From Knowledge to Wisdom: Lessons for an Unpredictable World - Aasra Trust

Learning Through Reading and Reflection - Sunbeam Lahartara

 

A LIFETIME OF LEARNING

“Reading can teach you the best of what others already know. Reflection can teach you the best of what only you can know.” — James Clear

Reading opens the mind to the wisdom, experiences, and ideas of others, while reflection turns that learning inward, transforming it into personal insight. Together, they help a learner grow not only in knowledge but also in self-awareness and thoughtful understanding.

A peek into the inner landscapes

"What is life when you are walking in the garden?" is what a teacher from Sunbeam School, Balia, and I were talking about in our recent Wisdom Mandli session on Saturday, when she used the word 'sukoon' in her response. When some cards kept appearing and disappearing on the screen, with questions that are felt but mostly not asked of each other in everyday conversation, I was asking myself: What interests me in the world now? What am I curious to find out- the chaos, the harmony and the functioning of everything around me. 

Sometimes, there is an assumption that learning sessions are online, and they seem slightly disorienting until you attend them with the intention of meeting and hearing the voices of educators and people sharing their conundrums in life and school. Take what speaks to you, and don't beat yourself up for everything that's beyond your head. 

Wisdom Mandli was a session that opened my curiosity about the mundane around me! I was aware of what I feel in the kitchen, in the garden, or under the stars (they are hardly visible now), but can I speak about just that to a fellow teacher? We live in different realities, but these are such universal feelings and experiences. We were just coming to a point in the discussion where we were brainstorming how we could bring wisdom to our children and still be able to teach our curriculum when it struck me- Isn't talking about it already a large part of why we would want our children to learn in the first place? We are surrounded by ecology and nature all the time, but we sometimes just bypass it and do not pause to wonder. These sessions with Wisdom Mandli by project Fuel are my gateway for this month to something larger than me, me, me. I'd like my students to tell me how they feel when they walk barefoot on the ground. I am curious about their observations. It is a peek into their inner landscapes, and these questions seem like a torch to go with. 

Neelashi Mangal is the Head of Training and Development at the Learning Forward India Foundation. You may wish to email her at NM@LearningForward.org.in

My Good School, Sunday the 6th April 2025

Sunday School # 183

Episode 16 – "Gyan Bohit: Boat of Wisdom" from the Allegory: A Tapestry of Guru Nanak's Travels series:

"Inner Awakening Through the Wisdom of the Guru"

This episode explores the metaphor of the Gyan Bohit—a wisdom boat that carries seekers across the ocean of illusion and ignorance toward truth, understanding, and liberation. The boat represents Guru Nanak's teachings, which guide individuals through the storms of life with clarity, courage, and compassion.

In Episode 16, Gyan Bohit: Boat of Wisdom, Guru Nanak's journey is shown as a physical exploration and a deep spiritual voyage. He meets people caught in rituals and superficial religious practices, and through dialogue and song, he gently steers them toward inner reflection and truth. The Gyan Bohit (wisdom boat) symbolises his teachings as a vessel to cross the worldly ocean (bhavsagar), freeing individuals from ignorance and leading them to a deeper purpose. The episode emphasises introspection, ethical living, and the transformative power of wisdom.

Reflection Questions:

1. What does the 'Boat of Wisdom' symbolise in your own life? What helps guide you through difficult times?

2. How do Guru Nanak's teachings encourage us to question blind rituals and seek truth through self-awareness?

3. Can you think of a moment when knowledge or insight helped you overcome a personal struggle?

4. Why is wisdom considered more potent than mere information or tradition in life?

5. How can we become 'boats of wisdom' for others around us—family, friends, or community?

Summary of Today's Session:

Amardeep led the session, focusing on Episode 16 of the 45-episode documentary series on Guru Nanak's travels. The key highlights included:

• The teachings of Guru Nanak emphasise respect for nature and understanding the symbolic meanings of natural elements (like rivers, trees, and mountains).

• A strong message on the importance of inner purification and genuine spirituality over mere external rituals.

• Coverage of Guru Nanak's journey from Bharuch, where he engaged in meaningful dialogues with saints and visited spiritually significant sites, promoting interfaith understanding and universal values.

