Spiritual Education
by Purnima Zweers
foreword by Swami Chidananda
Spiritual Education is meant for parents, teachers, and all who are interested in education based on spiritual values. Included in the book are the views of Swami Shivananda, Mata Amritanandamayi, Krishnamurti, Aurobindo and other great spritual masters on education. Also included are many practical examples using mandalas, meditation, different yogas and story-telling as aids to spritually value-based education. The author gives a detailed description of schools based on spiritual ideals in the West as well as in the East.

Published by: Indicabooks, Varanasi, U.P. India
Email: indicabooks@satyam.net.in

Extracts from the book:

One child asked Swami Chidananda:
"What is the purpose of my life, which task do I have to perform?"

Swami Chidananda answered while pointing to a bunch of flowers:

"Do you see these flowers? On some branches you see little buds, on others you see fully bloomed flowers. The fully bloomed flowers have beautiful petals, a nice colour and fragrance and a beautiful appearance. In the buds you cannot yet see all this beauty. The purpose of the bud is to bring out whatever beauty it has inside and to become a perfect flower. Gradually it will grow and bring out from within itself all the beauty. Look at the nest of a bird and you will see little eggs. Within the egg a little bird is sleeping and only after some time it will come out...


The purpose of your life is to bring out the sleeping beauty in you. Your task is to grow out into a perfect, ideal human individual. In you are sleeping all the noble human qualities such as kindness, compassion, unselfishness, spirit to serve, courage to stick by virtue, the inner strength of will power and aspiration, to live for higher ideals etc.You have within you the full potential; to bring this outside is the task you have to perform in this life. Then you will blossom just like this beautiful flower..."



Swami Chidananda

Letters to God, written by school children to: