- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . . - - ~ - - - - ,,.._..

--,,, - - ~ -
//) /'
Understanding Value Education ),,
fZ& w, l1cf ,,;-iv.J fwf;;
X, f'1'1/)Joj (j ,/_,JJ f 0
v<l V ({ I

ct, c,,- t:'l1V, . lJ , ,...

f.;.,

g
alue education may seem a vague term to many of us even though we may be hearin
V about it frequently. While beginning chis foundation course in value education, Jee
understand what we are talking about and what its need is, particularly in the contex
us
t of
l issue~-
professional education. In chis course, we are going to clarify certain fundamenta
ess,
which are important to all of us in our life - issues which direcdy relate to our happin
our welfare, our aspirations, goals and success in life. In a sense, value edpcaciao.de
als wit~ -
coUecrive
what is universally valuaqle, to all ,of us, $liar is conducive to our individual and
within
haepiness and prosperity, in a susrainaj~Js_wax...Jr enables us co be in harmony
tanding
ourselves, with other human beings and with rest of nature at large. Such an unders
will be vital for the successful conduct of our profession as well. Let us appreciate the need
for such an input more elaborately in the following section.

Q.Jf,{ed for Value Education if

~
All of us consider something or the other to be valuable. We sec our goals, our aims on this
basis,.and then set out to work t~warps achieving them. While the need for determining
.,._•valuable to us may seem mdent, let us investigate into this a little more to understand
• look at the following aspects co appreciate the nt?ed for

. ~ human beings have aspirJtions. \ou ma)'

~ ·
--~:.. 'ttitili ~~. .._• • la__,"7!~ or a film
.
scar or
I
I
something dse: You
.,
must have lllilllC
iitl-
:_...1,.-~:.....
•
~ ,- futurc, c It immediate or lono term. The
r ""Ur
uac"' j;iiGna1 Ii'-
b .
• r, 0
-yi-uuu ng may I

pation
·n th · d th,our :=i you r~, your profes
.
sion, your partici
l c soaety an o er such do . 8
re you invest your energies co acrualize
. . . ma•ns. Ut
Your pIans, u IS unporranr. that e........ out wlaat u basicalQ1_?5pire ~r. Thus you- ,
- ·- - r you W1U
 .
need to idenrifr__your barn. • . l l . . .. . I ·ntifiL.1tion
aspiratIOJ.1. R,lsl'O on t K tn111.:ll ll L -
or--,...1hi,. lu~itt' .
aspiration,- you
- can
-_tr.um
: your goi\\s .llllI ,u l)-go,1 Is· ,1ppw
- p 1·.1.~tl·ly ind work111!1; o1
· ..
these,' vou may hopl.'. to Culf1l you1 h,1'.'>11. ,1sp11.tuon

• • 111111
U11dersta11dmg • 1t•rst1I lnmu
w values to fulfil our aspr· r,ttw
· m 111
· ron/T JJIII
· ·,_Y'•- J11st
idennfrin~ one's .1sp1 1:nio n is not enough. We nl'cJ
10 know how to lt(l1il 0111
aspHations. hm, to go about actualizing our goah \ Gene
rally, we tend to pu1.rnr oui
go:Us 111 YMicty of ways as per our appraisal and belic
fs. (We keep on making
C\.pemnents, learning from {hese and accordingly impr
oving ou1 undcrstandrng.i
This is how human beings h;ve been 1110ving on, 1ight
from the primitive.; '~;tone
ag,e' to the present day world of modern sci ence and 1

technology. Complete
understanding of hu~ an values gives us a definite w~y
to fulfrl our aspirntio11s.
Basically all of us are aspiring to be happy and whatever
appears conducive I') our
happiness becomes valuable to us. v;lues form the .basis for
----
and actions. Once we have know -- all our thoughts, beh:1viour
n what is valuable to us, these values become the
basis, the anchor for our ac.tions.(We 'know what we are doing
is right and will kad to
the fulfilment of our basic aspirations. Va1ues thus become
the source for our happiness,
o~r success, our fulfilm~t. Without an appropriate value
framework, we ;ill -~or be .
abl~ t~ Jecid~ wheth;r a' chosen action is desirtl'Je or
~~desirable, right or wrong.
Hence there is a prime need for c9r_rec!. ~nd~rs.!_~Dsi.iD_g
_of Lhc value domain.- Value
Edu'cation is thet npu t 'necessary to ' fulfil this need. Whe
n w~ live with the rnrrect
understanding of values, we are happy in continuity,
otherwise we feel deprived,
frustrated and unhappy. What are the values that you hold
worthy in your life? Have
you veri fidth em- to be conducive to your happines~? It
is important to explore the
value domain in suffici~nt detai l through value education
. We also need to und:rstand
.
the u•nive rsality of various human values, because only then
common program for value education. Then only we can
we can have a definite and
'
be ass'ured of a happy and
harmonious human society.

• Complem,ntarity of values and skills: In the endeavour to

fulfil our aspirations,· two
things ;re essential:
'
(a) First and foremost, one has to know what really is conducive to
hum .m h,lppin~-~~
- i.e. happiness for one and for all, and happiness at all tinH:
s. nm 1, "h,n
be,omes universally valuable ,.to human bcl~ - Thi~ is thl' 'v.1ltw
' \\om nu. ~he
dJ;; in 2f wj~om. This _helps us to identify and \(.'\ tlw t1~ht
t,n.\b ,\I\~\ \l)
prccced in the right direction. . ,
(b) Secondly, it becomes essential to learn methods and pr.ll
tilt', tn .1uu:ilitl' this
goal, to develop the tcehniques to make this happen
dimensions of•• in 1e.1l lift, in v,niou~
llll'4QUt. This is the domain of 'skills'.
 . \ J '\'\ H'll. ·,s. ,•111 cssl'ntial compknic:nh' 1\\)
, w 1,n \
,.1m' \ 1n I \,\11 I· cnc\c;ivo111 .• 1·01 cx,ttnp I<, l w:\,
\
\ \..1\\s \,\\l t' 11\Y \\tll\,11\ C \ ,1
Thus ,.1\ucs ,l\\l s \\ ll" dH ,11ld''s () • . he h.1si< 1t·cp111<·mc111 '>I ;1 11111,a_l\
~ \ . UH\ ~i \ s I \ . ii I h I' I I II I l
\, ,1 l\\l\ \ 1,\\ H'
I II hep Ill y \JoJy ll';I- I 1y, W 1:11 pny~l<.;i\
\ ,t,\l'\.'I\ \,\ \\\,\.
't \ 1, l \11\l l I ,
tl' k.1l\ .1 health, '.l,- 1·1 ' 11Hh',l' " h.\l l1HH w 1 l wo11ld IH tlH' possililc· w:,yc,,, t,,
~ ,-- I 'H 1 '~l \' \l I l ll•h 1111 n1n
\11.'in~ l 11,cn ,.
'
i; pi n
\1l'I \y w \.11
•' I l · the don 1am • f' I ·11 ·11
o s ~1 '-:. r111 ~,
', . l-.,1.'\' dw 'lh , I "I\ hrsc b l utH t t I - ·• t .
rr,1, 1.1.' \\ . k 11h th\.' hotly./ \ l . \ementary. On y Wlli!llllg 1,,r
',, ,,1 \\ l,1 " - I I1csc are comp .l t .
dl) ,,Ha' l'\ \ J \\·) \ll' unpl" tant am t • c. d healthy and w111out nav1ng,
\ , ., H' ll ""'' s · b dy 11t an I
h,'t' ,,Ji' \ ·\) ml.' kl.'cp my o 1 hoose things correct y tc>
<'l),','' 11 ', m\\ ,, i\\ th't ll l l' \ \
h l WI·11 not be ab e to c
~\1 • ,,,)\)\1 \ \\(• m~.\\\I\\\;... 0 1ca t ,
t' ,d healthy. • al h
~ \1 H'' h,,1, n .u
' ' 1
d. f umvers uman
~ - t understan mg 0
of our belieft: ln ;ibsen:e ~ a cor~e~eliefs. If we look deep into ourselhves,
'' -
E, ~I,,.,;.,.
..
u ' , '· '"- a
, ~ driven by our 'ad-hoc v ues a_n . -
. . things an we
d
l base our <values' on t ese
,-.c ,;~,.i that each one of us behe~es in certain a . not be rrue in reality. For examp e,
b~ : b they false or true which may or m y k.i d f . b'' "IIT is the best
... ,I"..~. e · · b ·s the best n JO , °
h
,qmeone may believe t at _.-corp"A orate JO I
. 1· . ,, and so on. We can al so
l ... . h b t places to ive m
.
..:0 .. eg_ to go to", "Metro rnies are t e es B .ng a world-famous person
- . h "l become a famous person. e1 h.
ha,e beliefs sue as want to . h .,, « ccess is the ultimate t mg,
'\ ak·e me happy" "Money w1\l make me appy , 5u 1 f 1·
\\l • m
• .. k
' d "
by crook" "lf l study longer l will have better gra es etc.
Al o us 1ve
D) noo or , d h what our
\\ith such beliefs. These beliefs come to us from what we rea , see, ear,
parems tel\ us, our friends talk about, what the magazines t~k of: what we s~e on _the
T\, etc. 1..
e there is a whole body of belief-system that we live with at any given time
and these together constitute our ~or~dview. These beliefs spread out far and wide
im~ an our realms of living. The interesting thing about beliefs is that they usually
change with time and ·we can trace examples of these by looking at our life in the past.
~e might have thought at one point of time that getting into a good college is the
mOSt imponam thing and now that may have changed to being able to get a good
i<>b- Once we get imo a good job, doing well in that job and earning a lot of monev
may be ampo':2°t. Once we h~ve the money, getting into a good position may beco~e
porum - , c. what we believe ia to be im"""-.. t may keep ch · ·h ·
-,.-.-., . angmg wit t1n1e.
Many uma. we - , la conflicting beliefs. ·

