or objective aspects of oneself such as son, teacher, friend) and personality
traits (internal or affective aspects of oneself such as gregarious, impatient, humorous).

• The list of answers to the question ―Who Am I?‖ probably include examples of each of the
following four types of responses:

• 1) Physical Description: I‘m tall, have blue eyes...etc.

• 2) Social Roles: We are all social beings whose behavior is shaped to some extent by the roles
we play. Such roles as student, housewife, or member of the football team not only help others to
recognize us but also help us to know what is expected of us in various situations.

• 3) Personal Traits: These are the third dimension of our self-descriptions. ―I‘m impulsive...I‘m
generous...I tend to worry a lot‖...etc.
• 4) Existential Statements (abstract ones): These can range from "I‘m a child of the universe" to
"I‘m a human being" to "I‘m a spiritual being"...etc.

• Typically young people describe themselves more in terms of personal traits, whereas older
people feel defined to a greater extent by their social roles.
Self-esteem (the extent to which you value yourself)

• Self-esteem (also known as self-worth) refers to the extent to which we like, accept or approve of
ourselves, or how much we value ourselves. Self-esteem always involves a degree of evaluation
and we may have either a positive or a negative view of ourselves.

• When people respond positively to our behavior, we are more likely to develop positive self-
esteem. When we compare ourselves to others and find ourselves lacking, it can have a negative
impact on our self-esteem.

Argyle (2008) believes there are 4 major factors that influence self-esteem.
1. The Reaction of Others
• If people admire us, flatter us, seek out our company, listen attentively and agree with us we tend
to develop a positive self-image. If they avoid us, neglect us, tell us things about ourselves that
we don‘t want to hear we develop a negative self-image.
2. Comparison with Others

• If the people we compare ourselves with (our reference group) appear to be more successful,
happier, richer, better looking than ourselves we tend to develop a negative self-image BUT if
they are less successful than us our image will be positive.
3. Social Roles

• Some social roles carry prestige e.g., doctor, airline pilot, TV. presenter, premiership footballer
and this promotes self-esteem. Other roles carry a stigma. E.g., prisoners, mental hospital patient,
refuse collector or unemployed person.
4. Identification

• Roles aren‘t just ―out there.‖ They also become part of our personality i.e. we identity with the
positions we occupy, the roles we play and the groups we belong to.
Ideal Self (what you'd like to be)

• If there is a mismatch between how you see yourself (e.g., your self-image) and what you‘d like
to be (e.g., your ideal-self ) then this is likely to affect how much you value yourself.
•
Self-Concept Theory

• There are many theories about what exactly self-concept is and how it develops.
Generally, theorists agree on the following points:
• On the broadest level, self-concept is the overall idea we have about who we are and
includes cognitive and affective judgments about ourselves;
• Self-concept is multi-dimensional, incorporating our views of ourselves in terms of
several different aspects (e.g., social, religious, spiritual, physical, emotional);
• It is learned, not inherent;
• It is influenced by biological and environmental factors, but social interaction plays a big
role as well;
• Self-concept develops through childhood and early adulthood when it is more easily
changed or updated;
• It can be changed in later years, but it is more of an uphill battle since people have
established ideas about who they are;
• Self-concept does not always align with reality. When it does, our self-concept is
―congruent.‖ When it doesn‘t, our self-concept is ―incongruent.‖ (Cherry, 2018B; Gecas,
1982).

Characteristics of Self-Concept

• Displays uniquely with each person.

• Vary from very positive to very negative.
• Carries emotional, intellectual, and functional dimensions.
• Changes with the context.
• Changes over time.
• Influence the individual‘s life (Delmar Learning, n.d.)

The Development Stages of Self-Concept

• Self-concept develops and changes throughout the lifespan.

• Early childhood is a ripe time for young humans to perceive themselves in the world.
• All of us have acquired a set of ideas about what can be included within the category of
self.
• In order to illustrate this point we may consider the concept of Panch Koshas as
developed in the Indian thought.
• Here the term Kosh means layers or sheath like the sheath of an onion. The Jiva consists
of five such Koshas and self should be considered in terms of a multi layered structure of
hierarchically organized sheaths. A brief description of these sheaths is as follows:
1. Annamaya Kosh: This involves the gross physical body. This is the outermost layer of
existence. It is called annamaya because it is grounded in the food that we eat and consume.

2. Pranamaya Kosha: This layer deals with life (Prana) and represents the functions of breathing
and metabolic processes. The five effectors are also included in it.

3. Manomaya Kosha: It consists of sense organs. It is the seat of ego and leads to personal
involvements which bind people with the desires and activities.

4. Vigyanamaya Kosha: It consists of five sense organs and intellect. It regulates the worldly life.
The feeling of ―I-ness‖ present in it relates Jiva to past actions. Also, the feelings of pride take
place.

5. Anandmaya Kosha: It is the joyous sheath. The experience of bliss is has spiritual basis also,
the pleasure that one gets from obtaining the desired objects is part of it.

Self-exploration

Self-exploration is the process to find out what is valuable to me by investigating within myself.
What is right for me and true for me has to be judged within myself. Once we start paying
attention towards investigating into our present beliefs and aspirations, we get to know whether
our aspirations and what we really want to be (i.e. what is naturally acceptable to us) are one and
the same or not. If they are the same, then it‘s no problem. But if the two are different, it means
that we are leading a life against our natural acceptance. Such a life cannot bring us happiness.

Self-exploration is a process of discovering that there is something innate, invariant and

universal in all human beings. This enables us to look at the confusions and contradictions within
us and resolve them by becoming aware of our natural acceptance.

Once we start observing inside, we can achieve harmony at all levels of our living.

Content of self-exploration involves finding answers for the following fundamental

questions of all the human beings:

1. The Desire/Goal/Aspiration: What is my (human) Desire/ Goal? What do I really want in life,
or what is the goal of human life?
2. The Program: What is my (human) program for fulfilling my aspirations? How to fulfil it?
What is the program to actualize the above?

In short, the above two questions cover the whole domain of human aspirations and human
endeavor. Thus, they form the content of self- exploration.

Purpose of Self-Exploration

Self-exploration helps us to identify our innateness (Svatva) and move towards Self-
Organization (Swantantrata) and Self-Expression (Swarajya).

 It is a process of dialogue between ‗what you are‘ and ‗what you really want to be‘.

 It is a process of self-evolution through self-investigation.

 It is a process of knowing oneself and through that, knowing the entire existence.

 It is a process of recognizing one‘s relationship with every unit in existence and fulfilling it.

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

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

Process of Self-Exploration
The process of self-exploration may initially begin as a dialogue between two people, but
eventually it becomes a dialogue within yourself. It is a dialogue between ‗what you are‘ and
‗what you really want to be‘. Self-exploration enables us to look at the confusions and
contradictions within us and resolve them by becoming aware of our natural acceptance.
The following points are to be kept in mind regarding the process of Self-Exploration:

 Whatever is stated is a proposal

 Don‘t start by assuming it to be true or false

 Verify it on your own right

 Don‘t just accept or reject it on the basis of scriptures, instruments or on the basis of others.

The following two steps are involved in the process of Self-Exploration:

- Firstly, verify the proposal on the basis of your natural acceptance
- Secondly, live according to the proposal to validate it experientially.

The two mechanisms for self-exploration are as follows:-

 Natural Acceptance and;

 Experimental Validation

 Natural Acceptance - Natural acceptance is process understand yourself first. Try to find out
the ego stage. Try to reduce that. Open your eyes and look around. The world is full of good
things. You need to accept the right naturally. Once it starts coming naturally you will feel that
you are actually upgraded yourself. As problems are the part of life and natural acceptance is the
answer of life. No doubt it is the core of happiness. The world around us is so charming that we
start imitating others blindly. Do not imitate anybody else, as it is the sign of default of man.
Accept it what you are in yourself. Make yourself satisfied in what you have. Then, happiness
will always reside within you and you don‘t feel yourself alone or isolated.

It is the process of seeing and observing everything attentively and then using your inner
conscience to get the answer from within. It is a way to bring out the goodness in everything
naturally. It helps us to learn everything that is good from others and absorb it in our own way,
but without changing our identity.

a) Natural acceptance does not change with time/age. 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 naturally accepted in our life does not
change with our age, place or time. For example our desire for respect doesn‘t change with age
or with a change in our place.

c) It does not depend on our beliefs or past conditionings. No matter how deep our beliefs
or past conditionings, as long as we keep investigating deep into ourselves, the answers will
always be the same. Natural acceptance does not get influenced by our beliefs or past
conditionings. For example, we may believe that money is the most important thing in life. But
looking deep down in our heart, we know that money alone cannot keep us happy.

d) This natural acceptance is always there within us. Natural acceptance is always present
within us, it always tells us what is right.

e) Natural acceptance is the same for all of us: Each one of us has our own lifestyle,
beliefs, preconditioning, etc. But deep inside our minds, the purpose of all human desires,
success and achievements are based on common goals like the need to be happy, need to be
respected and cared for, need to be prosperous etc. So the basic natural acceptance remains the
same for all the human beings.
Realization and Understanding:

The process of Self-Exploration results in ‗Realization‘ and ‗Understanding‘ in us. This

realization and understanding leads to the following answers –
· Assuring
· Satisfying
· Universal with respect to Time, Space and Individual.

 Experimental Validation - Experimental validation is a process that gives direct experience

with the learning environment and content. It may be regarded as a philosophy in which direct
experience and reflection of the individual helps to increase knowledge, develop skill and clarify
values. When one has experimental validation, it shows through your actions, writings, thoughts,
speech etc. if you seek experimental validation; firstly we need to be sincere. A philosopher has
said, ―if your heart is sincere, there will be a response‖.

Preconditioning
Preconditioning means the condition developed by beliefs (manyatas). Often we have our own
assumptions about something on the basis of our prevailing notions. 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. Most of our desires, thoughts and selections are based on these pre
conditionings. We do not verify the desires in our own right. As a result, we are not clear about
what we will get out of fulfillment of that desire. Because of this, we often end up spending an
entire lifetime accumulating desires that are not ours, and in running about trying to fulfill them.
As a result, our desires, thoughts and selections are always in conflict. Since the desires are in
conflict, the thoughts they give rise to, are also in conflict and in turn, the selection from the
thoughts are also in conflicts leading to dissatisfaction and unhappiness.

All of us have some pre conditionings, sensations and beliefs. For example, most of us believe
that money and position bring us respect and make us happy. We start living by this pre
conditioning and work hard to achieve it. We also involve ourselves in all those activities which
are needed to achieve it. During this process, we often experience disharmony within ourselves
and with others. With unhappiness within, we also make others unhappy.

However, once we start exploring deep into ourselves on the basis of our natural acceptance, we
realise the difference between what we are and what we really want to be. This realisation leads
to the right understanding which paves way to a harmonious living within us, our family, and our
society and also with nature.
 CHAPTER II

Understanding the Human Being as Co-Existence of Self (―I‖) and Body

Understand human being

Human beings are complex creations of the elements of nature.
i. Physically they are a composition of minerals and water.
ii. At the second level human beings are capable of movement and the ability to respond
to stimuli.
iii. At the third level human beings are thinking being who have intellect and emotions.
iv. At the highest level human beings have a spiritual aspect.

Human being is more than just a Body. He is a co-existence of both the Self (I/ Jivana) and the
Body. There is an exchange of information between the two. Our body acts according to the
suggestions given by our ―Jivana‖.

All the human feelings of happiness, sorrow, pain, excitement etc. are all experienced by ―I‖ and
not the ―Body‖.

Human needs
According to the theory of ―Hierarchy of needs‖ given by Abraham Maslow:
A. Physiological needs

For the most part, physiological needs are obvious– they are the literal requirement for
human survival. If these requirements are not met (with the expectation of clothing, and shelter)
the human body simply cannot continue to function. Physiological needs include:
 Breathing,
 Food,
 Clothing
 Mental satisfaction
 Water
 Shelter
 Sound sleep

Air, water and food are metabolic requirements for survival in all animals, including humans.
Clothing and shelter provide necessary protection from the elements.
B. Safety needs

With their physical needs relatively satisfied, the individual‘s safety needs take precedence and
dominate behaviour. In the world of work, these safety needs manifest themselves in such things
as a preference for job security, grievance procedures for protecting the individual from
unilateral authority, saving accounts, insurance policies, reasonable disability
accommodations, and the like. Safety and security needs includes:
 Personal security
 Financial security
 Health and wellbeing
 Safety net against accidents/illness and their adverse impacts

C. Social needs
Humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance, whether it comes from a large social
group, such as clubs, office culture, religious groups, professional organizations, sports teams,
gangs or small social connections (family members, intimate partners, mentors, close colleagues,
confidants). They need to love and be loved (sexually and non-sexually) by others. In the
absence of these elements, many people become susceptible to loneliness, social anxiety, and
clinical depression.

