Founders’ Message

Based on the books and teachings of The Sacred Classroom by Jayashree Ashok, The Sacred Classroom principles form the consciousness and spiritual foundation for the pedagogy at Creative School. These principles have been practiced by teachers over a decade, leading to an alive, light and joyful environment in class.

It is time for a new beginning in how we approach education, teaching, learning and our work with children. It is time to reclaim a sense of Sacred in our classrooms! Who a teacher is, has a strong impact on the classroom. A teacher’s inner being, presence and energy in the classroom impact the learning environment. The Sacred Classroom honours a teacher’s journey in class and acts as a guidepost for the evolution of consciousness in him/her and in the classroom.

“The first thing to do, in order to be able to educate a child, is to educate oneself, to become conscious and a master of oneself so that one never sets a bad example to one’s child. For, it is above all through example that education becomes effective. To speak good words and to give wise advice to a child has very little effect if one does not oneself give him an example of what one teaches. Sincerity, honesty, straightforwardness, courage, disinterestedness, unselfishness, patience, endurance, perseverance, peace, calm, self-control are all things that are taught infinitely better by example than by beautiful speeches. ”

The Mother

As The Mother describes, the journey of a teacher (or parent) in itself is sadhana. It has its wonderful and challenging moments, all built in. The Sacred Classroom embraces the spirit of the classroom and offers seven guiding principles that serve as guideposts to unblock and evolve in our journey. These spiritual principles are very essential to acknowledge the classroom as a holistic space. Without these, classrooms become spaces of unconscious functioning focussed only on external results. The very soul of teaching is discarded when the spirit is discarded.

Unconditional Love

Children thrive in an environment of unconditional aware love. The presence of an aware and yet, a very loving teacher is a precious gift to children. In such an atmosphere, we are very aware of each of our strengths and areas of growth (challenges). Every attempt is made to become conscious and  evolve ourselves. An authentic and unconditional space makes room to learn from both triumphs and mistakes and keep our ways of functioning pure.

Awareness

Awareness helps us understand where we are operating from. Self-awareness of our intentions, thoughts, emotions, judgments and expectations helps us in mastering ourselves and at the same time helps hold an unconditional space for our children. Through awareness, we learn to transform our unconscious patterns and stop projecting these on to our children. Awareness also builds discernment, which is very important to understand others and form working relationships.

Abundance

Abundance or Prosperity Consciousness is an inner state of all possibilities. It helps us stay positive in challenging circumstances. We learn not to underestimate the spirit of the child or get bogged down by apparent limitations. Abundance is a state of consciousness where we are open to new possibilities. Learning in an environment of abundance supports the natural creativity found in children.

Respect

Respect is equal for both teacher and children. We need to respect children as special and work with them completely respecting their journey. To develop a positive sense of self, children need adults around them to mirror their worthiness in healthy ways. While this is most essential, it is equally important for all to respect the role played by the teacher who has taken the responsibility for the whole class. A teacher is in charge of the class, and in a position where she must take decisions based on the needs of her entire group of children and the space she belongs to.

Mirroring

Our relationships are mirrors for our growth. These include relationships in our family, work place and with children. When we experience triggers in relationships, we need to look within and identify our areas of growth. This opens up many avenues for growth and abundance. Children are catalysts in our growth. They are often very pure mirrors and mirror back to us our unresolved areas of growth.

Learning from Challenges

Every situation that challenges us indicates a growth area. When we understand this, we learn from every situation and experience lifelong learning. Our consciousness grows through challenges. Challenges and overcoming them make our journey meaningful and holistic. In order to learn from challenges it is important for us to view challenges as opportunities for growth. And not get stuck in blame or victimhood.

Dropping the Ego

Dropping our pain body ego with our Sangha members – children, co-workers helps us co-create a Sacred Classroom. Conflicts bring out our ego and pain body. Our ego makes us take offense. We feel offended by our children and colleagues in class. Ego exists. It is important for us to recognize it and drop it. The process of dropping the ego is a conscious choice we must make in our journey. It requires self awareness and a willingness to let go. Letting go of the past, letting go of our pain body.

Connecting to the larger purpose of Co-creation gives us the motivation to drop our ego. We begin to experience divine consciousness through our work. When we do this, we learn wonderful and valuable soul lessons that are so important for our journey.

Applying these principles on a regular basis in our journey can help us stay connected to the purity and simplicity of our soul. It keeps us full of love, creativity and abundance. We truly enjoy our wonderful journey with our children

Children are Sacred! Teaching is Sacred! Teachers are Sacred! Let us come together and co-create Sacred in our classrooms!

Love, Light and Joy,
Ashok and Jayashree
(Founders of Creative School and Prajna Wisdom Centre)