Unit I

1. What do you mean by Value or Human Value?

Human Values:
a) Human values are the goodness that guides us to take into account the human element
when we interact with other human beings.
b) Human values are, for example, respect, acceptance, consideration, appreciation,
listening, openness, affection, empathy and love towards other human beings.
c) It is with those human values that one becomes truly able to put into practice his/her
ethical values, such as justice, integrity, refusal of violence.
d) They are the values that permit us to live together in harmony, and personally
contribute to peace.
e) Human values are a tool to manage human relations and a tool for peace when the
tension is high.

2. What are the fundamental values of human beings?

The five core (fundamental) human values are: (1) Right conduct, (2) Peace, (3) Truth, (4)
Love, and (5) Non-violence.
1. Values related to right conduct are:
a) Self-help skills: Care of possessions, diet, hygiene, modesty, posture, self reliance,
and tidy appearance.
b) Social skills: Good behaviour, good manners, good relationships, helpfulness, No
wastage, and good environment.
c) Ethical skills: Code of conduct, courage, dependability, duty, efficiency, ingenuity,
initiative, perseverance, punctuality, resourcefulness, respect for all, and
responsibility.

2. Values related to peace are: Attention, calmness, concentration, contentment, dignity,

discipline, equality, equanimity, faithfulness, focus, gratitude, happiness, harmony, humility,
inner silence, optimism, patience, reflection, satisfaction, self-acceptance, self-confidence,
self-control, self-discipline, self-esteem, self-respect, sense control, tolerance, and
understanding.

3. Values related to truth are: Accuracy, curiosity, discernment, fairness, fearlessness,

honesty, integrity (unity of thought, word, and deed), intuition, justice, optimism, purity,
quest for knowledge, reason, self-analysis, sincerity, sprit of enquiry, synthesis, trust,
truthfulness, and determination.

4. Values related to love are: Acceptance, affection, care, compassion, consideration,

dedication, devotion, empathy, forbearance, forgiveness, friendship, generosity, gentleness,
humanness, interdependence, kindness, patience, patriotism, reverence, sacrifice, selflessness,
service, sharing, sympathy, thoughtfulness, tolerance and trust.

5. Values related to non-violence are:

a) Psychological: Benevolence, compassion, concern for others, consideration,
forbearance, forgiveness, manners, happiness, loyalty, morality, and universal love
b) Social: Appreciation of other cultures and religions, brotherhood, care of
environment, citizenship, equality, harmlessness, national awareness, perseverance,
respect for property, and social justice.
3. What are the two factors of Human Value? Explain.
1. Assertiveness: It is the ability to honestly express your opinions, feelings, attitudes,
and rights, without undue anxiety. This behaviour earns the individual respect from
others, while the others treat him with love as he is a man of self-respect.
2. Self-Monitoring: Individuals high in self-monitoring show adaptability in adjusting
their behaviour to external, situational factors. They are highly sensitive to external
cues and behave differently in different situations.

4. How Values differ from skills? How are values and skills complementary?
OR
“For success in any human endeavour both values and skill are required”. Explain.
1. Values mean importance or participation and skills means qualities, training, and
capabilities. To fulfill our aspirations both values and skills are necessary.
2. When we identify and set the right goals and produced in right direction. This is
known as value domain, the domain of wisdom.
3. Basically we must know what really is useful to achieve human happiness, the
happiness to all and for all the time. And when we learn and practices to actualize this
goal to develop the techniques to make this happen in real life, in various dimensions
of human endeavour (struggle). This is known as domain of skills.
4. Hence, there is an essential complementarity between values and skills for the success
of any human endeavour.
5. For example, I want to lead a healthy life.
i. Only wishing for good health will not help me keep my body fit and healthy
and without having understood the meaning of health, I will not be able to
choose things correctly to keep my body fit and healthy.
ii. So I have to learn the skills to achieve the goal of good health i.e., food to be
consumed, the physical workout to be designed.