D. Self esteem

All humans have a need to be respected and to have self-esteem and self-respect. Also known as
the belonging need, esteem presents the normal human desire to be accepted and valued by
others.
 Imbalance at this level can result in low self-esteem or an inferiority complex. People
with low self-esteem need respect from others.

E. Self-actualization

 This level of need pertains to what a person‟s full potential is and realizing that
potential. In order to reach a clear understanding of this level of need one must first not
only achieve the previous needs, physiological, safety, love, and esteem, but master these
needs.
Having Physical Facilities ensures the fulfillment of the needs of the body, but it does not fulfill
the needs of the ―I‖.
Hence, for every human being, we need to fulfill the needs of both:
· Of ―I‖ = Happiness (Sukha)
· Of ―Body‖ = Physical Facilities (Suvidha)
One of these cannot replace the other.

Suvidha :
It implies that it is looking for physical comforts and all the sources of attaining such
comforts. When our body gets used to a certain level of comfort then we will only feel
comfortable at that level. Ex. comfort in fan, cooler or air conditioner. Different people have a
different perception of suvidha and will seek a corresponding level of suvidha according to their
perceptions.

Sukh :
The beauty of sukh is that it is a holistic and all-encompassing state of the mind that creates
inner harmony.
By nature man is fond of comfort and happiness so he goes on making desires and ambitions one
after the other to enjoy more in life. To lead a comfortable life he also accumulates many
facilities, so that his life may become full of comfort and happiness. Sukh depends upon our
thinking, so many times we are surrounded by materialistic possessions but we feel unsatisfied.
People think that their happiness depends upon suvidha (facilities) but is it not so; happiness
depends upon our thinking or our mental satisfaction.

Understanding the Activities in the Self and the Activities in the Body:
All human activities can be put under three categories –
· Activities that are going on in the Self (Sentient Activities)
· Activities that are going on in the Body (Material Activities)
· Activities involving both the Self and the Body
Bodily functions / Activities in the Body:
· The body is a set of ―Self-organized activities‖ that occur with my (I) consent but
without my (I) participation.
e.g.: the functions like breathing, digestion, organ functions
However, some of these activities can be stopped by me (I) if I want.
e.g.: breathing

· The activities in the body can also be understood as the mutual interaction between
two material entities for ―recognition‖ and ―fulfillment‖ of their relationship.
e.g.: ―Body‖ recognizes its relation with ―Water‖ and fulfills it (by absorbing the water we drink,
to the extent needed and uses it for the nourishment of various organs)

Activities in the Self / Jivana:

Since ―Jivana‖ is a conscious entity, in addition to ―recognizing‖ and ―fulfilling‖, it also carries
out activities of ―assuming‖ and ―knowing‖.

In ―I‖, the activities take place in the following order:

―Knowing‖ means we have the ―Right Understanding‖. As a result of ―knowing‖, we understand
the reality. When we lack ―Right Understanding‖, the faculty of ―knowing‖ is dormant; and we
only operate on the basis of assumptions. Wrong assumptions lead to wrong Recognition and
wrong Fulfillment.

Examples of Activities of the Body Vs Activities of the Self:

Example 1:

Activity of the Body: If a needle is pricked into your body, the needle goes inside if it is sharp
and does not go inside if it is blunt.

Activity of the Self: If you (I) see the needle being pricked into your body, you oppose it because
you that it is a needle and you assume that it is sharp. Your ―Recognition‖ of this fact makes you
avoid it (Fulfillment of your Recognition).

But if you ―know‖ that it is a syringe with a needle, then you assume that it will cure you of your
sickness. Then this ―Recognition‖ makes you allow the needle to be pricked into your body
(Fulfillment of your Recognition). Thus, this different Recognition leads to a different
fulfillment.

Example 2:
If you see a snake and assume it to be a rope or vice-versa, then these different assumptions will
lead to different recognitions and different fulfillments.

Understanding the Body as an instrument of ―I‖: (―I‖ being the Seer, Doer and Enjoyer)

1. ―I‖ am. The ―Body‖ is.

· ―I‖ knows I exist. I am a conscious / sentient entity.
· The ―Body‖ doesn‘t know. It is a material entity.

2. ―I‖ want to live. The ―Body‖ is my instrument.

 · ―I‖ and my ―Body‖ co-exist with each other.
· ―I‖ takes decisions and the ―Body‖ acts accordingly.

3. ―I‖ want to live in Continuous Happiness. For my happiness, the Body needs Physical
Facilities.
· For the ―I‖ to enjoy the feelings of Strength and Health, my body needs food.
· To get the feeling of protection, my body needs clothing and shelter.
· To utilize my Body (Right Utilization of the body), I need various instruments,
equipments etc. With the help of these, my body can make me feel happy.

4. My (‗I‘) program for Continuous Happiness is to understand and to live in harmony at all
the four levels. To fulfill my (‗I‘) program of achieving Continuous Happiness, the Body is
provided with Physical Facilities.

· Ensuring Physical Facilities to the body consists of Production, Protection and Right
Utilization.

Example: Producing Wheat, Protecting the wheat from extreme climate and pests,
Right Utilization through proper consumption like avoiding wastage etc.

· Today, we have ignored the ―I‖, we know only of the existence of the ―Body‖ and we
are only aiming at having more and more Physical Facilities. These facilities do not
ensure good health, happiness or the right understanding in ―I‖. Hence we should all
pay urgent attention to include the program for ―I‖.

5. I am the Seer, I am the Doer and I am the Enjoyer.

· I am the Seer
Behind all our activities of our Seeing, Understanding, Doing and Enjoying is a feeling of ―I-
ness‖ with which we identify ourselves. Every human being actually participates in a number of
such activities every day. In all these activities, the body acts only as an instrument. It is the ―I‖
that sees or understands something.

For e.g.: Our eyes and ears act as instruments which help us to see or listen anything. They do
not convey any information. It is the ―I‖ that understands what it has seen or listened to.
―Seer‖ also means the one who understands.
Hence I am the Seer (Drasta).
· I am the Doer
Once I have seen and understood something, I decide what I should/ should not do. I take the
help of my body parts to accomplish the task I want to do.
For e.g.: I use my hands to write, my legs to walk etc. My body works as per the instructions
given by me. Hence I am the Doer and I express my actions via my body.
Doer means ―one who does‖ or ―the one who takes decisions to do something‖.
Hence, I am the Doer (Karta).

· I am the Enjoyer
I use my body as an instrument to perform various activities. It is I who enjoy the pleasure
derived out of those activities.
For e.g.: mouth helps to chew and the tongue to taste, but I enjoy the taste and flavour. I am the
one feeling excited, angry, sad, happy etc. my body is only one instrument.
Enjoyer means ―one who enjoys‖.
Hence, I am the Enjoyer (Bhokta).

Harmony in Self (“I”) – Understanding Myself

Why should I study myself? / Getting to know the activities in the Self (“I”):

We spend most of our time ‗with‘ ourselves, ‗in‘ ourselves but we spend most of our time
thinking about other things and neglect ourselves.

The Self (I) is the basis of everything we do. All our desires, expectations, thoughts, feelings,
understanding etc. come from the ―I‖.
 Studying our ―Self‖ helps us to have more clarity about ourselves and makes us
confident. It develops our understanding and helps in building good relationships with everyone.
It also helps us to understand our program better.

Analysis of the above diagram:

· The Self ―I‖ is conscious in nature while the ―Body‖ is physico-chemical in nature.
The interaction between ‗I‘ and the ‗Body‘ is in the form of exchange of information.
· The diagram shows two categories of attributes of the Self, namely, the powers of the
Self (Sakti) and the corresponding Activities (Kriyas) as the manifest outcome of these
powers.

POWER: This is the basic capacity in the Self ―I‖. This includes:

· Desire (Ichchha)
· Thought (Vichara / Vichar)
· Expectation (Asa / Asha)
ACTIVITIES: These are the outcomes of the power of Self. They are-
· Imaging (Chitrana / Chitran)
· Analyzing (Vishleshana)
· Selecting / Tasting ( Chayana / Asvadana)
Following is an example to understand these activities:
· We may have a desire to have respect by being the owner of a big house. This desire
exists in the form of imaging i.e. we have an image in us of fulfillment of our need of
respect via a house.
· Based on this desire our thoughts start working out on the details (design) of the house
like rooms, balcony etc. This splitting up of the image of ―wanting respect from the
house‖ into various parts is called analyzing.
· After working out the details of the house, we go about choosing the size, colour etc.
of the rooms. The power associated with these choices
is Expectation and Selecting. Tasting is the activity which leads us to the fulfillment
of these expectations.
· Selecting and Tasting keeps going on in us continuously, throughout the day, all the
time although many times we may not be aware of it.

Selecting and Tasting are complimentary i.e. Selection changes whenever our Taste changes.

e.g.: When your taste changes from one company mobile to another mobile, your selection of the
shop / showroom also changes according to your new taste.
Inter-relation between the activities in “I”: All the activities going on in the ―I‖ are inter-
related.

The flow of activities in “I” occurs in two ways:

1. From outside to inside:

Example:
 2. From inside to outside:

Example:

Imagination: It is the sum total of our Desires + Thoughts + Expectations. The choices which
we make with the external world are based on our imagination.

· All the activities in the ―I‖ are Continuous and keep going on in us irrespective of
whether we want them or not.

Present Scenario:
Today, our thoughts and expectations are largely being set by pre-conditionings and sensations
which are causing unhappiness, stress and discomfort in our lives. Such expectations can lead to
contradictions in us as we cannot be sure of ourselves.

Following are the two scenarios seen today –

Scenario 1: Desires set on the basis of pre-conditioning:
Pre- conditioning means to assume something about anything on the basis of a prevailing notion
without self-verification.

For e.g.: While seeing advertisements, we pay attention to it and start thinking about it and
associate some greatness with it and slowly the thought becomes our desire. It is a pre-
conditioned desire and we don‘t know what we are going to get out of the fulfillment of this
desire. Sometimes we are not even aware of the existence of such a desire in us.

Scenario 2: Expectations set on the basis of sensation:

Sensation is a feeling resulting from something that comes into contact with the body.

For e.g.: We may develop a desire for a bike based on the way it looked (sensation) or the taste
associated with it.

Effects of the Problem –

· Wavering Aspirations: When our desires are set by pre-conditionings, our goals
keep shifting quite often, depending on what we read, see, and hear from media or
friends or society.

· Lack of Confidence: Since our desires are wavering, we don‘t have a clarity of
what we ultimately want. This affects our self-confidence as we feel confident
only as long as our opinion/ taste is appreciated.

· Unhappiness / Conflicts or Contradictions in „I‟ as a result of Pre-conditioned

Desire: Desires thoughts and expectations set by pre-conditionings or sensations
make us undecided and create conflicting tendencies within ourselves. These
conflicts lead to stress and unhappiness in us.

These conflicts exist at multiple levels –

· Desires are in conflict
 · Thoughts are in conflict
· Expectations are in conflict

· Lack of Qualitative improvement in us: when we live based on the pre-

conditionings, we focus largely on the needs of the body and ignore the needs of the
―I‖. As a result, in spite of accumulating a lot, we don‘t have a feeling of
improvement or betterment. The development is merely Quantitative and not
Qualitative.

· State of Resignation: In spite of accumulating large amounts of wealth, we are

unable to understand ourselves properly and have contradictions within. When we are
unable to find solutions for these contradictions, we end up in a state of Resignation.

Living with pre-conditionings: This often leads to a lack of clarity and self-confidence and
develops a feeling of stress, unhappiness and confusion in us.

Short lived nature of Pleasure from Sensations: Sensations are the ways of our body‘s
detection of various things in our environment with the help of the five major sensory organs.
Whenever there is a sensation from the Body to ―I‖, there is a tasting in ―I‖. These sensations and
tasting are temporary in nature while the needs of the ―I‖ are continuous. Hence, any sensation
we have from the Body can‘t be a source of our lasting happiness.

