Prophets of Education Volumes 21 to 25

Contents: Vol. 21. Annie Besant as a Great Educational Philosopher: 1. Annie Besant as a great educational philosopher. 2. Gone to theosophy. 3. \'Mrs. Besant, I suppose?\'. 4. Aryavarta. 5. \'Bande Mataram\'. 6. Essays and addresses. 7. The last years. 8. Parting message. Index.

Vol. 22. Swami Vivekananda on Education for National Reconstruction: 1. Education for national reconstruction. 2. Vivekananda on Buddha and Buddhism. 3. Swami Vivekananda and social justice. 4. Vedanta and universal brotherhood. 5. Spiritual Advaitism versus material Advaitism. 6. From Vedanta to historical materialism. 7. As a conversationalist. 8. As an orator. 9. His yogic powers. 10. As a teacher. Index.

Vol. 23. Raja Rammohun Roy: The Great Social Educator: 1. Searching for truth (1772-1803). 2. Throwing down the gauntlet (1803-14). 3. First regular campaign: spiritual theism vs. idolatry and suttee (1814-20). 4. Regular and irregular campaigns against Trinitarian orthodoxy (1820-24). 5. Journalistic and educational pioneer-work (1821-26). 6. Founding the Brahmo Samaj (1826-28). 7. The abolition of suttee (1828-30). Index.

Vol. 24. Aurobindo and His Educational Philosophy: 1. Childhood and education. 2. Education in England. 3. Career and family life. 4. A poet and a politician. 5. Bande Mataram. 6. Waging war against the king. 7. Educational philosophy of Sri Aurobindo. 8. The human aspiration. 9. The two negations the materialist denial. 10. The two negations the refusal of the ascetic. 11. Man and the evolution. 12. Man and the supermind. 13. The involved and evolving Godhead. 14. The evolution of consciousness. 15. Rebirth. 16. Rebirth and karma. 17. Rebirth and personality. 18. Metaphysical thought and the supreme truth. 19. Life and yoga. 20. The synthesis of the systems. 21. Standards of conduct and spiritual freedom. 22. The cosmic consciousness. 23. The Ananda Brahman. 24. The integral perfection. 25. Karmayoga. 26. Bhakti. 27. Meditation. 28. The central process of the yoga. 29. The novelty of the integral yoga. 30. The essence of poetry. Selected short poems. Index.

Vol. 25. Dayanand Saraswati Education for a Good Society: 1. Introduction. 2. The prophets of reform. 3. The Samaj takes shape. 4. Village economy and the factory. 5. Swami Dayananda Saraswati. 6. Fighting for truth. 7. Founding of the Arya Samaj and death. 8. The teachings of Dayananda. 9. Dayananda\'s translation of the Vedas. Index.

"Annie Besant was a theosophist and formed a society and this society worked in India. Freedom fighters like Motilal Nehru were very much influenced by the teaching of Annie Besant and he became a theosophist in the beginning. Dr. Annie Besant became the President of the Indian National Congress before Gandhiji took over it as its President. Dr. Annie Besant had made a great impact on the thinking of the Indian youth and she believed in humanism and she worked for the under-privileged and the poor. Dr. Annie Besant has influenced the Indian political thinking to a great extent. The editor is grateful to the theosophical society of India for their kind assistance in providing suitable material for the preparation of this book. It is hoped that the book will be found to be of immense value by the teachers, students and the layman alike.

Swami Vivekanand is the latest saint educationist and a social thinker. He emphasised a character building among youth including the acquisition of knowledge and the knowledge of science and the modern disciplines. He exhorted the youth of the country to understand the modern scientific world and to work for the emancipation of the country from the foreign rule and also improve the society from modern methods of thinking and working. Swami Vivekanand wrote quite extensively on education and character building. He was in favour of religion in life, but he was not in favour of superstitution. Swamiji\'s teaching proved very successful and the youth of India was mobilised to work for the freedom of the country and the development of the Indian society, economically, politically and culturally.

The editor is grateful to the Rama Krishna Mission for their valuable help in providing suitable material for the preparation of this book. It is hoped that the book will provide incentive to the youth and the teachers and the general man alike.

Raja Ram Mohan Roy was the most outstanding educationist of modern education in India. He favoured the spread of western education in India. He founded the society which was called the Brahmo Samaj, which was based on the western principles of social equality, justice and humanism. Brahmo Samaj worked very extensively during the British period for the uplift of the common masses. Basically Dr. Raja Ram Mohan Roy emphasised on the great role of modern education in the development of a modern society.

The editor is grateful to the Dr. Raja Mohan Roy library in Delhi for their valuable help in collecting the material for this book.

Aurobindo Ghosh was a mystic saint and before becoming a mystic and educationist, he had played an active and leading role in the freedom struggle. The British regime used to call him a terrorist and he had adopted violent methods to combat the British rule in the beginning but later on he found no use of violence in the struggle for the attainment of independence. He turned to education of the youth and the development of a consciousness among the people to liberate themselves from the foreign rule. Aurobindo Ghosh developed a society which was called the Aurobindo Society and had developed an educational institution called the Auroville. It was meant to educate the youth of the world in the Indian style. A French lady who was called mother worked with Shri Aurobindo and she attracted foreign students and followers from all over the world and developed a system of education based on the mystic methods of thinking. Auroville is still working in Pondicherry in India. The editor is grateful to the Auroville society, Pondicherry for their valuable help in providing material on the educational system of Aurobindo.

Maharishi Dayanand is the latest thinker on education and religion. He wrote a classic book called Satyarth Prakash in which he developed on the culture and civilisation of the Aryans. He founded a Samaj which was called Arya Samaj and he initiated principles for a better society called the Arya Samaj. The Thoughts of Arya Samaj spread among the youth and the youth was motivated to face the onslaught of the Muslims and the British. Maharishi Dayanand\'s education played a great role in developing a system of education for the Hindu society. The editor is grateful to the All India Arya Samaj for their valuable help in preparing this book." (jacket)