"End Of Education Is Character" - BABA

Cultivating Good Habits in Children - Part I (In words of Sri Sathya Sai Baba)
1. Give them (the children) the tonic to strengthen their spirit. Instruct them in meditation,
five minutes of prayer and another five minutes of meditation will be a good exercise, whose
taste itself will persuade the children to make it a habit. The tender mind has to be fed with
tenderness. (discourse 3/31/75)
2. The mother should teach her children the value of namasmaranam, and of mental and
physical cleanliness. (Bal Vikas Monthly 4/97)
3. They (the children) must learn by observation that their parents are happy and without
anxiety, because they have full faith in God and they know whatever happens is for the best.
(Sathya Sai Speaks VI)
4. It is not enough if children are taught some verses, some stories, and some chapters of the
Gita. Discipline must be taught. They must develop a broad outlook. They must cultivate clean,
healthy habits. They must learn thrift and the proper use of money. When children learn how
to use money with care and without waste the future will be bright.
5. Do not burden tender brains with all sorts of lumber, bits of information that can never be
put to use, facts that warp the strands of truth...Teach the children the habit of daily prayer,
when they rise from bed and when they lie down to sleep after the day is over.
6. Children have to revere their parents. That is their duty. Parents have to bring up their
children as bright and willing citizens of earning their food and helping others in distress; if
they shirk their duty, they have failed in their worship. They should also not spoil them by
allowing them too much freedom and catering to their fancies.
7. I insist on discipline, on reverent obedience to parents, on regulated food and play, on
rigorous allocation of time for study, singing spiritual songs, meditation etc. I also recommend
some items of service, like nursing the sick. I condemn frivolous talk, luxurious living,
deleterious habits, addiction to films, horror-comics, pen-friends, exotic dress, outlandish
coiffures designed to draw attention to oneself, etc. By these means, boys and girls are slowly
drawn into unrighteous and immoral ways.
8. In every home, a certain length of time must be fixed everyday in the morning as well as
evening for readings from spiritual books and recital of the Name. Parents and children must
join in singing the Glory of God. (Sathya Sai Speaks VI)
9. Some parents tend to pamper them (children) at home. They are encouraged to see films or
T.V. They are given unwholesome food. All this is undesirable. The children are ruined by these
indulgences. The parents should exercise restraints on themselves in the interests of the
children. (Sanathan Sarathi 3/84)
10. Do not keep the young ones idle and unoccupied. Every second is a precious gift. Time
well used is like food well digested. It sustains and strengthens the students.
11. Teach children not to receive anything for nothing. Let them earn by hard work the things
they seek. (Gems p.212)
12. You must bear in mind that the years of youth are the most precious years in one's life,
and they should not be wasted or misspent. To let children watch television from 6 pm to 10
pm is to make them forget all that they have learned in school. (Gems. p.213) 13. Children
must not read horror stories and literature on crime and sex...The young will be haunted by
trouble and travail, but that should not deflect them from the path of duty. (Gems p.213)
14. ...It is a practice in Sathya Sai hostels to chant Brahmaarpanam (Food Prayer) before it is
partaken. But some parents do not encourage the children to follow the sacred principles laid
down by our ancestors. In the vacation time, they pamper their children by serving them food
in front of the T.V. But the evil sights and things shown on T.V. affects their minds adversely.
Hence, the parents should see that the ancient traditions are maintained faithfully. These
principles may sound small, but they are very significant. (Summer Showers '93)
15. Students must learn to be good and steady servants and aspirants. They have to be
taught the Yoga of mind-control...I want that they must be given training in these matters, by
whatever name the training is called.
16. The unrest, anxiety, fear and hatred that torments the world now is largely due to the
neglect which kept off from the growing child the disciplines that can regulate the passions and
emotions of man. We postpone this essential task of education at our peril; for when children
are equipped with the discipline to secure balance, equanimity, harmony and peace, they can
no more be drawn into wild adventures and barren activities. (Sathya Sai Speaks IX)
17. Above all, realize that children are precious treasures; yours is the great task of rearing
them up to become devoted servants of God and sincere aspirants of the spiritual path.