Solution to the Problem: The solution is to start verifying our desires, thoughts and
expectations on the basis of our Natural Acceptance. As we access our natural acceptance, it
becomes possible for us to have the right understanding of the harmony at all the levels of living.

The activities of Realization and Understanding: These are the two activities in the Self.
Realization: It means to be able to see the reality as it is.

Understanding: It means to be able to understand the self-organization in all entities of

Nature/Existence and their inter-connectedness at all the levels of our living.

Harmony With Body – Understanding Sanyama And Svasthya

Our Body – A Self-Organized Unit:

 The human body is a self-organized unit with a highly sophisticated mechanism. It is
made up of several organs such as the heart, lungs etc. and various glands, all of which work in a
close co-ordination.

The body is made up of cells and each cell of the body has a role to play in the overall
working of the body. Each cell is Self-organized and participates in the Self- organization of the
body as a whole.
All the activities in the body keep the body fit for the use of ―I‖.

Harmony of the “I” with the Body:

The harmony of ―I‖ with the body is:

i. In the form of Sanyama (Self-Regulation) on part of ―I

ii. In the form of Svasthya (Health) on part of the Body

Sanyama (Self-Regulation):
It is the feeling of responsibility in the Self (―I‖) for nurturing, protection and right
utilization of the Body.

Once I realize that the Body is my instrument and that the body needs nutrition, protection
from the environment and proper utilization to work as an efficient tool for the right purpose, I
naturally develop a feeling of responsibility towards my Body. This feeling of responsibility
developed in ―I‖ is Sanyama.

When I live with Sanyama, there is harmony among the different parts of the Body and
the Body becomes my useful instrument.
Svasthya (Health):
It is the condition of the body where every part of the body is properly performing its
expected function. This leads to harmony within the body, and the body become perfectly fit for
use by the ―I‖.

There is a strong coupling between ―I‖ and the ―Body‖. Disharmony in any one of them
adversely affects the other.

For example:

i. If I am in disharmony (anger/stress/despair etc.), it starts affecting the ―Body‖

adversely leading to psychosomatic diseases like allergies, diabetes, hypertension etc.

ii. Similarly, if there is any strong disturbance in the Body in the form of severe pain,
illness etc., it distracts ―I‖ from its normal functions.

Hence, Sanyama is vital for Svasthya. If there is Sanyama, a good health can be ensured. If there
is no Sanyama, a good health can be lost.

Our state today (due to lack of Sanyama):

· Lack of responsibility towards body

Reasons: busy life styles, eating at odd hours, eating junk food, reduced physical work or labour,
craving for pleasant body sensations like tasty food, drinks etc.
Result: falling sick repeatedly

· Tendency for medication to suppress ailment

Reasons:
Our sickness is a signal of some disorder in our body. But instead of attending to it, we try
to suppress it through medication and then forget about it.
 Hospitals and sophisticated equipments are providing diagnosis and cure and are not
concentrating on prevention of diseases. Instead of using simple, common medication, we are
ending up consuming a lot of harmful substances in the name of medicines which are
intoxicating our body.

· Polluted air, water, food ….

Reasons: Air pollution is being caused by industries, vehicles etc. Water is being
polluted by industrial effluents, sewage etc. Various industrial effluents, chemical fertilizers,
pesticides etc. are polluting the soil and by consuming the yield of crops grown in such soil, all
kinds of toxic contents are entering our body through our food.

The way out / Solution to our present state

Our present life style and our conditionings are not very conducive to keep our body fit and
therefore it is important to understand Sanyama and Swasthya correctly.

Program to take care of the body

1. To understand and live with Sanyama:

· It implies that the ―Self‖ takes the responsibility for proper nurturing, protection and right
utilization of the body.

· It also implies that the ―Self‖ should understand that the body is an instrument and has a
limited life span and undergoes a pattern of growth and decay.
· The ―Self‖ should also understand the right purpose for which this instrument has to be used.

2. To understand the self-organization of the body and ensure overall health of the body
in the following ways:

Nurturing of the Body (Posana / Poshan):

Posana / Poshan involves providing proper food (Ahar), air, water etc. to the body.
The selection of food (Ahar) should be such that it gives required nutrients and energy to the
body following the program below:
 · Ingestion: This involves taking the food into the mouth and chewing it well for easy
digestion.

· Digestion: Digestion starts after swallowing the food. Digestion also depends on proper rest
and exercise of the body. Food consumed should be at proper intervals and with proper posture
and right quantity.

· Excretion: After digestion, the necessary nutrients are absorbed by the body and the
unnecessary or undigested part needs to be thrown out or excreted.

If any of the above three activities are not performed properly, it affects the body adversely and
causes several health problems.

Protection of the Body (Sanrakshana):

This involves the selection of proper clothes and shelter for protecting the body from extreme
climatic conditions and to provide the right amount of exposure of the body to air, water,
sunlight etc. to ensure proper functioning of the body.

To ensure the health of the Body, we need to take care of the following:

i. Ahara – Vihara (Food – Upkeep)

The selection of food (Ahar) should be such that it gives required nutrients and energy to the
body. For proper upkeep of the body, the body should be given rest from time to time. We must
ensure proper time, posture and ways to work and to rest. And provide hygienic working
conditions to upkeep our body.

ii. Shrama – Vyayama (Physical labour – Exercise)

Requisite amounts of physical labour and exercise are essential to keep the body fit and healthy.

iii. Asana – Pranayama ( Yogasana – Pranayam)

Yogasanas are well designed exercises involving specific postures to keep the body healthy
and Pranayama involves exercises involving regulation of breathing. Together they ensure the
synergy between the Self and the Body.

iv. Ausadhi – Chikitsa (Medicine – Treatment)

Whenever the body gets hurt or experiences any kind of disorder, we should remember that the
body has a tendency heal itself and come back to normal state. We can attend to such problems
by simple ways like going without food for some time or having a restricted diet etc. if the body
needs further treatment, then the ailment should be properly interpreted and attended to. The
medicines used for treatment should not give rise to other complications in future.

Right Utilization of the Body (Sadupayoga)

It is normally believed that our body is an instrument for sensory enjoyment. This is a wrong
notion. We also use our body to exploit others and to exploit Nature as well.
For e.g.: fighting, sealing, quarrelling etc.
Human Body should be used only for the right behaviour and right work. Otherwise it leads to
disharmony in the Self which has adverse effects on the Body.

We should arrange for appropriate equipments / physical facilities which help the right
utilization of the body and avoid excess physical labour.

Correct Appraisal of our Physical Needs

The correct appraisal of needs constitute the first step towards ensuring prosperity.

The following diagram shows that the Physical Facilities required for nurturing, protection and
right utilization of the body are limited.

By understanding the need for Physical Facilities under the above three heads namely food,
clothing, shelter and instruments, we can evaluate whether we have more than required. We have
a common misconception today that ―Our needs are unlimited‖. We are getting confused
between the needs of the Self and the needs of the Body and are assuming that the needs of the
body are unlimited.

In Nature, the availability of facilities like water, oxygen etc. is more than our needs. Once we
realize that the needs of our Body are limited and can be easily fulfilled, there emerges a
possibility of prosperity in our minds.
Interrelation between Sanyama and Svasthya:

Sanyama refers to self-regulation or self-control. It involves the control of our mind over our
thoughts, emotions, desires and urges.

Svasthya refers to having a healthy body where all parts of our body perform their functions
properly.

Sanyama is the basis for Svasthya. As long as we have self-control, our body remains healthy.
Once we lose self-control our health gets affected.

For example, when we are unable to control our emotional states like anger, depression etc, it
results in the deterioration of our health in the long run.

Similarly, if we are unable to control our urges or cravings like the desire for having junk food
etc, it may lead to health issues like obesity, high sugar or cholesterol levels and more.

Thus, carelessness towards Sanyama leads to problems with Svasthya.

 CHAPTER III

Relationships in Family
Seven Relations
1. Parents-children (maataa & pitaa – putra-putri)
2. Teacher – student (guru-shishya)
3. Brother/sister (bhaii-behan)
4. Friend (mitra)
5. Saathi-sahayogi (leader-assistant at work place)
6. Husband-wife (pati-patni)
7. Vyavasthaagata sambandh

The foundation value and the complete value in human relationship

There are certain basic and important values in maintaining relationship. These values, we all
know, are the backbone of health and happy family relations. The feelings, emotions, sentiments
and respect all are of real importance. These values lead to elimination of friction and
establishment of total harmony in relationship on long term basis. Values that are important in
any relationship are
1. Trust: Trust or vishwas is the foundational value in relationship. ―To be assured that
each human being inherently wants oneself and the other to be happy and
prosperous.‖ If we have trust in the other, we are able to see the other as a relative and
not as an adversary.

2. Respect: Respect means individuality. The sense of individuality is prime object. This
is the first basic step towards respect (sammana). Once we realized that we are individual
then only we can see our self different from others. In other words, respect means right
evaluation, to be evaluated as I am.

3. Affection: Affection is the feeling of being related to the other. Affection comes when
I recognize that we both want to make each other happy and both of us are similar.
 4. Care: The feeling of care is the feeling to nurture and protect the body of our
relative. Or in other words a state of mind in which one is troubled; worry, anxiety, or
concern is called care.

5. Guidance: The feeling of ensuring right understanding and feelings in the other (my
relative) is called guidance. We understand the need of self (‗I‘) for right understanding
and feelings. We also understand that the other is similar to me in his/her faculty of
natural acceptance, desire of wanting continuous happiness and the program of living in
harmony at all the four levels.

6. Reverence: The feeling of acceptance of excellence in the other is called

reverence. When we see that the other has achieved this excellence- which means to
understand and to live in harmony at all the levels of living ensuring continuity of
happiness, we have a feeling of reverence for him/her.

7. Glory: Each one of us wants to live with continuous happiness and prosperity. Each one
of us has the similar faculty of natural acceptance, has the same goal and program and
we have the same potential to realize this. Glory is the feeling for someone who has
made efforts for excellence.

8. Gratitude: Gratitude is the feeling of acceptance for those who have made efforts for
my excellence. Gratitude is an emotion that occurs after people receive help, depending
on how they interpret the situation.

9. Love: Love is the emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In other
words, love is a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent,
child, or friend. This feeling or value is also called the complete value since this is the
feeling of relatedness to all human beings. It starts with identifying that one is related to the
other human being (the feeling of affection) and it slowly expands to the feeling of being
related to all human beings.

The above mentioned values are the core of all relations. One has to follow all to gain on the day
to day problems. These values are intrinsic and available in every person. We need to find out in
ourselves and implement. Without implementation, one cannot think of a strong family relation.
 CHAPTER IV

Improving students' relationships with teachers has important, positive and long-lasting
implications for both students' academic and social development. Solely improving students'
relationships with their teachers will not produce gains in achievement. However, those students
who have close, positive and supportive relationships with their teachers will attain higher levels
of achievement than those students with more conflict in their relationships.
Picture a student who feels a strong personal connection to her teacher, talks with her teacher
frequently, and receives more constructive guidance and praise rather than just criticism from her
teacher. The student is likely to trust her teacher more, show more engagement in learning,
behave better in class and achieve at higher levels academically. Positive teacher-student
relationships draw students into the process of learning and promote their desire to learn
(assuming that the content material of the class is engaging, age-appropriate and well matched to
the student's skills).

High quality academic instruction

High quality academic instruction is designed to be appropriate to students' educational levels. It

also creates opportunity for thinking and analysis, uses feedback effectively to guide students'
thinking, and extends students' prior knowledge.