The session encouraged reflection on spirituality, simplicity, and reverence for all forms of life—core themes in Guru Nanak's philosophy.

I am looking forward to our continued discussions. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or need clarification. 

You can email your reflections to mk@learningforward.org.in or post them as comments below!

 

JDS School Reflections - Sunday 8th December 2024

                          Wisdom, proper knowledge and intellect. How can we connect with that?

To connect with wisdom, reflect on experiences and seek diverse perspectives. To obtain the proper knowledge, pursue learning and discern the truth through critical thinking. To develop intellect, practice curiosity, logical reasoning, and problem-solving regularly.

                           Are animals sensitive? How are humans different from animals?

Animals are sensitive to physical sensations, emotions, and environmental changes. Humans differ in their advanced reasoning, abstract thought, complex emotions, and the ability to create culture and language.

Name - Anjali

Grade - 9th

School - Jhamkudevi Sen Sec School 

Reflections - Sunday School 1st September 2024

- From My Guide Inside- 

1. What was your takeaway from the session today? 

2. What were the words discussed today and how do they reverberate with you? 

3. I used to believe, that I am. 

4. I used to believe… But, now I understand…

Note: MGI Online is a school well-being curriculum which aligns with, the work we do at My Good School and helps us focus on Life-skills.

-From My Name Is Cinnamon-     

1. Don't you think math was invented to torture us?

2. What are UAO (Unattractive Academic Objects) according to you?

3. What are nicknames you use for someone and why?

4. Did you read any detective novels or know some famous detectives?  

5. Solve the following problem,' said Kadubole. 'Shashat has Rs 400. He spends 3/4 on sardines and 1/4 on prawns. 1 kg of prawns cost Rs 150 and 1 kg of sardines cost Rs 50. How many kgs of prawns and sardines does he buy? 

6. Does Cinnamon's life anecdotes resonate with you and how?

These are some suggestions you can choose from. We are looking forward to seeing your wonderful and thoughtful reflections!     

     

You can email your reflections to  mk@learningforward.org.in

We will read Chapter 28 - Burnout, from The Hidden Life Of Trees, next week.

Reflection of the week - Sunday 7th July 2024

Listen to the Podcast on YouTube

- From My Guide Inside -   

1. What was your takeaway from the session today? 

2. What would you call your My Guide Inside? 

3. How does your My Guide Inside help you? 

4. Share your thoughts and feelings. Show insight and connections to this quote from My Guide Inside (Book II) Chapter One:

    My guide inside of wisdom is "powerful knowledge." Wisdom will "grow with you and guide you."

- From Jataka Tales -     

1. Why do we read about the Jataka Tales?    

2. Did the story connect with you today, and why?     

3. What learnings can we take away from the story today?   

4. How do parents name their children?

5. Where is Takksila located? What is its significance?

6. What is righteousness?

7. Moral Integrity

8. How would you tackle the problem if you were in the Bodhisattva's place? 

These are some suggestions you can choose from. Looking forward to seeing your wonderful and thoughtful reflections!     

You can email your reflections to - nk@learningforward.org.in

SUMMARY

The speakers emphasised the significance of education and self-discovery, sharing personal experiences and insights on inner wisdom, thought labelling, and the connection between thoughts and feelings. They discussed the intersection of Yoga and AI, the importance of personal experience and self-denial in storytelling and the path to enlightenment. The speakers highlighted the importance of embracing simplicity, compassion, and wisdom in making good choices and guiding us through life.

12.00 PM
We decided not to read the chapter from The Hidden Life of Trees and instead hosted an Open House to meet Ms Manish Khanna and discuss how we could better engage with Fellows and Interns. Kunal shared an update about the Impact Study, and we discussed how we could improve our program on Sunday and engage with a wider audience.

The Strength In Scars - Tejas Kumar

Humans never escape from their wounds. Their wounds can later be a thing with immense potential. Scars can make us stronger than ever. The world is going to give you beauty but pain as well. It is difficult to move on, it breaks you down in ways you never expected to be broken. 

But when you are broken, don't feel left over instead recall your memories, look at the sacrifice, and create yourself again but this time more stronger and more compassionate.
Find more scars that life has left for you to be stronger and stronger.

Be THANKFUL for everything you get in your life.