~ fur ~rybody. Bdid~

t"1:y arc not u1uvl'rs.ll.
t
th • but bcang able' to ~-un
la • lnk being cnv1rann,em.1lly
lfllt
ptllon What I
1\11' "'°" ........,
L.~y IO pollute the c1w1renn,cnt
r-.-.c around us: the
.
wt.. 'flt-,~ '°
c 1ee
tyaem IO
tl\11 PN>blem today • lt..,
be of 'value' to me
lead to conflicts
ned beliefs and
t- A Foundation Courso in Human Values and Professional Ethics

hold t1hl.1r .11c rn11,illy ullll1,Hl11to1y, u1nfliui11g and t111,1ahlc and not b:-.sed
\',1lut''- \\l'

upon dw 11gh1 111hk1.,1.111dini-; ol v,tl11t'\ ,w .111· 11qt vt·1y s111e of' their correctnc\<,.

l i, in~ 1Hll II\(':> h.1st·d 1H1lv on hdid:'i L,11\ not rn~urc liappirn.:\S fo1 us 'I hi., i'> very
imp1,1t,\l\t till us to undt1s1a11d. Do we want tO live with such shaky bd1d)' ( )r do we
".mt 11, \-dll'\\ thing~ !or ~urc, for ourselves? We can either blindly follow our beliefs
.mt\ t1.,.,1,11•1d v,1\ue~, towards making our cho1Ces or we can base our choic.:c.:s upon
,·.1h1t·s ,, h1Ch arc ba~cd on understanding of reality and we can ourselves validate them
.\S ,, t\l. \'\'hat would you prefer? r.
/
• Tcc/11! ology and Human Values: Technology is only a means to achieve what is consid,~red
'y;iluable' for a human beings in an effective and efficient manner. It is not within the
scope of technology to decide what is valuable. This decision lies outside its scope. It
thus becomes primarily important to know correctly what is 'valuable'. Without this
decision, technology can be aimless, directionless and can therefore be put to any use,
either constructive or destructive.

1t is thus with the understanding of values that we can decide on the appropriateness
of technology and its application. Boch the structure and use of technology is are
decided by values. For example: if we value the relationship with the environment, we
will work to create environment-friendly technologies (the structure of technology) 'I
and also put it to right use (use of technology), say, for the enrichment of environment,
replenishmen t of natural reso urces etc. Conversely, if the relationship with the
environment is something we do not value, rhings could be the other way round.

As st udents of tec hnolo gy and management , we will be stud yin g, creati ng ,

implementing and managing technologies which will affect the lives of a large number
of people. Getting trained on technology without deciding what is valuable, could
even prove counter-productive as our technical skills are likely co be misused. Therefore,
it is essential chat we understand how technology relates to us as individuals anc.l to
human society and na~ure at large before we attempt to put it into practice.
..
Thus, there- is a need to supplement technical education with value cduc.niun. Thi~
wil caablc a bmnan being to decide and pursue what is really 'valuable' i.e. condtki,, h'
,._ is of 'valul to him.
••understand our needs and visuaiirc ,,ur ~,,.1ls
their fulfilment. It also hdps remove our ,,mfib1.ms
• da'adY utilii.e the t~nological mnmauom
Ila an cbc present education system whtlh must
-11.-a dw m become an excellent prof~ion.tl,
lfl ...-w1e profasaonal skills is requirrd.
 Understanding Value Education -

~asic Guidelines for Value Education a~/

'\o,, dl.lt \\C luvc idcmif'ied the need for value education, let us also visuali·1,c certain
ct,cctl\ c .md "idd\' .Keep table guidelines which will enable the introduction of value
edL1c,H i1.111 in the present system. Given below are broad guidelines to decide on what
,H
1
ul-i qu.1lih as an appropriate input in value education:

Universal
\\..hatever we study as value education has to be ~miversally ap_pD<:a_ble ~o all human bei~gs ,
and be uue at all rimes and all places. In addition, it need not restrict itself to a certain sect,

-------- --
creed, gender ornauonaficy etc. So it has ro deal with universal human ~ s .
__.._ - , - .. - ,

'."\

J) Rational
It has to be amenable to
a set of sermons or Do's and Don'ts. -
reasoni11g and not based on dogmas or bling bd_ie_fs. It cannot be

Natural and Verifiable

We want to -study-Something that is natural to us. Being natural means, it is acceptable in
a natural~ all human beings. When we live on the basis of such values chat are
natural to us, it lead~ ~o fulfilment, leads to our ha · ' nd also is conducive to ~ther--
people ,~interact wjch, as well as ~ith oar,1r.e. We so would like to verify these values
_ourselves, i.e. we don't want to assume something just because it is being state~ or
w_ricretl in a book, ·rather, each one of us wiU__y.r~~~ to_verify, these to find out whether they
arefrue for us. This has to be done by both .checking for validity within ourselves, as being
narurally acceptaple as well as something which we can implement in our living -~d observe
i ~ ome to be fulfilling;__ \ ' ·
,,.
J All Enrompossing
• . It is aimed at transforming ,.1ur
into all dimensions of our living. n.undv.
111rion; as well as all levels. n~md~·.
,

y within and in harmony with

di!1! th.11..U,,WiJI
 -
lead to
n.llllll' .
A Foundation Course in Huma n Values and Profec;s1ona

harmom 1ll us. •

,111d li.11 nHi11y Ill n111
I Ethics

•
i11t('l.ll llOl1~
• 11
WII
I mans an d
0 tlwr n1
rhe rest of

C'':/4e Content of Value Education ..

