The spiritual training of the boys was a much more difficult matter than
their physical and mental training. I relied little on religious
books for the training of the spirit. Of course I believed that
every student should be acquainted with the elements of his own
religion and have a general knowledge of his own scriptures, and
therefore I provided for such knowledge as best I could. But that,
to my mind, was part of the intellectual training. Long before I
undertook the education of the youngsters of the Tolstoy Farm I had
realized that the training of the spirit was a thing by itself. To
develop the spirit is to build character and to enable one to work
towards a knowledge of God and self-realization. And I held that
this was an essential part of the training of the young, and that
all training without culture of the spirit was of no use, and might
be even harmful.
I am familiar with the superstition that self-realization is
possible only in the fourth stage of life, i.e., sannyasa
(renunciation). But it is a matter of common knowledge that those
who defer preparation for this invaluable experience until the last
stage of life attain not self-realization but old age amounting to a
second and pitiable childhood, living as a burden on this earth. I
have a full recollection that I held these views even whilst I was
teaching i.e., in 1911-12, though I might not then have expressed
them in identical language.
How then was this spiritual training to be given? I made the
children memorize and recite hymns, and read to them from books on
moral training. But that was far from satisfying me. As I came into
closer contact with them I saw that it was not through books that
one could impart training of the spirit. Just as physical training
was to be imparted through physical exercise, and intellectual
through intellectual exercise, even so the training of
the spirit was possible only through the exercise of the spirit. And
the exercise of the spirit entirely depended on the life and
character of the teacher. The teacher had always to be mindful of
his p's and q's, whether he was in the midst of his boys or not.
It is possible for a teacher situated miles away to affect the
spirit of the pupils by his way of living. It would be idle for me,
if I were a liar, to teach boys to tell the truth. A cowardly
teacher would never succeed in making his boys valiant, and a
stranger to self-restraint could never teach his pupils the value of self-restraint.
I saw, therefore, that I must be an eternal
object-lesson to the boys and girls living with me. They thus became
my teachers, and I learnt I must be good and live straight, if only
for their sakes. I may say that the increasing discipline and
restraint I imposed on myself at Tolstoy Farm was mostly due to
those wards of mine.
One of them was wild, unruly, given to lying, and quarrelsome. On
one occasion he broke out most violently. I was exasperated. I never
punished my boys, but this time I was very angry. I tried to reason
with him. But he was adamant and even tried to overreach me. At last
I picked up a ruler lying at hand and delivered a blow on his arm. I
trembled as I struck him. I dare say he noticed it. This was an
entirely novel experience for them all. The boy cried out and begged
to be forgiven. He cried not because the beating was painful to him;
he could, if he had been so minded, have paid me back in the same
coin, being a stoutly built youth of seventeen; but he realized my
pain in being driven to this violent resource. Never again after
this incident did he disobey me. But I still repent that violence. I
am afraid I exhibited before him that day not the spirit, but the
brute, in me.
I have always been opposed to corporal punishment. I remember only
one occasion on which I physically punished one of my sons. I have
therefore never until this day been able to decide whether I was
right or wrong in using the ruler. Probably it was improper, for it
was prompted by anger and a desire to punish. Had it been an
expression only of my distress, I should have considered it
justified. But the motive in this case was mixed.
This incident set me thinking and taught me a better method of
correcting students. I do not know whether that method would have
availed on the occasion in question. The youngster soon forgot the
incident, and I do not think he ever showed great improvement. But
the incident made me understand better the duty of a teacher towards
his pupils.
Cases of misconduct on the part of the boys often occurred after
this, but I never resorted to corporal punishment. Thus in my
endeavour to impart spiritual training to the boys and girls under
me, I came to understand better and better the power of the spirit.