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behind them. Therefore, we explained that the yoga practices were not meant for spiritual purposes, but for better learning. In fact, this is very true. I will allude to it here very quickly and not delve into it, due to lack of time.
Modern research in the field of education has shown very clearly that nowadays training of the mind is coming first. Methodology in learning should be taught not only to teachers and professionals, but also to children, so that they can understand the working of the mind in order to learn better Just as an example, when a teacher gives information to the class, he writes on the blackboard, then the children write it down in their copybooks. Very often it is thought that because of this transcription, this writing down process, the lesson is then learnt. This is a wrong assumption. Learning has to be impressed in the mind before you can say that the lesson or the theory in mathematics is understood. So there is a lot of me work to be done.
A French researcher called Antoine de la Garronie has led very interesting studies, saying that in order to learn well you have to study the mental management of those students who have done very well. Some students are repeating the lesson in their minds, in their heads, others have a way of visualizing the page in their minds, and those who are doing very well, in fact are doing both. This can be studied precisely and taught so that the students can learn more efficiently through certain processes.
To make it short, it can be said that modern research in the field of cognitive science is very close to the discoveries of the sages who have set up the science of yoga. It shows that knowing goes through some inner tracks, inner paths, and that it cannot be escaped nowadays when so much has got to be learnt by the young generation. Since the general theme of this wonderful conference is dealing with yoga in the twenty first century we, as adults, are concerned because we are living at this turn of the century, but it is our children, our grandchildren who absolutely need new ways of education. I think that yoga can bring that to them.
However, as I told you, the spiritual aspect of yoga has to be introduced with great care, in order to be injected into socie tv. For that reason. I think that a few facts should be made very clear to the number of teachers who are trying to introduce yoga. As I told you, the mind has got to be silent, to
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