. . . . . . rhe larger order o f w hich Jt is. a
rhe , .tluc of any unit in this existence is Jts parnc1pat_1~n I~ the arnc1parion of the pen rn
\ t e g value of a pen is that Jt can write. Here wnrmg JS P "-'ue of an eye is that
P· r . . . h 6 . all are present. vai . al , d
the bigger order in which pen, paper, uman emg, h . . nutrition w an1m s au
·c can be used for seeing. Value of a vegetable plant is t at Jt gives
I 6. ?
Irnmans. What l·s the value of a human emg. 1 ?

·· · . rn
f a human . being • h bigger oruer.
This question ·implies - what .IS the part1c1 pation o . It eb. rds etc. r1~he
That bigger order includes human bemgs, · · water
plants, a1~, H s, to
. '. soil,d anima
1
understand
• • · of human 6emg 111 this..orh er.II hence,. there in the
value of a human being is the part1c1pat10n
human values, we need to study the human ::_ea I'ity ~--o~ I g ----
wit a. t . at h1s latio~ship
existence constituting- the Larger Qrder, and the role of human being 111 t e re
with e a ~ ~ i n the existence.

Scope of Study
As mentioned above, any course on value education must include

• All dimensions- thought, behaviour, work & realization, and

• All levels of human living - individ ual, family, society, nature/existence of ht..:man
living.

Accordingly, the content of Value Education will be to understand myself, my aspir.i:ions,

my happiness; understaqd the goal of human life comprehensively; understand the otLer
entities in nat\'lre, the innate inter-connectedness, the co-existence in the nature/exis . .ence
and finally~he role of human being in this nature/existence entirety. Hence, it has to
encompass understanding of harmony at various levels, namely, individual, family, societ},
nature and existence, and finally, learning to live in accordance with this understand ir.g b\
bci.ng vigilant to one's thought, behaviour and work. ~ '

Process of Value Education

The pr~ of value education hu 10 be a.scenained before we proc«J. I.er '" now acquain
ou~selves w1th the process of value education which we are going to aJopc. In this ,oum
vanous aspects of reality facilitating the understanding of human values will be pre,enti
I
 Undc::rstanding Value Education ~

, l · f01. ourself and examine your living in this

as pro po,, s '\~m 111.·c\i !~) H'llh l hcsc pt opos,l s Y
llgtn. Let ~ s,·c ht)\\ "c di\ \'l'l d) these proposals .
....
. . . If I ration. We shall· investigate into these
• \, c "11 , 1.' 1t\' tl11.·sc proposals through se -~xp o . '1
pr~~.'~':--.1 s .111..f uy' to ,erify within. us in our own right.
. . th b · f h ther the proposals are acceptable
• T, s ,dt-i?,ploration will be done on e as1s o w e .
· h d b all acceptable to us and not JUSt
tu lb m ,1 natural manner - 1.e. c ey nee to e natur Y
im .."'os~d e'\ternally. We shall explore chis concept further in the next chapter.

• Sc::-e:-.. ploracion will also include verifying the proposals through experiential validation,
1.e. by living according to them. Experiential validation will ascertain that when we
liYe our life on the basis of chis education, our living will be fulfilling to us as well as
our surroundings.

• Smee che process is of self-exploration, and not of giving sermons or prescribing do's
and don'rs, you need not agree to all that is said, but only be ready to investigate into
them sincerely. We don't wanr to just theorize and impose stated truths.

• This process of self-exploration has to be in the form of a dialogue, a dialogue between

rhe presenter [teachers] and the receivers [students] to begin with; and slowly ro
rranslate into a dialogue within the receiver [students/the reader] himself/herself.
Each one of us can conduct this verification within ourselves.

• ~is process is expected to iniria_~!~a~_sf:>!?!~_ti_~~ i_n ?.~! understanding in our

consciousness and our living. . - -· - - -- ---.-- -
-----------
This
.
process of self-verification needs to be applied to all the proposals. In chis wav, "t'
one proposal at I · Y. is a laboratory and we will work 0;1 rhl·
in our living.

4' to be taken as a pm1x)~tl co lw

llffllons or prescribing do's ,rnd
lie able to becom(' authencil .1bc.mt
 CHAPTER TWO

Self-exploration as the Process

for Value Education 6-, (rUJ (ltL-~r J vl;J
f1c(" h .p,-l 6ul .,oW\J ~ ,rc.,tuuJ.,.U "" ""'~l~ be ,JL<Pl~e-- ~1JW.I>
,.:.'t\C.t:·l ~ e, ~ ( L-oW'i.l, ,- ~ r ,ml. I +ru.( pr fl'IL

I)~~

e saw in the previous chapter that the process used here for val~e education is self-
W exploration. As the name suggests, the process is to find out what 1s valuable to me by
investigating within myself. Since it is me who feels happy or unhappy, successful or
unsuccessful, therefore whatever is right for me, true for me, has to be judged within myself.

We discussed previously that the value of an entity is its participation in the larger
order. ln the case of the human being, to understand wh~t isvaluable:-We _need to study
ourselves and the "larger order" around us, wh~h is, eve~1'.!bi~g_3!:~u~9 us. W}1en we lo_~k
ar~unct, we hnd-oili:er nul'fmn beings; we find animals, plants, bir.9.§,._ insects etc. and then
thin~ike ai;,-~;~~;, soil, stones, metals, et~. All these are things we I~~ with and ~he;e is
a need for us to understand our relationship with all of these ·things. - - - ___,
----
This is depicted below:

Humai Being Nature/Existence (all that exists)

, (other humans,,anirnals , plants . soil, etc)
~--·················--
I
Participation

. s01·1
• ds air
We live with this entirety _ we live with our fa mi.1y, our c.men
the nature around us and we w d d • • , water. trees .
ant to un erstan our rel · h" .
L1.dcrrnmding of all these is to be d b th ,__,£'I anons ip wuh all these .
w one y me - c M:11 • To undc .
tth all th~. I need to ~tart observing ia~ rstand my rdauonship

c:Warting to

looking around. we
•·••"¥ell! ..._t is going on in
mt
-
\\C'
"hill' I .1m ob\c1, in~ o11t.,1t It'". ·1·1 iw,, it
.
\\,lilt to self r:-pl111r, 11 mr,111, we h.t\'l'
p fessional Ethics
A Foundation Course 1n Human Values an d ro

·
H·n1,1111, o
nly cxtuna
I ,
to now ,t.Ht O l\t I
I
-virw
o
r,
wrt
. h"
tn
.
l) ·'cervauon.
otr
When we say
rsclvcs tO0 an d

Jl()t t)hst'l\ ins ju,t llll!Sltk.

what is
WI1,11 I see a crcc, I1erc 15.
1rt\ 1,1kc d1t· c>:ample that we are seeing a tree. c h . ~ rnatio 1 1s
I bl From there, t e 111 or way ;rnd
11 ipprnino. thc image of the m:e 1s ava1 a e on my eyes.
::- ,, b. d . is about 100 meters a
,,,1w·d on to me, and then I say: I can see a ig tree, an It h elation I
' d
~tl tm". This 1s an example of observmg ours, e.
B h
ut w en srarI t to observe
. w at r
h.we w1th· the tree or, how does the tree re Iate to me, 1·t 1·s observing inside.