5. What is value education? What is the importance of value education?

OR
Explain briefly the importance of value based education for the development of a
society.
Value Education:
1. The subject that enables us to understand ‘what is valuable’ for human happiness is
called value education.
2. Value education is important to help everyone in improving the value system that
he/she holds and puts it to use.
3. Once, one has understood his/ her values in life he/she can examine and control the
various choices he/she makes in his/ her life.
Importance of value education:
1. Value education helps us to explore our inner happiness.
2. It helps us to remove the ignorance, which covers our inner knowledge.
3. It helps us to build up strong relation.
4. It helps us to actualize the potential which already exists within us.
5. It helps us to visualize our goals clearly.
6. It teaches us to be in harmony with self, people and nature.
7. It reduces the feeling of jealousy and promotes brotherhood.
8. It widens our perception towards analyzing things.
9. It helps us in building our thoughts and thus character.
10. It helps us to understand our needs and provides direction to fulfill them.
6. Explain the need or importance of Value Education.
1. The subject that enables us to understand ‘what is valuable’ for human happiness is
called value education.
2. The present education system has become largely skill-based.
3. The prime emphasis is on science and technology. However, science and technology
can only help to provide the means to achieve what is considered valuable.
4. It is not within the scope of science and technology to provide the competence of
deciding what really is valuable.
5. Value Education is a crucial missing link in the present education system.
6. Because of this deficiency, most of our efforts may prove to be counterproductive
and serious crises at the individual, societal and environmental level are manifesting.

7. What are the basic guidelines for value education? Explain.

Basic Guidelines of Value Education:
Value education must be imparted in an efficient manner and should follow widely valuable
guidelines so that it is effective and useful for individuals with different sets of beliefs and
world-views.
1. Universal: Value education should be universal in nature; in other words it must be
universally applicable to all human beings and should be true at all times and all places. It
can’t work if it is limited to a particular religion, sect, nationality or any such group.

2. Rational: It must be rational then only it will appeal to an individual’s intellect. If it is

based on blind beliefs or dogmas, it will be rejected by the educated person.

3. Natural and Verifiable: Value education must be natural and verifiable. It should be
natural in the sense that it should be acceptable in a natural manner to all human beings, so
that it brings the natural order of happiness and contentment to the individual. These values
should also be verifiable, as only if they are valid they will hold any meaning for the
individual.

4. All Encompassing: Value education must be all encompassing because it must take into
account all dimensions of our living. It can only transform our consciousness and living if it
pervades our thoughts, our behaviour and our work at all levels such as the individual, family,
society and nature.

5. Leading to Harmony: Lastly, the main aim of value education is to enable us to be in

harmony within ourselves and in harmony with other humans and the rest of nature.

8. What should be the content of value education?

Content of Value Education:
1. The content of value education must include :
• All dimensions: Thought, behaviour, work, and realization; and
• All levels: Individual, family, society, nature and existence of human living.
2. It must have a clear understanding of each of these and their interrelationship i.e., harmony
underlying all of them.

9. What should be the process of value education?

Process of Value Education:
1. The process of value education has to be that of self exploration, and not of giving
sermons or telling dos and don’ts.
2. Whatever is found as truth or reality may be stated as proposal and has to be verified
at the own right.
3. It is process of dialogue between ‘What you are’ and ‘What you really want to be’.
4. It is a process of knowing oneself and through that knowing entire existence.
5. It is a process of recognizing one’s relation with every unit in existence and fulfilling
it.
6. This process of self exploration helps you be in harmony within yourself and in
harmony with everything around.

10. Define self exploration. What is the basic content of self-exploration?

Self Exploration:
1. Self exploration is the process to find out what is valuable to me by investigating
within myself, what is right for me, true for me, has to be judged within myself.
2. Through self exploration we get the value of our self. We live with different entirety
(family, friends, air, soil, water, trees, etc.) and we want to understand our relationship
with all these.
3. For this we need to start observing inside. The main focus of self-exploration is
myself - the human being.

Basic Contents of Self Exploration:

Content of self exploration is just finding answers to the following fundamental questions of
all human beings:
1. The Desire/Goal: What are my (human) Desire/ Goal? What do I really want in life,
or what is the goal of human life?
2. Program: What is my (human) program for fulfilling the desire? How to fulfill it?
What is the program to actualize the above?

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

11. Explain the Self-exploration with a diagram.

The process of self exploration is as follows:
1. First of all we have to keep in mind that, whatever is being presented in a proposal.
a) Don’t assume it to be true immediately, nor reject it without proper
exploration.
b) Verify it in your own right, on the basis of it being naturally acceptable to you,
c) Not just on the basis of scriptures.
d) Not on the basis of equipment/instrument data.
e) Not on the basis of the assertion by other human beings.
2. Therefore, it is essential to carefully ponder over these on your own right. Neither accept
these as true immediately nor reject them prematurely without proper exploration.
3. Then what to do:
a) Verify on the basis of your natural acceptance.
b) Live accordingly to validate it experientially.
c) If the proposal is true in behaviour with human it leads to mutual happiness.
d) If the proposal is true in work with rest of the nature it leads to mutual prosperity.
4. The process is shown in the Fig below:
5. But this process is not complete. It will be completed when the verification on the basis of
natural acceptance and testing in our living ultimately results in ‘realization’ and
‘understanding’ in us.
6. On having realization and understanding we get assurance, satisfaction and Universality
(applies to all time, space and individual).
7. For example: A proposal ‘respect’ is a value in human relation. When I verify at the level
of natural acceptance, I find that it is naturally acceptable to me. Similarly, when I behave
with respect, it is mutually fulfilling to me and to the other. Thus the proposal is ‘True’. If it
fails on any of the two tests, it is untrue. This verification leads to realization of the
truthfulness of the proposal and it becomes part and parcel of my understanding. It is
reflected in my thoughts and in my behaviour.

