Education without Competition

“It is parents who have brought in competition and comparison because for most parents, the point is not education, it is about ‘first rank’.”

—Sadhguru

Question: How do we prepare our children to withstand the competition and pressure that is a part of today’s society?

Sadhguru: The pressure is only because you are putting two absolutely unique beings in comparison. Is there one more person exactly like you on this planet? No. There is only one like you. Each being is an absolutely unique being. That is so for your child also. Pressure arises because you are trying to put them all into the same compartment, comparing them and making them feel better or worse about it.

It is parents who have brought in competition and comparison because for most parents, the point is not education, it is about “first rank”. All they want is that their children should sit on top of every other child’s head. Their whole effort in their life is to sit on top of the pile. Everyone wants to sit on top of the pile but only a few can be on top. The others will naturally end up at the bottom and if our focus is just to sit on top of the pile, others will naturally get suffocated under the pile. This is bound to happen, there is no other way.

This orientation of education has to go. Education is not about molding children the way you think they should be. Education is about organizing the natural longing in a human being to know.

It is very convenient to put the blame on schools. The schools are just catering to your attitudes. If your attitudes change, the schools will change. They want to run the business the way it works. If all you want is that your child should somehow get 100%, no matter what it costs the child, then schools will cater to that because you are paying them. They are just trying to fulfill their job. This is a sickness that has to go because we are just ruining a whole generation with the kind of schooling we are providing.

True human genius will not flower if this kind of education happens. True human capabilities will not find expression in competition. When you are in a race with someone, you only think of going one step ahead of him. You will not think of what your ultimate potential is.

True human capabilities will find expression only in absolute relaxation. Your mind and body will work best and find fullest expression only when you are joyful, peaceful and quiet within yourself.

Editor’s Note: Download the free ebook Inspire Your Child, Inspire the World for more of Sadhguru’s wisdom on parenting.