Now let's take another example. WI1en I get angry, J 'k now ' ] am getting angry. hIn
. g my 'eyes' to see t e
. 'myse If' . l am no Ionger usm
orher words ' I' , can 'see' the anger, m
anger, bur I am observing this anger inside my own self.

~tis Self-exploration? What is its Purpose?/

Let us ponder over the following points co appreciate self-exploration and its purpose.

1. "wh~J'OU are" and "what you really ~a_t~ t~~e".

It is a process of dialogue between ,..-

2. Ir is a process of self-evolution through self-investigation.

.,..., '

3. It is a process of knowi~on~~ and through that, knowb2.g~he entire_~~e~_se.

4. It is a process of recognizing one's relationship with every unit in existence and fulfilling
it. ------ - -------.......

5.
6.

7.
------
{t is a process 'of knowing human conduct, hu~~ c~ara:ter and ]i~g accordingly.

It is a process of being iri harmony in o~eself and in harmony with entire ex·1s·r,cnce.
~---._.;,.,_

It is ~- p~ocess of identiJing o ~ (Svatva) and moving towards Self-

·•

orgam.e.non (Swatantrata) and Self-expression (Swarajya).

Now, we will go over che above points in detail.

1 It is II process ofdilllogue betwem "what you 11rt" .,,J "what you ,...,.11 b . .
. '~""Y want to t · We
will look wo ounclves and find out what we ue IOda and h h' ~
~:---:--,;,.::....:.:-.=,,• ow t 1s contrasts tmm
. -... then dicrc is no problem. lf on
. _ H means we .accJiving with
lae) and hence, w~ neeJ ·co

2
 r Value tuul.,<,l••-
the process fo
Self-explorat1on as
l)' want to be
hat we re al
e not w . · V://e are
111osdy we ar . onrradICnon.
1 . we 1111d rh,H · ( d with this c · h bac;1c
\X'hcn \\'e look into r \I\, I I one of us ic; ace . b c dichotonW, t IS
•ff, cnt ,111< c,1l 1 . l This as1 ,hich IS a
fhcsc twt1 .ire t \t t I l . o111ech1ng e se. flict in us, Vo
. · nt 10 1t: s -~~::-- res a c o ~
somcrh111g .1n<l \\l ,,.1 . 1,,d Tnisdicnoromy crea . he result of our pre-
. I
rn111r.ul1, rn1n ,.1\ t,
) be rcso , c .
• What we are
roday- IS t all
1· f: What we re· )'
t our unhaoomess. d our be re s.
n1ntimH1m , .111~c M - - . ·. u- ...--=-- · mpressions an bl s This 1s
. . .
r,1n,htwn111gs. our pre is
d posn10ns, our I
. h'
ll epta e to u .
chat is narura y ace. - --
f de'eo Wit 111 us, - -d
".mt w be- come~ rom ~ I d nd foun out.
. . .
st1mcth111g rnracr in us. t
I needs to be exp ore -a
b ,,
"\\ ·hat I am" H "What I really want to e .
d what you really want to
d b st d b tween what you are an .d f
This dialogue nee s to e ane - e d' ·ons are not outsJ e o
. . . ·11 fi d h t the contra icn . .
be. On investigarmg mto It, you WI Ill t a. d' · s chat you see
rnu. These co~tradictions -a re__inside yo)J. In fact, th e ~onrra iction l d up
_, - - d' . ·1hm For examp e, we en
outside are mos't:ly a reflection of the ~~ntra iwons WI ·' . " . . . b . all
• . . I d . .
believing many things that are msttl e 111 us smce c 1 h'ldhood - like living
.
is as1c y
a srruoole for survival". And based on chis belief, we plan our whole life. But have we
even :ked ·o:rsilves -~·he question of whether rnis is the way in whici:_~:·:ally want to
live? We fi~d cha; ~110St of the time, we don't even care to know whether the thingswe
have assumed are really true. We are defining our entire lives, all our desires, based on
such assumpri~~~ ;;~hour even knowing whether' these assumptio ns are na turally
acceptable to us! This is a serious matter worthy of our attention .
. -- ---,
All our unhappiness, all our discomfort, all our unease is because of this .contradiction
within - between w~;t _:V~-~re. a~~ wh~~":e_~~~]x._, wane to pe. Each one of us lives with
this feelin_g ~f discomtorr, the unease within that keeps telling us '·something i'S missing".
Each one of us is faced with contradiction~ and problems in various aspects of life _
contradictions -~ithin _oursrjves, in our behaviour with people, in our interactions and
thoughts ab9_u_t ~ciety, and in our interactions an d notions about nature. And
irrespective of where YO!!_are placed: in a nice_ school, in ~r~at ~allege, having a good
job, having a lot of money etc., chi~ discomfort is continuously present.

On careful self-exploration, we will find that we are being driven by a number of

assump~ions/ b~licfs which are contrary to our natural acceptance and they cause
conuadteuon w1rhm us. We have to stat:!_ looking at these ARfidly, .
Many ti mes, you will find, we
e/Je, we do JOmLthing t, • rot MJ s.-,J,;,,,
' ,utcomt~ Tb· thtap«~
. · stare of
order ro

• WC
111111 A Fourdation Course in Human Values and Professional Ethics

to Olli own impIO\'Ll11Cll!., ()\II own srl!-rvoluti01~ Wt' will htrnme qualitatively better.
\Ve (..\\1 h· 1111Hl' in h.umony wnhin oursdvts.

\'\r "·"' in the e.11 \ier point rhat it 1s necessary to !Ind out the contradictions in
1
·\ , t<l ,.,. that we are in contradiction. Where would we do th1s \111cc rhe
l)U \l \ l:S, 5'-"
~omDthrnons are in ourselves, it becomes necessary that we investigate into ourselves
to frnd this out! Hence,_ it _is necessary t~at we do self-e?lor_"tion. It is not abou~
exp\oring~~e_us, b~~~nJide ~~~~le ~1ave to start ex~lonng ~urselves. Througf-
this process o l s ~ n we~ a.c~~e~~ self-evoluuon. This proc~ss ~f sel e
inve~tigarion needs to be started. lt needs to start in each one of us. Once this d1alogu
---- ' . . C bl
within ourselves has been established, and we start evolving - we become com1orta e
_ _ourselves~
within _ The ~er)' pro-ce~; of heinob in this dialogue stares facilitating chis self-

3.
improvement.
-
It is a process of knowing oneself. and through that, knowing the entire ex{stence,:. Thus,
self-exploratio; leads to_ us ~M..~QuoeLve~~~Today, we are largely unaiware of
our own characteristics:c;ur own assumptions, beliefs and pre-conditionings. \Y/e will
go beyond these "beliefs t0 know ourselves. Once we have known ourselves, and we are
1

.- \ --- - ----
sure of it, we -can thei~__a:!,so know all the things around us correqly. Th is way, we can
be sure df these things in our own--right, we can be· authentic about chem. Wr: don't
have to continue to live merely with as;umptions about these things.