12. How does preconditioning hinder our process of self-exploration?

1. We operate largely on the basis of the environment, driven from the outside - either
from sensations, or based on pre- conditionings.
2. If our desires, thoughts and expectations are based on pre-conditionings, we are
generally in a state of great confusion. This leads to confusion, unhappiness, conflict
and stress.
3. For example we have a preconditioning of “good life means having a nice car.”

13. What do you mean by your natural acceptance and experiential validation?
Natural Acceptance:
1. Natural acceptance is a mechanism of self exploration.
2. Self exploration is a method to explore our self.
3. Natural acceptance implies unconditional and total acceptance of the self, people and
environment.
4. It also refers to the absence of any exception from others.
5. In other words, Natural acceptance is a way to accept the good things naturally.

Experiential Validation:
1. Experiential validation is a process that infuses direct experience with the learning
environment and content.
2. Most of what we know about our self is not only through our own opinion of our self but
also because of how others view us.
3. When what we already believe to be true of us is validated by some situations, phenomena
or outcomes. We may term it as experiential validation.

14. What are the basic aspirations of a human being? Define and explain.
Following are the basic aspirations of a human being:
1. Every Human Being aspires to be happy. All his efforts are toward this end. The outcome
from his efforts depends on the focus of the effort, specifically on his notions about
happiness.
2. When these notions are right, the outcome is mutual happiness. When the notions are
wrong, the outcome is unhappiness.
3. On closer observation, we can see that every human being aspires for a way of life which
ensures happiness for all human beings living in harmony with nature.
4. At an individual level, happiness is harmony and integration among all four dimensions
within the self - Thought, Behaviour, Work and Realization.
5. At the level of society, individuals aspire to ensure harmony and integration among four
levels - Individual, Family, Society and Nature.
6. This is the aspiration; this is the desire, this is the innate need of every human being,
regardless of age, gender, caste, creed, nation and beliefs.

15. How you look at your basic aspirations. Is it ‘To Be’, ‘To Get’, ‘To Become’? Justify
your right priority with examples.
A. Basic Aspirations:
1. The basic root of all our aspirations and the resulting actions are continuous happiness and
prosperity.
2. All our wants result from the basis of our desire to be happy.
3. Whether we want the highest marks or the best job, the underlying desire is to attain
continuous happiness.
4. Every time we achieve a particular ‘want’, we want more as we want this feeling to
continue.
5. Similarly, when we have more than enough of physical facilities, we feel a sense of
prosperity, which is also vital to our sense of happiness.
6. So both continuous happiness and prosperity are the main reasons for all our endeavours.

B. It is ‘To Be’, ‘To Get’, ‘To Become’:

1. Let us say, you want to be the first ranker in the class. Now, behind this desire to get the
first rank, is there a more basic desire? Why do you want to get the first rank? If you keep
asking this question, you will find that there is a basic desire. What is this desire, is it to be
happy? Yes, it is.
2. Take any other want or desire and you will find the same thing. You will find that each of
you wants emerges from the basic aspiration to be happy. This can be verified by each one of
you.
16. Explain the basic requirement for fulfilment of human aspirations. Write down the
concept of SSSS with the help of diagram.
1. Three things are needed in order to fulfill basic human aspirations-right understanding,
right relationship and physical facilities.
2. Human aspirations are the things which all human beings aspire for. Aspirations stand for
our longings and deep desires. Hence, the basic aspirations or deep desires of all human
beings are only happiness and prosperity. In respect to fulfill these aspirations we need such
things to satisfy our basic needs like, food, clothing and shelter etc. Moreover, these
aspirations of human being may be fulfilled, if he/she is following the right order. The basic
requirements for fulfilment of human aspirations are:
i. Right Understanding: Right understanding helps us to decide how we work for physical
facilities and maintain feelings of different relationship with others. It is one of the major
tools for fulfilment of our aspirations, which basically need the transformation from animal
consciousness to human consciousness. The theory of coexistence (to live together) is
basically needed to comprehend the surroundings.
ii. Relationship: In nature to create harmony there is a basic need for affectionate relations
with other individuals. We need relationship based on love, understanding, care and respect
so that no doubt leads the way
of happiness and prosperity.
iii. Physical Facilities: Physical facilities like food, clothes, shelter and protection are the
basic need of all human beings. It is the right sense of understanding which makes us capable
to fulfill them as required.
Concept of SSSS:
1. Having physical facilities and feeling happy and prosperous.
a) Such people can be said to be materially affluent, happy and prosperous or ‘Sadhan
Sampann Sukhi Samridh’.
b) The short form for this can be written as: SSSS!
2. Thus, we can conclude the following: We need to work for all three, and this is the order in
which we have to work :
a) Right understanding
b) Relationship
c) Physical facilities
3. Working with this order, we are able to ensure mutual fulfilment with human beings and
mutual prosperity with the rest of nature.

