YOGA IN EDUCATION AND MANAGEMENT

N.V.C. SWAMY, M.E., Ph.D.
Dean, Academic Programs, Swami Vivekananda Yoga Research Foundation, Bangalore, India

Yoga is an ancient solution to modern problems. It has gained a lot of popularity around the world during the last century, thanks to its propagation by great savants like Swami Vivekananda, Swami Ramatirtha, Paramahamsa Yogananda and several other Yoga practitioners. Of late, it has come to the attention of prominent educationists and management experts. Swami Vivekananda has dealt with the topic of Yoga in his lectures and books under four categories, Jnana Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Raja Yoga. It is the last of these which has become very popular, because of its beneficial effects on human beings. However, this cannot satisfy the requirements in the fields of Education and Management, since they need more than the physical exercises. Raja Yoga is not simply Asanas and Pranayamas. It also involves certain ethical practices, without which Raja Yoga gets reduced to mere gymnastics. These ethical practices are known as Yamas and Niyamas. No educational of management system is effective unless it incorporates into itself these ethical practices. It is the objective of this presentation to highlight the importance of these practices and their role in the field of Education or Management.

YOGIC FOUNDATIONS OF WORK AND EDUCATION

GIRISHWAR MISRA, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology, University of Delhi, Delhi, India

Yoga offers a coherent and effective way of conceptualizing and handling problems in the various spheres of human life. In view of emerging complexities of social, cultural and economic life across the globe revitalization of management and education is warranted. Rooted in a physicalistic, individualistic and mechanical model the current theories and practices in education and management use humans primarily as commodities or resources in a world of market. In reality they have resulted in larger number of problems than solutions. In contrast, using a consciousness-based view of reality, Yoga provides a far richer view of human psyche. Based on its depth of understanding and wealth of practical insights and techniques, Yoga has immense potential to make a crucial difference to the applied domains of education and management. Yoga, as many people often subscribe to, is not merely a method to attain mental peace, but also a powerful method to get rid of ignorance which causes various kinds of suffering in human life. Within the system of Yoga and many other schools of Indian thought the root cause of all problems is the false identification of self with ego. This problem is addressed by Yoga through the process of developing detachment, which is nothing but an effort to "liberate" one's being from its material and social encasement. The inner journey of Yoga reflected in withdrawing from the outer reality silences the mind and leads to consciousness that becomes increasingly wide and joyous. However, in the course of this journey a person has to move across different levels of consciousness or being. As a well known Upanishadic view distinguishes there are many sheaths or Koshas ranging from annamaya, pranamaya, manomaya, vijnanamaya, to anandamaya. They refer to consciousness or the experience of self/identity at the level of the body, vital, mind, gnosis and bliss, respectively. In the course of routine everyday awareness, which operates at a surface level, we have access only to the lower levels of our being, and they are mixed up. But as one detaches through Yoga one's consciousness moves from the surface to increasingly deeper levels. One gradually becomes more aware of integral nature or oneness with the divine - the eternal and absolute. The result is that our relations with others and the world take a different meaning. This view clearly implies that the ordinary human state of awareness cannot be considered as the absolute standard for understanding the entire range of consciousness. The striving for oneness with the Divine is undoubtedly an inclusive enterprise having space for not only individual liberation but also social welfare. It creates conditions and offers mechanisms so that one may rise above narrow egoistic concerns.