Four Pillars of Education
Knowledge
Knowledge is not the mere accumulation of information. To know, one needs to go beyond information to discover the facts and truths of each situation, independently and without bias investigate the truth behind all things – only then it becomes knowledge and a person "knowledgeable". Information can be provided in a classroom or outside but it only becomes knowledge after a person has found the truth of that information for himself or herself through experience. "Knowledge is as wings to man’s life and a ladder for his ascent."
Wisdom
Knowledge leads to understanding, understanding to wisdom. There is no short cut to this process. Wisdom comes not from mere intellectual understanding of facts but through direct experience of applying one’s principles into action. In essence, it is the ability to make the right decision and to be able to evaluate what leads to human nobility or baseness. Wisdom too cannot be taught within a class but must be acquired through active applications of one’s knowledge and principles to making choices and decisions.
Spiritual Perception
Spiritual perception is the acquired, and not simply God given ability to make choices in view of what is moral or spiritual, what aids our spiritual nature and what does not. What takes a man from abaseness into glory, from attachment to detachment, from material to divine. Spiritual perception is also the ability to make the right choices based on moral perceptions or on God’s teachings for man. Spiritual perception too cannot be taught in the classroom. It is developed over time by exemplary living. These in turn develop deeper insights in the inmost core of our beings. It is the guiding light that some may call conscience or insight, but one that is rational and not simply based on our contexts and past circumstances.
Exemplary Living or Eloquent Speech
When one becomes the very embodiment of the principles for which one stands and exemplies them in his or her day to day living, one whole being speaks to who he or she is. Eloquent speech is not the mere verbal expression of who we are but the very essence of who we are as people. It makes live the statement: "let your deeds speak louder than your words."
"Moral values are not the only constructive elements of social processes, rather, they are the expressions of the inner forces that operate in the spiritual reality of every human being, and education must concern itself with these forces, if it is to tap the roots of motivation and produce meaningful and lasting change."