Education and the Awakening of Consciousness: A New World

In the previous article “Old Paradigms” we explained how education orientates society through its individuals. So it’s up to us to change internally, through our values and attitudes, stop replicating this flawed model that clearly harms us, hindering the process of intimate self-realization.

Every day we hear more tragedies, people die and kill, without any connection with the life that pulses within. In the work of awakening consciousness, as we becoming more lucid, we can choose not to contribute to this madness which arose as normal in our society.

“Furthermore, society does not want individuals who are alert, keen, revolutionary, because such individuals will not fit into the established social pattern and they may break it up. That is why society seeks to hold your mind in its pattern, and why your so-called education encourages you to imitate, to follow, to conform.” (Jiddu Krishnamurti)

Each of us seeking the Truth, those engaged in their practices and living the Gnosis inside knows how long they spent languishing in the dark to then seek the Light. If we envision a possibility that our children can develop self-consciously and connected with the universal cosmic energy, the heart, the Divine, the inner Christ, then why not change?

“What good is education if we do not become creative, conscious and truly intelligent? True education does not consist in knowing how to read and write. Any moron can learn to read and write. We must be intelligent, and intelligence only awakens within when consciousness awakens.” (Samael Aun Weor)

Then that little voice in your head says: “But who can assure me that this works? And what if it doesn’t work?” Well, spiritually we know there are no guarantees, everything is impermanent and the only thing certain in life is death. Besides, with the situation we have now, it’s easy to see that it’s not working, everything is crumbling and people are ignorant of themselves, immersed in the misery of the soul. So what do we have to lose? Only the clinging to the ego illusions.

Education for the self-realization of Being

If we look around us with a contemplative view, we facilitate the internal connection, since the Divine is in absolutely everything that exists – including the gray skies, the grouchy neighbor and in each one of us with all our faults. We are children of God in development, growing to become One.

In the Gospel of Thomas there’s a story:

“Jesus said, “If those who lead you say to you, ‘See, the kingdom is in the sky,’ then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, ‘It is in the sea,’ then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father.”

In children the Light is evident and it shines so brightly because they have just come down from the Great Divine Consciousness and are still impregnated by it. The younger the child, the purer the spirit in this existence, fraught and full of life. Our work in education, in fact, is with us and not with the young. Only after freeing ourselves from our programming and vices can we provide a fertile ground for children to develop their potential, including and especially spiritual.

“The key, in fact, in education is not the doctrine taught, it’s the awakening.” (Ernest Renan)

It is urgent that we all rescue our own discretion. In each choice and action from us it is crucial that we have those precious moments for internal verification, to check if it actually makes sense. Being in intimate recollection of the Self, we become more aware in every moment.

Thus, we feel again that freshness to be rediscovering the world, forgoing concepts and definitions, experiencing yourself and the world as a child – not in the sense of being inconsequential, but with their empirical contemplation. The child does not cling to events, or to their own creations, but we already have that dramatic bias, where everything is difficult. They are free, weightless and loose.

“Children have no religious ideas, but they have mystical experiences. Mystical experience is not seeing beings from another world, but seeing this world illuminated by beauty.” (Rubem Alves)

We always perceive the world through our internal glasses, so it’s up to us to choose to remove the veil of Maya to then see and act upon awaken consciousness – and children are the first to point out when we’re not being consistent. Example teaches more than a thousand theories, it’s useless to talk about love if you’re not able to look deep into the eyes of a child and recognize the Divine principle pulsating there. Hence the importance of recognizing God in ourselves first.

Everything is very simple, we are the ones creating all sorts of obstacles to our development, for the deep fear of being happy and the feeling of not-worthiness. But it’s no secret, if we become fully responsible for all aspects of our life and seek righteousness love, the universe conspires in our favor. Every time we align our will with the Divine Will, things flow beautifully!

When you feel that life flow we work more consciously with our creative energy. We are co-creating beings by essence, applying this life-generating energy into a work of art or even a baby, creating another Being in our image. This is exercised by all of us since our childhood, it is a Universal Cosmic energy flowing within us.

