asato mā sad gamaya, tamaso mā jyotir gamaya, mṛtyor mā amṛtaṃ gamaya
Lead me from the unreal to the Reality, lead me from darkness to Enlightenment, lead me from death to Immortality – the pavamana mantras (great purifiers) – from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
In the Vedic-Agamic tradition, the teacher was known simply as ‘Guru’ – the dispeller of darkness. His real task was to restore the student to his natural state of enlightened living.
The original Indian Education System of Sanatana Hindu Dharma is known as the Gurukul (the family if the Guru) where students lived with enlightened Masters from a tender age, learning the 64 vidyas (disciplines of knowledge).
Teacher and students both enriched each other, living together as the Guru’s family (Gurukul) and learning from one another in a vatavarana (environment) that was naturally conducive to learning and empowerment. Knowledge was transmitted through the very biomemory of the Guru to the bio-memory of the student. The children emerged as spiritually anchored geniuses who radiated siddhis (mystical powers) and were high-achievers and world leaders.
auṁ saha nāvavatu | saha nau bhunaktu | saha vīryam karvāvahai |
tejasvi nāvadhītamastu mā vidviṣāvahai || auṁ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ ||AUM. May we both (the Guru and the disciple), together be protected. May we both be nourished and enriched with knowledge. May we both work with great strength, energy and enthusiasm. May our study and learning illumine us both with the sharp, absolute light of higher intelligence. May we both not have enmity or incompletion with each other. AUM. Let there be Peace (in my inner space). Peace (in the nature). Peace (in the Divine forces).
~ kṛṣṇā yajurveda, taittriya upaniṣad 2.2.2
The current system of education established by Macaulay and Max Mueller in India is the ‘non-involving narrative style’ of teaching. The Gurkul system was not about continuously giving words, ideas, concepts, theories or theologies. It was about awakening you to the right context for human life – Living Enlightenment or jeevanmukti. It was more of a ‘transmission’ of the knowledge, rather than mere ‘transfer’ of knowledge.
Passionate about inculcating the VedaAgama wisdom and lifestyle in the new generation, Paramapujya Paramahamsa Sri Nithyananda Swamiji established Nithyananda GurukulSM in 2006, which has today has evolved to over 350 campuses across the globe, imparting free Vedic education alongside regular studies.
A far cry from Macaulay’s education system, which has been designed to create a generation of clerks, and is dictated by the stressful process of monthly and yearly examinations, the Gurukul style of education is practical, need-based, dynamic and holistic, preparing the student to continuously excel in the real-time examination called Life.
Today, over 50% of the students are at 1 to 3 years ahead of their grades, giving their Class X Board Exams before the age of 15 years. More importantly, they are spiritually anchored high-achievers carrying empowering cognitions about life, are natural leaders and nurturers, and are effortlessly manifesting the extraordinary powers (shaktis) revealed in the Vedagamas. – thus standing as a living testimony to the powerfulness inherent in the Hindu way of life.
To take the light of authentic Vedic education to every child on the planet, Paramapujya Paramahamsa Sri Nithyananda Swamiji has also created Nithyananda Weekend GurukulSM for the new generation of planet Successfully enriching children in many locations worldwide, this lively weekend system of learning is rapidly emerging to fill the need for an authentic education in Hinduism even for children undergoing the Western-style education in their regular schoolingU.S, Canada and France.