17. What are the abbreviations given as SVDD, SSDD and SSSS signify and explain each of
them?
To achieve our basic aspirations we need to work for right understanding as the base on
which we can work for relationship and then physical facilities.
Today we are not working according to this that why we can see that there are two kind of
people in the world:
a) Those that do not have physical facilities/ wealth and feel unhappy and deprived, i.e.,
SVDD: Sadhan Viheen Dukhi Daridra – Materially Deficient, Unhappy and Deprived.
b) Those that have physical facilities/ wealth and feel unhappy and deprived, i.e., SSDD:
Sadhan Sampann Dukhi Daridra - Materially Affluent, Unhappy and Deprived. But
these are states we don’t want to be in.
c) We want to move from this to third category, i.e., having physical facilities and
feeling happy and prosperous, i.e., SSSS: Sadhan Sampann Sukhi Samriddha -
Materially Adequate, Happy and Prosperous.
d) Presently, as we look around, we find most of the people in the above two categories
called SVDD and SSDD, while the natural acceptance of all human beings is to be in
the category of SSSS.

18. Define happiness, unhappiness and prosperity.

Happiness:
1. Happiness results from a variety of feelings that are effortless and comes naturally to us.
2. Trust, honesty, respect, confidence, etc., are feelings that we welcome with open arms at
all times.
3. They lead us to a state of harmony within us and with others around us. For instance if a
person trusts a friend, they feel a sense of mutual harmony, which is also reflected in their
interactions with others around them.
4. Thus, happiness is a state where there is harmony all around.

Unhappiness:
1. Unhappiness is the result of any kind of contradiction struggle or conflict within us or with
any other person.
2. For instance, if a person does not trust a friend, both of them will feel uncomfortable and
will not like the situation.
3. So mistrust, dishonesty, lack of respect and lack of confidence are some feelings that lead
to unhappiness.

Prosperity:
1. It is clear that prosperity is linked to material possessions or ‘physical facilities’.
2. All the physical things we need to take care of our body needs constitute these physical
facilities.
3. Once we have enough of these physical facilities, we feel prosperous. Thus, prosperity is
the feeling of having more than enough physical facilities.
4. To understand prosperity, we need to correctly assess the need of physical facilities and be
able to make available more than enough of these facilities.

19. Can happiness be obtained without prosperity? Explain.

Or
Is prosperity different from happiness? Explain.
1. Happiness and prosperity are not related to each other.
2. Prosperity helps to remain in state of happiness but it doesn't push towards happiness.
3. There are so many stories depicting about how a beggar lives a happy and self content life
while a king has wealth but he is unhappy and unsatisfied.
4. Prosperity leads oneself to reduce tensions in day to day life, but if someone is greedy and
thrive for more wealth then it can’t.
5. Good health, right attitude towards life, honesty these things leads to happiness.

20. Critically examine the prevailing notions of happiness and prosperity and their
consequences.
OR
What is your vision of happy and prosperous life?
1. We are trying to achieve happiness and prosperity by maximizing accumulation and
consumption of physical facilities.
2. It is becoming anti-ecological and anti-people, and threatening the human survival itself.
Some of the consequences of such trend are summarized below :
3. At the level of individual - rising problems of depression, psychological disorders,
suicides, stress, insecurity, etc.
4. At the level of family - breaking of joint families, mistrust, and conflict between older and
younger generations, insecurity in relationships, divorce, dowry tortures, etc.
5. At the level of society - growing incidence of terrorism and naxalism, rising communalism,
spreading casteism, racial and ethnic struggle, wars between nations, etc.
6. At the level of nature - global warming, water, air, soil, noise etc. pollution, resource
depletion of minerals and mineral oils, etc.
7. All the problems are a direct outcome of an incorrect understanding, our wrong notion
about happiness and prosperity and their continuity.