Ask yourself Do I want to know myselP Do I want this self-investigation? Am I satisfied

in living my life without having known myself? If I don't know myself, am not sure of
myself, how can I be sure of what I want and what I do? - One finds that the need to
know ourselves, to understand the self, is an innate need of every human being. This
need to kno~ does not have to be instilled from outside, once our ~nt.i.ooJias....been
d.:awn fo chs fact. E~ch individual would like to know himself/herself and can carry
~h~eLf-~plo~~uon an9-self-evolution.

chi we know ourselves

As · correcrly, w ~~re aIso abl e to re late ourselves correctlv to the
~ u s . We_can t~en understand the people we live with, the fan.ii;. we .ue
die le m IOCle~ we interact with, in face all the entities in n.uurt'
question: Ale you satisfied with just knowing the imn11.·di.ue
______ Li_
ordo ·
you al so gee ·cunous ' m,und ,ou?
about chc larger rt:,tlit)"
also kn hoang. wanes · 0 nee we have known our~l·h c.,. '\l' ·\ Jn
. to know cveryth mg.
ow t e cnurc existence This . .
of ourselves h h. process starcs Wllh the sdt. and lllld' \\t' Jrt· surt·
' we C-an, t roug that ' al so know thc: entire cxistenle.
If we look at the lmic falla · ·
us, it i\ that we t d cy an our current approach of undc:rs1,mding thing~ .,rnund
.
Sm<.c we don't kn ry 10 un cmand things around us wn . surl' of• 0111,dYcs.
· hout fiirst bemg
a\\ the pre condit' .
. .ts wt wno
ow ourselves corrccdY, and It L.
untunland ti,,. 11•orld. hence
J_

• we: havi: within, rdkcc in'

a an, thc contrad'acuons
ionmga we have w'th'
 Self-exploration as the Process for Value Education -

al world. with
our perception of the \\orld, ,111d \H' ,t.ut intc1aning w11h dw (.'Xtmi
pre conclmonings,,
che things Jround u~ b,iscd nn 1h,:~c ,tss11mp11 011_:,, b,tm! 011 tht'\l'
: ·1hou1 my\clt ;md
Therefore, tt t\ 1mpur tJnt to kno\, mpdf 111st, anJ when l am s11 1<.
ly. Thtn ,
thac clwrc 1s no \ ·ol11u1111g' 1here then, I ca.n know about oche1 things proper
I c,t'1 be sure ,tbout che thmgs 1 know, since I a!T' sure of myself.
and fulfilling
4. It r:, pron•ss of recognizing one's re/,ationship with every unit in e~istence
stand
\\'e start knowing ~~r;~i::_e_i ;_nd_~verything_b~~ ~, we shall under
,,; ( 1 11.._c
other h~l].J.llS,
t'ur rcLmonship with them i.e. we shall understand our relarionship with
li:y_~ in harmony
.mim,ds,_pl~QCS an_cl mat~er et;. '~e shall rhen know how we have co
rhes~ Jhings.
--
wirli a.II
with out parents,
Whar are the things we live with today? We live in our families -
our teachers, with
grandparents, brothers, sisters, we live in so'ciety - we interact with
society. We live
various people engaged in malcing available goods and services in the
and of course, rhe
,vith nature - with animals, birds, plants, insects, materials, ere,
entities that are
larger existence - all chat space, and all those planets, stars and ocher
suspended in it. ·

Do we know and
Do we know our relationship with each one of these entities?
With rhe person
understand our relationship with~1,_re:nr~? With our teachers?
nship? You would
next d~or? _~a-t happens when we do 'no:_~.:1_d~fg.<!.11d_c.his r..datio
l e: if you wrongly
find chat this lack of ~ers!~c!f ng _le~d~"~2 -P~Qbk ml, For examp
ls need to be
assume chat animals may breathe away all the air, and hence all anima
kiOed so that ch ere is enougn-·oxygei:_i.. !eft:f;;:~~~ an__ b~in-9s, it w~~-
1e<lii~s1rgµsT'
Jor examp le,
We need t? start ·seeing various interact~~ _in Vvbi_ch_lv!J~e y'._o~lefl}~
wars and crime in
the problem of misunderstanding in relationships , the pJoblem .of
society, the problem of pollution in nature, _er~ Are these not , due
to the lark of right
problems in our
unkstanding of our relationship ar__ya.riQµJ_Jey~lf We find that our
certain thincrs
relationship with ·various entities aroundJ us are due to our assuming ~

F..QL examp le: if we assum e chat

about t h e s e ~ which are not reallY. true.
since all the time
mistrust is basic to a human relationship, we shall have problems,
table to llSL no t
we ,hall mistrust P.COple we come -;,ross, and mistrust _i§_ not accep
IIWIIIIJJI • -
accq,uble rd
CID easily be observed in our d.n· 11)
ships. These relationships .trl' .d,l ,hh
ut these relationships. What is net·dl·d 1:u u,
taonship with each _of tht·st· entities. When "l' Jll' .1hk
arc a c to u I our re Iauons · htp wun ·~ - them. For ex.unplt·.
. .,~
. • trus1 wh1l.h
trstand rha1 trust 1s bas,L t O J re Iauons h1p, that .1t 1s
Y accep1able 10~ everv hum" us-mg,L· b .
" !!!ll. we ecome ar ciase and are able to om:nt
ourse vcs correctly and our relationships becomCi mutually fwfilluag.
1 Similarly, once
 - A Foundation Course 1n Hum,m V.1lues ,md Profoss1onal Et11 1cs

. If . in harmo11y,
\\l' ,n· th.11 \\\' \\,1111
bl· in hJ1111ony with nature, that nature icsc is
111 f
. . l I . 0 h Ochcr hand, , weII
1,ur llltl'r.h·t11,1h wtt, n,Hure lead t0 mutua prospemy n t e
d hen we sha
u,ntmm· 111 ,bsume chat human bcmgs and nature are at Iogger hea s, c
u,ntinul' tll h,l\'L problems in muluple ways.

11Ht\, \\'l' st.Ht with understanding ourselves, and chen through ourselves, we ~nderSrand
7.
~ht· rl'st of existence, and also our relact0nship with all enrities in existence and th en
fulfil this relationship.

:; It is a process of knowing human conduct, human character and living accordingly:

~one of us wants to live with uncerta111ry. lf our scare of mind, our own behaviour
keeps changing, we are not comfortabl;-;ith ourselves. We all desire for certainty and
scab ii~Once we know our own true nature, we will also understand what is o~r
• participation with che other things we live wich - chis is che ethical human c0rduct
or the humane conduce. This is what characterizes a human being. When we know
rhis true human character, we start moving tow~ds ic in a natural manner.

All the entities in the existence are characterised by their innateness, by their specific
characcer!Slics which are invariant. We recognize any entity by this i_!)nateness_...~at
is then the innateness of a h~m!ln being? ls a human being expected to exhibit different
characteristics at different times and with different people?

