राष्ट्रीय शिक्षा प्रणाली एवं भारतीय मानस (श्री अरविन्द - एकात्म शिक्षा दर्शन)

46 NATIONAL EDUCATION
It consists in bringing about passivity
of the restless flood of thought sensa-
tions rising of its own momentum from
the passive memory independent of
our will and control. This passivity
liberatest he intellect from the siege of
old associations and false impressions.
It gives it power to select only what
is wanted from the storehouse of the
passive memory, automatically brings
about the habit of getting right impres-
sions and enables the intellect to dictate
so the chitta what samskara or asso-
ciations shall be formed or rejected.
This is the real office of the intellect
to discriminate, choose, select, arrange.
But so long as there is not chitta-
suddhi, instead of doing this office
perfectly, it itself remains imperfect
and corrupt and adds to the confusion
in the mind channel by false judgment,
false imagination, false memory, false

THE TRAINING OF THE MIND 47
observation, false comparison, contrast
and analogy, false education, induction
and inference. The purification of the
chitta is essential for the liberation,
purification and perfect action of the
intellect.

CHAPTER VI
SENSE-IMPROVEMENT BY
PRACTICE
Another cause of the ineffici-
ency of the senses as gatherers of
Knowledge, is insufficient use. We do
not observe sufficiently or with suffici-
ent attention and closeness and a sight,
sound, smell, even touch or taste
knocks in vain at the door for ad-
mission. This tamasic inertia of the
receiving instruments is no doubt due
to the inattention of the buddhi and
therefore its consideration may seem
to come properly under the training
of the functions of the intellect, but
it is more convenient, though less
psychologically correct, to notice it
here. The student ought to be
accustomed to catch the sights, sounds
etc, around him, distinguish them,
mark their nature, properties and

SENSE-IMPROVEMENT BY PRACTICE 49
sources and fix them in the chitta so
that they may be always ready to
respond when called for by the
memory.
It is a fact which has been proved
by minute experiments that the
faculty of observation is very imper-
fectly developed in men, merely from
want of care in the use of the sense
and the memory. Give twelve men
the task of recording from memory
something they all saw two hours ago
and the accounts will all vary from
each other and from the actual
occurence. To get rid of this imper-
fection will go a long way towards
the removal of error. It can be done
by training the senses to do their
work perfectly which they will
do readily enough if they know the
buddhi requires it of them, and giving
sufficient attention to put the facts in
4

50 NATIONAL EDUCATION
their right place and order in memory.
Attention is a factor in knowledge,
the importance of which has been
always recognised. Attention is the
first condition of right memory and of
accuracy. To attend to what he is
doing, is the first element of discipline
required of the student, and, as I have
suggested, this can easily be secured
if the object of attention is made
interesting. This attention to a single
thing is called concentration. One truth
is however, sometimes overlooked ;
that concentration on several things
at a time is often indispensable. When
people talk of concentration, they
imply centring the mind on one thing
at a time ; but it is quite possible to
develop the power of double concen-
tration, triple concentration, multiple
concentration. When a given incident
is happening, it may be made up of

SENSE-IMPROVEMENT BY PRACTICE 51
several simultaneous happenings or a
set of simultaneous circumstances, a
sight, a sound, a touch or several
sights, sounds, touches occuring at the
same moment or in the same short
space of time. The tendency of the
kind is to fasten on one and mark
others vaguely, many not at all or, if
compelled to attend to all, to be
distracted and mark none perfectly.
Yet this can be remedied and the
attention equally distributed over a
set of circumstances in such a way as
to observe and remember each per-
fectly. It is merely a matter of abhyasa
or steady natural practice.
It is also very desirable that the
hand should be capable of coming to
the help of the eye in dealing with
the multitudinous objects of its acti-
vity so as to ensure accuracy. This is
of a use so obvious and imperatively

52 NATIONAL EDUCATION
needed, that it need not be
dwelt on at length. The practice of
imitation by the hand of the thing
seen is of use both of detecting the
lapses and inaccuracies of the mind
in noticing the objects of sense and
in registering accurately what has
been seen. Imitation by the hand
ensures accuracy of observation. This
is one of the first uses of drawing and
it is sufficient in itself to make the
teaching of this subject a necessary
part of the training of the organs.