Positive teacher-student relationships contribute to school adjustment and academic and

social performance

Positive teacher-student relationships — evidenced by teachers' reports of low conflict, a high

degree of closeness and support, and little dependency — have been shown to support students'
adjustment to school, contribute to their social skills, promote academic performance and foster
students' resiliency in academic performance .
Teachers, who experience close relationships with students reported that their students were less
likely to avoid school, appeared more self-directed, more cooperative and more engaged in
learning (. Teachers who use more learner-centered practices (i.e., practices that show sensitivity
to individual differences among students, include students in the decision-making, and
acknowledge students' developmental, personal and relational needs) produced greater
motivation in their students than those who used fewer of such practices.
Students who attended math classrooms with higher emotional support reported increased
engagement in mathematics learning. For instance, fifth graders said they were willing to exert
more effort to understand the math lesson. They enjoyed thinking about and solving problems in
math and were more willing to help peers learn new concepts. Among kindergarteners, students
 reported liking school more and experiencing less loneliness if they had a close relationship with
their teachers. Further, kindergarteners with better teacher-student relationships showed better
performance on measures of early academic skills.
The quality of early teacher-student relationships has a long-lasting impact. Specifically, students
who had more conflict with their teachers or showed more dependency toward their teachers in
kindergarten also had lower academic achievement (as reflected in mathematics and language
arts grades) and more behavioural problems (e.g., poorer work habits, more discipline problems)
through the eighth grade. These findings were greater for boys than for girls. Further work
indicates that kindergarten children with more closeness and less conflict with teachers
developed better social skills as they approached the middle school years than kindergarten
children with more conflictual relationships experiences in the past. A recent study examining
student-teacher relationships throughout elementary school (first through fifth grade) found that
teacher-student closeness linked to gains in reading achievement, while teacher-student conflict
related to lower levels of reading achievement.

How to develop positive relationships with your students:

 Show your pleasure and enjoyment of students.
 Interact with students in a responsive and respectful manner.
 Offer students help (e.g., answering questions in timely manner, offering support that matches
students' needs) in achieving academic and social objectives.
 Help students reflect on their thinking and learning skills.
 Know and demonstrate knowledge about individual students' backgrounds, interests, emotional
strengths and academic levels.
 Avoid showing irritability or aggravation toward students.
 Acknowledge the importance of peers in schools by encouraging students to be caring and
respectful to one another.

Negative teacher-student relationships

Teachers who have negative relationships with a student show evidence of frustration, irritability
and anger toward that student. Teachers might display their negativity through snide and
sarcastic comments toward the student or describe the feeling that they are always struggling or
in conflict with a particular student. Often, teachers will describe a specific student as "one who
exhausts them" or "a student who leaves them feeling drained and burned out."
Negative teacher-student relationships can amplify when teachers show irritability and anger
toward several or many of the students in the classroom. In these types of classrooms, teachers
may find themselves resorting to yelling and harsh punitive control. Teacher-student
communications may appear sarcastic or disrespectful. Student victimization or bullying may be
common occurrences in such negative classrooms.
Negative teacher-student relationships are stressful for both teachers and students and can be
detrimental to students' academic and social-emotional development.

Shraddha

Shraddha is a Sanskrit word, referring to a concept similar to "faith,‘""drive" or "purpose."

Although it does not have a direct English translation, it describes a type of positive energy that
comes from deep within a person, shaping their world and life. The term is derived from two
Sanskrit roots: shrat meaning "truth," "heart" or "faithfulness," and dha, meaning "to direct one‘s
mind toward."

In Hinduism, shraddha is also a ceremony performed in honor of a deceased ancestor. It is

considered to be the social and religious responsibility of all male Hindus and is one of the most
important rites connected with ancestor worship. Offerings of food and drink are made to the
deceased, alongside sacred rituals to nourish, protect and support their passage from lower to
higher realms.
The Bhagavad Gita also says that a person is what their shraddha is; alluding to the notion that an
individual's character or nature is what shapes their destiny. As such, shraddha can be understood
to reflect the virtues, values and inner self of a person. It may also be interpreted as a firmly held
conviction in the life path that an individual has chosen.

Goal of education
Education is a process of learning, studying existing knowledge, makes some contribution in it
by doing improvement, advancement, inventions and discoveries and then passing the same to
next generation in a pre-planned and systematical manner for the development of society and its
citizens as a whole.
Education means learning or study of existing knowledge and cultural heritage. It means learning
from achievement of our ancestors, making our contribution in it by improving, advancement in
existing technology and transfers it to next generation in a pre-planned manner which can be
used for making prospering future. Humanity has achieved a lot from start and it would be pity to
lose all this only way to save all this is to transfer the knowledge and technology we possess by
educating people so that they can also bear the fruit of their ancestor achievement.

Education is necessary for building character of future citizens, teaching them moral values,
helps them to choose the right path.

Education helps in building character of future citizens of our society

Education teaches the moral values to students

Education helps the students to follow his curiosity and find answers to greatest laws of universe

Education helps in maintaining social, economic and mental well being

Education helps in increasing potential of children by enhancing their skills

The goal of education in the modern time should be to teach people a proper utilization of leisure
so that they can add to the achievement of man in art architecture and literature, and thus develop
their culture

The moral goal of education is the physical and intellectual development of the child

The true goal of education is ‗complete knowledge‘ or ‗knowledge, more knowledge and yet
more knowledge‘
 CHAPTER V
Harmony in Nature - Understanding the Interconnectedness and Mutual
Fulfillment
Nature most commonly refers to the "natural environment", the Earth's environment or
wilderness—including geology, forests, oceans, rivers, beaches, the atmosphere, life, and in
general geographic areas that have not been substantially altered by humans, or which persist
despite human intervention]. This traditional concept of "nature" implies a distinction between
natural and man-made, artificial elements of the Earth.

Four orders in Nature

Everything around us can be placed under the following 4 orders –

1. Material order – Padartha / Vastu avastha

It includes the soil, metals, compounds, liquids, gases etc (on earth) and the stars, planets, moon
etc(beyond earth)
2. Plant/ Bio order – Prana avastha
It includes all flora such as grass, trees, seeds, fruits, flowers, parasitic plants, carnivorous plants
3. Animal order – Jiva order
It includes all the animals, birds and insects (from unicellular to complex animals)
4. Human / Knowledge order – Gyana avastha
It includes all the human beings (Body + I)

Interconnectedness and Mutual fulfillment between the four Orders ( Parasparata and
Paraspara Purakata):

Material Order, Plant Order, Animal Order:

Material Order helps the Plant and Animal Order by providing soil, water, oxygen, sunlight,
nutrients, minerals etc. and also provides the basis for movement.

Plant Order helps the Material Order by preventing soil erosion, producing Oxygen, absorbing
CO2 etc. It helps the Animal Order by providing food.
Animal Order helps the Material Order by enriching the soil through excreta. It helps the Plant
Order in Pollination.

Thus all the three orders are mutually interdependent and co-exist with mutual fulfillment.

All the first three orders help the Human Order to have the Natural Acceptance to be mutually
fulfilling with the three orders. But human beings are not able to ensure this fulfillment.

The Material Order helps the Human Order by providing soil, minerals, metals, oxygen etc. but
Human beings in return are polluting the Material Order and depleting the fossil fuels.

The Plant order helps the Human order by proving food, oxygen and by absorbing Carbon
dioxide. In return, the Human beings are destroying forests and many species of plants and herbs.

The Animal order provides the Human order with food, wool, leather, means of labour and
transport etc. The Human beings in return have made several species of animals extinct.

Thus, except the Human order, all the other three orders are in harmony with each other and are
also fulfilling the Human order. It is high time that the human beings learn to live in harmony
with the other three orders.

Recyclability and Self-regulation in Nature:

Cyclical/Recyclability and Self-regulation are the two characteristics of Nature.

Cycles such as Food chain, Water cycle, Nitrogen and Carbon cycles help in regulating –
· pollution (through decomposition of dead organisms in forests etc)
· changes in seasons to promote birth and death and regulate overgrowth of plants etc.
· food chain controls over population of plants as well as animals
· balance in male and and female species disturbed by the Human Order
· compensating for the loss of nutrients from soil through decomposed matter.

Salient aspects of the Four Orders:

The above table explains the following salient aspects in each of the four orders:
A. Things (Vastu):
1. Material order – Padartha / Vastu avastha

It includes the soil, metals, compounds, liquids, gases etc (on earth) and the stars, planets, moon
etc (beyond earth)
2. Plant/ Bio order – Prana avastha

It includes all floras such as grass, trees, seeds, fruits, flowers, parasitic plants, carnivorous and
aquatic plants
3. Animal order – Jiva order
It includes all the animals, birds and insects from unicellular to complex animals (Body+I)
4. Human / Knowledge order – Gyana avastha
It includes all the human beings (Body + I)

B. Activity (Kriya):
The Material order consists of lifeless things. Hence, the activities involved in the Material order
are only Composition and Decomposition while in the Plant order and the other two orders,
another activity called Respiration is also involved in the body. In Animal order, Selection
occurs in ―I‖, while in Human order, Selection, Thought and Desire occur in ―I‖ along with the
need for Realization and Understanding.

C. Innateness (Dharana):
While Innateness consists of mere ‗Existence‘ in the Material order and ‗Existence+ Growth‘ in
the Plant order, it consists of ‗Existence+ Growth‘ in the Body and ‗Will to live‘ in the ―I‖ in
Animals and ‗Will to live with happiness‘ in the ―I‖ in Humans.

D. Natural Characteristic (Svabhava):

The Natural Characteristics of the Material order are Composition and Decomposition and of the
Plant order is Composition/Decomposition and Nurture/Worsen in the Body. The Animal order
also has the same natural characteristics in the body along with non-cruelty or cruelty in the ―I‖.
In the Human order, the cruelty/non-cruelty of animals is replaced by Perseverance, Bravery and
Generosity.

E. Basic Activity (Kriya):

The Basic activities in the Material as well as Plant order include Recognising and fulfillment.
The same activities occur in the body in Animal and Human orders. Assuming, Recognising and
Fulfillment occur in the ―I‖ of both Animal order and Plant order along with Knowing in the
Human order.

F. Conformance (Anu-sangita):
The Conformance in the Material order is essentially Constitution Conformance and in the Plant
order it is Seed Conformance. In Animals it is Breed Conformance and in the Humans it is Right
Values Conformance.

Conclusion:

All the things in the Material order are lifeless and are composed of smaller units(atoms) coming
together to form bigger units. Such combining is referred to as Composition and the splitting up
of these units is referred to as Decomposition. The Material order simply Exists and has no
Growth, Nurturing or Worsening. Its Conformance (continuity in nature) takes place through
physical and Chemical processes.

The Plant order is made up of units called cells which have life. These cells are responsible for
various Physico-chemical activities in the Body. Hence along with Composition/Decomposition,
plants also Grow, Nurture/Worsen depending on the availability of nutrients, climatic conditions
etc. However they don‘t possess any Consciousness or ―I‖ as in Animals or Humans.

Difference between I and Body of Animals & Humans:

The Body of Animals and Humans have the same activities. However there is a great difference
between the conscious activities of the Self in both of them.

‗I‘ of Animals Vs Humans:

 The ―I‖ in the Animals is confined only to the Selection/taste process, Will to live and
Characteristics such as cruelty/non-cruelty. For example, a cow is satisfied if it is given some
fodder. It doesn‘t think of where the fodder came from, who grew it etc. it needs food just to
keep itself alive unlike the humans who crave for different tastes as they possess the will to live
in happiness.

Animals have the faculty of Assuming, Recognising and Fulfilling, but they have
no Reasoning/Knowing. A dog barks at a stranger assuming that he is a thief. But it doesn‘t bark
at a person it sees daily irrespective of whether he is good or bad because it lacks
reasoning/knowing power.

Animals have the breed conformance ie they act according to their lineage. For instance, A
puppy doesn‘t behave like a cub. A calf doesn‘t eat meat.

In Humans, the activities such as Desiring / Thinking / Selecting / Tasting occur leading to
Understanding and Realization. Like the Animals, the Humans possess the Will to live but the
will to live in happiness. Instead of cruelty/non-cruelty, the humans possess the characteristics of
Bravery, Perseverance and Generosity. They possess the reasoning skills and hence have an
additional activity of Knowing which is absent in animals. A human beings‘ Conformance is
largely based upon his Values and not his breed as in animals. A doctor‘s son need not think or
behave like his father.

Human Beings: Our State today

ORDER ANIMAL HUMAN

Things (Vastu) Animal Body + ―I‖ Human Body + ―I‖

Innateness (Existence + Growth) in Body (Existence + Growth) in Body +

(Dharana) + (Will to Live) in ―I‖ (Will to Live with Happiness) in
―I‖

Natural (Composition/ Decomposition (Composition/ Decomposition +

Characteristic + Nurture/Worsen) in Body + Nurture/Worsen) in Body +
(Svabhava) (Non-cruelty/Cruelty) in ―I‖ (Perseverance, Bravery,
Generosity ) in ―I‖

Mode Reaction Response

Needs Physical Facilities Physical Facilities + Relationship

 + Right Understanding/
Knowledge

According to the above table, what is written for ―I‖ on the right side marks the basic needs for
us as human beings. Surviving alone is not sufficient for us, our need for continuous happiness is
our innateness. We cannot live alone with cruelty or non-cruelty, we need to live with
perseverance, bravery and generosity. Our basic need is not just physical facilities, we also need
relationships and right understanding.
Unfortunately we as human beings are living as in the left side column (animal consciousness) in
the above table. On the other hand, our Natural Acceptance implies that we should live according
to right side column (Human consciousness) in the table. We are not making use of our
knowledge to differentiate between the right and the wrong methods of living and are living in
ignorance with animal consciousness forgetting that Human order means Knowledge order.

What is the way out?

It is high time that mankind moves from animal consciousness to human consciousness and
develop the Right Understanding so that the human order becomes fulfilling to all the other
orders of nature.

Natural harmony is necessary for the following reasons:

1. Natural harmony is necessary to solve the problem of global warming and depletion of
non-renewable natural resource can be avoided.
2. Natural harmony with trees cure all problems like – reduction of wind velocity, energy
savings, doing companion planting, development of an eco-subsystem in terms of
establishing a forest garden, reduction of building heat.
3. It is possible to achieve natural harmony in the establishment, maintenance and
management of educational institution like schools, colleges and universities.
4. One can understand the depths of harmony and alignment in natural by contemplating
and reflecting upon the natural order. It is possible to unravel the mystery of the natural
synthesis in the midst of on-going chaos at the material plane.

Sustainable Development
The concept of sustainable development was given by World Commission on Environment and
Development. Sustainable development means meeting the needs of the present without stripping
the natural resources that future generations would need. Our earth‘s vital signs show that our
planet is ailing. It is our responsibility to keep the earth in good health. We must not strip the
earth of its natural resource. If we do so, productivity will be weakened. We may meet our needs
without depriving the future generations of the resources that they would need. Besides this man
has now realized that he shares this planet with millions of other creatures. Man‘s position is not
that of domination, but of partnership.

No generation owns this planet, we are like tenants. And it is our responsibility to keep the
environment healthy. We owe responsibility to the future generation. We must leave it to them
healthy so that they can live healthy and happily on it. Government, industry and every person
must do their bit. The air, water and soil of the earth are polluted. Forests are vanishing. Wildlife
on land as well as in the seas faces extinction. Grasslands and Forests are turning into scorching
deserts. All these are vital symptoms that show that earth is ailing. We can restore the earth to its
healthy state again if we respect and preserve its metabolic needs. We should use not more than
what the earth can replenish it with. We have to preserve wildlife, forests, seas and grasslands.
 CHAPTER VIII
Human being as cause of imbalance in nature
Human activity is a major threat to the planet's biodiversity. This is because human population
growth thus far has been exponential, meaning that its growth rate stays the same regardless of
population size. This makes the population grow faster and faster as it gets larger.

Populations may grow exponentially for some period, but they ultimately reach a carrying
capacity when they become limited by resource availability. Humans, however, have continued
to work around carrying capacity as they develop new technologies to help support the ever-
growing population.

This threatens biodiversity because the more humans there are, the more this displaces other
species and reduces species richness.

Human-mediated causes of biodiversity loss

 Land-use change: Humans may destroy natural landscapes as they mine resources and urbanize
areas. This is detrimental, as it displaces residing species, reducing available habitats and food
sources.
 Pollution: Pollution can occur from the runoff or disposal of chemical substances, or from
energy sources (noise and light pollution).

 Introduced species: Humans may unintentionally, or intentionally, introduce a non-native

species into an ecosystem. This can negatively effect an ecosystem because the introduced
species may outcompete native organisms and displace them.

 Resource exploitation: Humans consume large amounts of resources for their own needs. Some
examples include the mining of natural resources like coal, the hunting and fishing of animals for
food, and the clearing of forests for urbanization and wood use.

Extensive overuse of non-renewable resources, like fossil fuels, can cause great harm to the
environment. Recycling products made from non-renewable resources (such as plastic, which is
made from oil) is one way to reduce the negative impacts of this resource exploitation. In
addition, the development and use of renewable resources, like solar or wind energy, can help
decrease the harmful effects of resource exploitation.

Climate change and biodiversity

The current climate change Earth is facing is caused by the increase in global temperatures.
Human activity is changing Earth's atmosphere faster than it has ever changed during its history.

The burning of fossil fuels and the growth of animal agriculture has led to large amounts of
greenhouse gases (such as carbon dioxide and methane) in the atmosphere. Higher
concentrations of greenhouse gases trap more heat in the biosphere and result in global warming.
In turn, this drives climate change.

When climate change affects an environment so much that it is unable to sustain organisms, they
must adapt, relocate, or face extinction. Because of this, climate change can have a huge effect
on biodiversity.

Conservation
Conservation efforts work to protect species and the places in which they live. There are many
different kinds of conservation efforts.
Species protection is one way to help combat extinction. Although extinction is a natural
process, it is occurring at a much faster, much higher rate than normally expected.

The creation of local, national, and international legislation can help prevent the loss
of endangered species. In addition, captive-breeding programs may help protect endangered
species by maintaining a healthy population of endangered species in captivity.

Habitat protection, preservation, and restoration is essential in protecting biodiversity. This

ensures that the protected species have places to live that can support them.

Ultimately, saving one habitat can have a cascading effect, and help to protect an entire
ecosystem. Scientists have determined several biodiversity hotspots, which are a high priority
for protecting.
 CHAPTER IX
ETHICAL HUMAN CONDUCT

The right understanding gained through self-exploration enables one to identify the
definitiveness of human conduct which may also be called the Ethical human conduct. It is the
same for all human beings, and is in agreement with the universal human values.

Characteristics of ethical human conduct:

It is a combined representation of – Values, policies and character. Values help us to live in
harmony with family, character helps us to live harmoniously in the society and policies help us
to maintain harmony with the orders of nature.

Values (Mulya): Values can be witnessed in relationships. The ability to recognize the
relationships is due to imagination and being self-organized in work. It enables us to understand
the relationship between various orders of nature too. We have many relations in life, but the
actual purpose of relationship is to be understood. For example, the purpose of relationship
between parents and children is fulfillment and protection and living in order. Trust is the
functional value that helps us to maintain the continuity of relationship.

Policy (Niti): The assets of an individual include the self ‗I‘, the body and the physical
resources. It is important that proper coordination exists between them. Policies are the rules
which when followed help us to protect, enrich and utilize adequately the various assets
possessed by us.
One must evaluate his conduct based on the above three dimensions and self-exploration alone
bridges the gap between conduct and the ethical human conduct. A human being can be called
prosperous and successful if he blends his professional skills with ethical human conduct.

Character (Charitra): Character is determined by the values one incorporates in his life. It is
the outcome of the values he possesses, his perception, imagination and the experiences gained
during his life time.

The characteristics of good character include:

- Having personal trustworthy relationships
- Access to rightful acquiring of wealth
- Compassionate behavior and work
If one has the above he will be organized and has self-harmony. By understanding natural
acceptance on gains self-expression and self-extension by participation in harmony at all levels
of existence. This leads to right understanding which will result in a prosperous undivided
society of high human order.

This definitiveness of human conduct in terms of values, policies and character is termed as
Ethics. The criterion to judge whether an act of human being is ethical or unethical, and a
definite way to work for ethics in life and profession are varying. Ethics in the life of an
individual can be imbibed only through inculcation of values, policies and character, and this is
possible through the process of ensuring right understanding through self-exploration. At the
same time, we can see that a human being with ethical human conduct coupled with requisite
professional skills only can be a good professional, namely, a good engineer, a good manager, a
good teacher and researcher, a good technocrat, etc.

'Ethical conduct' implies that it is naturally acceptable and does not give rise to conflict within.
Thus, the 'ethical conduct' is self-satisfying, people-friendly, eco-friendly and universal.

Acceptance of Basic human values: Schwartz has identified 10 basic human values. These
include the core values recognized in cultures round the world and are mentioned in different
cultures, religions and philosophical discussions of values.

Each of the ten basic values can be characterized by describing its central motivational goal:

1. Self-Direction: Independent thought and action; choosing, creating, exploring.

2. Stimulation: Excitement, novelty, and challenge in life.
3. Hedonism: Pleasure and sensuous gratification for oneself.
4. Achievement: Personal success through demonstrating competence according to social
standards.
5. Power: Social status and prestige, control or dominance over people and resources.
6. Security: Safety, harmony, and stability of society, of relationships, and of self.
7. Conformity: Restraint of actions, inclinations, and impulses likely to upset or harm others and
violate social expectations or norms.
8. Tradition: Respect, commitment, and acceptance of the customs and ideas that traditional
culture or religion provide the self.
9. Benevolence: Preserving and enhancing the welfare of those with whom one is in frequent
personal contact (the ‗in-group‘).
10. Universalism: Understanding, appreciation, tolerance, and protection for the welfare of all
people and for nature.
The model figure of representing the relationship among the values is mentioned below:

The conflicts and congruities among all ten basic values yield an integrated structure of values.
This structure can be summarized with two orthogonal dimensions. Self-enhancement vs. self-
transcendence: On this dimension, power and achievement values oppose universalism and
benevolence values. Both of the former emphasize pursuit of self-interests, whereas both of the
latter involve concern for the welfare and interests of others.
Openness to change vs. conservation: On this dimension, self-direction and stimulation values
oppose security, conformity and tradition values. Both of the former emphasize independent
action, thought and feeling and readiness for new experience, whereas all of the latter emphasize
self-restriction, order and resistance to change. Hedonism shares elements of both openness and
self-enhancement.

Acceptance of Human Values:

It is right to say that we naturally accept Human Values in the light of our understanding of
Harmony and Co-Existence. Every Human being naturally expects to be purposeful and
successful. Our wisdom is the true source for realizing these expectations.
Recognition of a relationship in existence is essentially recognizing of its innate purpose or
value. This is study in existence. Commitment in a relationship is a natural outcome of this
recognition. Thereafter perfection in Harmony in that relationship becomes inevitable. Perfection
naturally results in fruitfulness or success.
Omni-dimensional resolution emanating from Jeevan is always connected with all our
relationships. Human values need to be lived. Human values are realized by understanding of
Jeevan, understanding of existence as co-existence, and by natural acceptance of humane
conduct. Wisdom is nothing else but this. When we begin realizing human values only then we
become capable of doing right, and become proficient in doing right. Till then we are trapped in
one mania or the other - and there's no way for us to do right. Understanding Jeevan and
understanding Existence are essential for becoming wise. Moreover, values are realized only
upon recognition of the meaning or purpose of relationships as mentioned above.

Orders of Nature: In order to create an environment for mutual prosperity and fulfillment, it is
necessary to understand the different orders of nature.
There are four orders in nature:
1. Material order (PADARTHAWASTHA): Includes soil, water, minerals, air and other man
made materials
2. Pranic order (PRANAWASTHA): Includes plants
3. Animal order (JEEVAWASTHA): Includes animals and birds
4. Human order (GYANAWSTHA): Includes the human beings and physical body (self ‗I‘)

Universal Human order: It refers to the efforts of an individual to have a systematic

arrangement of entire universe which initiates with the individual itself.

Visions of Human Order:

The visions for human order includes three elements
i) Humanistic Education
ii) Humanistic constitution and
iii) Humanistic order

Humanistic Education: It refers to the education which transforms the animal consciousness in
a human being to human consciousness. Animal consciousness has resulted in over exploitation
of natural resources and has made earth a dreadful place to live. Humanistic constitution puts a
check on our actions and enables us to justify them.

Humanistic Constitution: It refers to the set of rule which the human beings should follow.
This is to ensure mutual fulfillment and coordination in the human order together with the other
orders. Human constitution is the frame work of humans, living in harmony with himself and
with the entire existence.

Human Order: The process of right understanding in the society and continuity of this process
among human beings from generation to generation leads to human order. A human being
having definitive answers for every how and why-spiritually, intellectually and materially alone
can assure its living continuously with harmony and happiness.
SKILLS REQUIRED BY ENGINEERS:
Engineers are responsible for some of the greatest inventions and technology the world depends
on. Everything from space shuttles to air conditioning systems to bridges requires the work of an
engineer.