If you ask yourself, whether you want a definite character or indefinite character -
what is the answer? The answer is, we all want to have a definite character, a definite
conduct. We are not satisfied with having an ~ndefinite conduct, though we are living
with indefiniteness. Example: We can't be sure of how we are going to be chis very
evening! We are not sure what our mood will be tomorrow morning. Sometimes, we
are not sure about what mindset we are going to have the next moment! Are we
comfortable with this state of affairs? Or do we want a definitiveness in our conduct?
Explore.
1bae ;,is« need to understand this definite conduct in a human beinot, and how it can
lie cmurcd.
we know, through self-exploration. our own true nature and the things around
us, we $hall also know wlul Oltl' • • • and participation is with the other thinp
we live with, then we will he able to rightly undemilid
ahial conduct. Thus, the process of Sclf-exploradon
will nm of ~uman conduct and to lift .......

n, ontstlf and in ""'-"1. _.,.. IJlt .,;

oration, I euabhsh a dialogue wni IQllunl
to be in harmony wuhan ~ ~ ie-lllDC
into 1hc h~rmony an the entire-,,,....,.,....,._
 Sell exploration ;;is the Process for Valu
e Education -

w rca\i (,mt\ \\C \\ i\l \,f<' \' \ i\\,ml~ .1b11\1t this i11
l?
the rntitt hook) tha1 thlc~c ifs .an
i1111.ttr h,unwn, m tht ,' \\\tt ·ntt ' ,
.
l'", I
I \ lll'L'LI w L mo vu. this· And Oll( e I do t 1t'i, can
.
k.u r to h\, m h.irllh'" ' \\ n \, t \1c cnt1 1t' . . ·1·11 tht: )rocess 01 Sd[ cxplorauon
l'>.lstcncc u:i 1 ·
H' , r1- \l\ ,' m h.,1 nh'I\\ \\ ithrn mysdf and
11 111 all my inte rac tion s with c_hc worJd
ro 1t \\ ,m d \ ,,u ,bn l' w l1L 111 such
a state? Well, we need to work for IL
ro , 1.,.,· cif idc11tifyi11g_ our Imzate__n!J.F (Sva
__tvtf) and moving towards Sel f
,. •.:. ' '0' ls:,,,1ta11tr~"r;J and s;{f.exp
ressi;n (~UJ!1-r4]Yfl): Wh en I ide ntif y my
' · ·., ,· ·~:--s. ,, tut l realh want to be
and establish a dialogue~~iJh_it, it ena
bles me to
',,,) ", S.? t'--org_aniz.ed . 1.e. l attain harmo
,~ ii ~1g \\ itn this har mo ny, it starts
ny in ~ys ;Tf This
is s~f!,Jg,JJtratii,.,. Wh en I
exp ~;s ingitse lf thro ~gh my har mo
,1, •~ ~ 'lur 3.nd ,,or ~, and it naturally
nio us
extends to my ~~t icip atio n..with the
T 1i, is ~, ork mg towards Swpriijya. surrow1dings.

.'.' t. ,2,a11tra1/i ~ei ng self-organised : Being in harm

ony in oneself
5wa r.'iJJi1 Self-expressipn, Self-extension : Living
in harmony with others, and
thus participation LOwards harmony
in the whole existence
,-t k _)Ou rsel f this question: Are you self-org
aniz.ed right now? Are you able
har mony wit h others?
to be 111

If ,ou are li\'ing in contradirnon, then it

means you are not self-organized If you
I\ ing wit h g_~ ond it~o are
niu g.~ . whe rein you have assumed
cer tain thin gs, have
2.c<: _mula1.ed desires ,, itho ut having
first evaluated them, then it rr.e'ans
par,4nm1 (enslaved). If you ask this you are
question: whether we are swatantra or
\ --;,. is the 3.I'sv.er' Till there is a diff partantra,

-
:-ant to be, we are nor swat1111tra,
e o rsehes are not in self-orgamzario
()ttlCr humans or 111 our ~;; c~i on-
erence be~veen what w~ rre an~ wha
because we will alwavs be in' rnnf l,K_ t.
n, o~r gp..r.ession ~
,
t we really
Hence, since
in l.iying: be ir in beha, iour
in the form of work - the ourc~me ts
,f conA1c.1 gomg to
- - - ---

l I pr, it.e\s o! Self i.:x.plora.ticm I beg1 n

by 1dc1~U):iog JU),'.-UULU.e.nw..
I r lly wa r11 10 .lil ·1liu1, livmg ,lCL01di
ngh cn.1hln me lll bemg an
, !11} If ( ~ u i,11111111111,t) ,111d
!iu,dly lit•1111; 111 h.11,;111m \\Ith the who
lt

'fronten1 of Selt-e1.plorutio11
In th It I t of wt
in term of f111d11
i I r, 1111 on1 l 111 ol "i If plor,mon n be Ylli \lllll all
1J ii lund 1111 111 ii <tU uon of all h
l. l]J. ,ne: W\ ut 1 11 > p11 Ill 11
 - A Foundation Course in Human Values and Professional Ethics

2. Progr:;J!l: \X'hat is the process to fulfil this basK aspiration?

Do you End these t\VO questions relevant?

\\ e \\ i\l try to find answers to these questions by exploring within. These are very
important quemons since everything we do is related to some desire or the other we arc
trying to fulfil.

This is what any human being wou/,d like to know and work towards its actualization in
life.
And if you have the answers to these two questiom, is there any other question that
remains to be answered?

We are going to observe and explore ourselves, our lives, what we do, why we do and
how we do. We wil\ study what human beings want, we will study what we really want. We
also want to know how to fulfil what we want. We want co explore into what is valuable for
us. Each one of us can explore this within ourselves.

Pf?ocess of Self-exploration /
In the sections above, we saw the need and content of Self-exploration. We will now move
on, and find our how we will carry this our.

Following points are to be kept in mind regarding this process of Self-exploration.

"Whatever is stated is a proposal".

Don't start by assuming it to be true or false.

Whatever we sure here, is a proposal. Don't accept it as it is, or assume it to be true. We

seem to have assumed many things to be true till now. If we assume what we are discussing
here to be true as well, it would only add to our set of assumptiom and beliefi ,m:I instead of
being an aid for us, instead of helping us, it will only end being a burden far us!

Alright! If we don't assume it, how w'ill we verify it?

"Verify it on your own right"

Yo_u need to rigorously verify all the statements and proposals hein~ m.1lll· lw1(' in your
~wn r_1ghc. No one dse can do this for you; you liavc to do it yoursc.-11: It lus lll be sdf
mvcsugated by you. Verifying in your own right implies the following;
"Don't just IU'cept or rtjtct it-
 Self-exploration as the Process for Value Education ~
_ 011 the basis of scriptures

- 011 the basis of imtrummtJ

- 011 ti,~ basis of others"

Note. B; the ,1bo11e proposal, we are not trying to undermine the importance of scriptures,
,mmmzmt, or rhe guidance obtainable from wise persons. Not at all! We are on{J1 suggesting that
, e ,hould take all these as valuable proposals worthy of your own serious exploration and then
0
acceptance.
Let us understand these in more detail:

"Don't try to verify on the basis of scriptures/ what is written":

By this we mean, let's not compare what is being proposed here with what is written in
some book, something that you have read or are reading i.e. we think we know certain
things, because we have read about it somewhere, and remember it now. However, we are not
talking about a comparative study between what we have read and what is being proposed
here. Rather, we are talking about verification of these proposals directly within yourself.

''Not on the basis of instruments":

Don't assume these proposals as being true or false based on the conclusions somebody
might have given after conducting experiments with physical instruments. The instruments
only give information about some physical phenomena, but the conclusions we make are
based on our own perception about the phenomena. Such perceptions also need to be
subjected to self-verification.

''Not on the basis of others":

Again, you may have heard something that some great person has said. You may believe
w~at this person says to be true, and hence end up comparing what is being proposed here
with what y.ou rer:zember as being state~ by that personality. This would not mean verifying in
1
your own nght; 1t woula mean acceptmg on those great personalities' righrl

"Firstly, verify the proposal on the basis of your natural acceptance"

Natural acceptan.cc lS · each one of us. It is intact d .
· a f:acul ty that ·is D~nt-m .
We onlv ha , ------ · - . an mvanant
.L:. ,.
uua quaaoa:
vc to start paying attention to it, to start "sccin!!" it. Fo~pie k ---=,t·
--- <----------

rally acceptable to me in relationsh' or . .

