22 November is the Convocation day of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Prasanthi Nilayam. 

“Matrudevo bhava, Pitrudevo bhava, Acharyadevo bhava, Atithidevo bhava (revere your mother, father, preceptor, and guest as God.)” This was the teaching given to the students at the time of leaving the portals of Gurukul in ancient times. This act of benediction is termed Convocation today.

Bhagawan Baba, “In olden days, when the pupils completed their educational tenure in the ashram of the guru and were about to enter the life of a grihasta (householder), the preceptor gave them a parting message to serve them as guidelines for their worldly and spiritual good. That ceremony is observed today as a Convocation. (SSS Vol.20)

The students were provided with holy guidelines and reminded of their duties. When the young were at the Gurukul, with fellow students and teachers, engaged in study, one had to strive ceaselessly to cultivate serenity, purity and detachment, and try to identify their truth. For, the stage of Brahmacharya (studentship) sets the pace and decides the fate of three subsequent stages of householder, recluse and monk. (SSS Vol.19)

When pupils completed mastery, of all branches of knowledge at the Gurukuls in ancient India, they were exhorted, on the day they left the sacred precincts of the hermitage, by the loving preceptor who showered blessings on them, to observe certain ideals and adhere to certain practices and attitudes in life. (SSS Vol.15) 

The advice given by gurus during Convocations in hermitages is the same. "Mother and Motherland are worthier of reverence than Heaven. Your parents are sacrificing their comforts and even necessities in order to ensure your progress. It is your duty to revere them and make them happy. Engage yourselves in acts that others will respect and not in acts of which you feel ashamed. Honour the elders. Love your native land." After receiving such directions from the Gurus, students returned home, with hearts heavy with gratitude and sorrow at the departure from the hermitages. The Convocation marked the close of a sweet chapter in life when the ideals to be pursued in later years were implanted. So the leave taking was fraught with humility and hope. They realised then that life involved both coming together and separation from each other. They engraved in their hearts in golden letters the advice imparted to them on the occasion of departure. (SSS Vo. 19)

Students! You must be aware of the implications of studentship. You have to translate that awareness into actual practice. You have to enshrine the experience in your hearts. You must, then, share the joy of that experience with others. Do not allow your minds to get agitated with limitless desires. (SSS Vo. 19)

Sanctify your lives by making every act of daily living holy and purposeful. Students should dedicate themselves to the revival of Bharat s hallowed culture and to the service of the Motherland. You must uphold the good name of the Institute wherever you are. Revere your parents and make them happy. (SSS Vol.20)

The cultivation of love is the greatest need today. There is no use in acquiring all kinds of knowledge and performing of japas and mediation if there is no love in the heart. It is love alone which can save the world. Students, teachers and lovers of education! I wish that in your attempt to perfect the system of education you provide for love, dharma and moral values, for these alone can take the country forward and enable it to regain its past glory. (SSS Vol. 18)

First and foremost, make your parents happy. Make everybody happy and be an ideal. 

The Vedas declare,

Sahanavavathu, sahana bhunakthu,

Sahaveeryam Karavavahai

Tejaswi navadheethamasthu

Maa Vidhvisaavahai.

May we grow in intelligence and valour working together!

May we live in friendship without any conflict!

I wish that you practice and propagate these sacred ideals. Blessing you.”

Sri Sathya Sai Institutions impart ideal education

Bhagawan Baba, the Chancellor of SSIHL said, “It is in order to impart true, ideal education, and mould the students as ideal citizens for the service of the country that the Sathya Sai Educational Institutions have been set up.”

Qualities which reveal true education

Education does not mean imparting of verbal knowledge. The knowledge that is gathered in schools and colleges should be capable of being used for service to society and helping to improve the conditions of one s fellow men. Humility, reverence, compassion, forbearance, sacrifice and self-control are the qualities which reveal the outcome of true education.

Education must reveal the path which enables man to tap the dormant spring of divinity within, without getting entangled with the mass of created objects. It has to lay stress on spiritual transformation as more fundamental than even moral uplift. The real sign of an educated person is his attitude of sameness towards all. He sees in society the manifestation of divinity. Education does not lead from nature to the all-pervading Atma. It leads man to study nature, with the unifying Atmic outlook. When the powers of Nature are harnessed to narrow selfishness, they recoil on him as plagues. When they are revered as revelations of the Atma, they become beneficial. Education equips man with this insight. The process by which man foregoes his freedom and is bound in the net of desire can never be education. It has to aim at ensuring peace and stability in each country by continuous precept and practice of the basic unity.

Students! You must be aware of the implications of studentship. You have to translate that awareness into actual practice. You have to enshrine the experience in your hearts. You must, then, share the joy of that experience with others. Do not allow your minds to get agitated with limitless desires.

Nine gem-like qualities to be cultivated

The student today has to cultivate in this Kali age nine gem-like qualities--the spirit of sacrifice, humility, the spirit of selfless service to society, friendliness, discipline, adherence to truth, nonviolence and faith in God. The boys and girls who have these qualities alone will be the nation s treasure of virtue and ensure its future. Dear students! I wish that you should go out into the world as ideal students and serve the nation well. Securing degrees is not enough. You have to make your knowledge available to others. This is the purpose of education. Remember God, love the nation and experience bliss. This should be your aim. Eschew all differences of caste, creed and nationality and cultivate oneness of spirit. All are one be alike to everyone. Realise the divinity within you and recognize that it is in one and all.