Engineering can be described as a broad field that embraces knowledge and training in
business/management, science, mathematics, social science and (computer) technology. In order
for engineers to function effectively in such a multidisciplinary environment they require skills
and attributes from these diverse areas:
· Social Science - communication skills - social skills - presentation skills - interpersonal skills
· Business/Management - leadership skills - business management skills - team-working skills -
accounting skills
· Computer/Technology - computer skills - programming skills - technical skills - design skills
· Mathematics/Science - problem solving skills - research and development skills -
analysis/synthesis skills

Peterson & Fleet (2004) have developed a list of these skills together with an explanation of
what is required of each skill. The illustrate attributes which graduate engineers should possess:

 Decision Making Ability - To be able to assess and decide between competing solutions
to a particular problem. This skill will have been taught in relation to their technical skills
but not necessarily in relation to the decision that a manager needs to make.
 Human Skills - To be able to work with, communicate, negotiate and relate to others
both within the organization as well as outside the organization. Also be able to teach
others, work in groups and with individuals at various levels of management. Resolve
conflicts.
 Communication - Be able to send and receive information, thoughts and feelings, which
create common understanding and meaning.
 Interpersonal - Ability to develop and maintain a trusting and open relationship with
superiors, subordinates, peers and external personnel to facilitate the free exchange of
information and provide a productive work setting.
 Conceptual - Ability to see the organization as a whole and to solve problems from a
systematic point of view.
 Diagnostic - Ability to determine the probable cause(s) of a problem from examining the
symptoms and which are observed by the manager.
 Administrative - Ability to follow policies and procedures, process paper work in an
orderly manner and manage expenditures within the limits set by budgets.
To be successful in the field of engineering, one must have certain qualities. Some of those top
qualities include:
1. Strong Analytical Aptitude: A great engineer has excellent analytical skills and is
continually examining things and thinking of ways to help things work better. They are naturally
inquisitive.
2. Attention to Detail: A great engineer pays meticulous attention to detail. The slightest error
can cause an entire structure to fail, so every detail must be reviewed thoroughly during the
course of completing a project.
3. Excellent Communication Skills: A great engineer has great communication skills. They can
translate complex technical lingo into plain English and also communicate verbally with clients
and other engineers working together on a project.
4. Takes Part in Continuing Education: A great engineer stays on top of developments in the
industry. Changes in technology happen rapidly, and the most successful engineers keep abreast
of new research and ideas.
5. Creative: A great engineer is creative and can think of new and innovative ways to develop
new systems and make existing things work more efficiently.
6. Ability to Think Logically: A great engineer has top-notch logical skills. They are able to
make sense of complex systems and understand how things work and how problems arise.
7. Mathematically Inclined: A great engineer has excellent math skills. Engineering is an
intricate science that involves complex calculations of varying difficulty.
8. Good Problem Solving Skills: A great engineer has sharp problem solving skills. An
engineer is frequently called upon solely to address problems, and they must be able to figure out
where the problem stems from and quickly develop a solution.
9. Team Player: A great engineer understands that they are part of a larger team working
together to make one project come together successfully, and therefore, must work well as part
of that team.
10. Excellent Technical Knowledge: A great engineer has a vast amount of technical
knowledge. They understand a variety of computer programs and other systems that are
commonly used during an engineering project.

SINCERITY

How to preserve professional sincerity?

We are responsible for our own destiny. Young professionals must be honest, responsible and
respectable towards self and the role. Learn to stand for and be accountable for decisions, as
Excuses and manipulations are not going to lead one anywhere. Taking complete charge and
identify with the role. Never evade accountability because of the fear of failure or sense of
feeling besieged by the influence around. one need to be straightforward at work with his own
choices. Career building is much beyond mere maintenance of the job and there is no point
blaming things around us.

Enriching fundamentals. It is important to incessantly renew conceptual knowledge base.

Subject matter understanding is an essential element of professional triumph. Nothing can beat
knowledge. One‘s ability to apply himself at work will be directly proportionate to his self-
sufficiency on fundamentals. Hence one has to plan a calendar to refresh core subjects, brush-up
functional concepts and recent developments. One has to continuously transform repertoire of
accessible information to attain wisdom. Reflective knowledge is like having deep pockets of
wisdom. It lightens our insight.

Plan – Prepare – Participate. Do not be casual in professional life, every interaction is

important and one has to be prepared well in advance to remain abreast. Any winning endeavour
will require prioritizing, meticulous planning, and cautious preparation. Hence one needs to
follow definite work discipline. At work place planning and preparations are an integral part of
professional life. Elaborate preparation makes actual task much easier. Preparation and rehearsal
will sharpen the edges. This can be a unique differentiating excellence in one‘s personality.

Do not run around to get spotted. No organisation can disregard a performer for long. One‘s
sincere performance will unquestionably surface above the rest. In certain circumstances, it may
take more than requisite time, but finally he/she will shine-out in midst of mediocrity and
manipulators. One has to bring sincerity in every effort. Endeavors at work place should not be
predominantly encumbered with desires, malice and ignorance. In today‘s life, we cannot just
perform a duty without attaching rewards or benefits, but we can definitely avoid shaping our
entire conduct around ―what is there for me‖. The top managers are not interested in ‗unfilled
talks‘. They value achievers. Deliver every work with commitment and do the hard work,
definitely you will get noticed.

Negativity corrodes. Believe in purity and positivity of thoughts. Thoughts drive our actions.
Our behaviour is largely governed by our beliefs and thoughts. With purity of mind and
positivity in thoughts, our overall conduct and disposition becomes largely acceptable to all
around us. Negativity takes away our entire energy and time. It corrodes us from within. Be
aware about your negative thoughts and circumvent renting any space to such negativity in your
mind.

Perhaps definition of sincerity itself has gone through a transition in professional world. But any
compromise with professional sincerity is not going to take you far. Never be artificial with your
sincerity. Sincerity comes from within and it will liberate us and brings purity in our conduct. It
makes a person more observant and humble. Sincerity gives us foundation and solidity.
Step to cultivate sincerity:

1. Act the same way alone as you do when in the presence of others
2. Do things out of the goodness of your heart- don‘t seek a reward or do things to acquire things
from others
3. Understand that sincerity comes from heart- one cannot be sincerely if he simply says sorry
just as a word or be untruthful.
4. Don‘t do it or say it, unless you believe it from your heart
5. Realize that sincerity can expose you- i.e., opening up to others about your feeling, motives
and aspirations can cause some people to react in insincere ways and to try dragging one down.
6. Use positive affirmations: use positive affirmations to override negatives and always sincerity
thrives on effort to think the right way.
7. Don‘t over-polish things- sincerely is about spontaneity at that moment with genuinely.
Polishing responses using sugar coated words or attempting over perfection can remove
sincerity. Never attempt to shift deadline for one‘s own purpose as it will reveal our in
capabilities.

Fidelity (faithfulness and loyalty)

This principle requires loyalty, fairness, truthfulness, advocacy, and dedication towards ones
profession. It involves an agreement to keep our promises. Fidelity refers to the concept of
keeping a commitment and is based upon the virtue of caring.

The engineers should serve with fidelity the employer and the public. At all-time engineers must
use their skills to advance human efforts, to increase his technical competence and to increase the
prestige of their profession. The principle of fidelity, or promise- keeping, recognizes an
obligation to honor agreements and to keep promises freely entered into and deliberately made.
One can use these to describe the ethical dilemma that is faced during engineering profession.
They should honor the terms of the employment contract, which may also include assignments
suited for his expertise. According to the principles of beneficence, a engineer has obligations to
promote the good of others, including his employers, the people he works with and even his own
family.

There are several reasons because of which loyalty is decreasing now a day:
1. People being more loyal to their careers that to their employers
2. Problems with upper management
3. Companies not caring their employers‘ heath.

Workplace loyalty may be on the decline, but that doesn‘t mean it will disappear forever.
The following may be adopted by the employers to increase fidelity at work
1) Scheduling ―face time‖ with the employee- Face - to – face interactions
2) Choosing appropriate communication channels
3) Offer acknowledgement and praise often
4) Be honest: tell even the fall backs and admit negatives
5) Walk the talk- true leaders who inspire are the ones who walk and work on the ideal of the
company thereby they motivates the employee.

In fact, the more the employer communicates with people and acknowledge them, and be truthful
with them, the more trusting and loyal will be the employees.

Here are five loyalty skills and ways to improve proficiency:

1. Support/assistance: Help a peer do a better job, struggle less, learn a new skill, impress the
boss, or gain new respect with clients and coworkers.
2. Giving time/attention: Do take an interest in the workplace challenges and projects of peer
group. Ask questions, listen well, and take the time to pay attention to the concerns of coworkers.
Show empathy, and demonstrate that you understand their issues and really "get" their point of
view.
3. Recognition/encouragement: Give sincere compliments to coworkers when they've done an
excellent job on a task, or when they demonstrate superior skills, say, while leading a meeting or
doing presentations and cheering them on.
4. Self-sacrifice/commitment: Offer to stay late, or help in tough tasks of your coworkers.
Standup for a view point that may be controversial at work place and put yourself for them
5. Reliability/trust- Exhibit consistency and competency which will improve the reliability of
the company and trust will help reach career goals.
 CHAPTER X

Engineering Ethics is the set of rules and guidelines that engineers adhere to as a moral
obligation to their profession and to the world. Engineering is a professional career that impact
lives. When ethics is not followed, disaster often occurs; these disasters not only include huge
monetary costs and environmental impacts, but also often result in the loss of human life.
Engineering Ethics applies to every engineer and is very important.

The National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) decides the overall standards and
codes of ethics for all the engineering professions. The Preamble of the NSPE Code of Conduct
for Engineers (2007) states:

“Engineers shall at all times recognize that their primary obligation is to protect the safety,
health, property, and welfare of the public. If their professional judgment is overruled under
circumstances where the safety, health, property, or welfare of the public is endangered, they
shall notify their employer or client and such other authority as may be appropriate.”

This means that engineers should always be aware that their safety and the safety of those around
them comes before anything, including any engineering projects they take on, no matter how
wonderful the end product might be. That being said, engineering standards change from one
professional engineering society to the next because of the work that different type of engineers
do. For example, the work that a civil engineer does (e.g. construct a bridge) will be different
from the work that a biomedical engineer does (e.g. making an artificial heart). However, no
matter what type of engineer you are, Engineering Ethics is important because if you do not
follow it you can be putting yours and someone else‘s life in danger.

What is ethics?

At its simplest, ethics is a system of moral principles. They affect how people make decisions
and lead their lives. Ethics is concerned with what is good for individuals and society and is also
described as moral philosophy.

The term is derived from the Greek word ethos which can mean custom, habit, character or
disposition. Ethics is based on well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what
humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or
specific virtues.
 Ethics covers the following dilemmas:

 how to live a good life

 our rights and responsibilities
 the language of right and wrong
 moral decisions - what is good and bad?

Our concepts of ethics have been derived from religions, philosophies and cultures. They infuse
debates on topics like abortion, human rights and professional conduct.

Approaches to ethics

Philosophers nowadays tend to divide ethical theories into three areas: meta-ethics, normative
ethics and applied ethics.
 Meta-ethics deals with the nature of moral judgement. It looks at the origins and meaning of
ethical principles.
 Normative ethics is concerned with the content of moral judgements and the criteria for what
is right or wrong.
 Applied ethics looks at controversial topics like war, animal rights and capital punishment

Where do ethics come from?

Some years ago, sociologist Raymond Baumhart asked business people, "What do ethics mean to
you?" Among their replies were the following:

"Ethics has to do with what my feelings tell me is right or wrong."

"Ethics has to do with my religious beliefs."
"Being ethical is doing what the law requires."
"Ethics consists of the standards of behavior our society accepts."
"I don't know what the word means."

These replies might be typical of our own. The meaning of "ethics" is hard to pin down, and the
views many people have about ethics are shaky.

Philosophers have several answers to this question:

 God and religion
 Human conscience and intuition
 a rational moral cost-benefit analysis of actions and their effects
 the example of good human beings
 a desire for the best for people in each unique situation
 political power
Professional ethics

Profession is a commitment to a designated and organized occupation by virtue of being an

authority over a body of knowledge with requisite skills acquired through specialized training.
An occupation becomes a profession when a group of people sharing the same occupation work
together in a morally acceptable way with members setting and following a certain ethics code.
A professional is a practitioner belonging to a specific profession. Professional ethics, as
opposed to personal values and morality, is a set of ethical standards and values a practicing
engineer is required to follow. It sets the standards for professional practice, and is only learned
in a professional school or while practicing one‘s own profession. Today, it is an essential part of
professional education because it helps students deal with issues they will face.