It turns out th .
---
e, as yourse

as nusttust naturally acceptable?

•
_ 1 • sh'tp.
at trust 11 _1111&, . .. . lD you .in mauon

laltionship with others or

1iYe in rdationship with others.
 - A Foundation Course in Human Values and Professional Ethics

nd
\X'c fi that we get the answers from within ourselves and it is spontaneous The :ms .v~rs
arc there in U!>, naturallv. ·'i/c only need to trace them. \'<le call this faculty the natural accep;,"1,ce.

For eve,y proposal being put forth here, we shall pass it through our own naturi1I acCl'ptance.
If it passes through our own natural acceptance i.e. if it 15 naturally acceptable to us, it is mu• for
m. If it does not, then it is not true for us and Wt' can drop the proposal. Let's not assume wh,,t ts
being stated here to be true.' You need to ensure thm you pass eve,)' proposal through JOltr Gwn
nr11ural acceptance.'

Let's ask ourselves another \'ery basic question Do l want to be happy? The ans,,cr 1s a
very quick yes! How did you get this answer' Of course, through your natural acceprance.
lh,s may seem very simple to begin wuh, but we shall see that tlm becomes a z,ery powerful way for
us to /mow what is ultnnatefr right!

Once you start asking the question deep within yourself, yo11 ··. ::; oe able ro start
accessing these answers yourself. This natural acceptan, ~ i~ there in each one of us, It is
what we mosr spontaneously. most natura..ii} desire. You don't have to import this n,1cural
acceptanc~ iH,m outside; you don't have to learn it from somewhere! For example, when
you askt d the question "wi... •· a tll!St is most acceptable to me in relationship", did you
ask anyo, _ c·l•t' for rhe answer~ Did you ,eaa u' Imm thf 1111m 1er from soiTlewhere? Did you
have ro rrfe;· to som1 :, .Irument? The answer .~ NO. 1 !.. .rnswer c::11:>, fr(lm within you.
Simil drly. ,lbout the amw~i lO- "ls livi:1g in relat1onsh1p wi~h others is naturally dcceptable
co me". D ,d yo u have ro learn rhi~ from 1 \1e1s: Again NO!

Thus, a~ first part of the self-verification, every proposal being put forth here, is passed
through our own natural acceptance.

"Secondly, live according to the proposal to validate it experientially."

To verify the proposals, I need to live accordingly in my interactions with the world
around. This involves two things: behaviour and work. If the proposal is true,

(a) In behaviour
,,, with other humans,

(i) it will lead to mutual fulfilment

(b) In work with the rest of narurc,

.
ether lawnans and mut~al prosperity
cruchfu1ness of the proposal.
.
 Self•exploration as the Process for Value Education -

The whole process ol sdf explo1 ,\lion can l)e represented as follows.

f· - ···It 1s a·~~~p.~a1·············· ································: I

•

• • Don't assume 1t to be true : Process of Self

• \ enty ,t m your own 119hl l Exploration
- Not on the basis o1 scnptures !
- Nol on th e basis of readings from instrumenl :
- Not on lhe basis of others !
, Self venftcatton -- ... - !
....................... _.. ,._ ---------·--·-----·· ............................................. :
Proposal
Live according to

✓ -------....
1
behaviour Nc;kwith
\fr-•·'~ ~·, 1i 1e oasis with human rest of the
of your natural leads to nature leads
acceptance mutual to mutual
happiness prosperity

I
J C- ./ ~ l ) C J -I .., ~
Or ;\/ }I,)_,. (fr ,y ,\ I - W"--~
r.J ,',• J j 1•
( r
,--._ /, -
0 ~ ' ).
I ' Ir
I/ • \ I •
1
l__::::/ tura\ Acceptance ft/ffl~'~,:V-i ,~-- ·;) _./JJ) ·v"JCGf-< 1 .\,., •/' 1/,

I ,j )~ ~ '.), r C• -~ tl,}1J).~,'. .' '(

e,-b.l1,-~ ~?;r:{_l\,t\ ~ j

At this point, ~e can make the 'fotf'owing observations about naruraNacceptance:

(a) Natural acceptance does not change wi!~!!!!'..:.:.·_,The natural acceptance does not change
with time. It remains invariant with time. T his can be easily verified. For example, our
acceptance for trust or respect does not change wiyi age. People hundred year~_ ~ o
ld had the same natural acceptance.
-
~
We can try co verify this within our span of observation.
~
._.,.- {

(bJ It does not depend 011 the place: Whether we are in New Delhi, New York or Abu
Dhabi, if we add ress our natural acceptance, the answer would still be the same!

(c) ft does not depend on our beliefs or past conditionings: We may be cold frequently not
t o crust people of ,other religions or castes, but i; it natu.rally acceptable to us? No
matt.er bow QIU bdicf or past conditioning, as long as we ask ourselves thl'
'.ti long as we refer deep within ourselves, the answer will ,tlw.lvs he

.it.,,,wJ MUpllllla it 'constllntly there', something we ca11 refer to: Trv this )'l)t11sdl.
chink o f ~ or exploiting 10mcone. The momem you think of tl1i,, \'lHl sl'll~l' ,1
a,nuadjcrion within and feel unhappy that wry imtant! It happt·ns Vl'ry lllliddy, and
:we may not nottce at, but ic doa happen! Similarly, the moml'lll wt· think of
 Professional Ethics
- A Foundation Course in Human Values and

disrespecting somcon1 !1 we become unh appy. The very tho ug hl 1·s enough to cause a
.
ce is' alw,,ny\ IIlCfC:, ,UJ(J1 ·r
_. . . , we
ral accentan
con01ct. . a strain wtthm us. 1 hus, tht.'l naw t'
J

s every rime , for every though, and every

~tar_t pavmg atte~1tion _rn it, if we ask ourselve
", we will get an an\wcr. \X'harevcr
dcmc \\'C ha,e, 'b rh1s naturally acceptable co me?
it is teJling us what is right. Every time we
,,e do, rim natural acceptance is within us,
i.e. every rime we think or do something
do something nor readily acceptable to us,
in us, because the thought/ deed conflict~
not acceptable to us, rhere is a contradiction
ent we think of cheating, we become
wtth our own natural acceptance! The mom
action. It will become deai to us rhac
unhappy. We don't even have to carry out the
our natural acceptance, we chink or do
while we want something else at the level of
onditioning, which is contrary, it creates
something else, based on our beliefs and prec
unhappiness. Take for ex"."1nple, ()DC may
a disharmony in us; this is the cause for our
influence of say, an exrraneous pressure
proceed with the act of cheating under the
may even repent over chis act in rhe
but one keeps feeling unhappy about it and
cheat~', one scans offering explanations,
course of time. If som~body asks, 'why do you
it is naturally ,....,....un;~c~ptable. · =-
inventing justificat
..... _____ --~ ----
ion~. This is -because. --~-•-,.. ~- -. ._..___,_., .......- ~
...-.. ... ~

