Educating in Nature

Ch14 Protecting Vision

In exploring vision I am fundamentally saying that education should enable the following of the path if and when a person feels the need to follow their path. This is the vision - preparing for following the path. In the next chapter I will discuss the relationship between the 4 themes, conditioning, and following the path, but in this short chapter I want to discuss hwta could be termed a spiritual vacuum and how we could protect young people who are vulnerable to this vacuum.

Because of the prevailing educational corporate paradigm, children do not grow up with a spiritual imperative. In some cases that imperative is supplied at home but there can be a problem with this as well. What happens when students as young adults develop a spiritual interest? Has our education system provided for this? In some cases these students become totally obsessed with some form of idealism, this lack of balance is created by the spiritual vacuum; but it is not the worst problem. The worst problem is that of cults where cult leaders use the vacuum to suck in vulnerable people oftem exploiting them sexually and financially. Where are the protections for young people from within our education system? What is worse it is often students from a spiritual background that has repressed them who are most vulnerable. Such students have never engaged with the spiritual teachings because it is part of their agreements with their parents that they accept a particular doctrine. Because their spirituality is only agreement or the ideas of the doctrine, when they are exposed to a cult their spiritual vacuum is filled by the falsehoods and their vulnerability is exploited. Whilst it is not the job of education to teach a spiritual doctrine - that is done through agreements with parents and society, it is the job of education not to leave students vulnerable to the spiritual vacuum.

To protect their education needs to include 3 characteristics that would not leave them vulnerable to cults:-

Nature
Compassion
Decency

If there is a respect for decency then any attempt at sexual exploitation through a cult will automatically be rejected. I am not an expert on cults but it is this sexual exploitation that many parents are afraid of - angered by. Decency is a value that any society should value, but it is not a value that is part of our education curriculum.

Compassion - caring for others - ending suffering for all - is again a value that is not part of our education curriculum. If a cult is exploiting people or causing suffering, then compassionate people will not join such a cult.

Living in harmony with nature will prevent some of the unnatural egotism of cult leaders. The egotism of such leaders would not exist oif they were living in harmony with nature. Irrespective of cults Nature needs to be a cornerstone vision of any education system now.

I have called this protective vision #NatureCompassionDecency. This would lead to some reevaluation in terms of the 4 themes I have developed. #NatureCompassionDecency would be a part of the Quality Portfolio. There would be much questioning of the corporate paradigm as there are many clashes between #NatureCompassionDecency and what corporations do. Natural development obviously fits in with the protective vision. Autonomous mastery might well be vulnerable to egotism, #NatureCompassionDecency would hold the ego in check.

Whilst this protective vision does have its application as core values of our vision and whilst it does protect the vulnerable from the spiritual vacuum it is only a small part of the enabling of the path that is the Matriellez Vision.

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