Sathya Sai Shiksha Sadan rests on five pillars: Truth (Sathya), Right Conduct (Dharma), Peace (Shanti), Love (Prema), and Non-Violence (Ahimsa). It views all students as God’s children, and aims at providing them quality education in an atmosphere conducive to learning. The unique character of this school stems from its dedication to education as the search for truth and human values: “What students have to acquire are human values,” as the Baba has said.
Human values cannot be learnt from lectures or textbooks alone. Those who seek to impart values to others must first practice values themselves. Such a modal teacher can nurture children who are like buds and help them blossom into magnificent flowers. This school will ever strive to be such a garden. It seeks to work as a symbol of human maturity, power, restraint, disciplined freedom, material concreteness, and spiritual reality. Its mission is to lead students to discovering themselves (initiation), the world (love), and the link that binds the two (union). This threefold discovery assures the fruition of human values. Once this is achieved, the great precepts come alive:
सत्यं वद, धर्मं चर, स्वाध्यायान्मा प्रमदः ।।
मातृदेवो भव, पितृदेवो भव, आचार्यदेवो भव, अतिथिदेवो भव ।।
सत्यं ब्रूयात् प्रियं ब्रूयात्, न ब्रूयात् सत्यमप्रियम् ।।
Also, as the Baba has said:
Help Ever, Hurt Never.
Love All, Serve All.
Be Good, See Good, Do Good.
Time Waste is Life Waste.
An ounce of Sincerity is heavier than tons of Knowledge.
It is well to think well, it is divine to act well.
The end of Education is Character.
There is nothing amazing in a mere human form. The wonder lies in one’s humanity. It is by people’s thoughts, words and actions that their humaneness is revealed. Therefore, all learning ought to be related to the body, the mind, and the spirit. Educational discourses typically say much about the child’s mind and body and little or nothing about the child’s heart. What is needed is holistic education, which embraces head, hand, and heart. Humaneness means the complete harmony of thought, word, and deed. All children should know that there is more to life than money, power, status, or immediate gratification of the senses. They can explore their identities with an inner peace and a sense for what is permanent. Thus, they can fulfill their potential as human beings.
We encourage our children’s intellectual, artistic, and moral growth. Students learn ways of integrating thoughts, words, and actions so that they may become independent thinkers and responsible human beings. We help them to become aware of the positive aspects of discipline, duty, and devotion. It is essential for both parents and teachers to apply such values to their daily living so that students will discover for themselves and learn by practice. Once children learn the values of wisdom and love, it becomes possible to make the world a much better place. Sathya Sai Shiksha Sadan is founded with this purpose in mind. It will be our constant effort to guide the children from their early years, so that they can discover the right values of life, cultivate disciplined habits, and develop integrated personalities. Education at the Sadan aims at developing children’s character: love for all; readiness to serve; harmony of body, mind, and spirit; and the commitment to lead a purposeful life.
Thus, the goals of the Sadan are to
cultivate the great works of humanity,
acquire interdisciplinary insight,
inculcate mental discipline,
foster a critical spirit,
liberate the mind, and
promote vision.
No subject remains in isolation because, in the real world, everything is connected to everything else. Thus, the Sadan seeks to educate children from a universal perspective so that they become fully aware that they are citizens of the world. However, they also learn that they belong to a nation rich in culture, values, and traditions. वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम् and जननी जन्मभूमिश्च स्वर्गादपि गरीयसी are not contradictory: the global and the local synthesize into a unity in the light of true understanding. With this vision in mind, the Sadan believes in teaching practical skills and in fostering the belief that work is worship.
We will strive unceasingly to teach current scholarship, relevant information, and a plurality of perspectives. Students develop their intellect and vision through the critical study of old and new ideas. Above all, the Sadan is committed to the life of the spirit and the blossoming of the human personality. The ultimate goal is to build up a complete person.
In the words of Bhagavan Baba: “Education is for life, not merely for a living.” Sathya Sai Shiksha Sadan aims at helping children become well-rounded, responsible adults. The Sadan nurtures the holistic development of the child—intellectual (Truth), physical (Right Conduct), emotional (Peace), psychic (Love), and spiritual (Non-Violence). Thus, the child can live and work with self-confidence, self-satisfaction, self-sacrifice, and self-actualization.