According to the UCLA’s 2004 “National Study of College Students' Search for
Meaning and Purpose”, the majority of students indicated they were seeking more
substance and sustenance than their professors were willing (or able) to offer
in developing “personal values, self understanding and maturity.”
While 80% of the professors said that some form of spirituality was important in
their lives, only 30% thought that it was theirs or the school's responsibility
to address the moral or spiritual development of students.
Most universities in the West had their roots in religious communities whose
beliefs dominated pedagogy. From the 1700s science started to supplement
religion as a way of knowing truth and in the 1800s and 1900s, secular schools
took off. Society has been left impoverished for lack of leadership to set any
moral tone.
Opportunities for nourishing the “soul” flourished in schools across the ancient
world: in areas of Greek influence under Plato, Pythagoras, Aristotle, Epicurus
and others, in China at the time Confucius, in India and later in the Arab
world. All of these schools promoted a true philosophical approach – a mode of
thought and a way of life. They did not play intellectual games; they were
interested in developing the powers and modes of being: body, soul and spirit.
Universities today shun the study of higher values and the sacred. While there
are 1000 television channels and 100,000 fast food restaurants giving wide
choice for distracting the mind and feeding the body, places today where young
adults can learn personal values, acquire self-understanding and elevate
consciousness are scarce. The ancient model may just be the way to deliver what
the students want and need.