21. What is the difference between prosperity and wealth? How are the two related?
Or
Differentiate between prosperity and wealth with examples.

Difference between Prosperity and Wealth:

Sl. Prosperity Wealth
No.
1 Prosperity refers to the state of having Wealth refers to the state of being rich
an abundance of material assets and or having an abundance of material
money as well as other contributing assets and money.
factors like health and happiness.
2 Prosperity is derived from the adjective Wealth is the origin of the adjective
prosperous. wealthy.
3 Prosperity includes wealth as well as Wealth is a kind of prosperity.
other factors.

Relation between Prosperity and Wealth:

1. Wealth is a kind of prosperity.
2. Prosperity includes wealth as well as other factors.

22. How can you say that you are prosperous?

1. We are trying to achieve happiness and prosperity by maximizing accumulation and
consumption of physical facilities.
2. It is becoming anti-ecological and anti-people, and threatening the human survival itself.
3. For prosperity, two things are required:
a) Identification of the required quantity of physical facilities, and
b) Ensuring availability / production of more than required physical facilities.
4. We can be prosperous only if there is a limit to the need for physical facilities. If there is
no limit what so ever be the availability the feeling of prosperity cannot be assured.
5. Secondly, just assessing the need is not enough. We need to be able to produce or make
available more than the perceived need.

23. What are the symptoms of a happy person? Describe.

Though it may come in different forms for different people, most human beings are in pursuit
of the same thing, i.e., happiness.
1. They live their life with integrity: Living a life that’s in line with your own values and
belief is important for happiness.
2. They have embraced living in the moment: You’re fully awake and aware, and
concentrate your energies on enjoying the present, rather than worrying about the past or the
future.
3. They express gratitude regularly: Being grateful for the things you have-and sharing that
gratitude-will lead to feelings of satisfaction and happiness.
4. Their work satisfies them: If you find satisfaction in the things you do, then you’re well
on your way to living a happy life.
5. They enjoy harmonious relationships: Practice respect and patience as you go about
your day, whether you’re interacting with family, co-workers or with your partner.
6. They aren’t afraid of change: Stay open to the opportunities change can bring.
7. They enjoy the simple things: Taking pleasure in small things will help you build a big
picture of happiness.

24. Differentiate between human and animal consciousness.

Difference between Human and Animal Consciousness:
1. Human and animal consciousness comes into play with regard to physical facilities.
2. Physical facilities can easily be termed as living in animal consciousness since one is only
concerned with satisfying physical urges or desires.
3. For instance, your pet dog will be happy with the food you give it and be content after
eating.
4. It does not think about how the food was prepared or presented to it. However, for human,
it becomes very important to cook food in different ways and to present it nicely on the
dining table.
5. Thus, physical facilities are not everything that a human being desires. This is what
differentiates humans from animals.
6. Living with right understanding, relationship and physical facilities together is called
human consciousness.
7. The transformation from animal consciousness to human consciousness is integral for
humans.
8. This qualitative improvement in consciousness is what makes us different from animals.

25. What are the four levels of our living? Explain them.
OR
What are the different levels of human being? Explain how they are interrelated?
Levels of Living:
There are four levels of livings:
1. Living in myself.
2. Living in family.
3. Living in Society.
4. Living in nature/existence.
All these four levels are crucial to our existence in a harmonious state.

1. Living in Myself: The first level of our living is living in myself. Our thoughts, desires
and choices make each one of us unique. Before we express ourselves, we think and this
internal process is the Self. The inner world or Self co-exists with the body and together we
refer to this as a human being. Understanding this Self is extremely important because we
mostly assume things about ourselves based on the unending conditions that we are subject to
from childhood. It is important to break these assumptions and get to know ourselves. Testing
our beliefs and passing them through our own natural acceptance can help us to achieve this.

2. Living in Family: The next level of our living is living in the family, which includes our
parents, siblings, friends, classmates, teachers, etc. This is our first set of relationships and
we interact with them on a daily basis. When we try to understand ourselves better, we end
up understanding each of them better as well. Also understanding their expectations helps us
to live in harmony within family and society.

3. Living in Society: Living in society is a level that is lined with living in family since
family is a sub group of the larger group society. Society is composed of all people that we
come into contact directly or indirectly and all people upon whom we depend directly or
indirectly. The human system involving interdependencies related to food, clothing, housing,
health, education etc., is called society. And as we understand ourselves and our family
better, we also begin to understand society in a better manner.

4. Living in Nature / Existence: Last, but not the least, we live in nature and this large eco-
system is necessary for the survival of the individual, the family and society. We need to
understand nature in order to be able to engage with it in a relationship that leads to mutual
fulfilment.

***