CHAPTER VII
THE TRAINING OF THE MENTAL
FACULTIES
The first qualities of the mind that
have to be developed are those which
can be grouped under observation.
We notice some things, ignore others.
Even of what we notice, we observe
very little. A general perception of
an object is what we all usually carry
away from a cursory half-attentive
glance. A closer attention fixes its
place, from nature as distinct from its
surroundings. Full concentration of the
faculty of observation gives us all the
knowledge that the three chief senses
can gather about the object, or if we
touch or taste, we may gather all that
the five senses can tell of its nature
and properties. Those who make use
of the six senses, the Poet, the Painter,

54 NATIONAL EDUCATION
the Yogin, can also gather much that
is hidden from the ordinary observer.
The Scientist by investigation ascer-
tains other facts open to a minuter
observation. These are the compo-
nents of the faculty of observation,
and it is obvious that its basis is
attention, which may be only close, or
close and minute. We may gather
much even from a passing glance at
an object, if we have the habit of
concentrating the attention and the
habit of Satwic receptivity. The
first the teacher has to do is to
accustom the pupil to concentrate
attention.
We may take the instance of a
flower. Instead of looking casually
at it and getting a casual impression
of scent, form and colour, he should
be encouraged to know the flower—to
fix in his mind the exact shade, the

TRAINING MENTAL FACULTIES 55
peculiar glow, the precise intensity of
the scent, the beauty of curve and
design in the form. His touch should
assure itself of the texture and its
peculiarities. Next, the flower should
be taken to pieces and its structure
examined with the same carefulness
of observation. All these should
be done not as a task, but as an
object of interest by skilfully arranged
questions suited to the learner which
will draw him on to observe and
investigate one thing after the other
until he has almost unconsciously
mastered the whole.
Memory and judgment are the
next qualities that will be called upon,
and they should be encouraged in the
same unconscious way. The student
should not be made to repeat the same
lesson over again in order to remember
it. That is a mechanical burden-

56 NATIONAL EDUCATION
some and unintelligent way of training
the memory. A similar but different
flower should be put in the hands and
he should be encouraged to note it
with the same care, but with the
avowed object of noting the similari-
ties and differences. By this practice
daily repeated the memory will
naturally be trained. Not only so,
but the mental centres of comparison
and contrast will be developed. The
learner will begin to observe as a
habit the similarities of things and
their differences. The teacher should
take every care to encourage the
perfect growth of this faculty and
habit. At the same time, the laws of
species and genus will begin to dawn
on the mind and by a skilful follow-
ing and leading of the young develop-
ing mind, the scientific habit, the
scientific attitude and the fundamental

TRAINING MENTAL FACULTIES 57
facts of scientific knowledge may in a
very short time be made part of its
permanent equipment. The observa-
tion and comparison of flowers, leaves,
plants, trees will lay the foundations
of botanical knowledge without load-
ing the mind with names and that dry,
set acquisition of informations which is
the beginning of cramming and detested
by the healthy human mind when it is
fresh from nature and unspoiled by
natural habits. In the same way by the
observation of the stars, astronomy, by
the observation of earth, stones, etc.,
geology by the observation of insects
and animals, etymology and zoology
may be founded. A little later chemis-
try may be started by interesting obser-
vation of experiments without any
formal teaching or heaping on the mind
of formulas and book knowledge.
There is no scientific object the

58 NATIONAL EDUCATION
perfect and natural mastery of which
cannot be prepared in early childhood
by this training of the faculties to
observe, compare, remember and
judge various classes of objects. It
can be done easily and attended with
a supreme and absorbing interest in
the mind of the student. Once the
taste is created, the boy can be
trusted to follow it up with all the
enthusiasm of youth in his leisure hours.
This will prevent the necessity at a
later age of teaching him everything
in class.
The judgment will naturally be
trained along with the other faculties.
At every step the boy will have to
decide what is the right idea, measure-
ment, appreciation of colour, sound,
scent, etc., and what is wrong. Often
the judgments and distinctions made
will have to be exceedingly subtle,

TRAINING MENTAL FACULTIES 59
and delicate. At first many errors
will be made, but the learner should
be taught to trust his judgment with-
out being attached to its results. It
will be found that the judgment will
soon begin to respond to the calls made
on it, clear itself of all errors and
begin to judge correctly and minutely.
The best way is to accustom the boy
to compare his judgments with those
of others. When he is wrong, it
should at first be pointed out to him
how far he was right and why he
went wrong; afterwards he should be
encouraged to note these things for
itself. Every time he is right, his
attention should be prominently and
encouragingly called to it so that he
may get confidence.
While engaged in comparing and
contrasting, another centre is certain
to develop, the centre of analogy.

