UHV-II: Universal Human

Values – Understanding
harmony and Ethical Human
Conduct
Module 1 – Introduction to Value Education (6 lectures and 3 tutorial/
practice sessions)
Module 1 – Introduction to Value Education (6 lectures and 3 tutorial/ practice sessions)
Lecture 1: Right Understanding, Relationship and Physical Facility (Holistic Development and the Role of
Education)
Lecture 2: Understanding Value Education
Tutorial 1: Practice Session PS1 Sharing about Oneself
Lecture 3: Self-exploration as the Process for Value Education
Lecture 4: Continuous Happiness and Prosperity – the Basic Human Aspirations
Tutorial 2: Practice Session PS2 Exploring Human Consciousness
Lecture 5: Happiness and Prosperity – Current Scenario
Lecture 6: Method to Fulfill the Basic Human Aspirations
Tutorial 3: Practice Session PS3 Exploring Natural Acceptance

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Lecture 1
Understanding Value Education
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Value
Value of a unit is its participation in the larger order

e.g. The value of a piece of chalk is its participation in the classroom

What is valuable
The chalk writes on the blackboard in the classroom?
or
The chalk scratches the blackboard in the classroom?

What is valuable = value

The context is always the larger order

Value of a unit is definite

The value of a unit is also referred to as its role

Thus, the role of chalk is to write on the blackboard
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Human Value
Value / role of a human being is its participation in the larger order
E.g. My participation in the family defines my value in the family
What is valuable for you?
feeling of respect or feeling of disrespect?
I feel happy when I have a feeling of respect
The other feels happy when I express respect to him/her

Living in accordance with human values leads to mutual happiness*

 My happiness
 Happiness of the other human being

*i.e. in the case of human-human interaction

In the case of human-rest of nature interaction, living in accordance with human values leads
to mutual prosperity
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Human Values, Role of Human Being in the Larger Order

Individual
I have a role within myself
(eg. ensuring happiness in the self and
health in the body)

Family
I have a role in my family
(eg. ensuring feeling of relationship and
prosperity)

Society
I have a role in the society
(eg. to participate in social systems for
ensuring justice, peace and harmony)

Nature/Existence
I have a role in nature/existence
(eg. mutual fulfilment with rest of nature)
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Deciding Our Values
Do you want to be able to decide on your own right?
or
Do you want somebody else to decide for you?
(this somebody may be a group of people, it may be the society or the education system, etc.)

If you are not able to decide on your own right then:

1. Someone else is deciding what is valuable and what is not valuable for you
2. Unconsciously you keep accepting those things as values
3. You get busy with how to implement them, how to realize them, materialize them

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Values Decided by the Other
Eg. In a professional college, many first-year students start to use foul language within a very short time

They are made to assume that this sort of language is one of the indicators of their freedom, of their own
progress to adulthood… and they may adopt it as a new value

Similarly, with sleeping late and getting up late… and so many things

Did they decide it for themselves?

Did it just happen “unconsciously”, without being aware of it?
Is it worth for them? Is it fulfilling for them?
Is it fulfilling for others (like their family members)?

JAVED AKHTAR Indian screenwriter, lyricist and poet, remarks slang/gali words are like adding chili in our
food items, a lot of us think adding chilly to our curry/food makes it taste better. When were out of wit
and substance in our words, we add slangs to empower it or make it feel important.

Can you continue the same with family or professional life?

So, if we are unable to decide on our own right, we are programmed by the other; our values are decided
by someone else…

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Deciding Human Values on Our Own Right
Would we decide on the basis of whatever we like, whatever we believe?
If we decide in this manner, human values will be different for different people

Or is there some definite, existential basis, something we can understand, something we can be
assured about, something that ensures mutual fulfilment in living?
If this is the case, then there is a possibility that human values are universal, they are the
same for all of us

Value education is about exploring into this possibility

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Should Education help You to Develop Holistically?
Understanding What to do, Values Value Education
Learning How to do, Skills Skill Development
Doing Skills guided by Values Practice

The problems around you are more due to lack of skills?

or more due to lack of values?
Are both, values and skills, required?
Both are required; Values and skills are complementary to each other

If both are required, then what is the priority?

Values (what to do) first, then skills (how to do), but both are required

What is the state in present-day education?

Education has become skill-biased
(there is a need to make appropriate changes)
Have you heard about (ESG [environmental social governance] ranking of international Banks?)
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Guidelines for Value Education
- Universal
The content needs to be universal – applicable to all human beings and be true at all times, all
places.
It should not depend on sect, creed, nationality, race, gender, etc.