The scope of engineering ethics envelopes diverse activities like:

1. Engineering as a social experimentation

2. Engineers responsibility for safety
3. Role of engineers, managers, consultants etc.
4. Rights of engineers
5. Moral reasoning and ethical theories
6. Responsibility to employers
7. Global issues and concerns

The best way to teach engineering ethics is by using case studies—not just the disaster cases that
make the news, but the kinds of cases that an engineer is more likely to encounter. Many real
time cases are available or some hypothetical cases can be constructed and there are methods for
analyzing them. Engineering ethics can be taught in a free-standing course, but there are strong
arguments for introducing ethics in technical courses as well. If the subject of professional ethics
is how members of a profession should, or should not, affect others in the course of practicing
their profession, then engineering ethics is an essential aspect of engineering itself and education
in professional responsibilities should be part of professional education in engineering, just as it
is in law and medicine.

Code of Ethics for Engineers

Engineering is an important and learned profession. As members of this profession, engineers are
expected to exhibit the highest standards of honesty and integrity. Engineering has a direct and
vital impact on the quality of life for all people. Accordingly, the services provided by engineers
require honesty, impartiality, fairness, and equity, and must be dedicated to the protection of the
public health, safety, and welfare. Engineers must perform under a standard of professional
behavior that requires adherence to the highest principles of ethical conduct.

A code of ethics prescribes how professionals are to pursue their common ideal so that each may
do the best at a minimal cost to oneself and those they care about. The code is to protect each
professional from certain pressures (for example, the pressure to cut corners to save money) by
making it reasonably likely (and more likely than otherwise) that most other members of the
profession will not take advantage. A code is a solution to a coordination problem. A
professional has obligations to the employer, to customers, to other professionals- colleagues
with specific expectations of reciprocity.

Rules of Practice
1. Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public.
a. If engineers‘ judgment is overruled under circumstances that endanger life or property, they
shall notify their employer or client and such other authority as may be appropriate.

b. Engineers shall approve only those engineering documents that are in conformity with
applicable standards.

c. Engineers shall not reveal facts, data, or information without the prior consent of the client or
employer except as authorized or required by law or this Code.

d. Engineers shall not permit the use of their name or associate in business ventures with any
person or firm that they believe is engaged in fraudulent or dishonest enterprise.
e. Engineers shall not aid or abet the unlawful practice of engineering by a person or firm.

f. Engineers having knowledge of any alleged violation of this Code shall report thereon to
appropriate professional bodies and, when relevant, also to public authorities, and cooperate with
the proper authorities in furnishing such information or assistance as may be required.
2. Engineers shall perform services only in the areas of their competence.

a. Engineers shall undertake assignments only when qualified by education or experience in the
specific technical fields involved.

b. Engineers shall not affix their signatures to any plans or documents dealing with subject
matter in which they lack competence, nor to any plan or document not prepared under their
direction and control.

c. Engineers may accept assignments and assume responsibility for coordination of an entire
project and sign and seal the engineering documents for the entire project, provided that each
technical segment is signed and sealed only by the qualified engineers who prepared the
segment.
3. Engineers shall issue public statements only in an objective and truthful manner.

a. Engineers shall be objective and truthful in professional reports, statements, or testimony.

They shall include all relevant and pertinent information in such reports, statements, or
testimony, which should bear the date indicating when it was current.
b. Engineers may express publicly technical opinions that are founded upon knowledge of the
facts and competence in the subject matter.

c. Engineers shall issue no statements, criticisms, or arguments on technical matters that are
inspired or paid for by interested parties, unless they have prefaced their comments by explicitly
identifying the interested parties on whose behalf they are speaking and by revealing the
existence of any interest the engineers may have in the matters.

4. Engineers shall act for each employer or client as faithful agents or trustees.

a. Engineers shall disclose all known or potential conflicts of interest that could influence or
appear to influence their judgment or the quality of their services.

b. Engineers shall not accept compensation, financial or otherwise, from more than one party for
services on the same project, or for services pertaining to the same project, unless the
circumstances are fully disclosed and agreed to by all interested parties.

c. Engineers shall not solicit or accept financial or other valuable consideration, directly or
indirectly, from outside agents in connection with the work for which they are responsible.

d. Engineers in public service as members, advisors, or employees of a governmental or quasi-

governmental body or department shall not participate in decisions with respect to services
solicited or provided by them or their organizations in private or public engineering practice.

e. Engineers shall not solicit or accept a contract from a governmental body on which a principal
or officer of their organization serves as a member.
5. Engineers shall avoid deceptive acts.

a. Engineers shall not falsify their qualifications or permit misrepresentation of their or their
associates‘ qualifications. They shall not misrepresent or exaggerate their responsibility in or for
the subject matter of prior assignments. Brochures or other presentations incident to the
solicitation of employment shall not misrepresent pertinent facts concerning employers,
employees, associates, joint ventures, or past accomplishments.
b. Engineers shall not offer, give, solicit, or receive, either directly or indirectly, any contribution
to influence the award of a contract by public authority, or which may be reasonably construed
by the public as having the effect or intent of influencing the awarding of a contract. They shall
not offer any gift or other valuable consideration in order to secure work. They shall not pay a
commission, percentage, or brokerage fee in order to secure work, except to a bona fide
employee or bona fide established commercial or marketing agencies retained by them.

Professional Obligations
1. Engineers shall be guided in all their relations by the highest standards of honesty and
integrity.
a. Engineers shall acknowledge their errors and shall not distort or alter the facts.

b. Engineers shall advise their clients or employers when they believe a project will not be
successful.

c. Engineers shall not accept outside employment to the detriment of their regular work or
interest. Before accepting any outside engineering employment, they will notify their employers.

d. Engineers shall not attempt to attract an engineer from another employer by false or
misleading pretenses.
e. Engineers shall not promote their own interest at the expense of the dignity and integrity of
the profession.
f. Engineers shall treat all persons with dignity, respect, fairness, and without discrimination.

2. Engineers shall at all times strive to serve the public interest.

a. Engineers are encouraged to participate in civic affairs; career guidance for youths; and work
for the advancement of the safety, health, and well-being of their community.
b. Engineers shall not complete, sign, or seal plans and/or specifications that are not in
conformity with applicable engineering standards. If the client or employer insists on such
unprofessional conduct, they shall notify the proper authorities and withdraw from further
service on the project.

c. Engineers are encouraged to extend public knowledge and appreciation of engineering and its
achievements.

d. Engineers are encouraged to adhere to the principles of sustainable development1 in order to

protect the environment for future generations.
e. Engineers shall continue their professional development throughout their careers and should
keep current in their specialty fields by engaging in professional practice, participating in
continuing education courses, reading in the technical literature, and attending professional
meetings and seminar.

3. Engineers shall avoid all conduct or practice that deceives the public.
a. Engineers shall avoid the use of statements containing a material misrepresentation of fact or
omitting a material fact.
b. Consistent with the foregoing, engineers may advertise for recruitment of personnel.
c. Consistent with the foregoing, engineers may prepare articles for the lay or technical press, but
such articles shall not imply credit to the author for work performed by others.

4. Engineers shall not disclose, without consent, confidential information concerning the
business affairs or technical processes of any present or former client or employer, or
public body on which they serve.
a. Engineers shall not, without the consent of all interested parties, promote or arrange for new
employment or practice in connection with a specific project for which the engineer has gained
particular and specialized knowledge.

b. Engineers shall not, without the consent of all interested parties, participate in or represent an
adversary interest in connection with a specific project or proceeding in which the engineer has
gained particular specialized knowledge on behalf of a former client or employer.

5. Engineers shall not be influenced in their professional duties by conflicting interests.

a. Engineers shall not accept financial or other considerations, including free engineering
designs, from material or equipment suppliers for specifying their product.

b. Engineers shall not accept commissions or allowances, directly or indirectly, from contractors
or other parties dealing with clients or employers of the engineer in connection with work for
which the engineer is responsible.

6. Engineers shall not attempt to obtain employment or advancement or professional

engagements by untruthfully criticizing other engineers, or by other improper or
questionable methods.
a. Engineers shall not request, propose, or accept a commission on a contingent basis under
circumstances in which their judgment may be compromised.
b. Engineers in salaried positions shall accept part-time engineering work only to the extent
consistent with policies of the employer and in accordance with ethical considerations.

c. Engineers shall not, without consent, use equipment, supplies, laboratory, or office facilities of
an employer to carry on outside private practice.

7. Engineers shall not attempt to injure, maliciously or falsely, directly or indirectly, the
professional reputation, prospects, practice, or employment of other engineers. Engineers
who believe others are guilty of unethical or illegal practice shall present such information
to the proper authority for action.
a. Engineers in private practice shall not review the work of another engineer for the same client,
except with the knowledge of such engineer, or unless the connection of such engineer with the
work has been terminated.

b. Engineers in governmental, industrial, or educational employ are entitled to review and

evaluate the work of other engineers when so required by their employment duties.

c. Engineers in sales or industrial employ are entitled to make engineering comparisons of

represented products with products of other suppliers.

8. Engineers shall accept personal responsibility for their professional activities, provided,
however, those engineers may seek indemnification for services arising out of their practice
for other than gross negligence, where the engineer‟s interests cannot otherwise be
protected.
a. Engineers shall conform to state registration laws in the practice of engineering.

b. Engineers shall not use association with a non-engineer, a corporation, or partnership as a

―cloak‖ for unethical acts.

9. Engineers shall give credit for engineering work to those to whom credit is due, and will
recognize the proprietary interests of others.
a. Engineers shall, whenever possible, name the person or persons who may be individually
responsible for designs, inventions, writings, or other accomplishments.

b. Engineers using designs supplied by a client recognize that the designs remain the property of
the client and may not be duplicated by the engineer for others without express permission.
c. Engineers, before undertaking work for others in connection with which the engineer may
make improvements, plans, designs, inventions, or other records that may justify copyrights or
patents, should enter into a positive agreement regarding ownership.

d. Engineers‘ designs, data, records, and notes referring exclusively to an employer‘s work are
the employer‘s property. The employer should indemnify the engineer for use of the information
for any purpose other than the original purpose.

Reasons why Engineers Stray from the Code of Ethics

There are two main reasons why Engineers often stray from their code of ethics.

a. The first reason is because they are overconfident in their work, which in turn causes
them to neglect things that might be wrong with it. They may overlook small mistakes or
remain stubborn about their beliefs because they think highly of their education level.
However, in engineering, these small mistakes might be the very thing that causes a
disaster (e.g. the Challenger and O-rings).

b. Another reason why Engineers stray is that they are impatient. They are excited about
their work and want to see it in action in the world, so they send it out before it‘s ready.
Sometimes it is not even their fault, but the fault of their authority figures (i.e. boss or
managers). Their authority figures can be impatient and give them a short deadline to
work on the project. Impatience does not allow room for iterations of the processes
involved in design, testing, and implementing a product or project. Iterations are often
needed to increase confidence that the product will work and that, more importantly, it
will work safely.
 CHAPTER XI

Holistic human being through holistic education in just order

What is Holistic Education?

Holistic education is a comprehensive approach to teaching where educators seek to address the
emotional, social, ethical, and academic needs of students in an integrated learning format.

It is based on the philosophy of ‗holism‘. It involves the integration of multiple layers of

meaning and experience through direct engagement with the environment. Holistic education is
more concerned with drawing forth the latent capacities and sensitivities of the soul than with
stuffing passive young minds with pre-digested information. It is an education that prepares
young people to live purposefully, creatively, and morally in a complex world.

To understand the meaning of holistic education, we need to recognize two principles:

a. Firstly, an education that connects the person to the world must start with the person—
not some abstract image of the human being, but with the unique, living, breathing boy or
girl, young man or woman (or mature person, for that matter) who is in the teacher‘s
presence. Each person is a dynamic constellation of experiences, feelings, ideas, dreams,
fears, and hopes.

b. Secondly, we must respond to the learner with an open, inquisitive mind and a sensitive
understanding of the world he or she is growing into.