60 NATIONAL EDUCATION
The learner will inevitably draw ana-
logies and argue from like to like. He
should be encouraged to use his faculty
while noticing its limitations and
errors. In this way he will be trained
to form the habit of correct analogy
which is an indispensable and in the
acquisition of knowledge.
The one faculty we have omitted,
apart from the faculty of direct
reasoning, is Imagination. This is a
most important and indispensable
instrument. It may be divided into
three functions, the forming of mental
images, the power of creating thoughts
images and imitations or new combi-
nations of existing thoughts and
images, the appreciation of the soul in
things, beauty, charm, greatness, hid-
den suggestiveness, the emotion and
spiritual life that prevades the world.
This is in every way, as important as

TRAINING MENTAL FACULTIES 61
the training of the faculties which
observe and compare outward things.
But I shall deal with it in a subsequent
chapter.
The mental faculties should first be
exercised on things, afterwards on
words and ideas. Our dealings with
language are much too perfunctory
and the absence of a fine sense for
words impoverishes the intellect and
limits the fineness and truth of its
operations. The mind should be
accustomed first to notice the word
thoroughly, its form, sound and sense ;
then to compare the form with other
similar forms in the points of simila-
rity and difference, thus forming the
foundation of the grammatical sense ;
then to distinguish between the fine
shades of sense of similar words and
the formtaion and rhythm of different
sentences; thus the formation of the

62 NATIONAL EDUCATION
liberty and the syntactical faculties.
All this should be done informally
drawing on the curiosity and interest,
avoiding set-teaching and memorising
of rules. The true knowledge takes
its base on things, arthas, and only
when it has mastered the thing, pro-
ceeds to formalize its information.

CHAPTER VIII
THE TRAINING OF THE LOGICAL
FACULTY
The training of the logical reason
but necessarily follows the training of
the faculties which collect the material
on which the logical reason must work.
Not only so but the mind must have
some development of the faculty of
dealing before it can deal successfully
with ideas. The question is, once this
preliminary work is done, what is the
best way of teaching the boy to think
correctly from premises. For the
logical reason cannot proceed without
premises. It either infers from facts
to a conclusion to a fresh one, or from
one fact to another. It either induces,
deduces or simply infers. I see the
Sun rise day after day, I conclude or
induce that it rises to a law daily

64 NATIONAL EDUCATION
after a varying interval of darkness. I
have already ascertained that wherever
there is smoke, there is fire. I have
induced that general rule from an
observation of facts. I deduce that
in a particular case of smoke, there is
a fire behind. I infer that a man
must have let it from the improbabi-
lity of any other cause under the
particular circumstances. I cannot
deduce it because fire is not always
created by human kindling ; it may be
volcanic or caused by a stroke of
lightening or the sparks from some
kind of friction in the neighbourhood.
There are three elements necessary
to correct reasoning: first, the correct-
ness of the facts or conclusions I start
from, secondly, the completeness as
well as the accuracy of the data I
start from, thirdly, the elimination of
other possible or impossible conclu-

TRAINING LOGICAL FACULTY. 65
sions from the same facts. The falli-
bility of the logical reason is due
partly to avoidable negligence and
looseness in securing these conditions,
partly to the difficulty of getting all
the facts correct, still more to the
difficulty of getting all the facts
complete, most of all, to the extreme
difficulty of eliminating all possible
conclusions except the one which
happens to be right. No fact is sup-
posed to be more perfectly established
than the universality of the Law of
Gravitation as an imperative rule, yet
a single new fact inconsistent with it
would upset this supposed universa-
lity. And such facts exist. Neverthe-
less by care and keenness the fallibility
may be reduced to its minimum.
The usual practice is to train the
logical reason by teaching the Science
of Logic. This is an instance of the