- Rational
It must be amenable to logical reasoning
It should not be based on blind beliefs

- Verifiable
The student should be able to verify the values on one’s own right
Should not be asked to believe just because it is stated in the course

- Leading to Harmony
Values have to enable us to live in peace and harmony within our own self as well as with
others (human being and rest of nature)
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Content of Value Education
Holistic, All Encompassing

Covers all levels of living:

1. Individual (human being)
2. Family
3. Society
4. Nature/Existence

Eg. As a Family, Society – we want Fearlessness / Trust

NOT fear (due to mistrust / opposition)

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Four Dimensions of a Human Being

1. Understanding

Proposal 2. Thought

3. Behaviour 4. Work/Participation in
the larger order
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Content of Value Education
Holistic, All Encompassing

Covers all levels of living:

1. Individual (human being) Covers all dimensions of being, as an
Individual:
1. Understanding/Realization
2. Thought
3. Behaviour
4. Work/Participation in larger order
Eg. In Thought – we want to have clarity (a
state of resolution, solution)
2. Family NOT confusion (a state of problem)
3. Society
4. Nature/Existence

Eg. As a Family, Society – we want Fearlessness / Trust

NOT fear (mistrust / opposition)

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Process of Value Education
Universal
The content needs to be universal – applicable to all human beings and be true at all times, all
places
It should not depend on sect, creed, nationality, race, gender, etc.

Rational
It must be amenable to logical reasoning… should be able to question
It should not be based on blind beliefs

Verifiable
The student should be able to verify the values on one’s own right
Should not be asked to believe just because it is stated in the course

Leading to Harmony
Values have to enable us to live in peace and harmony within our own self as well as with
others (human being and rest of nature)
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Process of Value Education
Whatever is said is a Proposal (Do not assume it to be true or false)
Verify it on Your Own Right – on the basis of our Natural Acceptance

It is a process of Dialogue
A dialogue between me and you, to start with
It soon becomes a dialogue within your own self
between what you are and what you really want to be
(your natural acceptance)

The purpose of this course is to initiate this internal dialogue,

to help you to be self-referential, self-confident

Is this process naturally acceptable to you?

Is the purpose of this course valuable for you?
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In this course, we will explore…

What is my
role (value) in
the family? What is my
role (value) in
the society?
What is my Who am I?
role (value) What is my
with my Body? purpose? What
is my role (value)
with myself? What is my role
(value) in
Nature/existence?

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Sum Up
Need for Value Education
To live with fulfilment, happiness, continuous happiness…
it is essential to understand what is valuable for human being (human values)
To understand human values, we need value education

Basic Guidelines for Value Education

Content of Value Education

All encompassing
Holistic

Process of Value Education

Self exploration, becoming Self-referential
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Human Aspiration – As an Individual and Where are we today?
A. Living (Surviving)?
Physical facility

B. Living with fulfilment?

Physical facility
Getting feelings from other

C. Living with continuous fulfilment?

(called by different names such as bliss, peace, satisfaction, happiness, fulfilment, salvation,
contentment, enlightenment, liberation, independence, self-actualisation, ecstasy, divinity,…)
Having right understanding – in the Self (harmony in the Self,
happiness)
Having right feeling – in the Self (living with fulfilment in relationship with human being,
mutual happiness)
Physical facility – with rest of nature (living with mutual enrichment with rest of nature,
mutual prosperity)

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Human Aspiration – As a Society and Where are we today?
A. Families living together, in a relationship of mutual fulfillment
(common goal)
Society

B. Individuals living together, but not in relationship of mutual fulfillment

(differing goals)
Crowd

C. Individuals living separately, in opposition / struggle

(conflicting goals)
Battlefield

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Short stories
 A farmer’s horse ran away, and his neighbors said, "What bad luck!" He replied, "Maybe."
The next day, the horse returned with wild horses. The neighbors exclaimed, "What good luck!"
Again, he said, "Maybe."
Later, his son broke his leg taming the wild horses, and the neighbors said, "How unfortunate!"
He replied, "Maybe."
Days later, the army came to draft young men but left his son behind because of his injury.

 Value: Gratitude and acceptance help us embrace life’s ups and downs with wisdom and
peace.

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 In a remote Japanese town, the Kami-Shirataki train station was supposed to close, but the
railway company noticed that one high school girl relied on it daily to get to school. Instead
of shutting it down, they kept the train running just for her until she graduated in 2016.
Value: A society’s strength lies in caring for every individual, no matter how small their needs
seem.
 In 1979, Jadav Payeng, a teenager in India, saw a barren sandbar eroding away. Over the
next 40 years, he planted one tree at a time until it became a 1,300-acre forest, now home to
elephants, tigers, and birds. Today, he is known as the Forest Man of India.
Value: Small, consistent efforts can create lasting change.
 In 2015, Dan Price, CEO of Gravity Payments, shocked the business world by cutting his
own $1M salary to $70K so he could raise his employees’ minimum salary to the same
amount. His company flourished, employee satisfaction soared, and productivity increased.
Value: A great leader puts people before profits.

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War bring Unnatural Acceptance
Vietnam War (U.S. Veterans - Highest PTSD(Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) Rates in Modern
History)
 PTSD Rate: Estimated 30% of Vietnam veterans developed PTSD, with many more
undiagnosed.
Iraq & Afghanistan Wars (U.S. & U.K. Veterans - High Suicide Rates)
 In the U.S., veterans die by suicide at 1.5x the rate of civilians.
 More than 30,000 U.S. veterans have died by suicide since 2001—far more than combat
deaths
World War II - Soviet & German Soldiers
 German soldiers—High suicide rates post-war due to shame, guilt, and economic collapse.
 Soviet soldiers—Many were forced to keep fighting even after extreme trauma.

 Winning doesn't always assure happiness

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