Need of spiritual education in the curriculum has never been felt so strongly as it does today. In the midst of chaos created by political forces and the ever-increasing pressure of running in the rat race of jobs and career there is a dire need of introducing spirituality in our day to day life. Socrates has asked a very important question, he asks ‘What makes us happy?’ and by that he does not direct us towards any materialist road, instead he starts his journey of seeking the ‘Ultimate Truth.’ The journey of seeking the true self has somewhere missed the bus of modern education. Bus of modern education needs to realise that it has missed one tyre out of four.

Some might argue that spirituality is a luxury, but so is good education. If the state can subsidise good education it can also include lessons on spirituality in it.  Inclusion of spiritual education in children will help them to tackle them with the increasing trends of depression, anxiety attacks and many mental health issues. Spirituality is a preventive care to rising cases of mental health. Mahatma Gandhiji always was a strong advocate of spirituality in education. He wanted India to become the spiritual master of the world a dream once started by Swami Vivekanand.

Spirituality has been misunderstood by many. It is not about wearing clothes of certain colour and it is more about guiding oneself towards inner-self. When one knows the inner self, one has a better self. Ego, Anger, Lust, Greed are all relative vices of our mind. Accepting that these vices exist is the first step to conquer them. Once you know their existence, continuous self observation through meditation will lead to the realisation of their quantity, their impact and their triggers in your minds. This way one would better understand what triggers his/her vice and can easily avoid such situations. The point here is spirituality is not a luxury, it’s a necessity to find your better self which will lead to happiness.

Another argument against this step could be spirituality is silent entry of Hindu texts in education. The reality is spiritually is absolutely not connected with any religion whatsoever. Its methods are recommended by different religions. Huge amounts of texts in Indian Philosophy right from Vedas to Contemporary spiritual leaders such as Pandurang Shastri Athawle guide India. Sufism is a great Islamic philosophy and work in spirituality. Other religions also have a huge amount of work in this field. I would give a warning here, spiritual education included in curriculum must be something children can understand, something they can relate to. Understanding, simplicity and relativity should be of priority than secular and inclusive principles.

Spirituality cannot cure everything but it can work on micro-macro scales to cool off the frustration created by constant feat and hate mongering in daily life!