By creating, children see themselves through their expression in matter, they leave the ignorance of their own selves. Playing is the children’s portal to knowledge of themselves and the world, it’s the way they get to know their own limits and that of others. By being severe we take away their opportunity to make mistakes and learn from them, then there is no action, no evolution, because fear paralyzes and everything stagnates. All this thinking also goes for us adults, because if we don’t change our interaction with the young, these paradigms continue to exist.

Perfection is possible, but is attained gradually and with lots of practice. This terrorism only grows anxiety and leaves a spot on a beautiful work for one small detail. The process of living in the material world is to clean up the disqualified energies previously acquired we call karma and egos. However we are also here to recognize ourselves through our creation in this plane, remembering what we already knew, but had forgotten.

“One should not say to yourself, you should pour this or that in the child’s soul. But one should have veneration for its spirit. You cannot develop that spirit; it develops itself. It is up to you to remove the obstacles to its development, and bring forward that which allows it to develop. You can ward off physical obstacles and also some of the soulish ones. What the spirit must learn, it learns because you have moved these obstacles away. Throughout life, the spirit develops from an early age. But its life is what the educator develops in its environment.” (Rudolf Steiner)

When we learn from pain, we remember the trauma more than the content, the feeling surpasses learning, whereas what we learn with pleasure we never forget. Hence the importance of letting the Self manifest through feeling. Children know what they want, but we disregard it, thinking we know them better than themselves and so we know what’s best for them. This is a big mistake! We urgently need to really listen to what our little ones say.

Education is a fragile thing and we invade kids all the time, who grow up to become dominant, willful and selfish individuals, because they don’t know their own limits. If the little ones could not experiment because they only followed orders, how will they know who they are? That’s where we are, as grown and completely lost children at the margins of ourselves. We don’t know our talents and we don’t even remember what we came here to do.

We feel the disconnection, that’s why we pursue it in our inner search. It is a process of rediscovering the vocation, of aligning our choices with our Mission. Once we live according to our plan, in surrender and confidence in our Inner Being, we become more focused, with more personal power and take life into our own hands. We abandon the guilt, victimization and judgment energy vices, replacing it with a full life, as a child building a sandcastle – they know it will disappear and yet don’t suffer with it, continuing to build with all the joy, enthusiasm and dedication they have.

“The inspiration you seek is already within you. Be quiet and listen.” (Rumi)

Any of us who have experienced the darkness knows that at some point we feel insignificant and without a relevant reason to be here. Although we love our family, mates and friends very much, they alone will not hold us here. We must remember what is our PURPOSE. It is this dream, this Plan, which makes each of us get up in the morning with our chests full of life and a smile on our faces, and by fulfilling our Higher Will we experience that feeling of accomplishment.

The children feel this clearly, they are naturally driven by this inner feeling. In this invisible, intelligent and magnificent network that is life, the things we need to develop come to us naturally. With the child is no different, if a boy came to be a firefighter, he will feel the attraction for activities related to it.

“The child’s spirit stifles with useless knowledge.” (Voltaire)

If a girl is fulfilled by being a ballerina, it’s an assault to leave her sitting for five hours hearing about physics or chemistry. The boredom and irritability take over the child, because she is spending her energy, her time, her life with something that makes no sense to her! But it does to us…or did, because we now understand that there is no point in continuing to disconnect children from their inner feeling to please us. Or worse: to accomplish something that we were told was necessary and have taken as truth, without ever stopping to assess if it really is relevant.

Awakening consciousness, we get closer to the source. However, the existence is for us to do things here in this plane, and this is exactly what the self-realization of the Self is. Each one of us must turn into its own Master and let others be who they are or who they can be. Our own self-realization is the greatest Service we can render to the world.

“Tragic is the existence of the one who dies without having known the reason for his life.” (Samael Aun Weor)

Every breath is unique, every moment is precious. Every day the sun rises, offering us a new day, filled with endless possibilities for doing what we came to do, each one letting their talents flow and gifting the world with their best. Wherever we direct our attention, we apply creative energy. Whenever we are self-conscious, acting from the deepest feeling of our Essence, life flows through us and the Self shines.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” (Marianne Williamson)

It is essential to always seek a Free Education for Happy Children, because happiness and fulfillment are the thermometers to feel if we are being consistent and following our own path. A new world is possible, it already exists within us. We just need to get rid of the shackles and manifest it.

Translated by Luiz Vicentim.

(You can also read this article in Portuguese)