Inspired from:-Wikipedia and The book 'THE STRENGTH IN OUR SCARS' by Bianca Sparacino


Tejas Kumar
Grade-IX
Sunbeam School, Lahartara

We are finally beginning to use our intellect | Dr Jane Goodall | Conver...

Dr Jane Goodall, the renowned primatologist and United Nations Messenger of Peace, talks to Nirmal Ghosh about the drive to inspire environmentalism in young people and why, despite the damage done to the planet, she remains an optimist. Read more: https://str.sg/wtLo.

Tolerance - Khushi Badgeri

Tolerance is the ability to deal with something annoying or where we disagree or show unwillingness to accept the situation.

Tolerance also means the patience to listen carefully and to treat people with dignity and respect while you disagree silently. Tolerance has limits. tolerance also means treating others the way you would like to be treated. Tolerance is a sign of wisdom and care. Let me share a small incident that happened with me. There was a girl in my class who would keep irritating and bullying me. At times she would be very much testing my patience. I would always try to keep my mind cool and avoid talking to her.. Once it  so happened that we were given a similar science project in our class. She was so overconfident that she thought her project would be the best. I kept myself cool and wished for the best project win and to my surprise my project was not only selected and appreciated but also kept for display in the school. There I understood the true meaning of patience and tolerating the person in the situation was rewarded. 

So my Dear friends, tolerance is keeping our minds cool in any situation and acting wisely.

Khushi Badgeri

Grade III A

Finland International School, Thane

Reading - a skill that needs rebirth! - Shilpika Pandey

Those who read, read fluently, write well, and speak well!

Reading is one of the best activities to keep your mind focused, enhance your vocabulary, improve pronunciation and inculcate the habit of making reading an essential part of one's regimen.

Reading is a catalyst for an intellectual, thinking mind that sharpens analyzing and brainstorming skills. An old-school activity that is irreplaceable and much needed for our students to keep them away from the hovering world of social media and make them add to their wisdom, knowledge and a composed lifestyle.

When an individual picks up a book to read, he or she unfolds a lesson to remember and change the mindset, thus changing life for the better. Reading helps build conversations, and meaningful conversations take place. So keep reading!

Shilpika Pandey

My Good School

God the creator - Nishan Karki

God is the divine power who gave us many qualities like wisdom, kindness and empathy. We should take advantage of these qualities to maintain peace worldwide.

If we keep the peace, we can live a happy and simple life with fewer demerits and more benefits.

We should thank God or the creator for filling us with these qualities.

From: Nishan Karki
Date: Tue, 29 Nov 2022 at 21:21

--

Shelja Thakur
Pestalozzi World Local Alumni Coordinator and Senior Student Liaison Officer
https://pestalozziworld.com/about/where-we-work/indian-village/

Inspired by:

My Wisdom Pot - Yashraj Sharma

 

Here's my wisdom pot!

Yashraj Sharma 

Grade VIII 

Gyanshree school 

Honesty - Rehan Raza

A major component for developing moral character is honesty. Honesty helps in developing good attributes like kindness, discipline, truthfulness, moral integrity and more. Lying, cheating, lack of trust, stealing, greed, and other immoral attributes have no honesty. Honest people are sincere, trustworthy and loyal, throughout their life. Honesty is valuable, and it is a habit of utmost importance. There are famous quotes, said by a great personality like “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom”. It holds good due to its ability to build, shape and motivate integral values in one's life.

First of all, honesty promotes authenticity. It reflects one’s own feelings and thoughts. Honesty certainly helps people in knowing who you really are. Hence, one must be honest in self-expression.

Honesty removes fear from the heart and makes a person courageous and confident. It certainly takes a huge amount of courage to speak the truth. Speaking truth is a sign of bravery. The one who lies is a coward. Speaking falsehood is a sign of low self-confidence.

Another notable benefit of honesty is maturity. Honesty certainly reflects the maturity of a person. An individual is probably mature if he regularly speaks the truth. Furthermore, a mature person speaks the truth in a non-hurtful way.

Honesty strengthens and improves relationships between people. It certainly helps in bringing people together. Most noteworthy, it fosters a connection between individuals.

Rehan Raza 

Class - Xll Science 

The Fabindia School