THE ART OF TEACHING PEACE

What you sow, you reap. What you teach, you become. The teacher who sows seeds of peace in students will surely reap peace in their own lives. It has been true to me as a teacher for peace.

Though I was not a teacher by profession, by passion I became a ‘self-made teacher’ and continued to be a teacher for 52 years. 

Initially I started teaching Gandhian thoughts to students in schools. I was an unpaid teacher. Many schools used to have my name in the last page of their attendance register and whenever teachers were absent I would get a call from the school to take the chance to convey Gandhian thoughts to the students. There were such a few fans of Gandhi as headmasters and as teachers who would get two mangoes at one throw.

Later I correlated Gandhian thoughts to the issues the children faced and obviously evolved myself as a teacher for peace. Unlike the former position of just delivering efficiently the history of Gandhi’s life and thoughts with quotes, reference of dates etc., the latter position extracted a lot of work from me, inwardly. I had to first search for the Mahatma in me which I had to convey to the students empowering them to realise the Mahatma within themselves in their own way. My methodology had to evolve innovatively, exploratory and thus become creative.

I also found out that the students would enjoy listening to stories of other persons and not simultaneously dare to observe their own lives. Secondly, whatever is discussed and explored should be converted into subjective micro actions as an anchor and to stop oneself from just escaping in hallucination. So peace education ended up evolving into constructive micro actions that would ultimately culminate in macro peace.

Next came the main challenge. One who teaches peace, should first be peaceful by trying to establish justice. Unless you have the fire within, you can not spread fire. I had to practise utmost patience with my neighbour, the nearest being my wife. I had to care for her and share her house-chores by which I developed my sensitivity that strengthened my sharing with the students soulfully. My communication became softer and tender.

Unless I maintained peace in my home, I could not be a successful teacher of peace outside. So it all ended up in searching for peace within and chistling my own personality. 

So my deeper inner search resulted in inventing a formula for peace, which I named it as ORACLE. With the hope that this ORACLE may be useful to teachers of subjects who wish to evolve as teachers of peace, let me briefly explain it to them.

The word ORACLE has 6 letters.  The first letter is O. Observation holistically. It means, instead of being an individual as a result of partial observation, observe holistically to realise that one is an indivisible part of the whole Cosmos. Everyone is the centre of earth, holding complete responsibility for what one does.

The second letter R denotes Restrain-Self. One has to practise self-restraint to increase the observation. One who can restrain body organs can have control over emotions and vice versa, leading to clarity in decision making and self empowerment.

The third letter is A. One who tries to broaden the observation would obviously learn the art of accepting what that happens every moment. Trying to reject out of fear or for many other reasons weakens whereas readiness to accept fearlessly enhances the immunity of the body system.

The fourth letter is C: Celebration of Inner Resources. In trying to achieve outer resources like money, security, fame etc, one normally forgets the great treasure of hidden inner resources. Exploring within and celebration of the inner strength gives real freedom to explore peace.

The fifth letter is L: Labour for love. Work for work’s sake, labouring every moment for love, without looking for benefits is the eternal law. Useful manual work for the welfare of the most depressed is really the Labour for love.

The sixth letter is E. Evolution every moment. Science says every object in this universe is made up of atoms. Each atom dies and takes birth every moment. So, you are not the same after a moment. Obviously learn the art of evolving in tune with nature and not living in confronting nature.

If you observe holistically the evolution of nature that is happening in your own body then obviously you will practise self-restraint, accept what that comes to you every moment, celebrate your inherent inner sources and do labour continuously without a break as one’s Svadharma, such a person really can afford to be a teacher for peace.

I strove for all these 52 years to invent this formula for peace, ORACLE, trying my level best to be a successful teacher for peace. The greatest benefit I reaped in my life is PEACE.

Key takeaways:

– Teaching peace requires embodying peace oneself.

– Correlate Gandhian thoughts with present-day issues for practical application.

– Encourage students to observe their own lives and take micro-actions for peace.

– Prioritise peace, and other benefits will follow automatically.

The ORACLE formula offers a comprehensive approach to peace education, focusing on inner transformation and holistic growth. 

So, teachers, please put peace first and everything else like marks, ranks, jobs, money, house, fame, property etc will be bestowed upon you automatically. And you would evolve as a person of peace. Thus your fragrance will affect your home, street, nation and reach Cosmos too!

Believe not in me but believe in what is said!

Dr.S.Kulandaisamy, 

Secretary, 

Gandhi Peace Foundation, Madras #332, Ambujammal Street, Alwarpet,  Chennai-600018.

Email: kulandhaisamy.gpf@gmail.com