“Education consists of cultivating the following six qualities: "Good thoughts, good actions, adherence to truth, devotion, discipline and discharge of one's duties." When you have acquired the friendship of these six virtues, your life will become purposeful and satisfying. Students! Concentrate on studies from the beginning of the academic year and develop discipline and right habits so that you may make the best use of opportunities. Teachers should not consider that they are teaching for the sake of emoluments and students should not consider their studies as primarily for the purpose of getting a job. Education must develop self-reliance in you and prepare you for all the challenges of life. With faith in God, you must lead a righteous life and become true citizens of Bharat. The discipline and regulations you observe now will stand you in good stead all your life. Prepare yourselves to serve society and thereby propitiate God, whose grace is a greater benediction than all the gains from the world.”
Sri Sathya Sai Baba, Sri Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol 16, Jun 16, 1983
SSE Online resoUrce Library (SOuL) is being offered to our beloved Sri Sathya Sai Baba on His 95th birthday. The vision for SOuL is that it will serve as a resource for various SSE lesson plan components: Stories, Value based Songs (via Sai Rhythms), Group Activities, Life Applications and Quotes (via discourse search).
Phase 1 focused on curating stories from discourses given by Sri Sathya Sai Baba. The maiden offering consisted of a selection of 95 stories sourced from divine discourses and is being regularly updated. Several SSE teachers from different parts of the country poured over His discourses to collect the first set of 95 stories, abiding by the copyright laws and SSSIO IT guidelines. From over 260 stories submitted, selection was made to include stories from the lives of prophets and divine incarnations including Sri Sathya Sai Baba, inspiring individuals, analogies, unity of faiths, etc. Best effort was made to include a diverse group of sub-values covering the five human values: Truth, Right Action, Peace, Love and Nonviolence.
Phase 2 covers another important lesson plan element- "life application." Beginning January 2021, the SOuL team reviewed life application submissions received from National SSE Refresher (NRE) 2020 and the team members as well. Multiple sessions were conducted to finalize format, content and design with a singular focus to keep it simple and user friendly. The life applications listed have been tried and tested in SSE classroom setting. All teachers are encouraged to adapt it based on their classroom dynamics and children's needs.
Phase 3 saw the addition of "Activities." This allows for the entire class to participate, involving the hand, head and heart in a harmonious manner. Similar to phase 2, each Activity has been tried and tested to ensure its efficacy in eliciting the latent talent. Teachers are invited to test it out and adapt it if needed to meet the specific needs of their SSE group.
Future plans include addition of more stories, activities and life applications for all SSE groups.
Your ideas and suggestions are welcome and can be sent to saispiritualeducation@sathyasai.us