Holistic education expresses an ecological consciousness; it recognizes that everything in the

world exists in context. This involves a deep respect for the integrity of the biosphere, if not a
sense of reverence for nature. It is a worldview that embraces diversity, both natural and cultural.
It shuns ideology, categorization, and fixed answers, and instead appreciates the flowing
interrelatedness of all life.

Thus, holistic education is essentially a democratic education, concerned with both individual
freedom and social responsibility. It is education for a culture of peace, for sustainability and
ecological literacy, and for the development of humanity‘s inherent morality and spirituality.

History of Holistic Education

Compared to other philosophies of education, the school of holistic education is a relatively new
movement that only coalesced in the 1980s. Holistic education was a response to the existing
framework of education that dominated at the time, known as a mechanistic worldview of
instruction. However, proponents of holistic education did not specify any one method or
technique for teaching. Instead, holistic education was conceived as a challenge to traditional
assumptions about how to best teach students.

The origins of holistic education can be traced to ancient concepts of instruction that emphasized
the whole person rather than an individual segment of the person‘s experience. As only two
examples, both native indigenous cultures and the ancient Greeks conceived of the world as a
single whole. Using this as a reference frame, education cannot be separated from the rest of a
person‘s experience. Enlightenment ideals that emphasized analytical and scientific reason
downplayed the intimate and emotional connections that individuals had with their surrounding
world.

By the 20th century, there was a shift back toward emphasizing the whole of the human
experience. The Waldorf school movement tried to bring together a student‘s intellectual,
artistic, and practical skills using an integrated, holistic approach. The Montessori school
movement also placed emphasis on the spiritual qualities of the child and not just the intellectual
aspect. Maria Montessori, founder of the Montessori movement, felt that people underwent a
spiritual development that best occurred within a nurturing environment. The 20th century
therefore saw several approaches to holistic education, though there was no single idea about
how to implement it.

Key elements of holistic development

When we talk about the holistic development of a child, we need to understand that it is the
overall development that matters. Thus, holistic growth seeks to target child personality
development in the following ways:

Cognitive
Cognitive development relates to the brain and its development, i.e., the child‘s intelligence. An
average brain develops up to 90% of its potential by the age of 5, so children entering preschool
are already nearing full development in terms of cranial capacity.

It is a well-known fact that young minds are quicker at absorbing information and noticing as
well as adopting certain activities and behaviors. With proper guidance, these fresh minds can
master much more. Cognitive development involves thinking, problem-solving, and
understanding of concepts and is one of the vital elements of holistic development. It is a very
important factor in the holistic development of a child.

Language
Language and speech are integral parts of an upbringing process. Speaking well and articulating
are necessary skills in today‘s world. Below the age of 5, children capture linguistic abilities fast
and bloom well. Since the brain develops rapidly, it is necessary to stimulate sight, sounds, and
speech patterns. Children start with small words in their mother tongue and slowly move on to
complex sentences. Gradually, the shift is made towards other languages, commonly English or a
third language, and is the second most crucial element in the holistic development of the child.

Social-Emotional
Bringing up the social and emotional sides of the brain requires students to go through
experiences that allow provisions for positive relationships while exercising control of
emotions. Trust and security are fundamental parts of this, without which a child may grow up to
be unhinged.

A child in his/her developmental years is most vulnerable and requires attention and affection.
Security found with trusted adults leads to attachments and a strong foundation for future
emotional links as they learn to be confident and secure in their abilities and sense of self.
Therefore, as the third most important element of holistic development, it is necessary that
teachers and parents maintain a secure and friendly environment for a child to ensure holistic
growth.
Jobs in the education sector these days require training of the caregivers so that they can
encourage young minds in self-restraint or control over their rampant emotions and
understanding of feelings inside. As the brain develops, children are overwhelmed by various
new and fluctuating emotions like anger and sadness.

There is a need for assistance in order to teach them to take charge of these emotions. Anger
management, dealing with sensitivity, depression, ego, etc. are aspects of healthy social-
emotional development. This ensures a child is more open to other forms of development
involved in the holistic approach.

Physical
It is common knowledge that children are little balls of unbridled energy. This energy is essential
to make the necessary neural connections for overall holistic growth. Thus, exercise and
movement of any form lead to increased blood flow in the body.

With increasing blood flow to the brain, the child becomes capable of acquiring new information
and concepts. It is the development of the gross and fine motor skills that enable a child to be
healthy and fit. Not only that, children learn to be more aware of their sensory understandings
and recognize their implications to implement well in the future.

Basic Principles of Holistic Education

a. Freedom of Choice

Students and parents should have opportunities for real choice at every stage of the
learning process. Genuine education can only take place in an atmosphere of freedom.
Freedom of inquiry, of expression, and of personal growth is all required. In general,
students should be allowed authentic choices in their learning. They should have a
significant voice in determining curriculum and disciplinary procedures, according to
their ability to assume such responsibility.

b. Honouring Students as Individuals

Each learner is unique, inherently creative, with individual needs and abilities. This
means welcoming personal differences and fostering in each student a sense of tolerance,
respect, and appreciation for human diversity. Each individual is inherently creative, has
unique physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual needs and abilities, and possesses
an unlimited capacity to learn.

c. The Central Role of Experience

Education is a matter of experience and learning is primarily experiential. Learning is an

active, multisensory engagement between an individual and the world, a mutual contact
which empowers the learner and reveals the rich meaningfulness of the world.
 Experience is dynamic and ever growing. The goal of education must be to nurture
natural, healthy growth through experience, and not to present a limited, fragmented, pre-
digested ―curriculum‖ as the path to knowledge and wisdom.

d. Holistic Education

The concept of ―wholeness‖ should be at the core of the educational process. Wholeness
implies that each academic discipline provides merely a different perspective on the rich,
complex, integrated phenomenon of life. Holistic education celebrates and makes
constructive use of evolving, alternate views of reality and multiple ways of knowing. It
is not only the intellectual and vocational aspects of human development that need
guidance and nurturance, but also the physical, social, moral, aesthetic, creative, and —
in a non-sectarian sense — spiritual aspects.

e. New Role of Educators

Many of today‘s educators have become caught in the trappings of competitive

professionalism: tightly controlled credentials and certification, jargon and special
techniques, and a professional aloofness from the spiritual, moral and emotional issues
inevitably involved in the process of human growth. Holistic educator holds, rather, that
educators ought to be facilitators of learning, which is an organic, natural process and not
a product that can be turned out on demand. Teachers require the autonomy to design and
implement learning environments that are appropriate to the needs of their particular
students.

f. Educating for Human Development

The primary purpose of education is to nourish the inherent possibilities of human

development. Schools must be places that facilitate the whole development of all
learners. Learning must the deepening of relationships to self, to family and community
members, to the global community, to the planet, and to the cosmos.

g. Educating for a Participatory Democracy

Education should be based on democratic values and should empower all citizens to
participate in meaningful ways in the life of the community and the planet. The building
of a truly democratic society means far more than allowing people to vote for their
leaders— it means empowering individuals to take an active part in the affairs of their
community. A truly democratic society is more than the ―rule of the majority‖ — it is a
community in which disparate voices are heard and genuine human concerns are
addressed. It is a society open to constructive change when social or cultural change is
required.
 h. Educating for Global Citizenship

Each individual is a global citizen. Education therefore, should be an appreciation for the
magnificent diversity of human experience. Human experience is vastly wider than any
single culture‘s values or ways of thinking. In the emerging global community, we are
being brought into contact with diverse cultures and worldviews as never before in
history. Holistic educator believes that it is time for education to nurture an appreciation
for the magnificent diversity of human experience and for the lost or still uncharted
potentials within all human beings.

i. Educating for Earth Literacy

Education must spring organically from a profound reverence for life in all its forms and
nurture a relationship between humans and the natural world.. We must rekindle a
relationship between the human and the natural world that is nurturing, not exploitive.
This is at the very core of our vision for the twenty-first century. The planet Earth is a
vastly complex, but fundamentally unitary living system, an oasis of life in the dark void
of space.

j. Spirituality and Education

Holistic educator believes that all people are spiritual beings in human form who express
their individuality through their talents, abilities, intuition, and intelligence. Just as the
individual develops physically, emotionally, and intellectually, each person also develops
spiritually. Spiritual experience and development manifest as a deep connection to self
and others, a sense of meaning and purpose in daily life, an experience of the wholeness
and interdependence of life, a respite from the frenetic activity, pressure and over-
stimulation of contemporary life, the fullness of creative experience, and a profound
respect for the numinous mystery of life.

Holistic Education Methods

The goal of holistic education is to cultivate a developing child‘s physical, emotional, moral,
psychological, and spiritual attributes. Serving the whole child means providing opportunities
that are personalized to a child‘s skills and feelings. Lessons are conducted in a safe, supportive
environment that allows students to utilize their individual strengths.

Educational Models
Experiential Learning: Schools focused on experiential learning provide hands-on educational
experiences. For instance, students might work in groups exploring different learning styles to
determine which styles are most effective for them. Holistic, experiential techniques often
include problem-solving exercises to address community problems or create innovative products.

Self-Guided Learning: In self-guided educational environments, teachers allow students to

learn at their own pace in the style that best suits them. The self-guided culture allows for
personalization to mitigate the inadequacies of one-size-fits-all learning models. Low-stakes
assessments are used to adjust the curriculum‘s content and pace. Classrooms may be smaller
and contain students of different ages and ability levels.

Community Schools: Community schools are based on the idea that people find meaning
through connections with their community. Teachers partner with community members,
including families, residents, organizations, and officials, to provide integrated support and
expanded learning opportunities, including after-school and summer programs. Schools are a hub
of the community bringing together academic, social, development, and engagement activities.

Interdisciplinary Coursework: Part of what makes up holistic education is the idea that
students‘ cognitive growth is improved when multiple subjects are addressed together. Some
schools are creating integrated programs where teachers from different disciplines come together
to teach thematic courses that address issues from multiple perspectives. Coursework might also
include independent research, travel, fieldwork, and internships.

Benefits of Holistic Education

Holistic education is based on a learning philosophy that brings a number of benefits to students,
teachers, schools, and communities. Students are empowered to improve their educational
outcomes and gain the life skills necessary to take on a successful professional career.

i. Improved Academic Achievement: Holistic education can improve the academic

achievements of all children, regardless of background and circumstances, by catering
to individual learning styles and providing a supportive learning environment.
Children‘s brain capacities are increased when they feel physically and emotionally
safe and connected to others, according to the Learning Policy Institute.

ii. Enhanced Mental and Emotional Well-Being: In a supportive environment, where

social and emotional learning is emphasized along with academics, students have a
better chance of emerging with self-awareness, confidence, and a sense of social
responsibility.

iii. Increased Problem-Solving Ability: Students who are tasked with solving real-
world problems that exist in their communities emerge with strong critical-thinking
skills. These hands-on projects give students skills that will apply to their adult
 careers, such as how to gather, analyse, and report data and how to collaborate with
others.

iv. Reduced Impact of Inequities: By emphasizing integrated learning concepts, the

whole-child approach to education has been shown to reduce the psychological
impact of issues such as violence, abuse, or poverty on academic achievement,
according to the Learning Policy Institute.

Conclusions

Holistic education is an approach to pedagogy that can meet the needs of all types of learners,
which can be a source of fulfilment and gratification for teachers, and that repairs future citizen
who will contribute a concern and mindfulness for others, for their communities, and for the
planet. It is compatible with both global education and environmental education, which are also
based on the principles of interdependence and connectedness. Based on this interdependent
perspective, holistic education seeks to create a society where we live in harmony with the
surrounding environment. It rejects consumerism as the dominant mode of being in modern
society. Instead, it seeks an education that is rooted in the fundamental realities of nature and
existence. Holistic education seeks to connect the part with the whole. We have tended in
education to forget the larger vision of wholeness and connectedness, and holistic education calls
on us to restore that vision. Such a vision, of course, is a primary goal of Education for
Sustainability.

Overall, we can describe holistic education as containing the following broad characteristics: 1)
it nurtures the development of the whole person; 2) it revolves around relationships (egalitarian,
open, and democratic relationships); 3) it is concerned with life experiences (instead of ―basic
skills‖); 4) it ―recognizes that cultures are created by people and can be changed by people‖
(instead of conforming and replicating an established culture);and 5) it is founded upon a ―deep
reverence for life and for the unknown (and never fully knowable) source of life.‖