We are organizing a class for classical literature appreciation. A young man wrote a long letter and asked about the ‘use’ of studying the ‘old’ language in this modern age. This is the letter I wrote to him.
Constantly, there is a trend around the world to avoid language education. Modern education, in particular, ignores classic authors. In the 1980s, that trend started in America, and slowly it pervaded the entire world.
Their notion is this:
- A modern man is using a minimalist language with a limited set of words. It is sufficient for his modern-day life.
- Classic language is archaic and practically useless.
- A modern man needs only technical education— education to create and use modern technology.
A modern-day student has to study a lot of technical lessons and metalanguages related to it. Therefore, acquiring language skills is an additional burden for him.
Without any discussion, we accept these ideas and change our entire education system accordingly. We don’t know the serious effects of this change. This is high time to discuss it.
Our ancestors imagined a modern man as a cultural entity, so they designed the education accordingly. That is why they included classical language, history, and literature in our curriculum. Now our new capitalist “masters” imagine us as slaves to technology. Both as consumers and creators, we depend on and serve modern technology.
Modern education designs us as human beings without language skills. While looking around us, I can see young people who can’t express themselves in any language. They have absolutely no cultural knowledge. They don’t know about their tradition and literature. They don’t know Western cultural tradition or philosophy either.
For thinking and imagining new things, we need language. Lack of sufficient language skill means we are unable to think and imagine anything. Actually, we are castrated by this ‘modern’ education.
Today, it is mandatory for any sensitive individual to acknowledge his cultural identity. He has to vow to himself: “I am not going to be a simple laborer or consumer of technology. I am not a slave. I want to live in the culture. I want my inner life free from the modern-day generalization. I am unique. I have to create my own identity. I am not satisfied with this prosaic, mundane life. I want a timeless version of myself.”
We need to study our culture, philosophy, and literature to achieve this goal. Our education system today ignores these fields, so we must establish our own institutions to teach them. ‘Unified Wisdom’ is an attempt to achieve it. But before starting such education, we have to study our language. With our knowledge of classical languages, we can’t enter the tradition.
We are ‘mindless’ individuals now, as language primarily composes our minds. Without thought, we can’t resist or struggle against the oppression of the new masters of the world. We can’t even find what our needs are. We also struggle to determine what constitutes our happiness and fulfilment. The first step of resistance is studying the classical language. It is not ‘useless’ as the modern-day exploiters portray. It is extremely useful to define us culturally and spiritually. Let’s start with the language.
Jeyamohan