g,
(e) Natural acceptance is the same for all
of us: it is part and parcel of eve1y human bein
into this. We will find th/t no human
it is par t of humanness: Lee's start exploring
No matter who the person, however
being fi~ isre spe g_~~~eprable in relarionsh!P:
ionsh~p. For example, !er us say a
bad o~QQ,d, one always expects respect in relat
a g!ud_~e- _a_gainst.'f\' and set ou t to
p~~ n 'A~~r~speftS ~~'. This mall 'B' .nJay bear
find disre.~pecc _ac~ee.r~ble and when
"reachhim a k_sson". This is because .'B' do~s not
end up ~ .cfo1g tQJL~rge
h~ d~~s""~ot gee r~ pect, it offen91 l;lm. This may actually
scal~ rJ .. . ,> .,. · · · ·
- ,.s:1#- -

elves. All of us have acceptance which

We can scare checking and verifying this for ours
mptions and choices, our likes and dislikes
are same, at a very deep and basic level. Our assu
mon issues like need for happine~s, trust,
may be diffe rent , but on som e very basic and com
have the same basic acceptance.
respect, prosperity, we are all the same, all of us
Thus,..., ~

in us, all the time ,md 11. e tt11, r,:fi·r to

Natural. acceptance is there in all of us. It is with
1

=.-,; r-- ;, right for us. \%

only have to start refini ng to it. Ell'h propos.rl
on the basis ofyour natural nccept,m ct•.

mpr iom .ind \\ t' llt'.ll them

IIOt oriented enou gh to evaluate." our hdi<'fs or as~u
11.111w ot pc1son.1l li~~· Jnd
personal dom ain. We generally keep them secure in the
 Self-exploration as the Process for Value Education -

freedom. We usually become very sticky about them without really varifying them. \'{'hen
these come in conflict, we try hard to search out justifications and make all effom to defend
our own assumptions. In the process, we cheat oursehes as well as others Bur are our
assumptions not taxing for us? Are these not costing us our own happiness the stability
and cordialitv, in our relations? These definitelv, are, and we need to focus attention on
these.

Since we don't verify within ourselves, we continue to live with a set of assumpt10ns and
beliefs which may or may not be true. Hence, we are usually not sure of what we 'believe'
since we have largely assumed these things and haw not verified them for ourselves.

Since we do not verify it in our living with people and with nature, we are not sure of
what the results arc. In fact, this is quite obvious, since we find today that while sometimes
we may have fulfillmg relationships with people, fliiay a time we don't; sometim es we
comribute to enriching nature but, mosth we end up exploiting ic. It shows that today:

• Neither are we vcri~•ing our assumptions/ proposals put to us on the basis of our
natural acceptance,

• Nor are we verifyi1,g what we think we know, in our living!

o/Kat is the Way Oun What do we Need to Do?

We have _ro s_tart v_eri~ing o_u'. assumptions, beliefs on the basis of our natural acceptance
and expenenual val1dat10n Living on che basis of natural acceptance makes us more authentic.
fu long as we are living on the basis of assumptions, there is no authenticity in what
h. ki we are
t tn ng, ~o aurhenrici:' in what we are doing. Since we have not verified for ourselves, in
our o~vn nght, we don r have the c~nftdence about rhings. Ultimately, we are the judge of
what 1s nght for us, we have to verify and understand it.

Realization and Understanding

We saw earlier that the process of Self-exploration involves two steps:

l. Verification of the proposals on rhe basis of our al

• natur acceptance.
2. Experiential validation by living according t .
0 It.

As we do this, as we continue with th'

here on the basis of our n al . is process of verification of the pl'ODOllla IUted
. " atur acceptance and . . "".'"r-
m realization" d " <l
an un cmanding" in us Th' test It out m our Ii · ~•IT--•-
f,or sure With" I
R:IUIQ
• IS mll'!llne '--
' tn ourse ves. We will discuss tbia Ill ~ It
us: true •
SSW A. Foumidlion Cl,ur Sl' 111 Hu111:1n V<1IUl'S ,m c1 ,i
, 1oft ,ss•,on.ii f.tl11l:S
•

n ~ a p10n0S:ll
• Don't just as~ume it to be true
• Verify it in your own right Process of
Not on the basis of scriptures Self-explorat1on
Not on the basis of readings from instrumen
ts
Not on the basis of others
Sell-verif1cat1on

19
Proposal
live according to it

behaviour
----..
Work with
with human rest 011r.c
Verify on the basis leads to nature le;--::::;:
of your natural mutual to mu\Udl
acceptance
happiness prosperity

Results tn
Realization &
L1i~~erstanding

Keep asking again :;-,ll again: what 1s

my natural ar,~eptance?

lime space 1ndiv1dual

The answers we get on havi ng realization &
unde rstan ding are:
(a) Assuring: "I am assured of the answer or unde rstan
ding in myse lf".
(b) Sntisfyh!g: "1 am satisfied that the answers are fulfil
ling for me.
(c) U 11 i;;rsal: "l k.11l)W or realize that the answers
I have got are the same for ev•:ryont'.
fhty are inva riant with respect to:

(i) f ,me: Thes e answers are the same at all times: past,
pres ent and futu re
(ii) ,"ipan·: The~e answer, are the same at all places or
locations
(iii) Jnd111id1111!: The amwers arc the same for every
humaa being
If the answers we
universal; it means uauring. satisf) ing .md
and put bclic fs/co ndit: onin g
the answer!
 Self-exµlorat,on as th..,\; PrClcess tor Value Education -

Let us not accept the pi 1)po~,il::- . I . , . It: lwi1w 1cpc;1tt:d al! the time!
:-t.HL'd hcn· l)t'Lll lSl I ll) •1
. • ti • l, .
Far fto11, a! F11rl1 011, of . •1., need:- 11 i ~t.1 rt ,1s l·-..mg 1Hll. ·I,. I ·s, c ucs11C111s and srt· w 1:.tt J.<,
st: \ts l it t 1
acceptable tn t ::-. Em h,1\\' t1' :st.Ht .1sk1ng thcst' qucs 1
uons yoursdl
[711i, pror,.1., of 1,-p, att'd se(f:1 1•rifirr1tio11 of the propost1fs
1
on the bttm 0/ 1ny ow,: natu~td
,-:rcept,mce t111d mlidming it e,:penentialfr. and also testin
g the answers fa, assurance, satts[actum
and :,mt ennlif)' rdrim,1te9 results in whllt is called "Rm
1
lization" and "Understanding''. When
r, t hm e this rcrdmzt1011 and understanding,
when we have this knowledg;e, it remains intact i.e.
tt sttl)S u•rth w at all times and is not moved or
d!Sturbcd by external cirrumstances. In fact, it also
st,ms ~\prt'ssmg itself in the most natural man,w· and
starts impartmg the enuironmmt and
s111Cc' ir is true, it is readily acceptable t() others too.)

For the remainder of this book, we will explore

into these two basic questions
Desire: Wha t is my basic aspiration?

Program: Wha t is the process of fulfilling this basic

aspiration?

Bumm ary
• We need ro undergo Self-exploration because we
want to find out what is valuable to
us, and secondly we wanr to understand our relat
ionship, our participation with the
things around us.

• Self-exploration is

a process of dialogue between "what you are" and

"what you really want to be".
a process of Self-evolution through self-investiga
tion.
.... a process of knowing oneself and through that, know
ing the entire existence.
a process of recognizing one's relationship with
every unit in existence and
fulfilling ir.

<1 pr<JC<:\s of knowing human conduct, human character and

living accordingly.
a pro ~s ,l being in harmony in oneself and in harmony with entire existence.
.... a procc!>s of identifying our In
organiz.acion (Swatllntr11tl)_

• The content
bas" questions: what our